"Reach Out Your Hand To Another"

6th Sunday after Pentecost

July 8th

Proper 9 C

Lectionary 14

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

"Reach out your hand to another"

"After this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to come. And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and salute no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ’Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace shall rest upon him; but if not, it shall return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages; do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you; heal the sick in it and say to them, ’The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ’Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off against you; nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’" Luke 10:1-11, RSV.

""He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me." The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."" Luke 10:16-20, RSV.

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen

I know this is something we don’t do in Lutheran churches very easily, but I would like you to right now, shake the hand of the person sitting next to you. You don’t have to share the peace, just shake their hand.

Good, now look that person in the eyes and answer this question, Am I my brother’s keeper?

What do you think? Are you the keeper, the helper of that person sitting right next to you?

In the 4th chapter of Genesis Cain asks God, verse 10, "Am I my brother’s keeper?" as God asked Cain where Abel was.

God’s answer to that specific question was answered loud and clear through Jesus with a resounding Yes.

I am my brother’s keeper or guardian or protector. We are to be concerned about others because God was concerned about us through Christ and loved us so much that his Son died on a cross.

Through Christ, God looks at us with love. Through Christ God looks past our sins and sees you and I as His creation, his people, his children. He loves us with an over powering love. A love that never ends. A love which keeps on loving just as a mother’s love keeps on loving her children no matter what.

An example of this kind of love is seen in the following. God’s love is like this for us and in turn out love should be like this for our neighbor.

"A poor sharecropping family in Georgia had a little money left over after the harvest so they got of an old Sears catalog and tried to pick out something everyone in the family would like and enjoy. After much discussion, they decided to get a mirror.

The mirror arrived and each took a turn looking in it. The father frowned, mother smile, and the baby giggled.

Young Willie was the last to look in the mirror. As he looked he was taken back by what he saw. It was the first time he had really seen himself. He didn’t know whether to frown or cry. Willie had been kicked by a mule when he was a tiny baby; his face was distorted, scarred and deformed. "Mom", Willie finally asked in a shaky voice," did you know all the time that I looked like this?"

The mother answered, "Yes Willie I knew."

"And you still loved me?" he replied.

"Yes Willie," I still loved you," his mother said, "The face didn’t make no difference. I love you because you’re mine."

Willie’s mom loved him no matter what. We are to love, take care of, protect others with that same kind of love. A selfless Christ kind of love.