Sermon preached by the Rev. Richard Lampert
The 6th Sunday after Pentecost
WE ARE CALLED, EQUIPPED, COMMISSIONED and SENT! Mk 6.7-13 07/12/’09
We all know the saying, “Be careful what you pray for……..!” Now I’ll add another, “Be careful what you think of, He might be listening!”During Thursday’s staff meeting when we were going over the bulletins and the lessons for today I thought, Wow, this Sunday’s Gospel is great! I could really get into that. Friday morning, The Rev. Dennis McMannis called me very apologetically saying that he was sick in bed with the flu and would not be able to come this Sunday.
Listen to one more quick story. Yesterday morning, the title for this sermon just came to me and then I thought, wait a minute, that’s Crouse’s thing! So I couldn’t resist. I called Jay (“almost in the lake”) Crouse sitting on his cabin front porch in Michigan. We laughed and laughed a lot over the phone. So, I say unto you, be careful what you pray for or even think about!!
Today’s Gospel story (Sending of The 12)really begins five verses earlier in Mark 6.2ff when Jesus returns to his own hometown and where, “….. he could do not mighty work there ex-cept that he laid his hands upon a few sick people…” Many who heard Jesus teaching in the syna-gogue were astonished and said, “… where did he get all of this? Is not this the carpenter, the same son of Mary and brother of James and Joses….. ? And they took offense at him.” I believe that (a) Jesus became so upset with their reactions and then (b) because he was already compelled to extend and “get on” with the mission that he just decided, OK, now it’s time to call, equip, com-mission and send out the twelve! So I’m suggesting that Mark’s full Gospel Story really has five parts: [1] Jesus’ inability to do any mighty works in his own hometown; [2] which partly led him to call the twelve and begin to send them out two by two; [3] Our Lord instructs the disciples to travel lightly; in other words do not be encumbered with too many other things preventing you from sharing yourselves and your faith; [4] when you enter a house and are received well stay there overnight, but if you are not welcomed shake the dust off your feet and move on; [5] and so the twelve go out, because they had been called, equipped, commissioned and sent out by Christ!
Now there are some other stories in both the Old and New Testaments about the calling, equipping, commissioning and The Sending of The Seventy (not just twelve)! Many of you here (especially many of the Men of Redeemer who have taken the course “Equipping the Seventy”) know all about these stories. There are two Old Testament Moses stories in Exodus 24 and Num-bers 11 when God tells Moses to assemble seventy of the elders of Israel and bring them to Him up on Mount Sinai or into the tent of meeting letting them take their stand there with you. Then, we find only in the New Testament Gospel of Luke 10.1-17 the story of Jesus appointing seventy more disciples [just like the twelve], commissioning them and then sending them out two by two this time ahead of Him. In a real sense, God’s entire Story, in the Bible and now, is about His calling and sending out His faithful people: In the Old Testament, first the Patriarchs and then the Prophets; in the New Testament John the Baptist, Jesus, the Disciples, Paul, the early Christians and church communities; and now today all faithful Christians and communities of faith.
Some of you know that I’ve been working this summer toward an October-November course on The Holy Spirit. Fr. Rick and I will be doing it together; same format as usual- an hour and a half in the a.m. or p.m.; one handout sheet per week in advance; small groups; two Anglican resources (Archbishop Michael Ramsey and John Stott books) plus Billy Graham’s! I’m hoping, praying and thinking that this might be the best course yet! We’ll cover the Bible, ourselves, look at the themes, our gifts and then ask again and again what does it all mean for me now in my life?
Now here’s a punch line! The Christian Life, by definition &work, must be a life in The Spirit. And a life in The Spirit means a life which has been called, equipped, com-missioned and then sent out in all sorts of different ways (because we’re all so different). I was thinking yesterday, I wonder what might happen here at Redeemer if at the end of the course (and in the beginning of Advent) we invited anyone who wanted to come ( in the course, or not ) to a few special sessions. We could train and commission 70 (or 60 or 50) to go out with me (two by two) before Christmas and personally invite (a) family-friends; (b) former Redeemerites; (c) or select-ed new people to join God and us this year for one or two very special Christmas services/events! I WONDER! Many will tell me, tell us, that will never happen in Redeemer! I don’t accept that, or believe that! We’re better than that! I’m still curious! I wonder! What do you think?? AMEN