Good morning. For those who do not know me, my
name is Justin and I serve as one of the pastors here at Court
Rights. And it is a privilege, as
always, to be with you this morning.
And it is good to be in a new chapter of Luke.
We made it to Chapter 9, and as we turn to a new chapter, it
feels like a good moment to just do a little recap of a whole
bunch of remarkable things that Jesus has done so far in the
book of Luke. And I promise this has a point
to it. Some of them are healings, Some
of them are the releasing of evil spirits.
Some of them are just kind of noteworthy events that took
place. So this is starting all the way
back in like Luke chapter 4 when Jesus began his earthly
ministry. So Jesus tested, was tested in
the wilderness by Satan. Jesus drove out an impure
spirit. Jesus healed many in the region.
Jesus then called his first disciples.
Jesus heals a man with leprosy. Jesus forgives and heals A
paralyzed man. Jesus calls Levi and eats with
sinners. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath and
that's where he heals that man with the withered hands.
Jesus teaches his Sermon on the Plane, which is a profound set
of teachings that is echoed also in Matthew in the Sermon on the
Mount. Jesus heals the centurion
servants. Jesus raises the widow's son
from the dead. Jesus forgives the sinful woman
who anointed her. Jesus calms the storm in the Sea
of Galilee. Jesus heals the man possessed
with many demons. And then last week, Jesus heals
the bleeding woman, and Jesus raises Gyrus's daughter from the
dead. Now, what do we notice about all
of these events? Who's doing all the work?
Jesus. Yeah.
It's like the Sunday School answer, right?
Jesus. Jesus is obviously the focal
point of the Gospels, so this makes sense that he be the one
doing all this. But at some point, even Jesus
knows that he has some of these earthly constraints, namely time
and space. He cannot, unlike, say, God the
Father, He cannot be everywhere at once.
That is a constraint that was placed on Jesus in the
incarnation. And he knows, even if the
disciples don't know, that he only has so much time before the
events that are to unfold when he is crucified.
So in our passage today, Jesus begins the process of conferring
power and authority to his disciples.
This is an act that has special significance for them then
obviously, but also for us now and today.
Before we read, let me pray, Lord, would you open our hearts
and minds by the power of Your Spirit this morning, that as the
Scriptures are read and Your Word is proclaimed, that we may
hear with joy what You are to say to us today.
Amen. So this is Luke 9 starting at
verse one, going through to the very beginning of 10.
And I don't have any tech this morning because I got delayed
for reasons I can share about later.
But I was about to, I, you know, scheduled about 1/2 an hour to
make some slides and then that half an hour went out the window
for a particular reason, which I'll explain later.
So no slides. So you use your Bible.
There are Bibles at the back if you want 1.
You can use your phone if you'd like.
Whichever you prefer. So Luke and I, when Jesus had
called the 12 together, he gave them power and authority to
drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out
to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
He told them take nothing for the journey, no staff, no bag,
no bread, no money, no extra shirt.
Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town.
If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the
dust off your feet as a testimony against them.
So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming
the good news and healing people everywhere.
Now Herod the Tetrarch heard about all that was going on, and
he was perplexed, because some were saying that John had been
raised from the dead, others that Elijah had appeared, and
still others that some of the prophets of long ago had come
back to life. But Herod said I'd beheaded
John. Who then is this I hear such
things about? And he tried to see him.
When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they have
done. This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God, so many of us over the course of our lives.
We go to school to learn, you know, high school, and then
perhaps afterward we go to college or university or an
apprenticeship in the trades or to the workforce at some point.
And in all of these, there is a component of training.
You know, sometimes it's practical, sometimes it's more
theoretical, philosophical. But at some point, as
apprentices of various kinds, we are let loose to go and do a
good teacher. If they've done, they've done
their job well, they will show both the why and the how.
They'll explain, they'll give the rationale behind the
concepts and principles. They'll create a compelling case
for this vocation that you've chosen and they'll give you the
practical components and they'll even walk alongside you as you
begin. They'll check the quality of
your work and then make sure you've kind of understood all
the right steps and procedures. There's a like a technical
component to that, but there's also just a component of like,
if, if I'm, you know, when I was, I think back to my, my
early ministry days, you know, I, I wrote a sermon and it was
not good. And I had to show it to my, you
know, my boss, who was actually my father-in-law, which was
also, like, a little intimidating.
