A Sermon from First Church, Scarborough… 

A sermon offered by the Rev. Ian F. “Jack” Steeves in the public worship of the First Congregational Church of Scarborough, Maine on Sunday, July8, 2007.  The principal reading was Luke 10:1-11, 16-20. 
 

“It’s Time to Travel.  It’s Time to Live.” 

Luke records Jesus’ special instructions for disciples taking up the mission challenge: be quick, time is fleeting, the kingdom is here, and be preachers of shalom (peace).  As brothers and sisters to the entire world, Jesus sent forth his disciples.  They were to live simply, they were to love fiercely and they were to be undaunted in their daily encounters with sin and suffering.  Times have changed, the assignments have not changed. 

“Go! I am sending you like lambs among wolves” (Luke 10:2). 

As part of the package offered to customers, some travel agencies provide a list of travel tips.  Included on the list are helpful hints about what to pack, where to stay, the most scenic routes, the most interesting tours, sights to see, things to do, etc.  The advice is often customized to include information about the history, politics, ethnic populations, economy and social mores of a certain country or region, and offers answers to frequently asked questions: 

What’s the weather like in South West Maine in January?  How should I pack for a cruise to the new nation of Chebeague Island?  Is it safe to drink the water in Scarborough?  Is “Black Point” really Black, and “Blue Point” really Blue? 

We are approaching mid-summer.  It is vacation time, and we are either on the move or dreaming of departure and lamenting that we are still stuck at home. 

In today’s gospel reading, there is also another collection of helpful advice for travelers, for those who would make Jesus’ way of life their own.  Travel light, hurry along and don’t waste time.  Today’s passage might be titled: “The Impractical Traveler: How to Pack and Other Hints for Life on the Spiritual Road.”  Do not be concerned with supplies and provisions for your trip, because your needs will be met by God through the charity and hospitality of those in whose homes you will be staying.   

The text is a bit unsettling; I am not certain that it is what I want to hear.  It certainly does not assure me that I will have a good time. 

Bland or non-threatening are not the words to describe the trip Jesus is offering to his disciples.  Jesus instructs the Seventy (or Seventy Two) to expect surprises.  They will meet strangers and cannot be certain of their reception by them.  Will they be received or shunned, welcomed or attacked. ?  They are going on a mission and not on a vacation.  They are going out not as conquering consumers, but as lambs in the midst of wolves.  They must be wary and alert. 

Jesus says nothing about how to order a good mean or find a clean room or ask for directions; in fact, he gives no practical advice.  Instead he instructs his disciples: Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace be to this house!”  That seems harmless enough, who can be opposed to peace? 

In our world peace is often shunned, feared and rejected – and not just peace as the absence of war, but the peace or “Shalom” that is wholeness and blessing within us.  To live in peace is to live in right relationship with God and with our sisters and brothers as well.  At the same time, we will and do experience rejection and woundedness.  Not all the natives along the Black Point Road are friendly.  Not everyone we meet as we travel will be a person who is at peace with him or herself.  Not everyone will want to meet us. 

There are packing tips.  On this life’s journey, we are urged to travel very, very light – indeed, taking no baggage at all.  Many years ago, traveling from Cleveland to Portland, my journey was delayed by severe thunderstorms, around Dulles Airport, outside Washington, D.C.  I sat with my carry-on bag and waited and watched.  I saw people struggling with bags on wheels, bags over their shoulders and attaché cases, and assorted coats and jackets draped over all.  Oh, and there were children to be led, to be carried, to be pushed along. 

Our baggage – all the things that we think we need to assure us that we are indeed ourselves – is impeding our spiritual journey.  We lose mobility, and some almost disappear beneath their baggage.  Travel light we are counseled.  How can we strip down as an individual or as a congregation to that irreducible minimum?  And then journey on with even less?  No purse, no bag, no sandals.  No gum, no aspirin, no sweater, and no paperback. 

Let us remember: we are on a spiritual journey and not a vacation from God.  We are on a mission and that mission is life itself.  It would be tempting to stay at home, talking only to people who speak our language and know us personally, and let the others fend for themselves.  But, it is travel time, says Jesus. 

Difficulties will deter many travelers; those who would be faithful disciples will find a way to persevere.  It is those who do practice what others only preach who are Jesus’ disciples.  The challenge is to live and to work quietly and consistently in our own small ways, and we must not feel that we can do nothing.  There is much to be done! 

The gospel does not offer any great plans, no new societies to visit, no grand coalitions to build; it does not talk of a brave new world, a perfect community of perfect human beings (whoever they might be). 

The gospel talks about your neighbor and my neighbor.  It is desperately practical, and cruelly inconvenient, with no escape clauses.  It means taking up your cross day by day.  In that way, we shall achieve things beyond our present imagining, and the seemingly insignificant will become the seed of greater things.  Like the proverbial stone cast into a quiet pool, its effects will ripple outward and beyond our immediate seeing and present concerns. 

When I was in seminary, one congregation I visited used Jesus’ greeting of “Shalom, Peace be to this house,” as a way of making Sunday worship and weekday living more real and connected.  The young pastor asked the people to pledge that, whenever they went to another’s home, they would greet whoever answered the door with “Peace to this house.”  A church member who was a printer made and distributed labels and stickers with the words and even passed out inscribed refrigerator magnets.  Some families agreed to greet each other with “Peace” instead of “Hello.”  Around the town, it soon became obvious who was and who was not a member of the First Congregational Church. 

The faith we preach and teach and would live cannot be reduced or confined to any single scripture saying, sermon or mission.  Faith shapes the way we invest our deepest love and loyalty.  It is ever more than a planned life’s itinerary.  We are all missionaries – men and women, children and youth, on a mission.  Having accepted our baptism, we have to accept the grace of the Spirit to fuel our journey.  We go, we stop, we meet, we greet, and we leave each and every person, free to accept and to reject the gospel. 

Stark simplicity in accommodations, meager rations, frequent lack of hospitality and understanding – such difficulties deter any traveler; but those who would be disciples of Jesus Christ are to find a way to persevere.  Today’s gospel describes it.  Once the journey is complete, there will be peace, joy and fulfillment without limits. 

Jesus’ instructions to his first disciples remain essential for those of us bent on living out a spiritual journey of pilgrimage.  We are not on a vacation.  We are on a mission, filled with present and eternal implications.  “Blessed” or “Bles-sed” is the word spoken by Jesus on another occasion, to describe the faithful traveler.  They are those who make the gospel, do the gospel, and not those who just love it or only talk about it, which are truly blessed.  They are those who practice what others only preach.  And, today Jesus tells them; it’s time to travel.  It’s time to live.  Remember: You do not travel alone.  Amen.