Luke 9.1-6 says...Bible reading week 25, day 1

Today's devotional is an in between book devotional as we will go onto another book of the Bible on Wednesday.  Not sure what yet but praying about what to tackle for the coming months.  I thought this morning I would give a couple more thoughts about the passage we covered on Sunday, Luke 9:1-6 which reads,

1 - And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases.

2 - And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing.

3 - And He said to them, "Take nothing for your journey, neither a staff, nor a bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece.

4 - Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city.

5 - And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.

6 - Departing they began going throughout the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

I would just like to stress a couple points again.  The first is the two fold mission of the Christian and the church.  We are to proclaim the gospel, the kingdom of God and to give compassion to those who are sick, those who are in need.  We are to use our mouths and our hands.  I think the combination is very important.  Sometimes I hear people say, "Let's just love on them" meaning that we are going to do something for them without intending to speak about Jesus even if given the opportunity.  It is interesting that I haven't heard, "Let's go out and just proclaim Jesus to them" meaning that we are not going to do anything for them physically even if it is obvious what they need.  We see Jesus combining the two all the time.  He feeds the 5000 in the midst of His teaching them about the kingdom of God.  He preaches in the synagogue and also delivers the man of the demon and another healed of a shriveled hand.  Even His miracles are laced with spiritual lessons that show this is more than "just loving on them" and that true love has to include Him.  It is easier to get people "to do" than "to say."  Hands shoot up for a work project but are held at our sides for a witnessing night.  Is it because we are trying to divide the two?  Did Jesus put these together so that we would see how it would be more natural to speak of Him as we are caring for others.  As they see we care that they would be more receptive to hear what we have to say?  This sounds like a long commercial for the combined summer adult Sunday School class at 9 a.m. in the multi-purpose room on the 9 Arts of spiritual conversations.  This material helps us to see that we need to combine the two.  We are to go out with the message of Christ and also the muscle to care for their needs.

The second point is about moving on after a discouragement or rejection.  The temptation is to stop and retreat to what is comfortable.  We carry on with us the dust from that discouragement and it many times hinders us from stepping into that next opportunity.  Maybe we think that they will never come to Christ and answer His call but that is not our call.  We won't be able to answer that question but we do have the example that Christ did the same.  I gave the example of Paul and Barnabas in Antioch and shaking the dust off their sandals to head to Iconium.  Jesus also did this as He shook the dust from His hometown of Nazareth and also from the east side of the sea of Galilee to return to the west side after a rejection.  We will see Jesus make a round trip around to that east side again and this time many welcome the message, maybe some who initially rejected it.  Those who reject now might be those who later receive after you are gone.  If we linger instead of shaking the dust from our feet, we might be tempted to water down the message so that they will accept it.  We might paint that picture that Jesus just needs another friend and not that Jesus is calling for a total surrender.  We might redefine what God says about sin so it isn't so offensive.  If we shake the dust from our feet then we are holding to God's message rather than trying to change it to get a different result.  It is a testimony against them in light of the gospel as Christ has given it to us.

The last point to bring up is this obedience to what Jesus said to do.  They got up and they went.  We are told from the other accounts that they went out two by two.  They had companionship and also accountability.  They worked as a team on this mission.  They had some instant feedback from the other.  When one was up maybe the other was down and vice versa and they helped each other keep going.  Maybe we need to see this more as a team effort than a solo event.  Who can I team up with to go out with share the gospel and show compassion to those in need?  An obvious answer would be your spouse if you are married and they are also a Christian.  Another obvious would be someone of the same biological sex as you who is also a Christian.  Maybe some planning needs to go into this "teaming up."  We are not told but I wonder if Jesus paired them up?  "Peter, you and Thomas go out."  "Matthew, you and Simon the Zealot go out."  Jesus would know their strengths and weaknesses and could put together combinations that would compliment each other.  We have in common that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that He has given us the Holy Spirit who has distributed gifts for us to use for the common good of the body but then we have differences in our personalities and abilities that we can be thankful for.  Those differences could bring a more complete presentation of God's love than one person could do.  

Just some more thoughts about the passage covered on Sunday morning and also an opportunity to show you what we might cover at our Sunday evening prayer services staring on the 24th at 5 p.m.  Let us pray.

"Lord we need help in getting from the pew to the public.  Thank You for words to say and works to do and may we combine the two for maximum impact of Your love.  Help us to keep Your message pure even it that means walking way.  Show us who we can team up with for this eternal effort and share the message of You with others.  Amen."

Pastor Adam