Sunday, July 08, 2007

Sunday, July 8, 2007 - Confirmation Sunday

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Well, the three of you may be sitting there breathing a sigh of relief now. I bet you're thinking that when today's service is over, you won't ever have to come to church again. You can sleep in on Sunday mornings, make plans that start before noon, hit the internet for some Sunday-morning surfing, basically do anything BUT come sit in a pew for an hour at 10 in the morning.

And you know what, you're right. You don't have to come to church anymore. In fact, our Gospel lesson for today seems to be saying that you shouldn't. You should actually be going out, not staying in. Well, that's what Jesus told his followers to do. That is, when the time came, Jesus sent his followers to go out into the world, he didn't want them staying in.

That's the goal of baptism, and confirmation, too. In baptism, God wipes out all our past mistakes, promises to be with us forever, comes to live in our hearts so that the promise comes true, and then finishes the whole thing off by telling us to get off our butts and go out into the world. When Jesus was baptized, the first thing that happened was that he was sent out into the desert, and from there to go into the rest of Israel. When Jesus appointed seventy disciples in our Gospel reading this morning, he did so for the express purpose of sending them out. He didn't want them hanging around their hometowns, going to synagogue and just sitting there. He wanted them to get out there, to go where the action was, to bring Jesus' message to the happenin' places. Being a Christian doesn't mean we're supposed to sit at home in front of the TV or computer, or hide away in church on a Sunday morning thinking that's all we have to do. Being a Christian means going out and representing Christ in the world. And so we're sent out.

So what is it, exactly, we're supposed to do when we're out? Well, Jesus tells his followers some very specific things.

The first thing he tells them, which we should also take to apply to us, is to speak words of peace. "Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!'" Shalom is the word in Hebrew, salaam in Arabic. "Yo, peace!" you might say to your friends when you meet them in the halls. These are important words, because this world is sure in serious need of peace. You know better than I do the kind of violence that happens in school, and in people's homes, and on the streets, and Jesus is asking us to go out there and, if we can't stop the violence, at least not contribute to it. Bringing peace to the world means convincing our friends not to get into fights, it means walking away from arguments, it means letting other people have the last word, even if that means people don't respect us as much. And the really important thing, and probably the most difficult, is that when Jesus says we should speak words of peace, he especially means we should be speaking words of peace to the people we're feeling the least peaceful about. To our enemies. Jesus wants you to speak words of peace - to be a peaceful influence- in your home with your brothers or sisters who annoy you, with your parents who are always telling you what to do. Jesus wants you to go out into the world and bring peace to the kids at school who hate you, to bring peace to the teachers who are making your life impossible. Bring peace, speak peace, be peace.

The next thing Jesus tells his disciples to do when he sends them out is kind of strange. He says, "Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you." So, what, does that mean that you always have to eat brussels sprouts if they're served to you? Well, yes, actually. We live in a country and during a time when we can have just about anything we want, especially when it comes to food. I was at a buffet dinner last night, and for dessert, they had six different kinds of cakes! Six! The majority of people in this world don't even get three meals a day, let alone six different kinds of cake. So Jesus is telling us here to be happy with what we're given. Not to ask for more, or for something else that we like better, but to make do with what's put in front of us. It's called sustainable living, being good caretakers of God's earth.

"Cure the sick," is the next thing Jesus says. Get ready to go to medical school! No, I'm kidding. It would be great to have more doctors and nurses, but the sick need more than just physical healing. They need emotional and spiritual healing, too. And you can provide that by spending time with them, by listening to them, and by praying with and for them, by telling them that they are forgiven. No matter how old or young you are, that is a real, concrete, valuable way to bring Jesus' message to the world. Remember what you learned in confirmation class - God is on the side of the loser, the underdog, the weak, the sick, and Jesus is sending you out to tell that to people. And to show that you're on the same side.

So, that's three big things Jesus is sending us out to do. Bring peace. Be happy with what you have. Cure the sick. Sounds simple enough until you realize that Jesus is sending us out, as he describes it, "like lambs into the midst of wolves." Jesus is actually sending us out to bring peace to a world that lives off of violence. Jesus is sending us out to be happy with less in a world that respects you the more you have. Jesus is sending us out to cure the sick in a world that shuns people who are less than perfect, and in need of help.

On the other hand, the disciples were sent out into the same conditions. We live in a world where thug rappers praise the power of the gun; the disciples lived in a world where Roman soldiers put a spear through you if they didn't like the way you looked. In either case, speaking words of peace is dangerous. We live in a world where the more you have, the more respected you are; the disciples lived in a world where the rich had rights and privileges and the poor had nothing. Again, in both cases, being content with less when you could have more was a sign of foolishness and even stupidity. We live in a world where the sick are isolated and we're deathly afraid of contamination - remember SARS?; the disciples lived in a world where the sick could contaminate people not only with their disease, but with their sin as well. Being with the sick, in either case, means being shunned by everyone else. So, really, when you think about it, Jesus is sending us out into the same hostile, unwelcome conditions that he sent the disciples.

But as it turns out, the seventy disciples from our gospel story did pretty well. The writer of Luke tells us that when the disciples came back, they "returned with joy, saying, "Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!"." They must have done well - even though they were sent out without any bags, or extra shoes, no money, nothing - even though they had the absolute barest minimum for their journey, they must have done well because when they came back, they came back with joy. They didn't come back sore, or tired, or disillusioned. They didn't come back beaten up or defeated. They came back with joy, and told Jesus that they were so successful they had the demons on the run.

And they did it because of Jesus. The name of Jesus was what gave them the courage to speak peace, the ability to live on less, the power to heal the sick. Jesus said as much to them. "I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you." I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy and nothing will hurt you. That's a pretty bold promise. But there it is. That's all we need to go out and speak peace, live with less, and heal the sick. The authority of Jesus, that just so happened to have been given to you in your baptism.

So, Jesus is sending you out. From the day you were baptized, he had you pointed in the direction of the door, and now, with your confirmation, he's giving you a kick in the rear. He's sending you out to face the demons of violence, of greed, of sickness. But he's sending you out with his power and his protection. He's sending you out with his Spirit - with the Holy Spirit. This is the same Spirit that allowed Jesus to love Judas, even when he betrayed him with violence. This is the same Spirit that helped Jesus to live in the desert for forty days on only bread and water. This is the same Spirit that healed the sick and comforted the cast-out. This is the same Spirit that was given to you in baptism and will be renewed in you today. And so for that reason, even though it's safer to stay home, even though it's safer to just sit in Church on Sunday morning, Jesus is sending you as "lambs into the midst of wolves," out into the world, to do his work - to speak peace, to live with less, and to heal the sick. You have been blessed with God's Spirit, and you are more than capable of carrying out Christ's mission. The Lord be with you as you go out. Amen.

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