The Sending Plan
Sermon
The Advocate
Gospel Sermons For Sundays After Pentecost (First Third)
In his sermon at the hometown synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus preached to the hometown folks -- family and friends who rejected him. One of the reasons for rejection was apparently overfamiliarity. Jesus went about healing, casting out demons, and preaching the need for repentance. Some people rejoiced. The hometown folks were offended.
Jesus was rejected in his own hometown. Therefore Jesus made plans to send others out in his name. We pick up the story in verse 6: "And he was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits."
When Jesus was rejected in Nazareth, he saw it as a sign of what was to come -- his suffering, death, and resurrection. When he was gone, others would have to carry on the work of salvation by offering healing, casting out demons, and preaching the gospel. Jesus began to execute a new plan by sending out the twelve apostles two by two. Later he would send out seventy (Luke 10:1-12) and then commission the whole church to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). The plan of bringing salvation would be the same plan Jesus followed. Jesus' followers are called to heal the sick, cast out demons, and preach about repentance and forgiveness, just as Jesus himself did; but before receiving the Good News, people would need to be aware of their need for salvation.
People would need to know their need before they would accept Christ's way of salvation. They would need to know their sickness, their struggle with demonic forces, and their sin before they would accept salvation from the Savior. People would need to become aware of their predicament.
In his sermon to the graduates of Union Theological Seminary in New York City, theologian Paul Tillich preached on the theme of healing, casting out demons, and leading people to faith. He told the graduating seminarians that they would experience difficulties as they went to their new parishes with this message of healing, casting out demons, and repentance. Why would there be difficulties? Many people say that they do not need to be healed; many laugh at the absurdity of casting out demons that rule their lives; and many reject the idea of their need to trust in Christ for salvation. "Therefore," Tillich said, "the first task of the minister is to make people aware of their predicament."1
The Predicament Of Sickness
It is hard to heal those who are sick, especially if they don't believe that they are sick. It is hard to heal when you yourself are sick. It is so hard that no one can accomplish the task of healing -- at least not by human power alone. Healing and cleansing are the work of God.
Some of the difficulty with this predicament comes from the multitude of misunderstandings about healing. One misunderstanding comes from how you define healing. The Bible defines healing in terms of salvation. To be saved does not just mean going to heaven. Salvation means wholeness. Wholeness includes the body. The Bible defines healing in wholistic terms.
Another misunderstanding comes from establishng who is to do this healing. Jesus' view is that healing is not limited to professionals. Jesus sent his followers out to heal. Some people see healing as limited to the body. They are aware of physical pain and suffering, and see doctors, nurses, and hospitals as the only means of dealing with their maladies. Some people are not aware of the mental and spiritual sides of healing, and some are not aware of the fact that faith can play a major role in healing.
Disease literally means "not at ease." Disease is disharmony, disturbance, dysfunction, derangement, or disunity in the parts of the whole person. Healing means restoration of the unity of the body, the mind, and the spirit. The disease which seems bodily may be mental at root; the disease which seems mental may be spiritual; the disease which seems individual may be social at the same time. The human spirit must be reunited with the God's divine Spirit for wholeness to be restored. That's why repentance is mentioned with healing in this text.
"Heal the sick" means to help people regain their lives as a whole. For example, standing in front of a starving man while preaching the gospel, but neglecting to feed him, adds to his sickness rather than restores his health. For a medical doctor to take out a stomach ulcer, but to neglect the condition which gave rise to the ulcer -- whether it is spiritual, psychological, or sociological -- is far less than the healing Jesus calls for. Healers are called to do more.
Miracle healings occur, but that is not the central meaning of the command that we should go forth and heal people. The meaning is deeper and wider than that. If health is the power of unity of the divergent trends of our physical, mental, and spiritual dimensions, and disease is the disruption of that unity, then healing is the act of reuniting these trends.
While the Christian may be thinking of faith in spiritual areas most of the time, working exclusively there is not following Jesus' command to heal. Jesus was a Jew. Hebrew thinking says that man is a whole -- body, mind, and spirit. You cannot heal one part without factoring in the dimensions of the other parts.
Dr. Lou Kettel, Dean of the College of Medicine at the University of Arizona, described wholistic medicine this way: "The patient's physical well-being, mental well-being, and spiritual well-being are the three traditional aspects of whole person care. Regardless of who treats the patient, all who care must deal with the whole patient."
