July 7, 2019 “Success” – Luke 10:1-20

Luke 10:1-20
“Success”
July 7, 2019 – Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

I have a good friend who teaches philosophy at Wheaton College in Illinois. Years ago Jay told me that one of his colleagues got some T-shirts made for their department. The shirts bore the ancient symbol of wisdom, the owl of Minerva, and read, “Wheaton Philosophy: We’re In It for the Money.”

Those T-shirts were a tongue-in-cheek poke at the fact that a major in philosophy, or becoming a college professor in philosophy, is not exactly a ticket to wealth. But what seemed humorous a decade or two ago now just seems poignantly sad. More and more small colleges are cutting back on humanities classes of all sorts, instead focusing on disciplines that do in fact lead to well-paying jobs, subjects in the sciences, technology and business. To study philosophy these days, even more than when Jay and my wife and I did so forty years ago, one must definitely not be in it for the money.

As the last few verses of our Gospel text today suggest, for some pursuits, for some of the best and most truly worthwhile pursuits, success may not be what we typically think it is, whether that’s a large paycheck, a big “friend” list on Facebook, or even genuine spiritual power and authority.

Verse 1 tells us Jesus sent out seventy other missionaries, beyond His twelve disciples. Or, perhaps it was seventy-two. As sometimes happens on minor matters in Scripture, the ancient manuscripts are not all the same. Some say “70,” some “72.” The reason for either number might be that there are 70 nations listed in Genesis 10. “70” missionaries symbolizes that Jesus is for the whole world. But the Greek translation of Genesis listed 72 nations. Luke was probably reading that Greek version. So 72 is more likely.

What that manuscript difference in numbers shows, in a small way, is a hint at the larger lesson of the text. Success is not merely a matter of quantity or power. Numbers are not the point. Jesus does talk about a “plentiful harvest” in verse 2, but He recognizes that those available to gather it in are few. He asked them to pray for God to send more, but worked with those He had. He still does.

In verses 3 and 4, we learn that the 72 (let’s just go with that number) were not exactly equipped for success. Jesus pictured them as “lambs in the midst of wolves” and told them not to carry money or luggage. They were not even to wear shoes! They went out poor, to be supported by whatever those they met might provide.

Jesus sent that group out in pairs because they were going to be a little lonely as well as poor on the road. He told them not to greet anyone as they walked. He wasn’t telling them not to wave hello as they passed. Greetings in that culture were long deals. You stopped and talked for a while, shared news about the places from which you were coming. The only reason for not greeting someone was urgent business. But urgent business is exactly what those 36 pairs of disciples had in the towns they entered.

They carried little of tangible value, but the 72 carried an immensely valuable message, a message from God. Jesus told them in verse 5 to let the first thing they said in any house they entered be a word of blessing, “Peace to this house!” What follows in verse 6 shows that blessing was not just a matter of nice words. It was an authentic gift of peace from God. Those in the house could receive that peace and share in it or refuse to accept it. That is how God offers His blessings. He wants to love and be loved in return. To be for real, that sort of peace and love must be a free choice.

Verses 7 to 16 just unfold that basic direction in verse 6. Through the presence and message of those traveling pairs of missionaries, God wanted to extend His peace to anyone and anyplace willing to accept it. But if they refused that blessing, they weren’t, Jesus said in verse 16, just refusing those who carried it, they were refusing God.

Which all means that in God’s work, actually in any good work in this world, success is not guaranteed. It doesn’t matter what your subject of study is or what job you do. It still remains up to others to receive well what you have done, whether to award you a degree, pay you a fair wage, or, like those sent by Jesus then or now, to welcome you into their homes and lives.

What we Christians need to remember is what Jesus tried to teach His followers in verses 7 and 8, that our presence in the world is meant to bless those around us. For those traveling evangelists then it meant in verse 7 that, while they were entitled to food and drink and a place to sleep, they weren’t to keep moving around a town looking for better accommodations. They were to accept whatever food was given to them.

Verse 9 shows they were to be a positive force for good wherever they went, “cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” It was not just a word of peace, but actions and a message which brought health, wholeness, and peace into people’s lives. It’s still what we as Christians want to accomplish wherever we live and work and interact with other people. We are still to sit down and eat with others, to offer healing and help, to help people understand how near the Kingdom of God is.

If you are visiting with us today, I hope you will hear that same message those 72 disciples carried. God is bringing His kingdom to this world, offering His peace to anyone who will accept it. Whoever you are, whatever struggles you face, there is grace and peace for you in Jesus Christ. That’s what we are really trying to communicate by inviting you here and feeding you a little ice cream today.

We know we won’t always be successful in communicating that peace. Even an ice cream sundae may not be perceived and received as we mean it. We mean only to be sharing the love and peace of Jesus, but not everyone will see it that way. We saw last week in chapter 9 that Jesus Himself experienced rejection. Both Christ and His followers shared the message and then waited on the response of those who heard. Whole cities refused to listen.

