Proper 9
Preaching
Preaching Luke's Gospel
A Narrative Approach
Chapters 9 and 10 of Luke are much occupied with the disciples. In 9:1-6 Jesus sent out the twelve with power and authority over demons and diseases. The disciples were sent out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal. In 9:51 Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem and sent his messengers ahead of him to prepare his way. In today's text the mission is expanded. The Lord appointed 70 (or 72) and sent them ahead of his face to every town and place where he was about to come. He sent them, that is, to prepare his way as John had done at the beginning (Luke 1:14-17, 17; 3:4; 7:27). More people must be sent out to prepare for the Lord because the harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few. The agricultural imagery here reminds us of the story of the Parable of the Sower in Luke 8:4-8. The harvest may be a reference to Joel 3:1-13 and/or Isaiah 27:11-12.
There is a textual problem with the number of those sent. Commentators are not of one mind on the solution to this issue. Robert Tannehill prefers the number 72:
Seventy-two agrees with the number of the nations of the world according to the LXX of Genesis 10, the number of the elders who prepared the LXX ... and the number of the princes and languages in the world according to 3 Enoch 17:8, 18:2f, and 30:2. If seventy-two is the original reading, it seems likely that a hint of the future universal mission is intended. The technique used here would resem-ble Acts 2:9-11, where a long list of nations foreshadows the universal mission within the context of the mission to Jews in Jerusalem.1
However we determine the proper number of those sent out it is clear that we are dealing here with a context of mission. The role of preparing the way of the Lord shifts from John the Baptist to those whom Jesus sends before his face. Tannehill argues that aspects of Luke 10:1-24 provide a model for the mission of the church in Acts.2 A fundamental aspect of John the Baptist's mission was to proclaim a message of repentance and forgiveness (3:3). As we have seen in Chapter 4 the mission of repentance and forgiveness is the message that Jesus also commissioned his disciples to proclaim (24:44-49, 47). This is also the heart of the message of the preaching of Peter on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-40, 38). The missionary message stays remarkably the same throughout Luke's telling of the story of mission.
The mission of the 72 was to prepare the way for people to receive or not to receive Jesus' coming. Jesus' own townsfolk did not receive him (4:22-30). The Samaritans did not receive him (9:53). The list of those who do receive Jesus includes Martha (10:38) and Zacchaeus (19:6). This language of reception also occurs in the Book of Acts (8:14; 11:1; 17:11). The book of Acts also lifts up those who receive the early missionaries with hospitality.
David Tiede calls the verses before us this week a "handbook on evangelism." The word of the missionary-evangelist is "Peace to this house!" (10:5). We remember the word of the angels in Luke's Gospel: "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!" (Luke 2:14. See also 7:50; 8:48.) We are to understand this message as carrying out the performative character of the word that we have discussed earlier. With this announcement peace comes to the house. The Word of God does what it says. Missionary work is the work of procla-mation. Mission begins with the good news announcement of peace. When the missionary speaks of peace, he or she speaks in the name of God. "Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me" (10:16).
Missionaries go to houses (v. 5) and towns (v. 8). Missionary work is a public work, a public proclamation of peace. That's the kind of religion that Christianity is. Its message is public. It is meant for all. It is the first thing we say to people. This is in stark contrast to the many cults in our world today whose basic message is private and intended only for the ears of the initiates. Cults have one message for the public and quite another for the private meetings with their adherents. The message of Christianity, the message carried by our missionaries, is the same message in public and in private: "Peace to this house!"
The mission described in today's text met with great success. The 72 were overjoyed: "Lord, in your name, even the demons submit to us!" (10:17). The fall of Satan from his throne would appear to be an eschatological sign of the coming of God's reign in the world. This initial mission success will not be sustained, for it is, after all, a mission on the way to Jerusalem; a mission on the way to the cross!
Homiletical Directions
The church is mission and this week we are afforded a wonderful opportunity to undergird the mission challenge. There are many items from these texts which suggest themselves as we discuss the missionary imperative. It may be that you will wish to gather the "points" this week regarding gospel outreach and teach the nature of mission to your congregation.
