Harvest Time in God's Realm - Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 4C/Proper 9 -- (Luke 10)

 




Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
10 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. 2 He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ 6 And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9 cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But 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.’ 
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!” 18 He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 19 See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
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                 As Jesus turned toward Jerusalem, leaving behind his home territory in Galilee, he knew that the journey ahead would be difficult. He wanted to make sure that those who followed him south toward Jerusalem understood that they wouldn't be staying in five-star hotels. In fact, they would be camping out under the stars. If they were going to join him on this journey there would be no looking back. Once the plow was put into the earth they had to be committed to the cause. That cause is the Realm of God (Luke 9:51-62). That reading designated for Proper 8, prepares the way for this week's reading. While Jesu had earlier sent out twelve of his disciples in pairs to proclaim the message of the realm (Luke 9:1-6). Now Jesus expands the mission effort by sending out seventy disciples in pairs to serve as harvesters. This harvesting effort falls after the previous word about preparing the soil (putting the plow into the ground).

        The message here is clear. The harvest is ready. In fact, it's plentiful. It's been a good year!  Now it's time to bring in the harvest, and that requires harvesters. Unfortunately, according to Jesus "the laborers are few." Therefore, he tells his followers to pray that God would send more harvesters. In the meantime, he is going to send out the seventy (some manuscripts have seventy-two). Their job is simple. They are tasked with preparing the way for Jesus' visit to the communities that lie between Galilee and Jerusalem. He warns this group of missionaries that the journey ahead will be difficult. In fact, he's sending them out as lambs among the wolves. 
 
     As he gets ready to send out the seventy he gives them a set of instructions. First, and foremost, he tells them to travel light. They should not take with them a purse (in other words, they go out in the world as beggars), no bag, not even sandals. He tells them not to talk to anyone along the road. They were to take with them nothing but the clothes they were wearing. He sends them out defenseless. When they reach a town, where Jesus is planning to stop and preach, they're too seek out residents who are sympathetic to the message of God's realm and stay with them. Don't move around. Just stay in one place. He doesn't want them to be a burden on the community. Finally, Jesus offers up that message we all heard as children: Eat what is put before you and don't complain. Indeed, don't go looking for a better meal. Simply be thankful for the hospitality that is offered to you. There is likely a side message here, as Luke likely writes for a Gentile or at least mixed audience. Thus, the word about eating what is put before you, as Fred Craddock and Gene Boring note, "dissolves the distinction between ritually clean and unclean foods, facilitating missionary work in Gentile areas (see Acts 10-11) [People's New Testament Commentary, p. 219]. When reading the Gospels we need to always keep in mind the context of the author and the reader. 

        When it comes to the number of disciples sent out, Luke's story suggests that Jesus' group of followers is much larger than the twelve. The whole community seems to be on the move south t is important to note the number of missionaries sent out. So who are these seventy disciples? Where did they come from and where did they go? I would assume they didn't go anywhere, they were with Jesus the entire time. Remember that in the Book of Acts, there is a much larger group than the twelve gathered on the day of Pentecost. The harvest is plentiful and there are harvesters (missionaries) ready to go, but there would be a much greater need as time wore on 

            So, here we have this larger community of missionaries, whom Jesus sends out to engage in expanding the realm of God. They’re to engage in healing ministry and proclaim the message that the kingdom of God is near at hand. In other words, they’re supposed to do the same things Jesus does in his ministry. Centuries later, St. Francis of Assisi took much the same approach as Jesus describes here in Luke 10. Francis created an order that required his followers to embrace poverty, and when they went out into the world to preach, they were to support themselves by begging. In a Christian world of settled churches and clergy, such a calling may seem rather radical. Yes, the preacher (I’m one) is worthy of payment, but we usually expect a little more than what Jesus seems to be describing.

        Now that the seventy have received their instructions and given their message, they're ready to go out and begin the harvest. Maybe they went out singing that old gospel song “Bringing in the Sheaves.” Yes:
Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness, 
Sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve; 
Waiting for the harvest, and the time of reaping, 
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
So, as they go out rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves, they reap the harvest of the realm of God. We're told that the seventy saw dramatic results. According to the reports given by the seventy, even the demons submitted to them. Now, this isn’t just reaping souls for heaven. This is an action that makes known God’s realm. Indeed, Jesus speaks of seeing Satan fall from heaven. We're also told that the seventy had authority over snakes and scorpions, which were often understood to be symbols of evil. Ron Allen and Clark Williamson write that “while Satan still exercises power, that ability is temporary, for Satan has been cast out of heaven, the source of ultimate power, and will be destroyed at the apocalypse (v. 18; cf. Isa. 14:11)” [Preaching the Gospels without Blaming the Jews, p. 221]

           The message is clear; although Satan hasn't yet conceded defeat, he has been defeated. Satan may claim that this is all fake news, but the deciding battle has taken place. But, there is still work to be done and that involves “spiritual warfare.” "Spiritual warfare" is a concept that is often foreign to those of us who have inherited a demythologized and disenchanted worldview. Quite often we reinterpret the biblical story in such a way that Jesus’ work as an exorcist is redefined in rather secular terms. 

          When we redefine the message, especially by interpreting everything in political terms. while  “snipping out the devil,” as Richard Beck puts it, we may be missing something. Beck, who teaches psychology, writes that “exorcism was at the heart of Jesus’ ministry and the focal demonstration of his kingdom proclamation. That people were being set free from the power of the devil was the sign that God’s kingdom had been inaugurated in the person of Jesus. The kingdom of God and exorcism go hand in hand” [Beck, Reviving Old Scratch, p. 32]. What Beck wants to remind us is that while kingdom work involves social justice work at its heart it is a deeply spiritual work. There are spiritual forces at work that need to be tended to. Racism, for instance, expresses itself in injustice, but it has much deeper spiritual roots that need to be confronted. Jesus does that, and his followers, including the seventy, did the same. That being said, with regard to the joy being expressed by the seventy at their ability to cast out demons (just like Jesus), Jesus suggests that they should be content with the knowledge that their names are written in the book of heaven. In other words, this is a call for humility (and not getting cocky!).

                Stories like these serve to remind us that Jesus was understood to be an apocalyptic preacher. There is no expectation here of settling down and setting up an institution. This isn’t in his purview, because the end was near at hand. They were preparing the way. They were making the paths straight. Just like John the Baptist! We who live in long after the church let go of an expectation that the end was near, must wrestle with its implications. An apocalyptic vision of the kingdom is often world-denying. That is, it keeps us from attending to such matters as protecting the environment or pursuing justice. It can lead to an over-emphasis on rescuing the perishing—that is, getting people into heaven. At the same time, there are benefits to an apocalyptic view of things. It keeps us on our toes. We can’t get complacent. Satan remains on the prowl, and there is a harvest that still needs to be brought in. Besides, the laborers are few, so let’s get to work!


Image Attribution: Linnell, John, 1792-1882. Wheat, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56692 [retrieved June 25, 2022]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Linnell_-_Wheat_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg.

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