Healing is a ministry of God. Jesus commanded that we bring healing to one another by his power. We protest: "We can't do that. We are too flawed ourselves to heal others." Flawed or not, we, like the original twelve apostles, are sent to bring healing to the body, mind, and spirit. God is the one who brings healing. He brings healing to us and then sends us forth that it might touch others through us.
Henri Nouwen says that we are "wounded healers,"2 healers who are in need of healing ourselves, casting out evil forces and at the same time in need of cleansing. That is why we need Christ as our Lord and Savior.
Jesus sends his followers out to heal, facing the predicament of sickness. He also sends us to cast out demons, facing the predicament of evil.
The Predicament Of Evil
We do not fully understand the nature of demons or their arenas of activity in the interior dimensions of the human being or the exterior dimensions of what Saint Paul calls "the powers of the air" (Ephesians 2:2) or "the Principalities and Powers" (Ephesians 1:21; 6:12; Romans 8:38; Colossians 1:16; 2:10; 2:15). In the baptismal service parents are asked to renounce "the Devil and all his ways," because we recognize that there is a power of evil within us and around us which is stronger than we are. There is a lot which we don't know about the powers of evil. One thing we do know: demons divide. Division is the sign of demons. Wholeness is the sign of cleansing. Disease is division.
The interrelationship between bodily, mental, and spiritual diseases was fully understood by Jesus. We do not understand it fully. Sometimes the only way to heal is to cast out a demon or a whole host of them. For example, the demon of resentment needs to be cast out.
Resentment is internalized anger. If we have resentment for a short time, after something unjust or unfair happens to us or a loved one, that is natural, but if we cling to a resentment for months or years, we do serious damage to our health. Division sets in.
Revenge is another demon of immeasurable power. Revenge takes possession of us, runs us, drives us, and controls us! "We have a right to it," we protest. "Look at what so-and-so" (or more descriptively, "that so-and-so") has done to me." Revenge gets a foothold, encourages us to hold onto it, grows in stature and control, begins to take possession of our life, and eventually says, "You are mine; you belong to me." Unless this demon is cast out, division sets in.
Lust is a demon too. Starting naturally as a sexual desire, it can take over the mind of a person, gaining control, making everything stand behind it in importance and ruining many a life. Martin Luther said: "You can't keep the birds of temptation from flying over your head; but you can keep them from building a nest in your head." He was talking about sexual temptations which can become lust. When we don't stop sexual temptations early, they make their home in our minds and become demons. People are subject to the divisive invasion of the demons called lust.
If you are still not sure of the reality of demons, ask a recovering alcoholic how his or her condition was produced, or how difficult it is to overcome; or ask someone who is trying to recover from the power of drug addiction about the battles in the human soul between good and evil. A person who was struggling with addiction recently told me, "I don't know why I did it again. I don't know what made me do it. I felt out of control, as if there was another me fighting what I wanted to do." Division sets in. Our personal lives are deeply affected by divisions.
Jesus says, "Cast out the demons." "We can't do it," we reply. "You are right," he responds. "Demons are too strong for you. I'll do it, but I'll do it to you and then through you. I'll do it through the Christian community. You are called to work together, not alone." That is why Jesus sent the disciples out in twos, so that they could do together what they could not do alone.
I try to play racquetball twice a week. It gives me a good balance for the work I do and helps me to control diabetes, a disease I have had since 1986. I find that I play better when I have a partner. In singles, I have lost a step or two (or three) in recent years, and I am not as quick as I used to be. In doubles that is still a problem, but my partner helps cover for my mistakes. My partner covers my errors. I always play better when someone is playing with me as a partner. The same thing holds true for the Christian life. We need one another to do the work we are called to do. Jesus' plan calls for partnerships.
People may laugh at us as we go forth to fight the predicament of evil in human hearts like so many Don Quixotes fighting so many apparent windmills, trying and so often failing to bring good where evil has reigned, seeking treasure where there is only trash, seeking beauty where there is only ugliness, seeking to cleanse evil spirits where people see none. Many are not aware of their predicament with the powers of evil and many are not aware of the predicament of sin.
The Predicament Of Sin
The problem in Nazareth was the refusal to acknowledge sin and therefore not knowing their need for a Savior. The people in Nazareth were filled with illusions about God because they did not accept Christ as Savior and Lord. These Nazarenes have many counterparts today, people who say that they believe in some kind of God but who do not trust Christ for salvation. Many are not aware of their predicament with sin. Therefore, they don't confess Christ as Savior.
