Finding Faith ... in trusting in God's promises and delivering the Good News

EDITOR'S NOTE: On Oct. 23, 2021, I was ordained as a minister of word and sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and installed as pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. I also served the same church for four years from October 2017 to October 2021 a synodically authorized minister. The journey together these past four years has been an amazing one, full of learning, growing and a deepening of my theological mind. This sermon took place on June 21, 2023.

This week's gospel: Matthew 9:35-10-8, 10:9-23

The Harvest Is Great, the Labourers Few

35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; 38 therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.’

The Twelve Apostles

10 Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

The Mission of the Twelve

5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” 8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.

9 Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for labourers deserve their food. 11 Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement than for that town.

Coming Persecutions

16 ‘See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. 19 When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; 22 and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

The message:

So you think you want to be an apostle, eh?

Sounds kind of cool, right? … Get to hang out with Jesus, the son of God … after all. Am I right? 

Travel the countryside, witnessing the salvation of your fellow Israelites.

And don’t forget the adoration of so many for your faithless support of the Messiah.

Money, fame and prestige is sure to follow!

Well … if you’ve ever been under any illusion of what it is like to be an apostle to Christ … one of Jesus’ foot soldiers in the effort to bring God’s kingdom to reality here on earth.

Then tonight’s gospel should remind you that being Jesus’ disciple … well, we are not guaranteed a garden party.

Interestingly, as I studied this week’s text, I couldn’t help to contextualize it with a discussion that has been taking place not only in our church, but in our synod … and even in our wider church in recent months. 

Since last October, the Faith Council and I have been having this kind of ongoing and periodic conversation about just what is next here at Faith Lutheran.

As we look around ourselves, it’s no secret that we see fewer and fewer bodies at worship. Fewer kids in Sunday School. Less capacity to do mission work.

But, before we despair, I want to point out that we are not the only church that is experiencing this very same situation. 

In every synod function I participate in, the Bishop’s office reports the number of vacant pastorships existing in our synod from north to south, east to west. … And it’s stark.

The bishop also shares with us the frighteningly low numbers of seminary graduates, and what that trend looks like for those of us who are ordained. 

The fact is that the future looks like there will be fewer of us pastors, and we’ll be covering a lot more ground, likely supervising a number of churches led most of the time by lay leaders.

And don’t even get me started about what the churchwide demographics look like. … Given our very own national central office’s predictions, the ELCA as a church likely disappears sometime in the 2050s. 

Those are just the facts.

But, interestingly, tonight’s gospel reminded me that maybe … just maybe … our experiences and the situational status of the church today … isn’t that far off from what our ancestral faithful experienced in Jesus’ time. … During the first century while Jesus was still practicing ministry. 

You see, churches back then were small too. … Mostly household affairs, that included the family, servants and maybe a few neighbors. … At most, there might be some neighborhood gatherings. … But, by far, mostly small gatherings.

And the work of being a disciple of Christ was just as daunting then, as it is now. 

I mean just look at this rousing pep talk Jesus gives his 12 closest disciples: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

In other words, Faith Family, the church has been in this kind of situation before.

Jesus didn’t have the multitudes willingly jumping in a conga line behind him to march all over the Holy Land to perform the work of God. … To be the hands and feet of Christ.

No, the numbers of faithful then likely resembled our current state of affairs … actually. 

“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few …” … Oh, how Jesus’ words still ring true today … don’t they?

And what about the rest of his pep talk to the apostles? … I mean, how could you turn down this job?

Ok, I’m sending you out to exorcize the demons, cure every disease and every sickness. … But ... Please know that you aren’t to enter the towns of Gentiles or Samaritans, as you know, there's a bit of tension between them as us Israelites. … So, you know … give a wide berth around those towns.

Anyway … still … Go now … cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out the demons.

Oh, and yeah, don’t take any money offered to you. Nope … I want you to take basically the clothes on your back, some shoes and a staff. 

And if you encounter a home where you’re not welcome. … Well, then, I guess … just go to the next. Don’t expect hospitality just because you come in the name of Jesus.

In fact, now that I think about it, Jesus says in your job interview, think of it this way: “I’m sending you -- a sheep -- into the midst of wolves!”

Oh, and you might get flogged or prosecuted for crimes. …  … How delightful, right? … So, I guess there are some occupational hazards … you might say.

So how about it faithful … are you ready to sign up? … Seem like a rewarding career full of prestige, wealth and fame?

I think many of us would probably say … no, thank you, Jesus.

I think I’ll stick with the shepherding, or the fishing, or tax collecting, etc. … It seems to be working out OK. … And, like there’s a little more career stability where I’m at. … You know, a little more potential for advancement.

But, Faith Family … in all honesty, I don’t know that being a follower of Jesus nowadays is much simpler. 

Take a look around the church, the wider church … not just here tonight. 

Do you see an abundance of laborers? … Do you see multitudes of faithful who are attending to the sick, the lonely, the imprisoned, the hungry, the addicts …

Do you see these Jesus disciples getting rich or being celebrated?

No, me neither. … “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few …”

But, despite all of this Faith Family, Jesus’ promise -- and therefore God’s promise to us is -- that despite all that we shall face as faithful people … those who endure until the end will be saved. … Saved for eternity. … Your salvation is guaranteed.

Now that sounds like a pretty good trade off … doesn’t it.

Ask me to give you reassurances that our church is going to be alright … ask me to give you assurances that our synod is going to be alright … and I will come up empty.

I will honestly shrug my shoulders and say, “As Jesus says, pray for more laborers … because I don’t have the answers.” 

But I know this, even though there are many similarities between God’s church today as there were some 2,000 years ago … we receive the same promises that he gave those 12 apostles when he sent them out into the world. … He will lift us up and the words we speak will be his and we will be saved forever.

You see, just like Jesus’ 12 apostles some 2,000 years ago … we trust and leave the rest of it up to God. 

And that is the Good News for this Wednesday evening, June 21, 2023. … Amen.