Isaiah 66:10-16
Galatians 6:(1-10)14-18
Luke 10:1-12,16-20
The little boy turned to his mother and said, "Mom, I don't want to go out there. It's dark."
She smiled reassuringly at her son. "You don't have to be afraid of the dark," she explained. "Jesus is out there. He'll look after you and protect you."
Christopher looked at his mother real hard and asked, "Are you sure he's out there?"
"Yes, I'm sure. He is everywhere, and he is always ready to help you when you need him," she said.
Little Christopher thought about that for a minute and then went to the back door and cracked it a little. Peering out into the darkness, he called, "Jesus? If you're out there, would you please hand me the broom?"
Today's gospel tells us that Jesus sent the seventy out into the plentiful but dangerous harvest BEFORE he himself went to those new places. That doesn't match up too well with most of our comforting and comfortable pictures of Jesus. I like it that Jesus is a "Been-there, Done-that" kind of God. That our God has lived and struggled, suffered and died, just as we do, helps us believe that God really understands.
This Jesus who is with us in the scary darkness is easier for most of us to trust than a God who is All-powerful, All-knowing, and even All-loving but who never walked this earth. It feels much safer to follow someone who's walked along the path before us.
The Jesus of today's Gospel, however, sends the people out to the wolves, while he makes plans to come along sometime later. This isn't that wonderfully appealing God that we see in the popular reflection "Footprints," where a man dreams about the steps of his journey, and sees mostly two sets of footprints, where Jesus walked with him; but when he wonders why in some places where there is only one set of footprints, he is told that it is not that he ever walked alone, but that those were the difficult times when Jesus carried him.
Well, if there's one set of footprints in today's gospel, it's because Jesus has come along later, like some clever Indian in an old cowboy movie, stepping where his friends have already walked. And even where there are two sets of prints, it seems as if they belong to the another of Jesus's followers, since people are sent out in pairs. I suppose we should at least be grateful that he doesn't send us out all alone, so we can help each other along when if feels as if Jesus has stayed at home.
This unusual Good Shepherd sends his sheep out ahead to clear the trail, to chase off the wolves, and to cast out the demons.
What's going on here? Can this feed-‘em-to-the-wolves Jesus be the same loving God we just heard about in Isaiah? – the God who says, "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you." What comforting mother is going to send her children out into danger?
Well, little Christopher's mother for one. She hoped to help him overcome his fear of darkness, by sending him out to do something she knew he could succeed in doing. Good parents usually know when their children are ready to be sent out into scary new things. (That doesn't mean it's easy for the parents to do.)
It is like a mother letting go of her year-old son's hand so he can learn to walk, knowing he will fall down in most of his first attempts. It is a father teaching his daughter to ride her new bike. But if Mom continues to carry the toddler, or Dad continues to hang on to the bike, the children will neither learn the balance or develop the muscles they need. If the parents don't let go and send the children out, how will the children learn and grow?
A wise parent knows when the child is ready to be nudged out of the nest, to be sent into this dangerous world. A loving parent also remains in the background to support the child. And the child learns, is strengthened, and grows, even with (and sometimes because of) the risk she takes and the mistakes he makes. The child gains confidence and returns with joy.
Christopher got the broom. The seventy they cast out the demons, not to mention wolves, scorpions or snakes (that Jesus does mention). They had the courage to go where they were sent, into the darkness or the harvest, to take the risk despite their fears. And they returned filled with power and with joy.
Yet Jesus tells them, "Do not rejoice at this," at their great success, but rather to rejoice "that your names are written in heaven." That is, rejoice in your relationship with God. Our joy is not to be in our own accomplishments, but in our relationship with God, whose love both comforts us and sends us out to do God's work.
There are times when we need to run to our God, as to a mother or father: to curl up in her arms and be comforted, or to be carried in his strong arms.
But there are other times when God pushes us beloved children to grow up: to step out into dangerous, uncharted territory even when we feel unprepared. Jesus sends us all out to work in God's harvest, to step out in a new direction or to take on a new ministry, to go out and get that broom.
And we CAN do it. Our God knows her children and our abilities well. And even when we trip over the broom, or get lost on the journey, or muddle the new ministry, God's love and peace will remain with us, because Jesus IS right there behind us to lift us up and send us out again.
The harvest is plentiful and God's kingdom is near. Go !