"After this The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place he was about to go." (Luke 10:1 NIV)
"After this..." After what? A good place to begin an examination of a passage is to stop and look ahead and behind. In this case if we look behind we see conflict among Jesus' still naive followers. John and another (probably James) had been arguing about which one was the greatest. In the next scene, perhaps in an effort to prove their worth and gain an advantage over the others, John and James volunteer to wipe out an entire village for failing to show what they deemed was a proper level of respect and hospitality. And, of course, they were those redneck Samaritans--most likely the real reason they wanted to burn them out.
There are numerous interpretations for the above verse and the mission it announces.Missionaries (and we all are missionaries) should be good guests. Missionaries should speak the truth in love and not berate folks for not accepting it. Missionaries should leave the success/failure evaluation of the mission to God. But for me, today at least, I can't get past the fact that Jesus sent them out two by two. If they had each gone to a different village Jesus could have double the coverage--perhaps twice the harvest yielded by the mission.
But the people in the surrounding towns weren't the only people Jesus was trying to reach. His followers needed to learn that the mission was God's, not theirs. Given John and James' propensity to make it all about them, the disciples needed a little accountability. By going in twos they could remind each other about Jesus' rebuke for bad attitude toward Samaritans. They also needed to learn to work together. Jesus' band of followers would include fishermen, tax collectors, physicians, religious zealots, and who knows what else. Jesus wanted them to present a sign of the coming kingdom, not reflect the dysfunctional world he came to renew.
When I went to Sudan in in 2009 I remember feeling very intimidated at the first team meeting because I didn't really know any of the other team members My insecurity in a group of unfamiliar people caused me to immediately start forming opinions about them, most of which proved to be way off the mark. (I have since repented of my neurotic judgments.) Though some of us still don't have a lot in common, we learned to love and respect each other through our common bond as followers of Jesus and our shared commitment to the mission.
Are you actively involved with others in Jesus' mission to transform the world? When was the last time any of us did something for Jesus along side someone we hardly know, if at all? Following Jesus is not intended to be an individual endeavor. We need the accountability (a very Wesleyan notion). We also need encouragement and occasional correction. Perhaps we could enrich our Lenten journey by walking a while with someone we don't really know. And don't worry if you're not sure how it will turn out. Just relax and enjoy the walk. God will determine the outcome.
Blessings,
Larry
In the spirit of using one's gifts to help another (mine being the gift of proofreading), you might want to fix the third sentence in the last paragraph. The first time I read it, I read it wrong because of the simple typos. (And through this type of correction, we are held accountable for our mistakes, whether we meant to make them or not.) :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Karen. That is, indeed, what friends are for.
ReplyDeleteDespite the whole "women are not as great as men" thing and alot of other questionable theological notions, this may be something Mormons have going for them - sending post-high schoolers out into the world in pairs to really experience this kind of faith journey, in the valuable company of someone they will come to know very well and alot of people they don't know at all. I think and wonder about how my life would have been different if I had spent the first two years "out of the nest" in South America with a close friend instead of in a tiny private college sequestered in the hills of Virginia. Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for these posts. I read them and let them run through me as the day unfolds. It is such a great way to be active in the world and remain in prayerful thought. Amen to these beautifully written reminders of how Jesus' behaved in the world, how he displayed his message of love and how engaged others to do the same.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts on this verse in the past have been limited to "I know the Twelve, but what's with this Seventy-Two?" I realized tonight that I need to "draw the circle wider"--the theme of our recent Youth Sunday--when thinking about Jesus' ministry. Maybe that is a good next step in drawing my own circle wider. Now I'm having fun remembering various stories of Jesus and thinking about them with fresh, wide-circle eyes, starting with these Seventy-Two who followed Jesus closely enough to be appointed and sent out by him.
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