Jesus told the twelve apostles to go out for him healing and casting out demons. He also told them to preach the gospel of repentance and forgiveness by casting out the demon of unbelief -- the one he himself faced in his hometown of Nazareth. Hearing Jesus' call, the twelve went out and spoke clearly. "They went out and preached that people should repent" (Mark 6:12), following Jesus' plan of salvation.
The new sending plan was that believers should do what they saw Jesus do, call people to repentance. Metanoia is the Greek word which we translate repentance. It literally means "to turn around and head back to God." Jesus Christ is the One who makes this possible for us. Jesus preached and taught repentance. We are called to do the same.
The new sending plan was that Jesus' followers should go out together. That's why Jesus sent the apostles out two by two. Why go together? Couldn't more territory be covered if they went out alone? Yes, but Jesus did not send the disciples alone. They needed one another for support. They were sent two by two because the plan of salvation includes community. We need one another.
The new sending plan was that the believers would be empowered to do the work of Christ. When Jesus was rejected in Nazareth and then talked to the apostles about the new plan of using the apostles and other Christians to spread the message, they protested, "But we are so limited, so flawed, so weak." And they were right!
A story is told about what happened in heaven after Jesus ascended there. Jesus told the angels about his plan to have his disciples go out in his name and heal, cast out demons, and preach the good news so that the world would believe. "That's very interesting," one angel observed, "but they will never do it. They are too sinful, flawed, and weak. What is Plan B?" "There is no Plan B," Jesus replied. "Sending out my followers in my name is the only plan I have."
To our protest, "We can't do it," Jesus responds, "You are quite right. You are not strong enough, but I will do it to you; then I will do it through you."
Jesus repeatedly said, "Come unto me." He also said, "Go for me." The church is not only called to be a welcome place, it is also called to be a sending place. Jesus' plan is to welcome sinners into his church and then send his church out to the world. Jesus says, "Heal the sick, cast out the demons, preach the good news. Do it together so that you don't get too discouraged. Do it by my power, because your power is insufficient, but do it." Jesus does the sending; we do the going.
Precariously situated Don Quixote-like colleagues, let us go forth:
the flawed but faithful people of God,
caring Christians,
wounded healers who need help,
totally dependent on Christ,
singing as we go,
our song of life:
"Kyrie Eleison,"
"Lord, have mercy."
____________
1. Tillich, Paul, The Eternal Now (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1963), p. 58.
2. Nouwen, Henri, The Wounded Healer (New York: Doubleday, 1972).
Jesus was rejected in his own hometown. Therefore Jesus made plans to send others out in his name. We pick up the story in verse 6: "And he was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits."
When Jesus was rejected in Nazareth, he saw it as a sign of what was to come -- his suffering, death, and resurrection. When he was gone, others would have to carry on the work of salvation by offering healing, casting out demons, and preaching the gospel. Jesus began to execute a new plan by sending out the twelve apostles two by two. Later he would send out seventy (Luke 10:1-12) and then commission the whole church to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). The plan of bringing salvation would be the same plan Jesus followed. Jesus' followers are called to heal the sick, cast out demons, and preach about repentance and forgiveness, just as Jesus himself did; but before receiving the Good News, people would need to be aware of their need for salvation.
People would need to know their need before they would accept Christ's way of salvation. They would need to know their sickness, their struggle with demonic forces, and their sin before they would accept salvation from the Savior. People would need to become aware of their predicament.
In his sermon to the graduates of Union Theological Seminary in New York City, theologian Paul Tillich preached on the theme of healing, casting out demons, and leading people to faith. He told the graduating seminarians that they would experience difficulties as they went to their new parishes with this message of healing, casting out demons, and repentance. Why would there be difficulties? Many people say that they do not need to be healed; many laugh at the absurdity of casting out demons that rule their lives; and many reject the idea of their need to trust in Christ for salvation. "Therefore," Tillich said, "the first task of the minister is to make people aware of their predicament."1
The Predicament Of Sickness
It is hard to heal those who are sick, especially if they don't believe that they are sick. It is hard to heal when you yourself are sick. It is so hard that no one can accomplish the task of healing -- at least not by human power alone. Healing and cleansing are the work of God.
Some of the difficulty with this predicament comes from the multitude of misunderstandings about healing. One misunderstanding comes from how you define healing. The Bible defines healing in terms of salvation. To be saved does not just mean going to heaven. Salvation means wholeness. Wholeness includes the body. The Bible defines healing in wholistic terms.
