January 8, 2017
Luke 10:1-12
- Luke 10:1-12
- Rev. Dr. Jerry Deck
Well, the holidays are officially over and I hope that you all had a great Christmas and New Year’s and are ready to begin a new year. One of the things that I really like about the holiday season are the significant memories that are so frequently made during this time. As I look back on my own life, the memories that oftentimes stand out are frequently connected to the holidays. Going to my uncle’s in Michigan every other Christmas, the memory of getting an Atari 2600 as a Christmas gift when we lived on Guam, watching movies and playing games as a family on New Year’s Eve. There’s just something nostalgic about the holidays that make events that occur at the end of December stand out for one reason or another.
Of course, those memories aren’t necessarily always good ones. I was thinking about that on this last Christmas Day. Christmas Eve went off swimmingly with great family services during the day and then candlelight services in the evening. Christmas Eve, the Deck clan was all packed and the plan was for us all to go to the Christmas Day service at 10:00 and then take off towards Colorado in order to be with Megan’s family. And then around 4:00 on Christmas morning Wynnie came down because she wasn’t feeling well and then she began to, how do I say this politely, throw up. So, it ended up that I was the only one from my family who came to the Christmas Day service here and by the time I got home the three oldest girls were all, how do I say this politely, throwing up. Now I had mentioned at the Christmas service that there was some sickness in my family and a couple of folks asked if we were going to wait a day or so to leave for Colorado because of that to which I shook my head and said, “Oh no, we Decks don’t wait to travel, we just go.”
And so we did. Now I have to admit that throughout most of that day I did wonder at times whether that was the right move. As we traveled through Illinois and Missouri and then Kansas we did so with 2 bowls that we passed around as needed. Then, after they were needed we would pull over (maybe every 50 or 60 miles) dump the bowls, wipe them and continue on. That van was smelling really, really, good! By the time we finally got to Colorado I’m not sure that Megan’s family was all that excited to see us!
So, why do I tell you that story? A part of it is that it’s therapeutic to share my misery with others. But also because there was a bit of a silver lining to all of this child sickness. Usually when we go on these long drives (of which we go on a fair amount) they are full of squabbles about not sharing or of hitting someone or being hit or Wynnie asking a thousand questions a minute…it is anything but peaceful. But, especially on Christmas Day, I would look in my rearview mirror and Adelie is zonked out on her pillow and Shauny is just kind of looking off into the unknown distance and Wynnie’s eyes are glazed over and staring at the bowl she was holding on to. It was awesome. This is why some parents give their children Benadryl before a long trip! I mean, I felt a little bad for them, but their lethargy was Megan and my delight. We haven’t had that much time to just sit and talk in years.
But one of the things we did on that day and even on other traveling days when the girls were a bit less lethargic was to reflect and to look forward. The end of the year, of course, is a great time to examine how our lives are going, how our kids are doing, what things we should do the same, what things we should do differently. And we measure that based on the Deck story, who we are, what our identity is. If we are a family who follows God and that’s a major part of our story then how have we done at doing that and how might we do better this coming year? If we are a family that values education then how did we do with that last year and what might we do differently this next year? If a part of our story is that extended family is important to us, then did we make that important enough this past year and, if not, what needs to change? If this is who we believe we are, then did we live into that and how can we live into that even more in 2017?
It’s important for us as a family to be pretty deliberate with asking those questions because if we don’t then it becomes pretty easy for us to get so busy in the day-to-day tasks of life that we forget who we are and to lose sight of who we are supposed to be. So the end of the year and the beginning of a new year is a great time for us to do that as a family. It probably doesn’t surprise you that I believe it’s a great time to do that as a church as well. To remember our story, who we are, and to ask how well we are living into that and how we might grow even more into that story in the next year.
One of my favorite passages for remembering who we are is this passage in Luke 10. I preached on this early last year and my hope, quite honestly, is to preach on it once a year because I think it does a remarkable job of reminding us who Jesus says we are and challenging us to ask whether or not we are really living into this story. This passage is incredibly rich and we could look at it for hours really, but let me just quickly touch on some highlights before digging down a bit deeper on one attribute I especially want us to consider.