The message remained the same, in verse 11, even when a pair of preachers would get rejected. They were to go to the middle of town and visibly demonstrate they were moving on by wiping that places dust from their feet. But they were still to say only, “the kingdom of God has come near you.” That’s the message God wants everyone to hear, that He is near. Jesus will come close to anyone who wants Him to be close to them. Anyone can receive Jesus and have the blessing of the peace He gives.

Jesus talked for a few verses here about judgment for places which rejected His peace. The ancient city of Sodom was proverbial for wicked rejection of angels, messengers of God’s peace. But Sodom would fare better in the judgment than towns which rejected Jesus. Tyre and Sidon were cities representing the whole pagan world. Several passages in the Old Testament proclaim God’s judgment against Tyre. Yet, says Jesus in verse 13, even those pagan cities would have responded better than the Galilean villages of Korazin and Bethsaida. Pagans would have repented if they had seen the miracles Jesus did. But these towns who supposedly knew about God refused Jesus. In verse 15 Capernaum is especially singled out because Jesus spent so much time there. They also rejected Him.

Success is not guaranteed All our best efforts for Jesus may turn to dust that we have to shake off our feet. You pray for and witness to someone for years, a friend, a parent, a child, a spouse, but nothing comes of it. It is not up to us. God leaves faith in Christ up to each individual person. He wants real love so He leaves us free to respond… or not. Nothing we do guarantees a particular person will accept God’s peace and turn to Jesus. All we can do is be faithful to share the message. Success is up to others, and up to God.

Success is also not the most important thing about Christian life and witness. In verse 17 we hear how joyfully those seventy-two disciples came back. They were thrilled with their results. They told Jesus, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” Their mission was a success. They had worked miracles for Jesus. They cast out demons. They were spiritual winners if there ever were any.

Jesus thought they were successful. In verse 18, He celebrates the fall of Satan at that moment. He’s not remembering some cosmic event before the world began. He sees the kingdom of God advancing right then. Satan’s grip on the world was torn loose. In the name of Jesus, the Devil was cast down from his position as ruler of this earth. God had taken control again. Verse 19 recalls what I said a couple weeks ago. Nothing Satan can do can truly hurt those who belong to Jesus. Down in verse 21 you can read yourself how Jesus rejoiced in what God was doing through His followers.

Yet as much as all the success of His followers pleases Him, in verse 20 Jesus wants them to know that success is not what’s most important. “Do not rejoice at this,” He warned, “that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” In other words, don’t get excited about the power you have from God, but rejoice in the place you have with God. Rejoice that He knows your name and loves you.

In pre-marital counseling, I sometimes warn couples that you can easily spend too much time worrying about having a successful relationship. You can worry too much if you’ve done enough for your spouse or whether that person truly appreciates all you do. But you can never spend too much time contemplating and appreciating what your spouse has done for you. You cannot go wrong by regularly finding ways to show your gratitude.

What is good advice for marriage is good advice for Christian living. It is way too easy to focus on what you as a Christian are doing for God. Is it enough? Is it sincere? Is it being blessed by God? Is it bearing any fruit? Those kinds of questions are endless. But there is no need to question what really matters, the fact that God in Jesus Christ has done great things for you. By the death of Jesus and by His rising from the dead, God can save you and write your name in that great book in heaven, the Book of Life. That is what He has done.

My friend Jay has taught philosophy at Wheaton for 35 years now. By all accounts he has had great success. When he first started I thought my somewhat wild, rebellious, outspoken friend from California wouldn’t last more than a couple years among the conservative Midwest evangelicals of Wheaton College. But Jay stayed faithful to Jesus, taught the truth, and helped thousands of students learn to use their minds well. He could easily look back and point to lots of success, books and articles he has written, and students who went on to be successful business people, attorneys, doctors, even some new philosophy professors.

Yet in the last couple of decades Jay has focused much of his writing and teaching on Christian character. As well as asking what the philosophical truth is about life and the world, he asks students, “What kind of person do you need to be to know the truth?” The answer has many facets, things like humility, courage, honesty, diligence and more. But the answer also includes the fact that one needs to be in proper relationship to the source of truth, to know and love the God who made this world and all that is in it.

And I think, like my advice to married couples and others, Jay would say that he is able to draw closest to the truth when he focuses on what God in Jesus has done for him, rather than on his own successes in writing or teaching students.

As we come to the Lord’s Table today, that is what it’s about, what Christ has done for us, for anyone who will accept Him and His blessing. Communion is not something we do. It’s what He does for us, for anyone who will believe in Him. We do not come and “take” this bread and this cup. We receive them as gifts of grace.

If you haven’t yet believed in and received Jesus, I would be more than happy to talk to you about that, about turning your life over to Him and finding that peace He offers. Just say a word to me after the service. In the meantime, I invite all who have received Jesus to come to this Table now, not to celebrate our success, but His success.

Amen.