After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2 He said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. 3 Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” 6 And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9 cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 “Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.” 12 I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town. Luke 10:1-12
As a boy, one of my chores this time of year was the harvesting of the garden and the various trees in the back yard. When my parents felt the produce was ripe, I was sent out with baskets to collect and harvest everything I was told to harvest. I dug up the potatoes and put them in a crock. I picked the apples and the tomatoes and put them in bushel baskets. I broke off the pea pods and placed them in a metal colander. When the time came to harvest, I was sent out with an empty container and told to get everything I could, while the time was right and the produce ripe.
Just as I was sent out to harvest by my parents, so too are we sent out to harvest by God. But while I was sent for vegetables and fruit, the Lord of the harvest sends out laborers into all his creation. Just as I was the only child at home to do the enormous task of harvesting a large garden and orchard, so too is God’s harvest plentiful but the laborers are few. God sends us out not for the corn, but sends us out for lost children of God.
Are we all to go out or only some whose specific purpose is to do so? While this may or may not be the question on many Christian’s hearts and minds, I wish not to answer it, but ask maybe a different question. Did Jesus go out for us all? Then why don’t we all go out for Jesus? Jesus’ obedience was not just to obey the will of his Father to go out, but Jesus’ love was that he went out for everyone. Instead of some obnoxious rule of what is right or wrong for all Christians when it comes to mission, let us replace it with a knowledge of God who is mission incarnate in Christ Jesus. Since he came for us all, then let us all go out for him.
Are we to go out into our community or some other one? While this may or may not be yet another question on many hearts and minds, I again wish not to answer it, but ask maybe a different question. Did Jesus go only to Nazareth? Then why don’t we go everywhere for Jesus? Jesus didn’t just stay in his home town, he went to others as well. Instead of some rule of what is right or wrong for all Christians when it comes to their mission field, (if we have one at all), let us replace it with a knowledge of God whose field to harvest is all of creation. Since Jesus went into all creation, let us all go everywhere for him.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, while I share with you all no small amount of trepidation or anxiety when it comes to mission work, we all share the common purpose given to us in Jesus Christ, to be laborers sent out into the harvest field to collect the Lord of the Harvest’s bounty. While I might want to hide behind the readymade excuse of “I am not called to go out,” in Christ Jesus we see God coming to us all, so that we all might go out. While I might want to take shelter in the pretext of “I am not called to go there,” in Christ Jesus we see God going every place we are, so that we might go everywhere he is. Therefore, let us not dwell in our apprehensions and hesitations about being sent out and being sent out where we do not want to go, let us dwell in Christ Jesus through faith and we will find ourselves being Children of God having already gone out.
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