Another misunderstanding comes from establishng who is to do this healing. Jesus' view is that healing is not limited to professionals. Jesus sent his followers out to heal. Some people see healing as limited to the body. They are aware of physical pain and suffering, and see doctors, nurses, and hospitals as the only means of dealing with their maladies. Some people are not aware of the mental and spiritual sides of healing, and some are not aware of the fact that faith can play a major role in healing.
Disease literally means "not at ease." Disease is disharmony, disturbance, dysfunction, derangement, or disunity in the parts of the whole person. Healing means restoration of the unity of the body, the mind, and the spirit. The disease which seems bodily may be mental at root; the disease which seems mental may be spiritual; the disease which seems individual may be social at the same time. The human spirit must be reunited with the God's divine Spirit for wholeness to be restored. That's why repentance is mentioned with healing in this text.
"Heal the sick" means to help people regain their lives as a whole. For example, standing in front of a starving man while preaching the gospel, but neglecting to feed him, adds to his sickness rather than restores his health. For a medical doctor to take out a stomach ulcer, but to neglect the condition which gave rise to the ulcer -- whether it is spiritual, psychological, or sociological -- is far less than the healing Jesus calls for. Healers are called to do more.
Miracle healings occur, but that is not the central meaning of the command that we should go forth and heal people. The meaning is deeper and wider than that. If health is the power of unity of the divergent trends of our physical, mental, and spiritual dimensions, and disease is the disruption of that unity, then healing is the act of reuniting these trends.
While the Christian may be thinking of faith in spiritual areas most of the time, working exclusively there is not following Jesus' command to heal. Jesus was a Jew. Hebrew thinking says that man is a whole -- body, mind, and spirit. You cannot heal one part without factoring in the dimensions of the other parts.
Dr. Lou Kettel, Dean of the College of Medicine at the University of Arizona, described wholistic medicine this way: "The patient's physical well-being, mental well-being, and spiritual well-being are the three traditional aspects of whole person care. Regardless of who treats the patient, all who care must deal with the whole patient."
Healing is a ministry of God. Jesus commanded that we bring healing to one another by his power. We protest: "We can't do that. We are too flawed ourselves to heal others." Flawed or not, we, like the original twelve apostles, are sent to bring healing to the body, mind, and spirit. God is the one who brings healing. He brings healing to us and then sends us forth that it might touch others through us.
Henri Nouwen says that we are "wounded healers,"2 healers who are in need of healing ourselves, casting out evil forces and at the same time in need of cleansing. That is why we need Christ as our Lord and Savior.
Jesus sends his followers out to heal, facing the predicament of sickness. He also sends us to cast out demons, facing the predicament of evil.
The Predicament Of Evil
We do not fully understand the nature of demons or their arenas of activity in the interior dimensions of the human being or the exterior dimensions of what Saint Paul calls "the powers of the air" (Ephesians 2:2) or "the Principalities and Powers" (Ephesians 1:21; 6:12; Romans 8:38; Colossians 1:16; 2:10; 2:15). In the baptismal service parents are asked to renounce "the Devil and all his ways," because we recognize that there is a power of evil within us and around us which is stronger than we are. There is a lot which we don't know about the powers of evil. One thing we do know: demons divide. Division is the sign of demons. Wholeness is the sign of cleansing. Disease is division.
The interrelationship between bodily, mental, and spiritual diseases was fully understood by Jesus. We do not understand it fully. Sometimes the only way to heal is to cast out a demon or a whole host of them. For example, the demon of resentment needs to be cast out.
Resentment is internalized anger. If we have resentment for a short time, after something unjust or unfair happens to us or a loved one, that is natural, but if we cling to a resentment for months or years, we do serious damage to our health. Division sets in.
Revenge is another demon of immeasurable power. Revenge takes possession of us, runs us, drives us, and controls us! "We have a right to it," we protest. "Look at what so-and-so" (or more descriptively, "that so-and-so") has done to me." Revenge gets a foothold, encourages us to hold onto it, grows in stature and control, begins to take possession of our life, and eventually says, "You are mine; you belong to me." Unless this demon is cast out, division sets in.
Lust is a demon too. Starting naturally as a sexual desire, it can take over the mind of a person, gaining control, making everything stand behind it in importance and ruining many a life. Martin Luther said: "You can't keep the birds of temptation from flying over your head; but you can keep them from building a nest in your head." He was talking about sexual temptations which can become lust. When we don't stop sexual temptations early, they make their home in our minds and become demons. People are subject to the divisive invasion of the demons called lust.