One narrative approach suggests itself. That approach would seek to depict in narrative form just how deeply imbedded mission is in the Christian story. The story of Christ starts with a missionary by the name of John the Baptist who is to prepare the way of the Lord. The verses that relate to John's mission are cited above.
We might next take up the call of Simon Peter and James and John in Luke 5:1-11. We have commented on this story in Chapter 10. Jesus' call of these men to follow him in order to "catch people" comes immediately upon the inauguration of Jesus' ministry as told in Luke 4. Jesus came to preach the good news of the kingdom of God to many cities (4:43). In order to fulfill this mission Jesus calls followers to go with him on the way.
The story of the call of the twelve in 9:1-6 can also be told in this sequence of stories of mission. This story is not in the Lukan lectionary cycle so it might be well to include it with its companion story that is this week's text.
The stories we have mentioned so far can be told quite simply. The focus should be upon the fact that mission is integral to the nature of Jesus' message. We come next to today's text. Again, tell it with a focus on mission.
In the last chapter of Luke the final words that Jesus speaks to the disciples are mission words. See 24:44-49. Jesus raises a word of caution about mission. No one should undertake a mission task unless that one has been empowered by the Spirit. "Wait in Jerusalem!" Jesus tells his freshly commissioned disciples. They do wait, and on the day of Pentecost the Spirit empowers them to be disciples of Jesus in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. (See Acts 1:4-8; 2:1-40.) Mission is em-powered by Pentecost. Mission is empowered by the Holy Spirit. The book of Acts tells the story of Pentecost in Jerusalem (Acts 2) and of "mini-pentecosts" in Samaria (Acts 8:4-17), and on toward the ends of the earth (Acts 10„11:18; 19:1-7).
Spirit-empowered mission is part of the basic nature of Christian discipleship. That's the message of a whole series of stories in Luke's narrative. A narrative sermon which lifts up this reality might well end in a commissioning word with a prayer for the coming of the Spirit. In prayer we call upon the Holy Spirit to empower our public mission which announces "peace" to all whom we encounter!
____________
1.aRobert C. Tannehill, The Narrative Unity of Luke-Acts, Volume One (Phila-delphia: Fortress Press, 1986), p. 233.
2.aIbid., pp. 233-237.
There is a textual problem with the number of those sent. Commentators are not of one mind on the solution to this issue. Robert Tannehill prefers the number 72:
Seventy-two agrees with the number of the nations of the world according to the LXX of Genesis 10, the number of the elders who prepared the LXX ... and the number of the princes and languages in the world according to 3 Enoch 17:8, 18:2f, and 30:2. If seventy-two is the original reading, it seems likely that a hint of the future universal mission is intended. The technique used here would resem-ble Acts 2:9-11, where a long list of nations foreshadows the universal mission within the context of the mission to Jews in Jerusalem.1
However we determine the proper number of those sent out it is clear that we are dealing here with a context of mission. The role of preparing the way of the Lord shifts from John the Baptist to those whom Jesus sends before his face. Tannehill argues that aspects of Luke 10:1-24 provide a model for the mission of the church in Acts.2 A fundamental aspect of John the Baptist's mission was to proclaim a message of repentance and forgiveness (3:3). As we have seen in Chapter 4 the mission of repentance and forgiveness is the message that Jesus also commissioned his disciples to proclaim (24:44-49, 47). This is also the heart of the message of the preaching of Peter on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-40, 38). The missionary message stays remarkably the same throughout Luke's telling of the story of mission.
The mission of the 72 was to prepare the way for people to receive or not to receive Jesus' coming. Jesus' own townsfolk did not receive him (4:22-30). The Samaritans did not receive him (9:53). The list of those who do receive Jesus includes Martha (10:38) and Zacchaeus (19:6). This language of reception also occurs in the Book of Acts (8:14; 11:1; 17:11). The book of Acts also lifts up those who receive the early missionaries with hospitality.
