“Simple Directions”
Luke 9:1-9
A sermon for 1/9/22 – First Sunday after Epiphany
Pastor John Bright
Luke 9 “1Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. 2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 And He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.”
4 “Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. 5 And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”
6 So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.
7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, 8 and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again. 9 Herod said, “John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?” So he sought to see Him.”
I want to give you a chance to participate right off the bat this morning. Raise your hand if you have ever gotten directions that were hard to follow.
Now for the men – that includes all the times you had to give up and actually look at the directions😊
How many of you would prefer simple directions? Me, too!
That’s what we have here in Luke 9, as Jesus prepares to send out His disciples. We also have a connection to the beginning of Jesus ministry. Listen to Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” We read the same in Mark 1:14-15 “14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
What is the Kingdom of God? In the big picture view – God the Father is the sovereign ruler of the whole universe that He created. (That would definitely include the multi-verse for all you Marvel Comic fans!) But we tend to take a close-up view of the Kingdom of God in the gospels – there we find Jesus presented as Savior and Lord of humanity. Listen to what Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:5 “5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Salvation is the entry into the Kingdom of God and the ongoing gift of eternal life. To be a part of the in-breaking Kingdom of God we have to surrender our hearts and lives to Lord Jesus Christ.
Did I lose some of you right there?
There comes a point in each of the Gospels when the crowds stop following Jesus and it’s just the disciples. That’s what happens when we proclaim a gospel that is connected to the Lordship of Jesus over each Believer.
The Gospel & the Kingdom of God
2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
6 So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.
There was a day in the church when we focused on making sure new Believers left the Kingdom of this world – which is the Kingdom of Satan – and entered the Kingdom of God where Jesus is Lord over every part of life. Today – obedience to God’s Word is optional for Believers and, most of the time, it’s hard to tell the difference between us and them.
There is an old story about a man who noticed an impatient woman who was tailgating him. She was so close that when he had to brake to allow some children to use a pedestrian crossing, she almost crashed into him. Furious at being delayed, she sounded her horn and began yelling out the window at the car in front of her.
It was then, the lady noticed the blue lights behind her. She pulled over and the officer asked for her license and registration. As he sat in the police car, she got more and more irritated. When the officer told her she was free to go, the woman was extremely indignant and demanded an apology.
The officer responsible explained the reason for stopping her. "You see, madam, I pulled up behind your car while you're sounding your horn and loudly cursing the driver in front of you. Then I noticed the 'Follow Jesus, Not Me' sticker on the rear window, the 'God Is Love' sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem. Naturally, I assumed that you had stolen the car..." 😊
Seriously – should we stick out like a sore thumb in the world today?
In that day, Jesus and his followers were seen as different. Luke 8 records four miracles performed by Jesus. Two of these, healing and casting out demons, had become hallmarks of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus had the authority of God Almighty to do these acts. Now, he expects those who follow Him to do the same.
Power is Given
“1Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.”
The ministry of Jesus had two components – words and deeds. He proclaimed the power of God to set the captives free and heal the people crying out for the Messiah. Then, Jesus showed them what that power looks like – up close and personal. These words and deeds would also be possible for the Disciples if they receive the same power used by Jesus.
What about us?
I’ve already had this talk with you as we saw the healings and casting out of demons from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Luke. As I said before, this does not need to be the MAIN THING we do as a Church, but it still needs to be A THING we believe is possible.
It’s interesting that Jesus tells these guys that the power is all they will need - 3 And He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.”4 “Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. 5 And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”
This is different than what we see in the book of Acts. Paul would go to a place and stay for months, working to make money and teaching. This is different from what we see today as ministers, like myself, are paid to be in full time ministry in one place for years. Rather than a model for pastors, this looks like a model for engaging folks in ministry.
A Model for Ministry
Our basic model for ministry in the church for quite a while is based on the premise put forth in the 1989 movie, “Field of Dreams” – “Build it and they will come.”
In the Church, we call that “the attraction model.” For about 100 years, we have been following a model that looks a lot like the American retail model – have a big sale to get folks in the door and a certain number of those folks will become repeat customers. Sound familiar? My family attended a Christmas play at a local church the week before Christmas. They had us fill out a contact card and made lots of announcements about the sermon series and events coming up in January. I have been receiving text messages from them. This is one of the “standard” church growth models used today that is in the general category of attraction or retail.