And I had to be, OK. This is what I've got.
Like, tell me where I've gone wrong.
Tell me what I could improve, all that kind of stuff.
It was like there was a process for learning and growing and
changing. In many ways, the trajectory of
the disciples is much like our own life and career trajectory
where we learn and grow and apply principles and then are
released to go and do. The disciples have been watching
Jesus do all that Jesus does. All these healings and teachings
are highlighted earlier, and they have been participating in
conversation with Jesus and one another about all that they've
seen and heard. These guys are now heavily
invested in what's happening here.
They are all in. They are by all accounts all in
except maybe one of them. So season 9 verse one it says
Jesus is called the 12 together. Now this is not really like
crucial to the broader point, but it's interesting to consider
that in all likelihood the disciples were not with Jesus at
all times during their during his ministry.
They'd likely go home for a few weeks at a time, tends to family
matters back home. So Jesus calls them together and
he confers power and authority to drive out demons and to heal.
He's in effect saying, you've seen me do this.
Now you go out and do. Now there's 2 words there, power
and authority. Power we translate that word
into. It's the Greek word dunamis.
Think dynamite, think explosive power.
Now, long time courtwright friends will likely be aware of
this language with our connection to Dunamis
Fellowship, which has been an important part of court rights
identity as both Reformed and Holy Spirit led.
That's where we get the word from, for those who didn't know.
And then there is the word authority, which is the Greek
word exusia. Think about permission,
jurisdiction, domain if you will, power and authority.
Now, it's hard to have one without the other, but there's
something important about Jesus conferring both of these.
Power seems to imply that they have the actual literal ability
and skills to do it, and authority seems to imply that
they have been given unique dominion over these spiritual
and physical realms. And as he gives them this power
and authority, he sends them out on this sort of seemingly solo
mission. And in this case, they seem to
go out by themselves and they go all around the region.
And the purpose of this mission was twofold.
It was to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick and
drive out demons. Again, This is exactly what
Jesus had already been doing, and he's now setting up his
closest disciples and companions to do what Jesus does.
Now, it's not random that he sends them out to proclaim the
Kingdom of God and heal the sick.
All throughout Luke's gospel, we have seen Jesus pairing these
two concepts, these two ideas that the good news, the gospel
of the Kingdom of God is not merely a spiritual state, but a
material one as well. That the God, the the good news
of the Kingdom of God is yes, our spiritual selves are saved,
heart, soul and mind. We are forgiven, we're restored,
we're redeemed by this gospel. But the good news of the Kingdom
of God is also one of justice, putting the world to rights.
The sick and the wounded are healed.
The hungry are fed, The oppressed are liberated.
The unhoused are sheltered. Jesus is beginning something
amazing. He's multiplying his efforts
here. Next week we're going to see
Jesus multiply some food, but this week he is multiplying the
Kingdom. And then he says something
curious. He says don't bring anything
with you. Seems kind of unreasonable,
doesn't it? Now, a couple of things that are
worth noting here. So there were philosophers and
itinerant preachers of various religions and schools of
thought, and they would often be recognized as they went around
by their staff and their bag, which would often be for them to
beg for money. That's what they would do.
The 12 are called to something different.
They're called to radical dependence on God and God's
provision. If this mission is going to be
successful, it is going to be only because God's grace carried
them through it and they will rely on the kindness of
strangers along the way. They're to stay at the home,
anyone who will take them in. Now the idea here is that they
don't. Jesus doesn't want them walking
into a village and then they like someone greets them and
welcomes them in and then they like look down the road and
they're like that house is bigger and has better amenities
and food. Maybe we should go see if
they'll take us in. They weren't to be tire kickers.
They were to go with the first people that accepted them and
took them in and stay there for the duration.
They were also given instruction on what to do when they're not
welcomed. They were to shake the dust off
their feet and this was a common Jewish practice.
It was a way to symbolize that this place was ceremonially
unclean and they needed to shake off literally the uncleanliness
off their feet before they would return back to their homeland,
lest they make their homeland unclean.