First, they went out in…pairs. This, of course, is a great reminder that we are not called to be a people who follow Jesus alone. We do things together so that we can encourage one another, support one another and even challenge each other at times. We are a community. We also see in this story that the call of faith is not simply for the superheroes of faith if you will. What are the names of some of the 70? We don’t know! In other words, these are ordinary followers of Jesus, just as we are ordinary people called to follow Jesus. It’s easy for us to forget this and to begin thinking it’s mostly the job of the pastor or of this or that person whom we think just naturally follows God well, but we’re reminded in this story that it is all of our calling to follow Jesus.
We are also reminded that the harvest is plentiful, in other words, that there is work to be done. Again, in the busyness of our lives we can sometimes forget that we are about more than just making sure our own needs and wants (or those of our family) are met. We must also be about the mission of God. But that takes great intentionality and even urgency. That is what Jesus is saying when he tells them to not greet people along the way. This isn’t Jesus telling us to be rude, but it is Jesus saying that we are an easily distracted people and so, just like taking the time now to reflect on how we are living, we must live with intentionality or we will end up at the end of our lives wondering where the time has gone and whether we have spent that time pursuing things that matter or things that simply kept us entertained or happy. We must live life with a sense of clear purpose.
And a part of that means living life with purpose right…where…you…are. Two times Jesus tells them to eat and drink whatever is put in front of them. In other words, don’t waste time simply wondering what life is like elsewhere or what life would have been like had this or that thing not happened to you. So often we waste time fantasizing about how things could be better and we miss out on remarkable opportunities to be a part of God’s incredible mission right where you and right now. That doesn’t mean that you can’t dream about Hawaii from time to time when we are in the midst of a frozen tundra, but it does mean that if we get too caught up in that then we will oftentimes end up missing out on God who is right in front of us.
Now, I want us to take a step back from this whole story and the great details that fill it, and pay attention to one particular thing. And that is what this experience would feel like if you were one of the 70. And that feeling, it seems to me, is one of remarkable vulnerability. Now, to Jesus’ credit, he names that from the very beginning. He says to them very explicitly that they are going to be like lambs before wolves-now that is a picture. You may recall that when I talked about this passage last year I put up this picture [show slide] and said that perhaps we should put this up on the ZPC website to show the Christian life since it may signify it a bit more than happy people with smiling faces, but our communications director didn’t think that was such a great idea!
This image though of vulnerability that Jesus uses is really pretty spot on. The 70 have to leave what feels safe and secure to them, being right there physically with Jesus, with what they know and are comfortable with. But they don’t leave with a bunch of stuff, instead Jesus tells them to leave with nothing basically, but what they are wearing. That would leave one feeling pretty vulnerable. After packing for our trip to Colorado Megan looked at everything I had packed and said, “Have you always packed so much stuff?!” And I’m not sure if I have or not, but I do know that the reason I do is because in my head I think, “Well, what if it gets really cold or really hot or if I spill something on it or if we go out on the town without the kids or if we go to the playground with the kids,” and when you play out every scenario well you end up with a couple of suitcases and I do that because I don’t want to be caught unprepared and vulnerable. But Jesus says, just take what you’re wearing.
And then he tells them to rely on other people’s hospitality which, of course, would be a remarkably vulnerable place to be. This means you’re not in control and that you are dependent upon others, something that few of us really enjoy. Not only that, but when Jesus tells them to stay where they are (eat what is put before you) it means that they are not to have an escape plan, if you will. If you’ve ever been in a vulnerable place you know that having an escape plan is always a helpful tool for coping. If things go bad, then I can leave and go here or here, but that’s not what Jesus wanted.
My point is that this is a remarkably vulnerable situation that Jesus is asking them to enter into. We, understandably, would prefer to be about God’s mission in safe, comfortable, non-vulnerable places and yet what I have discovered and what I think we see in scripture like this Luke passage, is that the mission of God is oftentimes fulfilled, and we see God work in our lives and in the lives of others most frequently, not when we are in charge, in control and feel independent, but when we fully realize we are not in control and that we are in need of God. That it is in vulnerable moments, oftentimes moments we’d rather be in, that God is really able to work through us.
And that is really hard for most of us. Especially the older we get and the more we possess. When we were leaving Colorado I was driving on a two lane road in the dark and I mentioned to Megan how I think I must be getting old because it was slightly scary to me to be driving 70 mph on this narrow road with cars coming in the opposite direction at the same speed. I mean I don’t ever remember being nervous about that when I was younger. She remarked that it might also be because now there’s a lot more precious cargo (i.e. our kids) then there was 15 years ago when I was driving and it was just me. I think that it’s probably a bit of both. The older we get the more vulnerable we feel and the more we have the more we want to protect it.
