Pentecost 6/Lectionary 14/ Proper 9

(7/08/07) “Satan Falls Like Lightning”

Another difficult lesson from Luke’s gospel—and I can only assure you that next week things will get a little easier, a little more familiar! Today we find St. Luke presenting the story of Jesus' commissioning of the seventy, and his purpose is really to illuminate one aspect of Christian discipleship, that of evangelism. Evangelism is a word that makes many Christians nervous! Many church consultants suggest that the word "Evangelism" ought to be avoided; it is a turn-off to many people because of the association with TV evangelists. But I suspect it isn't the word that is so difficult for most of us, but the doing. How do we witness to our faith in Christ? How do we reach out to others in the name of Christ? Whatever you call it, it is tough stuff for us!

Yet we must be aware that this story comes right on the heels of last week's lesson discipleship—as if to say that this task of witnessing to our faith, reaching out, evangelizing, whatever we may call it, is something expected of those who would be disciples of Christ. That means that it is part of our job, yours and mine, if we would take up our cross and follow Jesus. This rather strange story contains some clues about this whole matter. Let's have a look and see what we can learn.

Notice first that Jesus sends out seventy people to go and bear witness to him. Numbers are often important symbols in the Bible, and the number seventy may be of specific importance here. Seventy often means simply a large and comprehensive group, a complete number. Luke says Jesus sent out "seventy others," that is, seventy besides the twelve disciples. So perhaps what he is suggesting is that this commission is being given to the whole group of Jesus' followers. It is not a task given just to leaders, to the twelve, but to all who have been following him.

To us that is a reminder that the task of spreading the good news is not something that can be left in the hands of the pastor or some committee or the church council—it is your job, by virtue of your baptism. Spreading the good news is part of what being a Christian disciple means.

Some other scholars remind us that in the Greek world, there was an idea that there were seventy nations and peoples in the world. Jesus' appointment of seventy may suggest that this mission of preaching the gospel is intended for the whole world, for all nations and peoples. For us that has two dimensions. First, it reminds us that evangelism means looking beyond just our own community. It means our involvement with the work of the Lutheran Church of Rwanda, or the church in Slovakia. It means our active support in a variety of ways of ministries and missions to all nations and all peoples. But it also means that even here at home, in our own community, our responsibility isn't just to "people like us." We are called to bring the good news to everyone—to those who are poor, those who are homeless, those who wear their hair differently from us, those whose skin is different or who dress differently. We have no warrant for thinking that our congregation's responsibility is only to those who look and act like we do.

Notice that Jesus sent them "into every town and place where he himself intended to go." This little phrase reminds us that the mission of evangelizing is one of preparation. We often rather loosely say that we want to "bring Christ" to people who do not known him. But this text suggests that such a concept may not be quite right. We do not need to bring Christ—Christ will be coming along under his own power! The task he gives to us is to go ahead of him to prepare the way.

Some years ago I traveled in Nepal, visiting Christian missions there in a place where missionaries are forbidden to preach overtly about Christ. But what they do is offer education, health care, technical advice. In that process they gain the trust of the people, who eventually want to know what it is that motivates the missionaries to leave their homes and their nation and come to a strange land to help others. And then the missionaries have the opportunity to share with them about Christ.

Perhaps it is that way with us, too. We witness to our faith, not just by preaching or quoting the Bible, but by preparing people . . . befriending them when they need a friend . . . offering help and assistance . . . just living lives of faith and joy that lead others to ask what it is that allows us to have such faith and joy and hope. In doing that, you see, we are preparing the way for Christ, opening hearts and minds to him, and always recognizing that our task is not to force Jesus down people's throats but simply to go before him to the places where he, in his own way, is about to come.

Then Jesus says that he is sending them out "like lambs into the midst of wolves." One writer has called this "the most encouraging word in the Bible." What he means is that it encourages those of us who are reluctant to witness to our faith because we're afraid we'll be laughed at, ridiculed, or otherwise mistreated. Jesus says that's no excuse. It's just what we should expect. When we witness to our faith, we do not go out like St. George attacking the dragon—we are like lambs among wolves. Of course we may get laughed at. Of course we may feel like failures. That's part of the job! What does Paul say? "God has chosen the weak, the foolish, the low and the despised, in order to accomplish his tasks in the world." If we trust him, even as we walk into the wolves' den, then he will use our efforts to bring about great things.

At the end of this story, Jesus makes an incredible remark. The 70 have returned from their mission, and they are enthusiastic about the response they have received. Jesus replies, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven." That's a strange statement, but an important one. What he means is that the defeat of Satan, the overcoming of Evil, the triumph of God's kingdom, doesn't just happen in terms of cosmic events. It happens in all the little things that each of us does to witness to our faith in Christ.

Sometimes we feel that what we do doesn't make much of a difference, but Jesus says something else! He says that the little things these 70 have done are very much a part of the larger triumph of God. And so are the little things we do in Christ's service. One commentator put it this way: "I saw Satan plummet to earth! Where? When? I saw Satan fall when a child entered God's kingdom through Baptism. I saw Satan fall when a young man turned his life over to God at an A. A. meeting. I saw Satan fall when an inner city congregation committed itself to serving the poor. I saw Satan fall when a husband and wife learned to trust one another again." Even the littlest victories are part of God's great plan—even the littlest ways that you and I witness for Christ in our daily lives.

I recently read an essay which was critical of the late Mother Theresa. Hard to believe, but true! This writer felt that she should have spent more of her time working to change the systems and the structures that create and maintain poverty in Calcutta. Well, yes, somebody probably should be doing that. And what Mother Theresa did was, on the surface, not very effective. She ministered to individuals, people who are dying from the curse of poverty and disease. But those little acts, you see, those tiny, simple things that she did, made a tremendous difference in God's world. In those simple things, we could see Satan fall like lightning. Those little things matter.

Mother Theresa herself once put it this way: "We can do no great things; we can only do small things with great love." That's the way Jesus teaches us to reach out. It is those small things with great love that make the difference.

You know, surveys consistently show that something like 75% of all church members belong to a particular congregation because someone invited them to church. Only about 8% come because of the pastor; another 6% because of the program. An almost negligible number come because of an advertising campaign, and not too many more because of an intensive evangelism program. Most come because some Christian did a little thing with great love by inviting a friend or neighbor or family member to church. And Satan fell like lightning!

A Sunday School teacher asked a class of 10-year-olds what the most important part of the church building was. One boy was quick to pipe up: "The exit!" Fearing the worst, the teacher asked him to explain himself. "Well, that's what we're supposed to do, isn't it? Go out into the world and serve the Lord?" Well, he had it right, didn't he? We all are commissioned to do just that—not with flashy and glitzy lights, but with simple things. An invitation to church. A helping hand. A shoulder to cry on. A morning at Interfaith Food Ministry. An encouraging word. A faithful prayer. And Satan falls like lightning!