Extensions Of God's Word

As I read The Gospel of Luke (10:1-11, 16-20) for Sunday, I got a connection with  the last five blog I just rebooted.

The Apostles had an important role — a divinely ordained and enabling role to fulfill.  The role of proclaiming the name of Jesus and character of Jesus.

Telling people they needed to understand that God’s Kingdom had come near to them.  

They also had a symbolic role in the defeat of demonic — evil powers.

16 ‘Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.1

The exorcisms they gave promised the ultimate activity of God’s purpose in the world of human life. 

What is clear, is that Jesus’ call — to go out — is going to offer both positive and negative.

Positive because they are privileged to model Jesus’ love and forgiveness.  His hope of reconciliation for of all God’s people.

The negative, they also must identify and face the forces of evil that oppose God’s purpose.

 ³Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 

The plan truth is, God’s work is not always pretty nor pleasant!

Regardless, we are sent to reach out and touch our little part of the world with God’s presence.  We don’t do this with words, but our actions and manner of speaking.

One commenter writes:  "Everything about the apostolic mission, in other words, subverts the system of power and privilege in the world. The peace the apostles are to offer is more than a greeting of demeanor.  Peace is a representative of the kingdom of God, the salvation that is shalom.  Ironically, this peace is conflictive, because it arouse the hostility of demonic power." (Feasting on the Word p.216, Year A, Volume 3)

 

And the fact is, people won’t alway welcome us or agree with our stance or opinion about God.  Or how to live.  

None-the-less. we are to go out and live in faith and trust that God walks with us.

The term that comes to my mind this morning is ‘extension.’

Those seventy, who were sent out, were extensions of Jesus mission. 

And it says Jesus had given them “authority” to do what was needed.

Jesus gave them the “power” — His very own power.

What to you suppose that means — He gave them “authority” and “power?”

As I asked that question, what popped into my mind was a sound system.  A sound system give us the power to extend our voices so that all can receive God’s word.

With a sound system, a microphone, allows the power to be heard — to extend our voices and music — is not our own.

Our source of power comes from an amazing technology I don’t pretend to understand. 

Electrical power enables us to be heard past our own vocal capacity.

                     

Pretty amazing!

In my imagination, I got a vision of all of us walking around our environments with extension cords plugged into our hearts.

That Jesus empowers us is kind of an unbelievable thing for us I think about.

We truly do not understand it.

                          And so it is difficult to believe.

Unlike the technology of electricity, where we can actually pull a cord or turn on a switch.    

   God provide no proof.

There is to instruction book, or tutorial, to show us how to connect with the source of the power given by Jesus.

Clarification:

In todays world God is dealing with a sophisticated group of humans.  We live in a computerized culture.

We can have any bit of information at our fingertips with a click of a key.

We can replace a damaged heart in the human body in a matter of hours.  Or a warn out joint with man-made-ones.

We have conquered unknown shores of outer space with Hubble and Webb.

We even have global positioning systems that give us the latitude and longitude coordinates that tell us where we are; and where we should go.

The human brain has created all of these amazing technologies.  So it is pretty difficult for us to imagine ever even needing Jesus’ power any more.

And yet, with our amazing human brain, as sophisticated  as it is;  we can’t even begin to imagine how that intricately designed organ, called our gray matter, really works.

Oh, there may be scientist or psychiatrists who world disagree.  But I am convinced the human brain is as much mystery as God.

And like the apostles, we are sent our like "lambs among the wolves" to give the world one message: "The kingdom of God is nearer than you could ever imagine.

And like the apostles, we are sent our like "lambs among the wolves" to give the world one message: "The kingdom of God is nearer that you ever imagned.

So it seems to me that leaves us still pretty dependent on God!

After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. ²He said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. ³Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. ⁴Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. ⁵Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” ⁶And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. ⁷Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house.⁸Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; ⁹cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” ¹⁰But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹“Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.” ¹²I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.   13 ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ¹⁴But at the judgement it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. ¹⁵And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades.

16 ‘Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’ ¹⁸He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. ¹⁹See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. ²⁰Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’