2/4/21
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.
In Luke 10:1-9 Jesus sends workers out to the places he is planning to go. He urges them to go with a sense of urgency and dependence on God. They bring a blessing of God's peace to their hosts and carry on the work of ministrywhere they land. Their work is to bring healing and to proclaim God's kingdom.
It's easy for us to get some sort of romantic notion about this as the typical life of the Christian, particularly the Christian worker. While there's some truth to the concept, we want to remember that these 72 people were a select few who were sent out on a rather limited basis. They weren't going to spend the rest of their lives doing this work. They were making a visit to prepare people for the arrival of Jesus.
In one way, though, this is exactly the same message that pastors and evangelists have today. We ask God's peace on a community and we pray that the Lord will bless the people. We bring healing in whatever way we can, particularly the spiritual healing that comes through the Scripture, but we also pray for people's physical and emotional healing. Our message is focused on the urgent call, "Jesus is coming soon, be ready to welcome him."
We realize in all of this that we are sent out as lambs among wolves. We purposely make no attempt to guard ourselves against the opposition of our world. We speak the truth and do good, no matter what others say of us. And our trust is not in our own ability, but in God's ability to keep us.
The central idea is that Jesus is planning to come. He is going to bring all our work to fruition. He is going to establish his kingdom on earth, as it is in heaven, and we pray that he will establish it in us as we eagerly expect him. Jesus, the soon coming Lord, is able to keep his people.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.
In Luke 10:1-9 Jesus sends workers out to the places he is planning to go. He urges them to go with a sense of urgency and dependence on God. They bring a blessing of God's peace to their hosts and carry on the work of ministrywhere they land. Their work is to bring healing and to proclaim God's kingdom.
It's easy for us to get some sort of romantic notion about this as the typical life of the Christian, particularly the Christian worker. While there's some truth to the concept, we want to remember that these 72 people were a select few who were sent out on a rather limited basis. They weren't going to spend the rest of their lives doing this work. They were making a visit to prepare people for the arrival of Jesus.
In one way, though, this is exactly the same message that pastors and evangelists have today. We ask God's peace on a community and we pray that the Lord will bless the people. We bring healing in whatever way we can, particularly the spiritual healing that comes through the Scripture, but we also pray for people's physical and emotional healing. Our message is focused on the urgent call, "Jesus is coming soon, be ready to welcome him."
We realize in all of this that we are sent out as lambs among wolves. We purposely make no attempt to guard ourselves against the opposition of our world. We speak the truth and do good, no matter what others say of us. And our trust is not in our own ability, but in God's ability to keep us.
The central idea is that Jesus is planning to come. He is going to bring all our work to fruition. He is going to establish his kingdom on earth, as it is in heaven, and we pray that he will establish it in us as we eagerly expect him. Jesus, the soon coming Lord, is able to keep his people.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
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