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            This is the first of three sermons on the theme of Love. They are a scriptural exploration of the 10th Chapter of the Gospel of Luke, and are inspired by the words of the late psychiatrist and spiritual guide, Gerald May. He wrote:

Very simply, love is the core of everything…It is the sole purpose of all creation and of us as human beings. And it is, finally, impossible to distinguish precisely whether this love at our center is our love of God, or God’s love of us, or our love of ourselves and one another, or God’s love of God.

Luke 10 provides us with a glimpse of three aspects of love, and these are the themes of these three sermons: Call, Compassion, and Contemplation. The respective scriptural references are: the sending out of the seventy, the parable of the Good Samaritan, and the story of Mary and Martha.

            Chapter 10 of Luke begins with these words: “After this the LORD appointed seventy others, and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to come.” We are familiar with the stories about the call of the first disciples, Simon, Andrew, James, and John, fishermen who dropped their nets to follow Jesus. But here in Chapter 10 this call is broadened - made much more expansive and inclusive. The text falls into two sections: how Jesus prepares the seventy for their mission, and then what he has to say to them on their return.

            Beginning with the closing verses of Chapter 9, Jesus preaches, teaches, heals and continues to call disciples. But here, unlike in the stories of the first disciples, we find that the call can create conflict. One man seems impulsively ready to drop everything and follow Jesus anywhere. But Jesus cautions, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.” Know what you are getting into – dislocation, and the end of comfort and security. Another says he’s got to tend to his father’s burial. Jesus blunt rejoinder is “Leave the dead to bury their own dead.” And another needs time to put his affairs in order and say good-bye to loved ones. Jesus: “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” As reasonable people, we might argue that these people are raising sensible concerns. Indeed, the first man is chided for his rashness. But here, as is so often the case, Jesus speaks with a hard-edged clarity. He is saying, “Count the costs in advance. Understand the decision before you.”

            Why is this so important? Unless you understand the cost, you may be misunderstand the call. As I reflect back over a pastoral ministry of thirty-seven years and three congregations, I am struck by a universal religious truth. Simply put: true faith is not about fitting God into your life. It is about turning your life over to God. It is not about seeing God as one of the many important ingredients that go into the good life, along with marriage, home, family, work, and country. Instead, it is about following a God who transforms our relationships to marriage, home, family, work, and country. Jesus’ message, in season and out of season, is “Seek first the Kingdom of God and all else will be given unto you.” Not only at the important times of decision and transition in life, but moment by moment, the deeper issue is always, “How is this decision really about whether I am following Christ or not? How does my decision represent obedience to the living God?”

            Responding to a call always involves making a change. It can mean doing something differently, going someplace new, taking on something new, as well has letting go of something unnecessary. It is usually an inner change and an outer change. Repeatedly God is saying to people in the Bible: “Go there and say this.” Or “Stay here, and do that.” And such a call is nearly always specific. Rarely is it “Try to be a better person, ” or “Be more thoughtful of others.” Good advice, but a call from God carries a hard urgent edge. And choosing to follow the call always involves letting go of something known, and risking something unknown.

            One might ask, what does receiving a call from God really have to do with love, and why is such a sermon beginning a series on love? Isn’t responding to a call about being obedient? Yes, but obedient to whom? It is obedience to a God who says “I love you.” It is obedience to who you truly are, and forsaking what you have let yourself become. As I think about this, perhaps the best example of following a call is falling in love. Think about the enormous risks and great dislocations people experience when they fall in love. When you are in love, think how crazy you appear to others. Think of the things you have done having fallen for someone. Let it be said that falling in love can be foolhardy and have calamitous outcomes, especially if it is largely based on delusions about oneself and the beloved (Don’t be rash, says Jesus). And yet, I believe that there can be no love in a spiritual sense without our falling in love – falling in love with God. Perhaps God’s call is experienced like a smacking down – like Paul being knocked off his horse. Perhaps for the disciples, meeting Jesus was love at first sight. There is a difference between obedience to a father-figure God whom we fear; and obedience to a God who is like a lover whom we would follow anywhere. Who are the two great loves of my life? Lois and you. With Lois I believe I not only fell in love truly, but fell in love truly for the first time. I believe I experienced God’s love in that falling in love. Your call to me to come here was a call that I agonized over for a long time before saying yes. Why I would want to leave a peaceful and settled life in Vermont and come to a new place of which I was basically clueless. Yet the call was unmistakable and relentless. And the consequences were enormous for my life and the life of my family.  But somehow I was ready to fall in love.  I’ve been in love with each church I’ve served. But ours is the love that has lasted. So count the costs, and then fall in love.