Now this was usually done in Gentile or non Jewish regions,
but was also adopted by early Christian missionaries like the
disciples here. Now, at first glance, this seems
a little harsh, because it is a little harsh.
One of the greatest modern critiques of Christendom,
though, and so This is why I think it's a little bit of a
mercy. One of the greatest modern
critiques of Christendom, that's colonial Christianity, is that
the way that Christians have at times forced themselves into
cities, countries and neighborhoods that don't want
anything to do with their faith. They don't just simply, you
know, insert themselves into the community, but they impose
themselves on the community in a way that goes beyond just being
a faithful witness and presence. Now, I want to be generous and
gracious and believe that the intent is ultimately good, that
Christians want the world to know Jesus.
Yes, Christians want to spread the message of Jesus the
Kingdom. Christians wants to save the
world from eternal separation from God.
And yet here BCG is saying if they won't receive you, just let
them go. Just move on.
Yes, this is an indictment and a judgment on them, but it's also
perhaps saying their hearts are not yet ready, just they need
more time. Move on for now.
The take away for me here is that the Kingdom of God cannot
be spread by brute force. It cannot be spread by brute
force because the Kingdom of God it confronts, but it cannot
coerce. Let me say that again.
It confronts but cannot coerce the Kingdom of God, cannot be
legislated or codified by government in the way that
Christian nationalism supposes that it could.
So the 12 go from village to village, doing exactly what
Jesus did, and doing what Jesus had given them power to do, to
proclaim the Kingdom, to heal the sick.
And they did this on the power and provision of God, not their
own. And they were gratefully
received by those who took them in, and they just moved on from
places that didn't accept them. And something fascinating
happens and we get this little aside that almost at first
glance seems kind of random and this this encounter with Herod
the tetrarch. So no doubt some of Jesus
actions and movements around Galilee had started to cause a
little bit of a stir and the word had gotten back to the
political authorities, namely Herod.
Now this is a different Herod from the very beginning of Luke.
That was Herod the Great, this is Harold the Great son, Herod
Antipus or Herod tetrarch. You don't need to know that, but
it's just good to know that there are two Herods in Luke.
So Herod, as a rule over the region of Galilee had been
hearing about what was happening.
He doesn't yet know much about Jesus and the blossoming
movement that's happening right under his nose.
He thinks it sounds kind of like John the Baptist.
Wait, no, I, I beheaded that guy, I think.
So it can't be him. Is this somehow like Elijah
coming back? Is this one of the other
prophets of old that have returned?
He's a little confused and and nonetheless his curiosity is
peaked. He wants to see Jesus.
It says Now we should read when he says that.
We should read that through the lens of a man who beheaded John
the Baptist, who was a prophet of God.
You could imagine the insecurity and the malice that Herod may
have in his heart when he hears about the uprising of this
so-called Kingdom of God. This man is not spiritually
seeking. And so finally, then in verse
10, bleeding into the next section a little bit, the 12
disciples return and they have a little bit of a debrief and it
feels like actually a really crucial part of the story.
Initially I I had read, you know, verses one through 9.
I was OK, great, great little package here.
But then you you kind of need to include that, that next little
half sentence there, being able to talk about their successes
and their struggles and what God might have taught them along the
way. It feels like a very meaningful
step that if you miss that, you're missing out on something
crucial. It's to learn from one another,
to learn from Jesus, to ask tough questions about the nature
of the Kingdom of God. So this passage, it forces us to
ask some important questions about how we approach our faith,
how we understand power and authority and healing.
One thing worth mentioning before we explore some of those
questions is that this is one of those classic passages where we
have a decision to make. Is this passage descriptive or
prescriptive? Is it describing an event or is
it prescribing a process by which we should follow?
So if Jesus is conferring his authority and power not just to
the 12 but to us, does that mean we must do likewise?
We have to drop everything in our life, don't take anything
with us that we should shake our feet off when people don't
accept us, that we should, you know, wipe the uncleanliness off
of our feet when they don't accept our message.
Should we bring absolutely nothing with us for the journey
except the shirts on our back? The answer is in most cases,
probably not. In most cases, I'm not gonna
stop you to do from doing what God is calling you to do.
