Pentecost 4 – 2025 (out of order due to holiday)
Luke 10:1-12, 17-24
Marian Free
In the name of God who desire is that we love God of our own volition and not through force. Amen.
Love that is forced is not love, obedience that is coerced is not obedience, faith that is demanded and enforced through fear is not faith.
In many countries today, the rules and tenets of a particular faith are imposed on the entire population. (More accurately, one particular interpretation of the rules and tenets are imposed on peoples who have a different understanding of the faith, or no faith at all.) Such regulations, rather than being ideals and values to which all might aspire, become burdens under which many are oppressed – forced to live according to “religious” norms which prevent them from living life to the full. The weight of such restrictions falls primarily on women, but their oppression affects the lives of those around them.
Of course, external signs of adherence to a particular faith – conservative or distinctive forms of dress, the eating or not of particular foods, time spent in prayer – are no indication of an inner state of being. (The recent exposure of child sex abuse within institutions including the church, is evidence that the most vile behaviour and thought can be disguised by an outwardly pious and conformist deportment.)
Faith that is imposed is not faith. Codes of behaviour that are conformed to but not embraced have no meaning at all but rather lead to resentment, fear and deceit.
The history of the Christian church provides many instances when this premise has been forgotten. When Constantine made Christianity the faith of the Empire, those seeking public positions had to declare an allegiance to the Christian faith. In the time of Empire building, missionaries of all denominations spread out through the world imposing the faith (and with it Western values) on the nations which had been subdued. There are success stories, but there are many who mourn the loss or degradation of their own cultures and traditions to. Christianity that was difficult to distinguish from Empire.
Jesus’ approach was quite different. He was confident in his message of good news, certain of God’s love and the inclusion of all, and sure that following him would give life to those who followed in the present and in the future. But he did not insist on faith as a prerequisite for healing or exorcism and his condemnation was not for those who did not believe but rather for those whose outward behaviour belied unthinking, callous hearts.
Above all Jesus did not impose faith on anyone. He did not insist that those who needed healing become card-carrying believers first, he responded to the needs of those who did not conform to the society around them and paid attention to rank outsiders – the Samaritans and even the representatives of the Roman Empire.
Last week we observed the enthusiasm of James and John who, when a Samaritan village refused Jesus a welcome, wanted to call down fire and destroy them. Far from supporting their passionate response to the lack of faith, Jesus chides them for thinking that the alternative to accepting Jesus’s message is destruction of all those who refuse it.
Today’s reading is a little more subtle and often misinterpreted but has the same issue. Jesus is sending out 70 of his disciples. They have strict instructions about what to take (or more specifically what not to take). And Jesus gives this instruction: “But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’”
It is easy to read (and often is read) this as Jesus’ condemnation of those who refuse his message, but in the context of first century Palestine the phrase has the meaning: “Don’t stress, let them be, leave them behind you.” The message is preached, the good news shared and a choice is given. If the choice is ‘no’ don’t worry, move on to the next village. Share the message as widely as possible and allow people to make up their minds as to whether or not to accept. (In much the same way as the sower tossed the seeds randomly and let it grow as it would, so the disciples are to spread the good news without being concerned about how it was received.)
Sometimes I think we take evangelism too seriously. We measure our ‘success’ in terms of number of converts, as if God is taking an inventory. In the light of the gospel perhaps we should turn this idea on its head. Maybe it is more important that as many people as possible know about the good news, and are left to make up their own minds, today, tomorrow, in a distant future or never at all. It is not about us, it is not about numbers, it is simply about sharing what gives our lives meaning and direction and accepting that the rest is up to God.
How often and to how many times have you shared what you know to be the good news of having Jesus in your life?
Don’t worry about how articulate you are, don’t worry if they don’t want to hear. If Jesus’ good news has been good news for you, just share – leave the rest to God.
Swallowsrest 