July 8, 2007 at Saint Mark Church Norman, OK
Isaiah 66: 10-14 + Psalm 66: 1-7, 16, 20 + Galatians 6:14-18 + Luke 10: 1-12, 17-20
These disciples have it all wrong, and Jesus corrects them quickly not to spoil their joy, but to root it in the right place. Like last week Jesus had to question their desire to follow their feelings instead of following his lead. This week it’s a matter of what might be the focus of their attention and the source of success and joy.
They come back all impressed with themselves over what they have seen and what they have done. All of those exciting things, all that power, all those gifts! It’s almost too much for them. You can sense that they came back on the run ready to celebrate their victories. But that’s not the point Jesus says to them.
Their joy, and ours as well cannot come from what we do. It must spring out of who we are, and what we are as God’s children “On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?” Then I will declare to them solemnly, “I never knew you. Depart from me you evildoers.” Jesus affirms for his disciples then and today that every word and work however significant or sensational must be informed and inspired by daily surrender to God’s Will, rooted in God’s Grace, and a revelation of God’s presence and love.
The good things that happen, the peace, the reconciliations, the healings, the comforting, the feeding of the hungry, the welcoming of strangers, the defeat of evil and hatred happens because of who we have become and our deepening awareness of what we are as a people saved and redeemed and free from sin.
The heart of what Jesus would have us understand is that the people who carry the revelation are the revelation. The dying and rising of Jesus
is not simply a story we tell about Jesus of Nazareth. It is something we too live and breathe and celebrate and believe. Each new generation of carriers becomes the Body of Christ, the visibility of God’s presence on earth.
So, it’s not about doing things. It is about becoming something/someone.
That is cause for Joy. The most astonishing thing that should stir our spirits
has nothing to do with what we do but rather with what God through Jesus does to us. God naturalizes us, so to speak. God takes us out of this world to make us citizens of the Royal Realm. What is promised for the end of the ages is a reality right now. What better news is there, or what better reason to rejoice than to hear the news that our names are written in heaven!