But in general, Jesus is very specific.
Instructions are descriptive of this particular trip, not
necessarily for all time. For instance, elsewhere, even in
the Gospel of Luke, Jesus sends out other disciples and gives
them a different set of instructions.
And she says, he actually says bring some stuff with you this
time. So this was a particular moment
in time for this particular group of people.
The question that we should ask, though, is what is the spirit of
what Jesus is asking of his disciples that we might also
participate in? What is the spirit behind what
Jesus is asking? In this case?
It seems really clear to me that Jesus told them to bring nothing
with them because he wanted the 12 to rely wholly on God's
provision. They're being sent out as
representatives of the Kingdom of God, and yet they are called
to take this vow of poverty and reliance on the kindness of
strangers. This is meant to be in sharp
contrast to the opulence, the excesses, and the material
riches of these earthly kingdoms.
We should be able to get behind the heart of that.
Whether we have very little, whether we have very much, or
somewhere in between, we can all stand to grow in our reliance on
God for our spiritual and our material need.
One of the greatest challenges in the in wealthy Western
nations like Canada, where access is very much
comparatively high. I know we have our challenges.
I know we have our struggles, but it is comparatively much,
much higher than many other places around the world.
And because of that excess reliance on God feels absence.
One of the the things that it's not maybe something that is
outright said, but it is something that is implied in
what many people say and do is why do I need God?
I have everything I need. I have no felt need for this God
that you speak of. We have so much.
What do we need God for? This is true of individuals and
it's also true of churches. It's one of the tensions that we
will always face. Where is the line between enough
and too much in terms of our ministry wants and needs and
facility wants and needs? You know, our church, if you
look around, our church feels comparatively humble compared to
say, like a a sprawling cathedral or like a Costco size
mega church. But that doesn't mean we
shouldn't wrestle with it. Yeah, it also seems clear that
Jesus truly does want them making a difference where they
go. Proclaiming the good news of the
Kingdom of God is only good news if it's actually good news.
Like, if you walk into a room and you said, guys, I have some
good news, you're all gonna die. Like, not really good news,
right? And so the idea was they were
proclaiming the Kingdom, the good news of the Kingdom, and
that there was actually good news for the hearers.
That meant, in part, that a part of this mission was not simply
proclamation, healing and the driving out of evil spirits.
People were made. Well, they were restored from
their brokenness for many of them who were ceremonially
unclean and meant they were able to rejoin community and family
again. The darkness was pushed back and
the world was brought to rights. What does this sort of good news
look like today? It can and does look like
praying for healing for those in need, as we do almost every week
here. But it also looks like throwing
neighborhood parties in celebration of our food security
garden. It also looks like recovery
programs helping people with addiction and other life
struggles. It also looks like restoring
dignity for the marginalized by giving unhoused access to
washrooms and showering and laundering facilities like our
mission partner Rose City Mission did this past week.
It also looks like building large scale supportive housing
like Christian organizations like Indwell have been doing
across Southern Ontario. It also looks like liberating
modern day slaves across the world like International Justice
Mission has been doing for many, many years.
The list could and does go on and on.
Followers of Jesus around the world are proclaiming the
Kingdom in both word and deed, and we are called by Jesus to
join in. When Jesus calls his disciples
to go out and proclaim the Kingdom and heal, he is calling
us to do likewise. Now how that looks may be
different. I have not personally ever
physically healed someone that I am aware of.
I have prayed over people, I have prayed for people, and it
hasn't happened. I believe in the power of
prayer. I believe and firmly affirm that
God heals today. But for me, that hasn't
happened. But I was reminded, even in a
conversation that I had this morning, that healing can take
on many forms. We'll talk about that in a
moment. It also seems clear that when we
participate in the proclamation of the Kingdom, authorities will
take notice. In this case, Herod took notice,
sometimes in good ways, sometimes in not so good ways.
So we see Herod Antipus hearing about all that was happening and
having this little mini meltdown because it seems like his
authority and power was being threatened because it was.
What can we take away from that little aside?
In one sense, Harrod is naturally going to have a
problem if he feels as though there is a political uprising
happening. These representatives of this
supposed king are going around and proclaiming a new kind of
Kingdom, But as Jesus says, he says my Kingdom is not of this
world, but he doesn't understand that.
