Last week was part one of my New Year’s message and today is part two. Last week I summarised the final words of Jesus to the disciples as this: “Go, make disciples, baptise them; teach them to obey.”
I also quoted David Watson from thirty years ago and related it to our locality like this: “If we are willing to learn the meaning of real discipleship and actually to become disciples, the Church in Billericay would be transformed, and the resultant impact on our town would be staggering.”
In Luke 9:1-10 Jesus sent out his 12 disciples with authority “to preach the Kingdom of God and heal the sick”; and in today’s Bible reading we learn that sometime later he ‘appointed 72 others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go’ (10:1). Jesus was never a one-man band. He appointed and sent out others.
During his 3 year ministry Jesus was preparing others for the task ahead by getting them involved in the task at hand. Why did he send out 72 and why do some translations of the Bible say that he sent out 70, and does it matter? No it doesn’t really matter but in the Hebrew version of the Old Testament there were 70 nations in the known world. In the Greek translation there were 72 nations in the known world so the effect and the symbolism is the same. Jesus was sending them out locally to the towns he was about to visit but a time would come when the mission of Jesus would go to the whole of the known world; to every nation.
The mission of the 72 is important for us because there are timeless principles that apply; but first I’d like us to watch a short video called The Fishing Club (note to the reader, you can find it here: http://youtu.be/_O9B0H1iEXw)
There’s a world of difference between attending a fishing club and being fishing club; like the difference between attending a church and being church.
For us to be church instead of simply attending church we need everyone involved in some way as together we live out the life of Jesus.
As He prepared the 72 to go ahead of him Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (10:2); and where is the harvest field of mission? It is every home, workplace and every heart where someone hasn’t yet experienced the love, message, healing and touch of Jesus. So for each of us there’s a harvest field of mission right where we are. So think for a moment about the 7 houses nearest to your own and be honest. Do you know the names of every person living in the 7 homes nearest you? If you do …great! If you don’t …then join the club! There is a harvest field of mission right where we are, and the same goes for the workplace, the sports club, and even closer to home than that! In our families there is a harvest field of mission.
If you’re wondering what is the vision of Christ Church or the mission of Christ Church it is simple. It is for each one of us to know Jesus better this year than we’ve ever done before, and it is for each one of us to make Jesus better known in the harvest field of mission right where we are. That’s the vision.
Next, Jesus said to his 72 ambassadors, “Go! I am sending you like lambs among wolves” (10:3). In other words you will experience hostility to the mission of Jesus. On a weekly basis I think I experience more apathy and ambivalence than outright hostility; but during my time here I’ve had a few metaphorical flaming arrows fired directly at my heart and mind and well-being. Recently as we prayed before a morning service we believe God gave us a picture of a soldier in a battlefield with explosions going off all around. It was perhaps a reminder of the hostility that will come our way as we live out and proclaim the message of Jesus both in word and in deed.
If you make a conscious decision today to grow as a disciple of Jesus during 2014, to learn what it means to engage with the harvest field of mission right where you are; you need to know there will be hostility to the mission of Jesus; just as there was when he sent out the 72; and just as there was towards Jesus himself. I know it seems crazy to those of us who love Jesus but many people viewed him as a threat or worse and that’s why they plotted to kill him.
Like lambs among wolves there will be hostility; but Jesus is also clear there are people of peace ready to welcome us; and I’ve called this the hospitality shared in mission. Food, fellowship and fun leads to the formation of friendship; and something I’ve been learning is to listen out for invitations to eat or share hospitality with someone. I can’t eat with someone by email, and I can’t share a meal on Facebook or Twitter. Jesus said, “When you enter a town and are welcomed eat what is set before you” (10:8).
When someone is willing to receive you in their home, or in their office, or into their life by sharing their heart with you be ready to share hospitality. Jesus had lots of key conversations during meals. When did one of your neighbours last invite you in for dinner? When did you last knock on a neighbour’s door or a colleague at work’s door to ask how they are? When did you last invite a neighbour or colleague to lunch?
The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. There’s a harvest field of mission on our doorsteps and yes there will be some hostility towards us because of our faith in Jesus, but there will also be opportunities to share hospitality as we go looking for men and women of peace.
