The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
July 7, 2013 - Pastor Adam Moline
Isaiah
66:10-14 Galatians 6:1-10, 14-18 Luke 10:1-20
Grace, mercy and
peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our text today is the Gospel lesson, especially these words, “say to
them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” Thus far our text for today.
Dear friends, In
our text today, Jesus sends out 36 pairs of his followers into all the towns of
Judea. They go forth to bring peace, to
heal the sick, to visit homes, all of it while preaching this simple message,
“The Kingdom of God has come near to you.”
It’s the message that Christ had been preaching in his own ministry
since he was baptized. It’s the message
of salvation. That Jesus himself is the
gate to the kingdom of God. It’s the
message of the cross, for you, and for your sin.
But Jesus is very
clear as he sends out those 72, that their task won’t be easy, that there will
be those who do not want to hear their message, who don’t want to believe it,
and who won’t listen to it. There will be
some who reject the message of the cross and the kingdom. Who will not receive God’s peace, who will
not hear the blessed Word of God as it works through the Holy Spirit.
And Jesus the Son
of God speaks a very clear word to those who will not hear the message. ““Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you,
Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and
Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But
it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for
you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be
exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hell.”
For those who
reject God’s word, the Son of God proclaims only woes, only hellfire, only
damnation. It will not be good for those
who reject the Kingdom, who reject its ruler, enthroned on the cross to rule
God’s people forever.
That doesn’t mean
that if we met those people of Chorazin and Bethsaida that they would be thugs
or murderers. They were people, just
like you and me. People who had family
they loved, who went to work every day, who struggled to make ends meet, who
smiled at people on the street and who were kind to those around them. They didn’t wear their sin on their sleeve
for all to see. They didn’t brag about
“Murdering six people this morning, and then stealing candy from 3
babies.” They didn’t look hell bound at
all. If we saw them walking down the
street, we’d probably think nothing of it, because they were people just like
us. People with worries and feelings and
emotions. And yet, Christ declares woe
to them, not because of their outward appearance, but because of their
rejection of God’s Word about God’s Kingdom.
Dear friends in
Christ, will you hear the Word of God?
Will you believe the message of the kingdom? God brings it to you in the same way he
brought it to those people so long ago.
In our text Jesus sent 72 disciples to proclaim the kingdom, and today
he sends so many more to preach and teach the kingdom to you. He has sent some great ones here to you, as
well.
|He sent Pastor
Jording to lead you for 20 years. He
sent Pastor Cordts/Klausler to shepherd you for a time. These weren’t special men in their own right,
but were great because they proclaimed the Word of God to you. They baptized you, as God combined Water and
Word to wash away your sins, and bring you out of death into eternal life. They gave you the Lord’s Supper, not as
magicians who with a wave of the wand turned bread and wine into body and
blood, but rather who spoke God’s Word, and let God do the work of saving you
through that word.
And through these
things, God’s kingdom was brought to us sinners. It was proclaimed to us, it washed us, and we
ate it. And through all these things,
and through all these ways connected to the Word, we heard that the Kingdom of
God was close to us. It was close
because Christ saw our sin, and died for it.
Christ saw our weakness, and became weak to take it away. He went to the cross, to shed his blood, to
suffer, and to die. And because of that
our sin is forgiven. No longer are we in
woe. No longer are we hellbound. No longer are we guilty and ashamed before
the Holy Lord God Almighty. But instead,
we stand forgiven.
Rejoice with
Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy. For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a
river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be
carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I
will comfort you; you shall be comforted
in Jerusalem. You
shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
your bones shall flourish like the grass; and the hand of the Lord shall
be known to his servants. The Kingdom of
God is near for you. You belong to the
crucified and risen Lord, Jesus Christ.
You are saved in his name, and that message has come to you, here,
today. Amen.
