The Mission Trip

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

July 7, 2013

The Mission Trip

Luke 10:1-12

It is a comedy at its best:

three members of Monty Python, the British comedians,

dressed in brilliant red vestments -

clerical garb complete with robes, gloves, and hats.

They stand snarling over an elderly woman,

a woman who looks to be the very picture of

someone’s beloved grandmother,

or a favorite aunt,

a woman with a sweet smile,

forgiving eyes,

whose kitchen you can imagine

always smells of chocolate chip cookies.

She looks bewildered as they growl at her:

“Confess woman.

Confess to the crimes of heresy:

heresy by thought,

heresy by word,

heresy by deed.”

Her face remains serene

even as her voice expresses amazement,

“Well, I never expected the Spanish Inquisition.”

“Ha!” the clerics laugh diabolically,

“Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition!”

It is a classic comedy sketch,

which you can find on YouTube,

still funny after more than 40 years

even as it pokes fun at one of

Christianity’s more shameful chapters,

a brutal, bloody effort in the 15^th and 16^th centuries

to maintain rigid, unquestioning orthodoxy.

We cannot hide the fact that Christian history

is stained with blood,

stained by brutality,

viciousness,

ignorance

bigotry,

war,

countless shameful acts

done in the name of the Prince of Peace.

Looking back on our history raises the question,

did anyone, any clergyman,

any church leader ever bother to read our lesson,

ever make an effort to understand

what Jesus is teaching us in this short passage?

Luke tells us that Jesus sent 70 disciples out in the field,

out ahead of him,

out on a mission trip,

each of them, all of them.

Two by two Jesus sent them,

sent them to cure the sick

and tell the people

“The kingdom of God has come near to you.”

Nothing more, nothing less.

A joyful message, filled with hope.

Jesus’ instructions to them were short and simple:

Bless those who welcome you,

and as for those who don’t welcome you,

those who don’t listen to you,

those who aren’t interested in your message,

let them go and leave them to me,

leave them to God.

Jesus didn’t send the 70 out with tracts;

he didn’t send them out with statements of belief.

He didn’t send them out to have them test people

on their knowledge of Scripture

or whether they interpreted Scripture properly. 

He didn't send them out to picket perceived immorality.

He didn’t send them out with instructions

that they should sign up as many as they could,

and get the names and addresses

of all those who refused to sign up.

Yes, judgment awaits, as Jesus makes clear;

judgment awaits us all,

but judgment belongs solely to Jesus,

solely to God.

                                       

Jesus came to reveal the one who sent him,

came to reveal the Lord our God,

came to reveal God not as an

angry, spiteful, violent,

vengeful, smiting God,

but as a God who was and is

forgiving, merciful,

grace-filled and loving.

This is the God we worship,

the God who calls us to listen to his Son,

who calls us to follow his Son,

who calls us to model our lives on his,

living and sharing grace and love.

living and sharing grace and love

not just here in this community

but everywhere.

We are called by our Lord

to live our lives as though we too

have been sent out,

sent out as though our very lives were a mission trip.

Sent not to convert,

not to convict,

not to criticize or condemn,

and definitely not to judge,

something we do so readily.

We are called and sent

to share the grace and love we’ve been given

by God in Jesus Christ.

Why do we find that so difficult,

so complicated?

If we need a model for how we are to live,

we need look no further than our own children,

especially as they gather with other children

this coming week for our Vacation Bible School.

Most of the almost 100 children we’ll have here

will come from other churches,

other practices,

other creeds.

But it doesn’t matter where they come from;

all that matters is that they are here,

and our call is to welcome them.

Together our children with other children                                    

will spend the week laughing, playing, singing, learning,

modeling Christian love,

modeling Christian community lived in grace.

Our children will learn together,

learn by example,

learn from one another.

Yes, of course, there will be the occasional flare-up

tempers lost, tears shed.

But it never ceases to amaze me how quickly

two children can go from being angry at one another

to being one another’s best friends just a few minutes later.

It isn’t how we interpret Scripture

or whether we abide by certain creeds,

or which denomination we are part of

that matters to our Lord.

What matters is how we live our lives

here and in the world around us.

Are we living by grace?

Are we living with grace?

Are we living by love, with love,

sharing, caring,

lives of mercy and compassion?

Then we can be confident we will hear those words

“well done good and faithful servant.”

But, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount,

Jesus reminded his listeners,

and reminds you and me,

that there will always be those who claim privilege,

superior knowledge and faith,

those who are quick to say,

“Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name,

and cast out demons in your name,

and do many might works in your name?”

To which our Lord will respond,

“I never knew you;

depart from me, you evildoers.”

(Matthew 7:22)

Jesus never knew them,

because they never knew Jesus,

never lived their lives as Jesus called them to live.

                   

Our Lord has work for us to do

as his arms, his hands,

his love, his goodness.

He sends us out, each of us,

into the world on our lifelong mission trip

to feed the hungry,

care for the poor,

tend the sick,

comfort the lonely.

He will lead us, guide us, strengthen us,

and of course nourish us

by inviting us to his Table

to feed us with the bread of life,

and quench our thirst with the cup of salvation.

So come: eat, drink.

For we have work to do, you and I.

Come, be renewed and refreshed

even in the sweltering, draining heat of summer.

Our Lord will feed us

so that he can send us,

send us out as he sent the 70,

telling friend and stranger alike,

“Peace be with you,

for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”

AMEN