Now for the really challenging bit! Jesus said to the 72, “Eat what is set before you. Heal the sick who are there” (10:9). So it seems that Jesus literally expected his team to go and do the work that he was doing.
Jesus didn’t have some kind of second rate or scaled down work for a group of apprentices. Far from it! He sent out ambassadors not apprentices. Each team of two was commissioned to go and heal the sick and at this point some of you are thinking, “Yes oh yes, pick me; pick me!” and some will be thinking, “You must be kidding.” Some of you are thinking that aren’t you?
A problem for us is that generally speaking the church has forgotten what it means to make disciples, and we disciples have either forgotten or never learned what it means to pray for the sick; and I say this as a disciple of Jesus who is still very much a work in progress and myself in need of healing; but note this: As Jesus sent out the 72 …prayer and healing for the sick was to be part of the mission out in the harvest field. The teams were to pray for healing as an outworking of the mission. So instead of asking, “What would Jesus do?” May I encourage us to say, “Let’s do what Jesus did!”
But isn’t it going to be embarrassing? Won’t I get tongue-tied? I’ve never prayed for anyone before in my life. Well, not whilst they’re sitting in a chair opposite me, or standing in the playground next to me, or walking in the park with me!
On one occasion – shortly before his death the crucifixion - as Jesus continued to prepare his disciples, his ambassadors, for the future he said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12). My intention this morning is not to spend half an hour explaining that statement of Jesus but on another occasion I will. Today I just want to say this means if we have faith in Jesus we will do all of the things he did, together, not alone; and as we together do the things that Jesus did the results – according to Jesus not me – will be stunning. I can see you’ve questions and I’ll say more another time.
Right now I want to ask a question, give an answer, and demonstrate how we can put it into practice.
In 2014 how can we seek to put into practice our vision to know Jesus better and to make him better known? I’d like us all to focus on this: Pray for opportunities, and watch out for opportunities to use this question, motivated by love and compassion: Can I pray for you? And by this I don’t just mean pray quietly for someone when you flop into bed at the end of the day. Do that too! But I mean – when possible - offer to pray and have a go right there, right then. Yes, I can think of lots of reasons and objections as to why I shouldn’t, why I couldn’t and why I wouldn’t; and I’m sure you can too; but if you’re sharing hospitality with a friend, a neighbour, a colleague, a client or a family member and they tell you about their situation …prayer is a most loving, wonderful and tangible way in which God will reach out to them through you. Try it and see what happens; but don’t just try it once.
If I’d only ever tried to learn to swim once then I would have sunk last Tuesday when I donned my goggles and my swim shorts at Basildon Sporting Village. Or if I’d only ever tried to learn to ride a bike once, then I would still be using stabilisers to this day. As it is I’m not an Olympic standard swimmer or cyclist but I can do both proficiently; and the good news is that it is much easier to learn how to pray for someone than it is to learn to ride a bike, swim or drive a car.
Christ Church …prayer for healing is not primarily for the ten minutes at the end of a worship service, but it does include that. Healing prayer is for every day, and when I say healing I mean healing in body, mind or spirit. Sometimes when I do this a person is physically healed. Sometimes they’re not; but every time we pray God does something in the life of the person we’re showing love to; and the prayer can be very simple. I learned this from Robbie Dawkins who leads Aurora Vineyard in the USA and he prays like this:
(Note to the reader: My wife and a couple of other people volunteered to be prayed for at this point)
“Father God I thank you for Moira and I thank you for your healing power. I speak healing, health and wholeness to her foot in Jesus’ name. Amen.” I’ll say more about this in the weeks ahead but can we pray like that? It doesn’t need to be those precise words. It’s not a formula; but can we ask to pray for people and then actually pray? Try it over coffee or during the peace in a few minutes! Healing is an outworking of mission and as prayers are answered and we speak of Jesus, we can encourage those same people by telling them, “The kingdom of God is near you” (10:9). That’s heaven’s kingdom proclaimed in mission.
How would I summarise the message of Jesus? Like this: In the harvest field of mission we may face hostility; but we will also find hospitality prepared and healing shared; as Heaven's kingdom is declared! In the harvest field of mission we may face hostility; but we will also find hospitality prepared and healing shared; as Heaven's kingdom is declared! Amen!
