Sunday: 6th Sunday after Pentecost
Reading: Luke 10:1-12, 16-20
Preacher: Peter C. Lane

The Rev. Peter C. Lane
Luke 10:1-12, 16-20

I feel a little like the seventy newly minted disciples Luke talks about in our Gospel passage today. Freshly picked, brand new vestments, lots of expectations, needing instruction, sent like a lamb among the wolves. Well, you all aren't like wolves! "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few..." I have the privilege of laboring alongside you.

But, you know, the job is not as prestigious as I thought. I'm a little disappointed. Investigating the 50s and 60s, I learned that when one of my predecessors as Assistant Rector here at 50th and Dorchester had his first day, the Chicago Tribune ran a short article and picture. I, of course, expected the same and eagerly looked in the paper last Sunday to see the picture and article about me. Can you believe there was no article? We've definitely lost some prestige.

And in losing that prestige, we are probably just a tiny bit closer to the situation of the seventy newly minted disciples that Jesus sent out. Our passage today is about discipleship; it is about being the people of God. The Gospel of Luke and its sequel the Acts of the Apostles are all about the beginnings of the Church. The author takes us from the very beginning of Jesus' life to Paul preaching in Rome. First there was just Jesus, then he picked the 12, in our passage he sent out the seventy, in Acts the church blossoms. The number of disciples grew and grew. Grew to the point where today we join those initial seventy.

It's not easy to know how to be a disciple. What were the seventy being sent out to do? What have I been sent here to do? This first blossoming of the church-the sending of the seventy in our passage today-gives us some hints. Because, after Jesus appoints them, he gives some instructions. The most striking of those instructions is what the seventy disciples are supposed to say to people that accept them. "The kingdom of God has come near." And what they were supposed to say to those who do not accept them, "The kingdom of God has come near." They are to proclaim the same thing.

The kingdom of God is near. Isn't that wonderfully frustrating, when something is near, when something is close. When I was a kid I loved when things were near. My grandparents would call to say they were close and I would wait at the corner for them. Or when I used to lead campers on hikes in the Adirondack Mountains, I'd tell them, we're nearly to the top. Nearness includes a wonderful sense of anticipation. But, the kingdom of God that the seventy disciples proclaim is near in a different way. It isn't present; it's just close.

The Kingdom of God is not here. It's close-it's near. And that's the challenge of discipleship-for those seventy in Luke, for me and my brand new collar, for us and our mission in Chicago. How does one proclaim nearness? It is difficult, but we do it. This parish has been proclaiming the nearness of God's kingdom for 148 years and I am confident it will be proclaiming that nearness for 148 more years.Jesus teaches the seventy servants a way of proclaiming the nearness of God's kingdom. The seventy show us the stuff of the nearing kingdom: peace, food, service and proclamation.

When the seventy go out, the first thing they offer is Peace. "Peace to this house." Later in Luke, after the resurrection the first thing Jesus says to his gathered disciples is "Peace be with you." That's how we start. I am glad that last week, my opening words to the congregation were "The peace of the Lord be always with you."

After giving the peace, the seventy eat. Jesus tells them to eat and drink whatever is given to them in whichever house they find themselves. I sense that this parish has got this part down. You all know how to eat. I have not found it a hard place to eat and drink whatever is given. So, disciples-the people of God-offer peace and then they eat together.

Then they cure the sick. They serve. And who do they serve? Whoever is there. Jesus instructs the seventy to "cure the sick who are there." How do we cure the sick? How do we serve? In our jobs, at the schools, with aging parents or difficult children, with affordable housing, in Haiti... There's lots of sick here.

Finally, the seventy proclaim the nearness of the kingdom. Actually, I would suggest that at the end they put the proclamation in words, but really they have been proclaiming the nearness of the kingdom in their actions. In sharing the peace, in eating together, in curing the sick, and only finally in putting into words the nearness of the kingdom.

I feel a little like Jesus' seventy as I jump into the fray with you, as we seek to be disciples, as we proclaim the nearness of God's kingdom. It's often a hard thing to do. It would be easier if we could proclaim something that was here. But yet, we do it. Our Hymn, "Come Labor On" encourages us to carry on, "Away with gloomy doubts and faithless fear! No arm so weak but may do service here: by feeblest agents may our God fulfill his righteous will." It's sometimes hard not to let my doubts and fears triumph. I want the kingdom of God to be here. I feel feeble. I want there to be real peace. I want the hungry to be fed, the naked to be clothed, and the outcast to be welcomed. We want the kingdom of God to be here. It's not. But it's also not a flight of fancy. The kingdom of God has come near. When we offer peace, eat with one another, serve whoever is there, we remind each other of its nearness.

One last thing: The seventy returned with joy. Joy. Being a disciple, eating, serving, proclaiming is not drudgery. It's joyful. That is one of the reasons that although my picture didn't make it into the Tribune, I am glad to be taking my place among you as we seek to remind each other and the world of the nearness of God's kingdom. It's a joy.
AMEN.