Now, that’s fine with driving, but it plays a part in our spiritual lives as well. As one commentator put it, there may be a direct correlation between the decline of the church in America and the rise in disposable income. We like to cling on to things, to play it safer, to not be vulnerable, and what we may fail to see is that these actions end up squelching our spiritual lives, so that we look less like the story we are called to live in the scripture and more like, well, typical American lives that anyone, Christian or not, can live.
And the truth is that few of us, myself included, will ever just naturally want to become vulnerable which is why, I am convinced that we have to intentionally and boldly engage in practices of vulnerability that help us to experience God more deeply and that also allows us to further the mission of God. I’m not talking about driving the wrong way on a two-lane road, but I am talking about a willingness to put yourselves in vulnerable positions that will create space to see God work.
So, what’s that mean for you in 2017? Well, maybe it’s a willingness to attend one of our Great Banquets. This is 72 hours of spending time here at the church with a bunch of people you may not know, singing a song you’ve never heard of, sleeping in cots that aren’t all that comfortable and, in all honesty, spending the first night thinking “Why in the world did I agree to do this?!” It is a real act of vulnerability to agree to come to a Great Banquet and yet what many, including myself, have discovered is that it is also an incredible time of being able to reflect on God, on your life, on the gift of grace and the importance of living your life with intentionality, as well as getting to meet new people. You will feel vulnerable, but it will be worth it.
Or perhaps it’s joining a new home group this year. Again, I know this can be an incredibly vulnerable thing to do, to gather together for 10 weeks with a group of people you probably don’t know and share things about God you may not share even with your close friends or spouse. And yet, what we’ve discovered is that so often it is when people join home groups that they begin to feel more connected to others in the community and are able to experience God in ways they simply had not before.
Maybe 2017 is your year to practice the vulnerability of hospitality. This is one of the things that Megan and I decided on our Christmas trip to Colorado. That on the odd months of this year we would invite a neighbor to have a meal with us and on the even months of the year we would invite someone from the church with whom we haven’t yet shared a meal. Now look, in all honesty, I am looking forward to the even months much more than the odd months, because I feel much less vulnerable having a meal with a ZPCer then with a neighbor. I know I say this with some regularity, but I’ll say it again which is that it is awkward being a pastor with most folks and I know that when we invite neighbors into our homes, even those we have relationships with, that there will be some anxiety on their behalf. [I met a guy a few months ago and we were in conversation and he was using some fairly salty language and I knew that if he asked me what I did for a living that the conversation was going to get real awkward. And sure enough he asked and when I told him, not surprisingly, he said, “Ah man, I’m so sorry.” It’s like he had to quickly put this mask up which, of course, is not exactly great for relationship building.]
So, when we invite people over I know that they, especially the husband, are going to be walking to the door the whole time saying, “Do we really have to do this?!” But we’ve decided that we have to be okay feeling vulnerable and like they’d probably rather be elsewhere (at least at first) because we feel called to share the table with them because this is what Christ wants. It’s a practice of vulnerability and I believe that God will do something through it, no matter what.
That doesn’t mean, of course, that these practices of vulnerability will work out perfectly. That’s why it’s so vulnerable. I can’t promise you that if you do Great Banquet that everything’s going to turn out perfect or that if you do home groups for 10 weeks that you’ll meet all your new best friends or that if you invite someone into your home that it will be delightfully comfortable. No, one of the funniest memories Megan and I have is a meal we had at our house in Chicago with what had to be the most awkward couple in the world and how we could not wait for them to get out of our house! No, I can’t promise you that when you practice vulnerability for God that it will all turn out grand, but I can promise you that if you don’t try and if you aren’t willing to practice being vulnerable then you will miss out on much of what God wants to do in your life and what God desires to do in your neighborhood and your community.
So, what practice of vulnerability do you want to engage in in 2017? I could leave it like that, but as you know I am not apt to do that because I know how easy it is to leave and not think about it again. And so, I want us to be intentional about this and brainstorm what ways you might practice vulnerability in 2017. Where might you create some space-whether it’s GB or home groups or hospitality or whatever else it may be for you, that in creating those margins and places for vulnerability, you are opening up yourself for God? Let’s take a couple of minutes to do that now.