“The winged bull (or ox), recognized as the animal of sacrifice, was applied to St. Luke because his Gospel emphasizes the atonement made by Christ’s sacrifice of himself on the Cross. The bull (ox) is also synonymous with service and strength, which reminds us as Christians that we should be prepared to sacrifice ourselves in following Christ.”
Reading – Luke 10:1–9
1After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ 6And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
Hymn of the Day – O Christ, Who Called the Twelve (LSB 856)
1 O Christ, who called the Twelve
To rise and follow You,
Forsaking old, familiar ways
For ventures bold and new:
Grant us to hear Your call
To risk security
And, bound in heart and will to You,
Find perfect liberty.
2 O Christ, who taught the Twelve
The truth for ages sealed,
Whose words and works awakened faith,
The ways of God revealed:
Instruct us now, we pray,
By Your empow’ring Word.
True teacher, be for all who seek
Their light, their life, their Lord.
3 O Christ, who led the Twelve
Among the desolate
And broke as bread of life for all
Your love compassionate:
Lead us along the ways
Where hope has nearly died
And help us climb the lonely hills
Where love is crucified.
4 O Christ, who sent the Twelve
On roads they’d never trod
To serve, to suffer, teach, proclaim
The nearer reign of God:
Send us on ways where faith
Transcends timidity,
Where love informs and hope sustains
Both life and ministry.
5 O Christ, the_apostles’ Lord,
Text: © 1993 GIA Publications, Inc. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License no. 110004659
The martyrs’ strength and song,
The crucified and risen King
To whom the saints belong:
Though generations pass,
Our tribute still we bring,
Our hymns a sacrifice of praise,
Our lives an offering.
Sermon
“After this,” St. Luke writes. After what? After a section titled “The Cost of Following Jesus,” at the end of chapter 9, which reads:
57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
One seems to be willing, unless it means he will lose his home. Another is called, but not if it means losing his family. A third pledges his faithfulness, but hopes to keep one foot in his old life. It would be entrapment if the Lord didn’t disclose this to us: What it will cost to follow Him. Dreams we have of believing in God and He in turn making our life run smooth are a fantasy. They are called Christians because they belong to Christ.
And how did it go for Christ? As meanly as it can for a human being. Yet in that life of perfect obedience, perfect self-sacrifice, perfect suffering, He opened the barred gates of Eden. But Christ’s life is also a template for those who are adopted by God as children through Him. It is a life of eternal peace with God, but often not in the outward sense we think of.
After this, He appointed seventy-two others, men who would be conformed to the template of Christ. He sent them on ahead of Him to do the same thing as Him: Labor in the Lord’s harvest, be His lambs in the midst of wolves, entrust their life to Him, and bear His peace to those they met.
These 72 are first and foremost an example for pastors, who are publicly sent to preach and teach, administer the mysteries of Christ, and to embody the Lord Jesus in their lives. Yet it’s also true for everyone who follows Him, and so let’s take a look at each of those activities for which Christ sent out the 72.
We pray—no, beg[1]—the Lord to send out laborers into His harvest. It is always His harvest, never one’s own labor. We default to think that the Church is the sum of its parts. After all, it’s true for every other human institution. You get in what you put in. Therefore, the Church must depend on having the right quantity of pastors, volunteers, friendly people, donors, sturdy buildings, and so on. But the Lord doesn’t let us be deluded into thinking the harvest is ours. He bids us ask Him to grant success to the harvest, even if in our calculations, things look scarcely possible. Just as was mentioned a few weeks ago, all that the Church possesses belongs to the Lord. So it is with the increase or decrease in a particular time or place. His Word always accomplishes His purpose.
He sent these disciples out without any promise of personal glory. In fact, it was nothing of the sort: “Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” This is something we could all stand to be reminded of. The world is uncomfortable and painful because of the evils that happen to us and our own foolishness. But the world is also enemy territory. Little Christs as we are, we need to take to heart how Jesus was received. The demons writhed against His reclaiming of men from the devil’s kingdom (Luke 4:33-36, 8:26-35; 9:37-43a), and those who refused to believe irrationally sought Jesus’ destruction (Luke 4:16-30; 19:45-48).
The warfare may not be intense all the time, but we should always expect it. It may be that the wolves have had a meal lately and it keeps them at bay. But also know that you could be their next meal. See how Jesus rebuffed the temptations of the devil in the wilderness: “The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.’ 4 And Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone.”’”
Luther wrote in the preface to his Large Catechism,
“Nothing is so effectual against the devil, the world, the flesh, and all evil thoughts as to occupy oneself with the Word of God, talk about it, and meditate on it. Psalm 1 calls those blessed who “meditate on God’s law day and night.” You will never offer up any incense or other savor more potent against the devil than to occupy yourself with God’s commandments and words and to speak, sing, and meditate on them. This, indeed, is the true holy water, the sign which routs the devil and puts him to flight.”
And speaking of that time that our Lord faced off with the devil in the wilderness, His next instruction to the 72 is, “Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.” Just as Jesus faced the devil in the wilderness, we daily need the lesson of how God provided for His ancient people for 40 years in the desert. That Scripture Jesus used against the devil, “Man shall not live by bread alone” comes from a larger lesson God gives through Moses in Deuteronomy 8:
“And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know…that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you.”
There are times when it’s easy to believe God provides all we need…because we can see it. Then, there are times when each day seems like a miracle how it all comes together. But unlike those around us who don’t know God, we have learned from Him that He can and will provide no matter how dire the circumstance. Desolate wasteland and thousands of people? He’s got that. Providing for a family, kids in college, and the furnace goes out? He’s got that too. Bills coming due before the paycheck, and then a medical emergency? He does not lie when He says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5-6)
Moses zeroes in on it when he says that God put them in the wilderness to humble them and to test what was in their heart. When our material life—especially our money or our health—goes out the window, these are moments when God is treating us as children, teaching us to rely on Him for every need. No, it doesn’t mean we should overspend and waste His gifts, because that would be putting the Lord to the test. But it does mean that we go out like the 72, with the promise that God will provide it when we get there. He will give us today our daily bread.
Last, He tells His disciples, “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you.”
It’s the job of the pastor to publicly proclaim His peace, as these seventy-two did and I’m doing now. But His peace rests upon every believer, and it is shared in our lives, through the vocations we have toward one another. The “sons of peace” are those recipients of God’s kingdom.
But what exactly is this peace? It’s the announcement of the angels to shepherds: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:14) It’s the result of knowing God through Jesus Christ: that though we rightly deserve His wrath for all that the human race has done and what we ourselves are guilty of, He made the once-for-all atonement. That being reconciled with our Creator, we also have the sure hope of following where Jesus has gone in eternal life on the other side of the grave.
Like we heard St. Paul say last week in the Epistle, “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:7) The sons of peace have this gift, guarding their hearts and minds even as the world reels and rages. As political ideologies clash and anarchists plot, we are heirs of an unshakeable, eternal Kingdom and today have hope in the God who rules over all the earth. As pandemic orders wear on and people are at each other’s throats, we are filled with the love of Christ for every person.
Truly, the Kingdom of God has come near to you, here as we share in those gifts unique to the Church, but also as each of us go out into the world. He sends us out, and is always with us on the way. Thanks be to God! Amen.
[1] Δέομαι – ask, request, beg
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