Sharing Good News

After 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. He told them..."Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you'" (Luke 10:1-2, 9).

I had been a pastor for a year or so, and was serving as an associate pastor at a large downtown church. The four pastors had divided up the hospital visitation schedule, so my days to visit were Wednesday and Thursday. Therefore, it was on one of those days when I went to see one of our saints who was feeling ill. I was mostly in charge of the youth at that point in my ministry, so I didn't get to know many adults in the church beyond the parents. Hospital visits were one of those rare times when I could connect with a different part of our congregation. So we talked, had a nice visit, and then I offered prayer for her. After I said "amen," as I got ready to leave, she took my hand. "So," she said, "when is the pastor coming by?" The implication was: when is the real pastor coming, the senior pastor. I smiled, assured her he would be by in a day or so, and left.

Somewhere along the way, we get locked into this notion that only certain people can and should perform certain tasks. As a senior pastor, I've been "called on the carpet" when I "allowed" youth to serve communion, when (it appeared) I didn't pray for someone myself, and other things I'm sure that I can't remember. It makes me wonder how the people to whom Jesus sent these disciples felt when they showed up in town to share the good news. Perhaps people listened politely, and then asked, "Well, that's great. But when is the Messiah coming? When is Jesus coming?" (Jesus knew some wouldn't welcome them, which is why he told the disciples not to waste his time there. "Shake the dust off your feet" is what he told them to do in such a case.)

Luke's particular account of this mission is rather brief. The disciples come back to Jesus, somewhat amazed, and they say, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name" (10:17). Were they talking about actual demons, or people who gave them a hard time—or both? No matter; the point is, their mission was successful. They went in the name of Jesus and spoke his word, and people (and demons!) listened and were blessed.

I have been told several times in the past by a wide group of people that worship doesn't "count" if there is no sermon or, even if there is a sermon, if the "senior pastor" doesn't preach it. I've been told that the sermon is the "most important part" of worship, the main reason we gather. Both statements could not be further from the truth. We don't have an order of worship from the first century anywhere in the Bible (we get hints and glimpses, but no bulletins survive from that era), but the Epistles seem to indicate preaching was a shared task in those early days. Anyone who had a word was invited to share it (much like the Quakers do today). It's only later that the "sermon" from "the pastor" became, in a sense, the centerpiece of the worship service.

My ordination is to Word, Sacrament, and Order, but that doesn't mean I am responsible for every single message or "word from the Lord." That simply isn't Biblical. It isn't the way Jesus functioned. I mean, if anyone had reason to feel "cheated" because "the main guy" didn't show up, it would be those who got a disciple to come to their town rather than Jesus, right? No, my responsibility is to see that the Word of God is proclaimed, in whatever way that can happen.

Different people respond to different messages, different styles. Not everyone will relate to my way of preaching. I don't care for everyone else's style or method of sharing the good news. And yet, together, we proclaim and together, we rejoice that the good news is being shared. Remember what happened when Jesus came down the mountain of Transfiguration, and his disciples told him they had run into someone who was casting out demons in Jesus' name. "But we told him to stop," they say. "He didn't have the correct papers." Actually, they say, "He wasn't one of us." He wasn't the right pedigree. He didn't have the right degree and wasn't in our denomination. Jesus must have smacked his hand on his forehead and said, "What part of 'demons being cast out' did you think was bad?" (Mark leaves that part out!) Then he says, "If he's not against us, he's for us" (Mark 9:38-41).

Here's the bottom line: in whatever form or vessel the good news comes, listen with your heart and seek to be blessed. It may not be the form you prefer. It might not be the messenger you like. But that doesn't mean God is not working. He most likely is, and by not listening with your heart and spirit, you might miss a blessing, just like those folks who watched the disciples shake the dust of their town off their feet as they went on to the next place.