Isaiah 66:10-16
Galatians 6:(1-10)14-18
Luke 10:1-12,16-20
This was not to be. Things happened, change happened. Maren Kay and I moved to Michigan and were not replaced on the Holy Apostles side of the team and two more of the team passed away. We kept getting smaller, not bigger. It became tougher and tougher to keep going. "When two or three are gathered in my name" became a reality. Then we were no more. What in the world happened? We never did a real good job of spreading the news. We tried, but to no avail. The church was located right in the middle of a large neighborhood with a Catholic Church, a Baptist Church within walking distance. There were a lot of unchurched in our midst. There was nobody from the neighborhood attending our Church. We got together as a team and went out in two person teams to talk to all the families in the immediate neighborhood and invite them to Holy Apostles. It was a tough time. While most were friendly enough, many were not interested and a few were actually bothered by us knocking on their doors. We gave it a good effort but in the end failed in our endeavors. A few years later, Holy Apostles was closed. The good news is that the heritage lives on in Trinity Episcopal Church in Hermantown. A vibrant total ministry church. The bad news was the loss of the only Episcopal Church on the west side of Duluth.
Maybe we could have tried harder. Maybe we could have been more like our Pentecostal brothers and sisters. But that's not really us is it. We have so much to offer as Episcopalians, we just don't do that Evangelizing stuff well.
Jesus sent seventy out to do exactly what we tried to do in Duluth. This group of followers also had gifts and the desire to get out and talk to the people of the neighborhoods. To knock on their doors and invite them to share in the kingdom. To GROW the church. To heal the sick and announce the nearness of God's kingdom. To spread the good news. To be like salesmen. After all, they had the greatest product in the world. And the price was right. They just had to get the old foot in the door.
In addition to the good stuff, they were also instructed to offer solemn warnings of impending doom to those who did not recognize the cosmic importance of what was happening. I wonder what the response would have been back in 1991 if we had said "join or else"! But that's what these early missionaries said. Faith or rejection. "Join or else" One of my Pentecostal buddies used basically the same on one of the guys at work. I had extended an offer to the same person earlier to come and see the Episcopal Church. Mike blasted him with a hard line sell and guess what, he became a member of Mike's church. Go figure.
The seventy were instructed to tell those that received them well that the kingdom of God was right on their doorstep, to heal any sick and move on. Those that were not receptive were asked, "Do you know what you have lost? All you gave us was dirt, we're giving dirt right back to you." When they returned, they came back triumphant. "Even the demon's danced to your tune, Lord." "I know," said Jesus. "But the great triumph is not in your authority over evil but in God's authority over you and presence in you. That's what you should be rejoicing about."
Have any of you ever been at a Billy Graham Crusade?. I Haven't but I've seen it on television. They are awesome spectacles of the power of God aren't they? He is able to get in the arena preach his message and move along. He makes it look so easy. Can you imagine the logistics involved in making this go off without a hitch? I have read that these events are so carefully planned out in advance that very few problems are experienced before during or after the event. Traffic moves smoothly, parking is not a problem and everyone has a place to sit. Advance teams of his people were out paving the way for his arrival. Lots of people. There are so committed to this that things go like clockwork. Imagine the problems that could happen with out this commitment. Jesus also sent out lots of people. Advance planners spreading the news that the kingdom of god is coming. And they did a phenomenal job.
We are these advance planners. We are the ones Jesus is speaking to. We are the ones who are called to go out into the world, to our neighbors. Not to force but to explain, to offer, to extend the hand. And if the message is not heard this time, OK. Another time, another place. I have not had a lot of luck offering but I have had some. During a discussion with one of my supervisors last week, he mentioned that he was from the Lutheran Church and his wife from the Methodist. There is nothing close to where they live so they don't go. Turns out he is about 10 miles from Sauk Centre. Yeah, I invited him here. I keep asking and so should you. We win some, we lose some.
I often think back to the one I lost to my hard-line buddy, to the ones we didn't get in Duluth; and I think about the adage, " you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink." Our job is not to make him drink; our job is to make him thirsty."
This is evangelism. Our lives should be so filled with Christ that we create a thirst for the Gospel in others.
We don't need parades or revivals or big-scale productions, although every now and then that would be OK too. And we don't need strong-arm tactics either. Talk to each other. Talk to your friends and neighbors. Talk to those thirsty for the same news delivered thousands of years ago, and we will continue to grow. And if the first one doesn't hear, move on to the next. And the next and the next. We, as members of the priesthood of all believers, have been given all we need to make this happen. So, let's make it happen. And now Father, send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord. To knock on the doors and offer a drink of the living waters.