Let me use a couple of examples to explain the deficiencies of the attraction model:
Most of you are familiar with a Medical Mission to the folks in rural Honduras – Friends of Barnabas. Many of you have taken gone to Honduras to build and to help those in need.
What if we changed it? Let’s set-up a clinic in our fellowship hall and invite the folks in the mountains of Honduras to come here and get treatment.
Why are you looking at me like that? Wouldn’t it be more convenient for us?
Right now, there are dozens for Christian ministries with hundreds of volunteers in the eight states struck by tornados on December 10, 2021. If you have ever been involved in disaster ministry – you know what they are doing now – clean up, demolition and repairs. In the months ahead, they will help folks without adequate insurance rebuild.
What if we changed it? Let’s say we really like amusement parks. We could get all those ministries and volunteers to build amusement parks where the tornados destroyed homes and businesses because that is what we like.
Why are you looking at me like that - again? We would rather put time and effort into something we like - right?
These two ministries I just tried to completely turn upside down are so effective because they DO NOT operate on the attraction or retail model – they use the missional model that Jesus is giving to the 12 disciples. When we get to Luke 10, He will give to the 70 the same missional model with these words – “2 Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Luke 10:2
If you start looking around at church attendance data, it’s hard to get a handle on exact numbers. Most national polls shake out with about half of folks reporting they never attend church and another 15% who report attending once a month or less. Let me ask you – does everybody remember when this church had many more folks on Sunday? Do you know about at least one church that is struggling because the attendance has dropped to almost nothing?
That means there is a great harvest out in the world today – but the church of today is praying for God to send the harvest to them. It’s the EXACT OPPOSITE of what Jesus told the 70 to pray!
Jesus was sending them out to folks who would not receive the message of the Kingdom of God and He did not tell them to apologize – nope – “shake off the dust.” He was also sending them out to the curious, like Herod – who just wanted to “see him.” Both of these kinds of folks still exist today.
It seems to me that the local congregations in our day have a choice to make – do we keep doing what we have always done and expect a different result? (Wait – that would be foolish!) Or do we follow the simple directions of Jesus – do whatever it takes to reach those who need to hear about the compassion of God the Father and show them God’s compassion in our actions.
Jesus never told them – “build it and they will come”.
Jesus sent them and He wants to send us today. It’s our choice. Amen
TEACHING SHEET
date
Luke 9:18-22
“Who Is Jesus?”
Mark 1:14-15 “14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
What is the Kingdom of God?
• Big Pic – God the Father is the sovereign ruler of the whole universe that He created.
• Close up - Jesus is Savior and Lord of all humanity.
John 3:5 “5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” To be a part of the in-breaking Kingdom of God we have to surrender our hearts and lives to the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Gospel & the Kingdom of God
2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
6 So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.
There was a day in the church when we focused on making sure new Believers left the Kingdom of this world – which is the Kingdom of Satan – and entered the Kingdom of God where Jesus is Lord over every part of life. Today – obedience to God’s Word is optional for Believers and, most of the time, it’s hard to tell the difference between us and them.
Should we look different than other folks in the world?
Power is Given
“1Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.”
The ministry of Jesus had two components – words and deeds. These words and deeds would also be possible for the Disciples if they receive the same power used by Jesus.
What about us? Healings and casting out demons does not need to be the MAIN THING we do as a Church, but it still needs to be A THING we believe is possible.
A Model for Ministry
Our basic model for ministry in the church for quite a while is based on the premise put forth in the 1989 movie, “Field of Dreams” – “Build it and they will come.” In the Church, we call that “the attraction model.” For about 100 years, we have been following a model that looks a lot like the American retail model – have a big sale to get folks in the door and a certain number of those folks will become repeat customers. Sound familiar?
Jesus give us the missional model - “2 Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Luke 10:2 There is a great harvest out in the world today – but the church of today is praying for God to send the harvest to them. It’s the EXACT OPPOSITE of what Jesus told the 70 to pray!
It seems to me that the local congregations in our day have a choice to make – do we keep doing what we have always done or do we follow the simple directions of Jesus to those He was sending out. Jesus sent them and He wants to send us today.