David Tiede calls the verses before us this week a "handbook on evangelism." The word of the missionary-evangelist is "Peace to this house!" (10:5). We remember the word of the angels in Luke's Gospel: "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!" (Luke 2:14. See also 7:50; 8:48.) We are to understand this message as carrying out the performative character of the word that we have discussed earlier. With this announcement peace comes to the house. The Word of God does what it says. Missionary work is the work of procla-mation. Mission begins with the good news announcement of peace. When the missionary speaks of peace, he or she speaks in the name of God. "Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me" (10:16).
Missionaries go to houses (v. 5) and towns (v. 8). Missionary work is a public work, a public proclamation of peace. That's the kind of religion that Christianity is. Its message is public. It is meant for all. It is the first thing we say to people. This is in stark contrast to the many cults in our world today whose basic message is private and intended only for the ears of the initiates. Cults have one message for the public and quite another for the private meetings with their adherents. The message of Christianity, the message carried by our missionaries, is the same message in public and in private: "Peace to this house!"
The mission described in today's text met with great success. The 72 were overjoyed: "Lord, in your name, even the demons submit to us!" (10:17). The fall of Satan from his throne would appear to be an eschatological sign of the coming of God's reign in the world. This initial mission success will not be sustained, for it is, after all, a mission on the way to Jerusalem; a mission on the way to the cross!
Homiletical Directions
The church is mission and this week we are afforded a wonderful opportunity to undergird the mission challenge. There are many items from these texts which suggest themselves as we discuss the missionary imperative. It may be that you will wish to gather the "points" this week regarding gospel outreach and teach the nature of mission to your congregation.
One narrative approach suggests itself. That approach would seek to depict in narrative form just how deeply imbedded mission is in the Christian story. The story of Christ starts with a missionary by the name of John the Baptist who is to prepare the way of the Lord. The verses that relate to John's mission are cited above.
We might next take up the call of Simon Peter and James and John in Luke 5:1-11. We have commented on this story in Chapter 10. Jesus' call of these men to follow him in order to "catch people" comes immediately upon the inauguration of Jesus' ministry as told in Luke 4. Jesus came to preach the good news of the kingdom of God to many cities (4:43). In order to fulfill this mission Jesus calls followers to go with him on the way.
The story of the call of the twelve in 9:1-6 can also be told in this sequence of stories of mission. This story is not in the Lukan lectionary cycle so it might be well to include it with its companion story that is this week's text.
The stories we have mentioned so far can be told quite simply. The focus should be upon the fact that mission is integral to the nature of Jesus' message. We come next to today's text. Again, tell it with a focus on mission.
In the last chapter of Luke the final words that Jesus speaks to the disciples are mission words. See 24:44-49. Jesus raises a word of caution about mission. No one should undertake a mission task unless that one has been empowered by the Spirit. "Wait in Jerusalem!" Jesus tells his freshly commissioned disciples. They do wait, and on the day of Pentecost the Spirit empowers them to be disciples of Jesus in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. (See Acts 1:4-8; 2:1-40.) Mission is em-powered by Pentecost. Mission is empowered by the Holy Spirit. The book of Acts tells the story of Pentecost in Jerusalem (Acts 2) and of "mini-pentecosts" in Samaria (Acts 8:4-17), and on toward the ends of the earth (Acts 10„11:18; 19:1-7).
Spirit-empowered mission is part of the basic nature of Christian discipleship. That's the message of a whole series of stories in Luke's narrative. A narrative sermon which lifts up this reality might well end in a commissioning word with a prayer for the coming of the Spirit. In prayer we call upon the Holy Spirit to empower our public mission which announces "peace" to all whom we encounter!
____________
1.aRobert C. Tannehill, The Narrative Unity of Luke-Acts, Volume One (Phila-delphia: Fortress Press, 1986), p. 233.
2.aIbid., pp. 233-237.