If you are still not sure of the reality of demons, ask a recovering alcoholic how his or her condition was produced, or how difficult it is to overcome; or ask someone who is trying to recover from the power of drug addiction about the battles in the human soul between good and evil. A person who was struggling with addiction recently told me, "I don't know why I did it again. I don't know what made me do it. I felt out of control, as if there was another me fighting what I wanted to do." Division sets in. Our personal lives are deeply affected by divisions.
Jesus says, "Cast out the demons." "We can't do it," we reply. "You are right," he responds. "Demons are too strong for you. I'll do it, but I'll do it to you and then through you. I'll do it through the Christian community. You are called to work together, not alone." That is why Jesus sent the disciples out in twos, so that they could do together what they could not do alone.
I try to play racquetball twice a week. It gives me a good balance for the work I do and helps me to control diabetes, a disease I have had since 1986. I find that I play better when I have a partner. In singles, I have lost a step or two (or three) in recent years, and I am not as quick as I used to be. In doubles that is still a problem, but my partner helps cover for my mistakes. My partner covers my errors. I always play better when someone is playing with me as a partner. The same thing holds true for the Christian life. We need one another to do the work we are called to do. Jesus' plan calls for partnerships.
People may laugh at us as we go forth to fight the predicament of evil in human hearts like so many Don Quixotes fighting so many apparent windmills, trying and so often failing to bring good where evil has reigned, seeking treasure where there is only trash, seeking beauty where there is only ugliness, seeking to cleanse evil spirits where people see none. Many are not aware of their predicament with the powers of evil and many are not aware of the predicament of sin.
The Predicament Of Sin
The problem in Nazareth was the refusal to acknowledge sin and therefore not knowing their need for a Savior. The people in Nazareth were filled with illusions about God because they did not accept Christ as Savior and Lord. These Nazarenes have many counterparts today, people who say that they believe in some kind of God but who do not trust Christ for salvation. Many are not aware of their predicament with sin. Therefore, they don't confess Christ as Savior.
Jesus told the twelve apostles to go out for him healing and casting out demons. He also told them to preach the gospel of repentance and forgiveness by casting out the demon of unbelief -- the one he himself faced in his hometown of Nazareth. Hearing Jesus' call, the twelve went out and spoke clearly. "They went out and preached that people should repent" (Mark 6:12), following Jesus' plan of salvation.
The new sending plan was that believers should do what they saw Jesus do, call people to repentance. Metanoia is the Greek word which we translate repentance. It literally means "to turn around and head back to God." Jesus Christ is the One who makes this possible for us. Jesus preached and taught repentance. We are called to do the same.
The new sending plan was that Jesus' followers should go out together. That's why Jesus sent the apostles out two by two. Why go together? Couldn't more territory be covered if they went out alone? Yes, but Jesus did not send the disciples alone. They needed one another for support. They were sent two by two because the plan of salvation includes community. We need one another.
The new sending plan was that the believers would be empowered to do the work of Christ. When Jesus was rejected in Nazareth and then talked to the apostles about the new plan of using the apostles and other Christians to spread the message, they protested, "But we are so limited, so flawed, so weak." And they were right!
A story is told about what happened in heaven after Jesus ascended there. Jesus told the angels about his plan to have his disciples go out in his name and heal, cast out demons, and preach the good news so that the world would believe. "That's very interesting," one angel observed, "but they will never do it. They are too sinful, flawed, and weak. What is Plan B?" "There is no Plan B," Jesus replied. "Sending out my followers in my name is the only plan I have."
To our protest, "We can't do it," Jesus responds, "You are quite right. You are not strong enough, but I will do it to you; then I will do it through you."
Jesus repeatedly said, "Come unto me." He also said, "Go for me." The church is not only called to be a welcome place, it is also called to be a sending place. Jesus' plan is to welcome sinners into his church and then send his church out to the world. Jesus says, "Heal the sick, cast out the demons, preach the good news. Do it together so that you don't get too discouraged. Do it by my power, because your power is insufficient, but do it." Jesus does the sending; we do the going.
Precariously situated Don Quixote-like colleagues, let us go forth:
the flawed but faithful people of God,
caring Christians,
wounded healers who need help,
totally dependent on Christ,
singing as we go,
our song of life:
"Kyrie Eleison,"
"Lord, have mercy."
____________
1. Tillich, Paul, The Eternal Now (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1963), p. 58.
2. Nouwen, Henri, The Wounded Healer (New York: Doubleday, 1972).