            Now the seventy are arrayed before Jesus, ready to be briefed. This reminds me of one of those war films in which the commander briefs the fighter pilots before they leap into their planes. Now here’s what’s interesting. They are to be sent out, two by two, to the very towns and places that Jesus himself is about to come. It reminds me of a political campaign in which advance men are sent out to prepare for the arrival of the candidate. You get a sense of urgency – timing here is critically important. Jesus says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” Now is the moment. And it is dangerous. Jesus knows he is sending them out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Travel light. No purse, no bag, not even sandals. Keep your eyes straight ahead.

            So what is this mission as advance men and women? The seventy are God’s vanguard. They are preparing the way for Jesus’ coming by themselves giving people a glimpse of who he is and what he does. Each of the seventy carries the authority of Jesus. The mission: to say “Peace be to this house!” To bear and offer peace. And if that peace rests and stays upon the dwellers of that house, remain there. If that happens, there you will heal the sick and say that the kingdom of God has come near. If you don’t connect with people in that town or household, don’t waste your time. Just move on. Jesus ends his briefing with these remarkable words: “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” These disciples, this vanguard of the Kingdom of God, are fully authorized and empowered to do exactly what Jesus himself has been doing. Jesus is not some egotistical guru who schemes to attract and delude naive followers. Jesus is saying, “You are called do exactly what I have done, and be exactly as I am. That is your call. And if you respond in love and obedience to that call, your very response will equip you with all you need.” That is the amazing thing about God’s call. The Bible repeatedly shows us that God does not look down from heaven and decide whose credentials best fit the mission. God calls whom God would call, and it is the response of love and obedience that does the equipping.

            It boggles my mind to think of all the ways the people of this congregation have responded to God’s call and made a difference (just in my short time here, let alone before) Bridges for Peace, Hondurus, Shepherd’s Table and Progress Place, Marriage Enrichment, Just-Peace, Open and Affirming, Rebuilding Together, refugee resettlement, the building program, Called to Care, Referral and Service, and on and on. What do these efforts and so many others have in common? In each instance somebody approached someone else and said, “Here is something important that needs to happen. We need your help.” And that person said “yes.” Why did they say “yes”? Because, in their heart, they fell in love with a mission, an idea, a hope, the chance to meet a need, or heal a hurt. And that is love. And if they counted the cost in advance, or even if they didn’t, they came to know that they had said yes to more meetings than they realized, more work than they expected, more expense than they had counted on, more conflicts than they cared to deal with, fewer comforts of home, and more wondering about how they got into all this in the first place. But through it all, there is the realization that they were not only doing God’s work; it really was God who was working through them. And at the end of the day - joy.

            So the seventy go out and do what Jesus instructed them to do. And now they return and report. And the scripture says, “And the seventy returned with joy.” Breathlessly, they say, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” And Jesus says, “Yeah, I saw that. Satan fell like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority over the power of the enemy and nothing shall hurt you.” (His word about treading on serpents and scorpions is dramatic exaggeration, and should not be taken literally. Kids, do not try this at home!). But Jesus’ point is that these seventy wielded the power of God in the self-same ways as Jesus himself. What power! Of course they are amazed and excited and yes, joyful.

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