Harry doesn't understand that. This Kingdom does require
allegiance though, and by its very nature the powers that be
are not going to like that. Kingdom Work will naturally
confront authority because it showcases the cracks in society.
You know, we've been partnering with the Guelph Food Bank for
two years starting next month, which is amazing.
It's been a remarkable partnership and I'm eternally
grateful that we get to serve our neighbors in that way.
But it has been eye opening. It's been very eye opening.
We have begun to see in new and stark ways how many in this very
neighborhood that we call our church home are getting left
behind and pushed aside. Across our city.
We see the need for more supportive housing and
sustainable housing, for more mental health and addiction
supports. And we participate in this
because it is a part of pushing back that darkness and bringing
healing and reconciliation and restoring in the same way that
Jesus called his disciples to do.
And the amazing part is that it does open the door for spiritual
conversations along the way because Jesus is present among
the marginalized and forgotten. Sometimes the most Christian
thing that we can do is pray for and then say to our city
councillors, mayors, members of provincial parliament, members
of parliaments, say please don't forget about the least of these.
Please don't forget about the least of these.
It's easy to overlook that Kingdom language is political
language because a Kingdom implies a king of whom we have
been sent out as representatives by the very nature of Our
Calling. As citizens of the Kingdom, our
role is to confront spiritual and physical realities.
To participate in the gospel in is to participate in restoring
soul and body, bringing the world to rights.
I know I've laid a little heavy into that this morning, and I've
done that purposely. In a spiritual climate that is
increasingly apathetic of Christianity, suspicious of
Christianity, or completely ignorant on matters of Jesus,
faith, and spirituality, people will not care what we have to
say about the good news of Jesus without in some sense,
addressing our material realities.
Remember, the good news of the Kingdom is good news because it
addresses both body and soul. And as I say that that does not
negate that it is all grace and that God is the one who saves.
So it is not undermining the the the power of the gospel.
But again, it is saying that the gospel is both of these pieces,
but bad authority will be threatened by that work.
So here's a fun little anecdote. In the 4th century there was a
guy, he was the Roman emperor, his name was Emperor Julian.
And he was threatened by the charitable work of Christians in
the day. And he was threatened by it so
much that it inspired him to provide more care for the poor.
And so he said this in a letter, I love this, this is amazing.
So he said this in a letter, that he wanted more and more
resources to be distributed to those in need because this is
what he thought he said. It is disgraceful that when no
Jew has to beg and the impious Galileans or Christians support
not only their own poor but ours as well, all men see that our
people lack aid from us. So just to kind of recap what
he's saying there, he's saying that like, you know, Christians,
they're not only caring for themselves, but they're caring
for other people. And it's making us look bad.
It's amazing. I love that.
And so I I love that he's like, he despises the Christians and
he despises the Jews. And he's like, I'm gonna show
those guys. I'm gonna show them what's what.
I'm gonna provide the basic needs of the people.
And no one can stop me. I'm like, wait, hey, man, yeah,
we did. We did more of that.
Christianity was on the forefront of charity, and we
should continue to be today. This is the work that Jesus has
empowered and authorized us to do.
And I hope that rather than feeling threatened, that we get
some healthy competition and even support from our local and
national leaders. And we do here at the church,
and I hope we continue as well. So in this passage, we see Jesus
saying to his disciples, in effect, you've seen what I do.
I'm proclaiming the arrival of this Kingdom and I am healing.
I'm calling people to turn from their sin and a line or realign
with God. I'm restoring people back to
true life, to community, and I'm empowering you and emboldening
you and authorizing you to go out and do likewise.
Jesus confers that power to them, and he confers that to us
today. This is not simply the vocation
of the pastor or the missionaries among us.
This is the vocation of every follower of Jesus.
What would our neighborhood, our city, our country, our nation,
our world? What would it look like if we
leaned into this vocation more fully?
People would experience the abundant life of Jesus.
They would come to know Jesus because we have been Jesus to
them. People would be lifted out of
isolation and into community. People would be restored.
No one would lack food or shelter.
God, would you make us a people who wield the power and
authority that Jesus has given us?
Amen. Yeah.