Luke 10:1-12, 16-20
Rejoice In Him Sends You
1After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
5"When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' 6If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. 7Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. 8"When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. 9Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.' 10But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11'Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.' 12I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
16"He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."
17The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." 18He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
The holy Christian church, the communion of saints is the technical term for a very special and very specific group of individuals. The holy Christian church, the communion of saints is the roster of every single person, living or dead, who will spend eternity in heaven with the triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!
The existence of the holy Christian church, the communion of saints presents us with a paradox unequalled by any other. When the elementary truths about membership in the holy Christian church, the communion of saints are laid side-by-side, they seem absurd, contradictory, impossible. And yet, these 2 statements about the church are both absolutely true.
First, there is no cost whatsoever to become a member of this elite group! And secondly, membership in this group costs you everything that you have and are! Membership in the holy Christian church, the communion of saints is a free gift from God for which you must willingly give your all! There is nothing more certain in this world than the following chain of events.
God the Father loves us as only a true God and Father can. Although he is repelled by our sin and rebellion against him, he doesn’t turn away from us. He doesn’t think for even a moment about abandoning us as the worthless ingrates we are. Instead, all he can think about is how to reconcile us, how he can reestablish a loving relationship between us.
God the Son is the solution to that problem. He comes from heaven and is born as a true human being to be our Substitute. Only as true God can he live the holy life required of us all, and only as a true man can he give us his life to use as our own. Only as true God and true man can his innocent suffering and death pay the penalties that should be ours as sinners.
His resurrection from the dead is the triune God’s proclamation that man’s sin is totally forgiven and that a place in heaven awaits everyone who believes this. It is the Lord’s personal guarantee that we will rise from the dead to life everlasting. God the Holy Spirit is then sent with his divine power to ensure that we will not reject the free gift of salvation won for all mankind. From beginning to end our place in the holy Christian church, the communion of saints is the accomplishment of a loving God.
Never once is there an intimation that we must or can do anything to earn or deserve our position with him. However, once you enter the holy Christian church, it is quite a different thing! Jesus tells all his disciples in every age that whoever loses his life for me will find it. In Mark 8:34 he says if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
The Apostle John tells us in his first epistle chapter 2 Do not love the world, or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. The Lord is telling you that as a member of the holy Christian church, you will have to experience the pain of following him; you will have to deny yourself; you will have to set aside everything in life that might become more important to you than your Lord.
Until you finally reach the end of this life and stand before the Lord on Judgment Day, that’s what you should expect. Life as one of God’s own will never be easy or effortless in this world. Being one of the redeemed is work, you will have to exert yourself as a member of the church. One such example of the expectations of people on the list of heaven’s future residents is discussed in our sermon text.
In essence, the Lord is telling you that you are to be his messengers of peace to this world, which needs it very badly. By the words you speak and the things you do, you are to testify to the Gospel, so that the Holy Spirit has the opportunity to work faith in human hearts through God’s Word. You are the one to supply that opening!
Understand, this is more than just living a Christian life of love for all mankind – although this will certainly be found in us. It is the Lord’s calling that we look for opportunities to share the words of eternal life in specific ways. Sin and grace, heaven and hell, saving faith and damning indifference must be found in the conversations we have with other people.
Will it be easy? Not by a long shot! Jesus tells us Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. As gospel messengers we will feel overmatched, threatened, and vulnerable. Satan will pull out all the stops to hinder us in this work. We will feel inadequate, ineffective, and alone. As we consider our calling, we may wonder if there is any joy to be had as a messenger of peace.
Yes! As our sermon text tells us, we can rejoice in the fact that we have been commissioned as the Lord’s messengers of peace, proclaimers of the saving Gospel. We can Rejoice In Him Who Sends Us! Now, perhaps, that isn’t such welcomed news. It sounds like a hard job. But, reluctance to welcome this commissioning may come from a failure to consider what this calling means or to understand it as fully as we must to appreciate it completely.
Perhaps we do better if we think of it this way. Depending on how old you are, think back on all the presidents you have live under. Think of the one you admire most – maybe FDR, JFK, Reagan, or President Obama. Now, imagine how you would feel if this, the most powerful man in the world, a man whom you admire deeply, asked you to be his ambassador!
An ambassador is the personal representative of the one who sends you. You go out on his behalf, with all of his authority behind you. When people listen to you, they are literally hearing the words of the one you serve. Your actions would be considered his actions. Your decisions would be seen as his decisions. How would you feel about being that kind of ambassador?
While you might be a little leery about taking on such a responsibility, I can’t imagine any of us being anything less than honored by the offer of such a position. I can’t imagine that we wouldn’t want to do everything in our power to please our hero and benefactor. What a privilege it would be to serve as ambassador for such a person.
And that is exactly what our God and Lord is calling us to be – his ambassador, his personal representative in this world! Here’s how Jesus describes it: he who listens to you, listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; he who rejects me rejects him who sent me. This is who we are. We are people hand picked by God to serve as his representatives on earth.
When we speak, we speak for him, in his behalf. We carry with us his full authority. His blessing and approval rest upon us as we carry out his will. Being his messenger of peace is not so much a job to be dreaded, as it is a calling of highest honor and respect from the Lord. It is a chance to serve our Savior, and carry on his work of salvation. It is certainly the highest calling given to any human being!
And that’s not even all of it! Imagine, once again, that you are the ambassador of a very powerful man. This time, instead of sending you out with his words, he sends you out with the ability to heal every sickness, disease, infirmity, or birth defect known to man. You can literally cure anybody of the worst affliction in their lives. How would you feel about that appointment?
Wouldn’t you be eager to share your mission with family members and friends – especially those who are suffering? Would you ever tire of seeing the release from pain and the joy of good health in the eyes of others? That’s exactly what your commission is as a messenger of peace! Everyone you know, everybody who is, has an affliction of the worst kind.
Everybody is infected with the plague of sin. If left untreated, it will lead to death. This will not be the death of relief from the cares and sufferings of this life, but death of everlasting agony and suffering in hell – forever existing without any of God’s love! There are no man-made cures for this affliction. No amount of research or treatment will put an end to sin and its damning effects. Nothing, that is, except the blood of Jesus Christ shed for the remission of your sins!
When the 72 returned, they rejoiced in their power over sin’s master. Jesus confirmed their victory when he said I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. That same power has been given to you! With the gospel, you destroy the power of sin and banish hell from someone’s future. You rob Satan of his control over a soul that is precious to the Lord.
As a messenger of peace, it is your privilege and your pleasure to bring complete spiritual healing to sin-sick hearts. Your calling, our calling as messengers of peace, as the Lord’s ambassadors, as witnesses to the divine truths of life everlasting, is a cause for great joy and confidence. But, as great as this joy is, it is small compared to a greater joy that is ours.
For the joy we find in sharing Jesus, is testimony to the fact that we belong to God, that we are members of the holy Christian church, the communion of saints now and forever! That’s why Jesus can end our sermon text and conclude our commissioning as his messengers of peace with the words Rejoice! Rejoice that your name is written in heaven! Rejoice in him who sends you! Amen.