Scripture References: Luke 10:1-12, 17-20
Reaping the harvest in the ancient farming culture was a family responsibility; everybody in the household who was able had a part in it, including children who were old enough to work. Sleeping through the time of harvest was considered shameful. Similarly, it is God’s will that we all participate in His great harvest that is already ripe out there, so that we are ignoring our family responsibility if we ignore the right time for the harvest, and the right time, dear friends, is now.
The urgency of Jesus’ call, however, doesn’t mask the fact that there is a practicality about Jesus’ instructions to the initial seventy missionaries and to us:
When you go into a home, first greet them by wishing them peace. If a truly peaceful [person] is there, your peace will take root; . . . if there isn’t, it will bounce back on you. . . . And to whatever city you go, and they accept you, eat what’s set before you and heal the sick in the town. And keep telling them, “The God Movement is confronting you.” But if you go to a city and they won’t accept you, go out on the main streets and say, “We are shaking off every particle of dust from your city that’s sticking to our feet. But let this be clear to you: the God Movement is here” (Luke 10:5–6, 8–11, The Cotton-patch Version of Luke and Acts).
When Jesus talks of a truly peaceful person, or as the Word says, “a son of peace” (Luke 10:6), He is speaking of someone sympathetic to the cause of the Gospel, not just nice, accommodating folks. So on our mission if we come upon persons also concerned about the urgency of serving God, the peace of God will create a bond between us, whether or not we are culturally matched and speak the same language. When we come upon those who are not sympathetic to the cause, there will be no way for the peace of God to bless or unite. We’re bound to come across some of both, so Jesus gives a little more instruction.
If we come upon those who are open to our message, that’s all we’re looking for. There is nothing more to expect so we are not to be concerned about the quality of hospitality, and we are not concerned about whether their religious expression matches ours; our preoccupation is to be with our mission. We graciously receive what is given us; we receive such people as they are, and we do all that we are equipped to do to serve them in Jesus’ name, whether that is healing their sick or, as some congregations do, repairing the homes of the elderly, or preparing meals to be delivered to the home-bound.
When we come upon those who are not open to what we are trying to do for Jesus’ sake, politely disinterested, and rigorously and rudely opposed to the news we bear and the service we offer in Jesus’ name, well, Jesus had some advice on what to do in this situation, too. We tell any of the dissenters who will listen that we are wiping the very dust from our feet that got on us while coming to them. That sounds pretty nasty, but it is intended to be a “dramatization of the fact that these people are under God’s judgment for rejecting the Good News.” We don’t like the word “judgment,” and especially now days where everyone accuses Christians of judging (condemning and sentencing) but without trying to soft-soap it, we can understand it to mean that there are losses for those who reject the love of God, not a particularly pleasant message, but an honest one. The present and the future are different than they would otherwise have been for those who become a part of the God Movement.
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
You must be logged in to post a comment.