Following Where God Leads

Pentecost + 4 – Lectionary 14

Year C

6 July 2025

Isaiah 66:10-14

Psalm 66:1-9

Galatians 6:7-16

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

God,

whose kingdom comes near:

share with us the authority that sets others free

and send us on the way of challenge and conversion;

through Jesus, who empowers us.  Amen. 

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The readings, today, all talk about our rolls, our jobs to encourage those around us to follow where and how God has led and continues to lead us in lives of faith.

But also, how God is able to lead others in lives of faith, as well.

We often categorize this under the word ‘evangelism’ and then, faced with such a word, we pause. We hesitate, because in our lives our faith is considered personal.

We see our lives of faith as private, and many of us have been raised not to air our family details in public.

But Jesus points out that the message needs to be shared.

He points out that this isn’t easy, and there will be obstacles along the way, as well.

“² He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. ³ Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.”” (Lk 10:2-3) 

So, to deal with this huge, intimidating job, we are encouraged to pack light.

We are encouraged to work with the gifts and talents we’ve received from God through the Holy Spirit to bring the light of God’s love to all those who seek the light and warmth of God.

Jesus tells us, as he tells the 72, “⁸ “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. … and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” (Lk 10:8, 9b)

This is the part we find difficult.

At this same time, this is where other denominations seem to shift the message from a corporate or group realization of the kingdom of God in our midst to a more individual interpretation of Jesus’ role in our lives.

However, Paul tells us: “⁹ Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ¹⁰ Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” (Gal 6:9-10)

I recall when I was on internship, I had the opportunity to have a great in-depth conversation with two faith leaders from the evangelical side of Christianity over coffee.

They wanted to know when and how Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, had entered my life, had become my Lord and Saviour?

Well, from my perspective, I thought it a pretty straightforward question and gave them the date of my baptism.

Now, my baptism took place when I was six weeks old, and like most of us, my relationship with God and my reliance upon the Trinity has continued to grow throughout my life.

But this wasn’t the kind of dramatic revelation of salvation for which they were looking.

Rather they gave me the example of one of them realizing the presence of Jesus carried him through as he avoided an accident with his motorcycle, and in that moment, he said, Jesus entered his heart and became his personal lord and saviour.

And it was the public acknowledgement of this experience that formed this pastor’s ‘testimony of faith’ and set him on the road to become the community’s faith leader.

Paul addresses this difference of approach to becoming a member of the body of Christ, of brining the kingdom of God closer.

Paul tells us: “¹¹ See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!

¹² Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 

 ¹⁴ May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. ¹⁵ Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation.” (Gal 6:11-12, 14-15)

As for my conversation with the evangelical pastors I pointed out that my, that our relationship with Jesus, with the Trinity is an ongoing presence and comfort throughout all of our lives, and that we are a community in the Body of Christ.

Well, naturally they didn’t like my answer, and in the end, we didn’t become pen palls, or exchange Christmas cards that year.

But that doesn’t mean that the role of evangelism is absent from our lives as the body of Christ. It doesn’t mean it’s solely in the hands of denominations looking for faith-based testaments that are able to be publicly shared.

Today’s gospel shows us that the message of the gospel is continually new when we share it in the world.

“10 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. ² He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Lk 10:1-2)

Every time we model our faith for another or live into the message of the gospel to the world, then there is opportunity for faith to grow in our hearts, in our action, in the words of encouragement we share with others, and that is also evangelism.

We’ve come to look at the word ‘evangelism’ as something that is scary, and intimidating. We’ve seen the evangelistic efforts of others, and their directness is sometimes off-putting, but Jesus tells us: “¹⁶ “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”” (Lk 10:16)

At the same time, St. Francis said “At all times share the gospel. If necessary, use words.”

I’ve always found this to be a more intimate way to share the gospel, to live into the process Jesus describes in today’s gospel rather than confronting or being confronted with a ‘testimony of faith’.

Jesus tells us, as he tells the 72: “⁸ “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. ⁹ Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ ¹⁰ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ¹¹ ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ 

¹⁶ “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”” (Lk 10: 8-11, 16)

Jesus knows that not everyone will gravitate to a method of invitation that includes listening, healing the hearts, and being willing to help wash the dishes at the end of the day.

If sharing the love of God, the blessings of the message of the kingdom of God were left in the hands and actions of only one person then those who seek to make the kingdom of God a reality would have to seek out that sole individual. So, Jesus commissions and sends out the seventy-two, in the same way he commissions and sends each of us through the urging of the Holy Spirit.

He advises them, as he advises us, that to share the message of God’s love isn’t always straight forward, but that when we do manage to share God’s love, then we are assured that the kingdom of God has come near.  (Lk 10:9b)

At the same time, even when we are not successful in helping others to be aware of God’s love, then Jesus tells us: “be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’” (Lk 10:11b)

Not a threat, not an accusation, but a missed opportunity for them to hear the gospel, and to know that they are loved by God.

Looking at it in this way, then, we carry the kingdom of God with us, in us, and through our actions in and to the world.

Paul gives us his example and his fervor of the life-giving message of God’s love found in the gospels.

He says: “¹⁰ Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. ¹¹ See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!” (Gal 6:10-11)

And through such encouragement we are able to be the models of God’s love in the world.

We are able to encourage others by our actions and by our examples of how God worked and continues to work through each one of us to bring the kingdom of God to fruition.

The gospel tells us: “¹⁶ “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

¹⁷ The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”” (Lk 10:16-17)

Although the evangelical pastors of my internship never understood my position on where Christ lives in my life and heart, I am assured that I don’t need such drama in life to show me that I am a beloved child of God.

At the same time, others may need to hear my stories to realize how close the kingdom of God is in their lives and hearts and so be encouraged to grow in those relationships as well.

We don’t need to be loud in our evangelism. Instead, we need to know that we share what we have, be it faith, belief, an invitation to come to church, or a casserole dish to where it’s needed, and when.

Paul’s enthusiasm and Jesus’ assurance are able to be our guides, as we step up and encourage people to not be bowled over by one interpretation of evangelism, but rather be encouraged by our heartfelt actions and words to help them to know the love of God as we do, always near us, on our lips and in our hearts.

Amen.