July 6 ~ God's Vision is Clear. Following the Mandate of Peace in a Climate of Uncertainty...

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2 Kings 5 :1-14

Psalm 66:1-9

Galatians 6:7-16

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

(The content of this sermon was 100% written in Canada by a human)

Human beings are not comfortable with uncertainty. Not knowing the future, even in the short-term, is one of our greatest sources of anxiety. Today, there is a lot of uncertainty we need to learn to manage – not just from the tariffs and climate change and the wars threatening democracy and calling into question our humanity as a species, but more privately in our own lives. Perhaps you are worried about a symptom and waiting for a test. Perhaps you are wrestling with the relationships in your life. Uncertainty nags at us and wakes us up in the middle of the night.

So when we have times of clarity, they are powerful moments. When we make a connection at work or in therapy, or recognize our priorities, even reach an understanding about how to handle difficult family members, those lightbulbs may feel like gifts. They are resolute steps toward a future that makes more sense. But that clarity rarely comes without effort, or deliberation, without seeking the advice or knowledge of others – just as Jesus did throughout the gospel story. This is where we get lucky: we not only have the teachings of Jesus to remind us of what matters, and the mission we are called to fulfill, but we also have his example of how to find clarity in our own lives.

Today’s gospel reading is one of those powerful, clarifying moments for Jesus, one that clears the way for all who follow him. We see the courageous Jesus who leads without hesitation or fear. The Jesus who gets us moving toward a future of hope and new life. The Jesus who compels us to follow.

This morning’s gospel also helps us to achieve the clarity that we seek so desperately in life. In the 10th chapter of Luke, Jesus calls 70 others and sends them in pairs to all the places where Jesus was planning to go but didn’t have the time. The gospel was really starting to roll along. The message was spreading ahead of Jesus—perhaps too far ahead. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few”.

Today is no different. The craving for the message continues to exist. We are now the seventy. We are now the ones being called. And we are called to go into those places where Jesus goes and intended to go—into universities, businesses, government buildings, gas stations, into every area of life that we walk into. We are called labourers because it won’t be easy: the work of the gospel, requires labour. In a world filled with so much hostility we are called to fulfill a mandate of peace – and not everyone will want to hear it. But Jesus coaches us: “Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandal; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If that peace is not received, carry on.”

Imagine 70 people going in pairs throughout a very diverse countryside where there were tribes of people defined by boundaries that had been fought for throughout the centuries — where fear of the Roman Empire threatened the autonomy of most cultures. Imagine being called to a mandate of peace in the midst of that kind of social climate.

Jesus tells them to persist and stay resilient: to keep sharing the peace with everyone they meet. Where peace was received, it would multiply. But even where it was denied, it would not deplete. The labourers were called to make the most of the place where they landed and to maintain the posture that it was not them, but God, who was doing the work of peace among the people of the communities that they visited.

I can’t tell you how many people I have seen lose sight of the posture that Christ calls us to live with as Christians. We can be proud of what we accomplish. We should be proud as a church community that remains vibrant and spirit-filled. But we should never let it become like the pride of the Syrian general Naaman in our first lesson. Our pride should be well mediated by humility so that it remains a posture of openness to the world, and thankfulness to God. For it is God who gives us the ability to heed the call to fulfill the mandate of peace toward others.

Jesus followed his call from God. Jesus maintained a posture of openness to all people hearing the message that the Reign of God had come near. Jesus fulfilled the mandate of peace.

Jesus lived with the knowledge that he would die being nailed to a cross. He lived with the knowledge of all the wrongdoing that surrounded him in people like the scribes and Pharisees that tried to trip him up; in people like Judas who was supposed to be a friend; in people like Pilate and other authorities who wanted Jesus to submit to their rule. Jesus even knew what it was like to be directly tempted by the devil.

If anyone should have had a cloudy view of the world it was Jesus. He saw the worst of humanity over and over again. Yet we learn in today’s reading that Jesus saw through all of it. He held to a faith in our inherent goodness. He believed we could learn from our mistakes. He had hope for our ability to love and forgive.

God’s vision was clear. And Jesus saw the power of the devil, and the influence of baser tendencies for what they were—nothing in comparison to God’s mercy and peace.

And so what happened to those people sent out by Jesus? The seventy returned joyfully, feeling successful in their mission: people, it appeared, wanted to hear the gospel. And Jesus celebrated their success and urged them to continue.

With all his lessons, Jesus teaches us the concrete steps to achieve clarity in our lives. If we heed God’s call to follow no matter where life places us; if we are truthful to the mandate of peace toward others; and if our posture is rooted in service to and for God - then our lives will be gifted with a clarity that sharpens our vision for freedom and new life.

I don’t know about you, but when I consider the life of Christ and the confidence that Jesus had to live out his life with purpose and integrity I am in awe. It’s the kind of living that inspires me. And Jesus says, to me and to all of you, freely and unconditionally, “Here it is—live it—you’re gonna love it.” Amen