'The Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, `Peace to this house!' And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, `The kingdom of God has come near to you.' But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, `Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.'
"Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me."
The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!" He said to them, "I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."'
--Luke 10: 1-11, 16-20
There is a word which Episcopalians dare not utter. It lingers out there, tempting us, but we are terrified to say it. The “e-word” Evangelism. I got a shudder just from silently reading it! Why is it that so many of us are afraid of that word? Maybe because it’s been co-opted by fundamentalists and the so-called ‘religious right,’ and conjures up images of a certain kind of Christian imposing their views on others? There’s a reason the term ex-vangelical is a thing these days, with more and more folks leaving communities that describe themselves as evangelical. But I wonder if it’s high time we took that word back – much like our Lutheran friends did in 1988 – and reclaim what it means to be an evangelical people, patterning our lives on the very instructions that Jesus gives today, and in doing so, taking back the power from the folks who have distorted that word and weaponized it, often for political purposes.
The word ‘evangelical' comes from the Greek word evangelion, meaning ‘good news’ or ‘Gospel.’ This is why Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are often called the Four Evangelists, the four bringers of the good news. Our baptismal covenant even includes the promise that we will “proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ,” which sounds a lot like the work of an evangelist, doesn’t it? Contrary to what we have been shown or taught, being evangelical isn’t about guitars and screens in church, conversion experiences, or standing on a street corner with a sign that warns folks to repent. Being evangelical is being about the Gospel, about the good news, which Jesus summed up back in chapter 4 of Luke as the essential message for the poor, to “proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” So if we’ve been called to be evangelists, how do we do that?
After naming twelve individuals as apostles – as ones who are sent – Jesus appoints 70 others who are to go out ahead of him to places he himself will go. They will test the waters, see where the welcome waits and where it does not. Most importantly, they will leave their sense of security behind and go out, not alone, but in twos, in order to support one another as they meet God’s blessed and bewildered people.
The 70.
To prepare for such a journey, Jesus tells them not to save up, but rather strip down. Take no money, food, or extra shoes. Ask for nothing special; after all, they’ll find what they need. Receive what is given, release whatever is withheld. Pass the peace, and whether welcomed or not, announce that God’s reign is near.
Do you want to know what I think this sounds like? It sounds a lot, to me, like the No Kings rallies held across the country a few weeks ago. My wife and I attended the one in Durham, and I saw hundreds, if not thousands, of evangelists, people who were there to proclaim the very good news that Jesus charged the 70 with proclaiming. Maybe they weren’t wearing crosses or collars – though I did get a thumbs up for wearing mine from a group of Chapel Hill Jews who very much knew about the Advocate, and someone else who promised to visit when she learned that, thankfully, that we were still in operation – and maybe a good many of them would not willingly say their actions were evangelical, but anything that is about good news to the poor, anything that is an action rooted in faith, in justice, in compassion, and in transformation, is itself evangelical. With the recent passage of an glutenous, cruel bill this past week, which will rob millions of poor folks of medical and food assistance, shutting down hospitals in rural areas and stuffing the pockets of billionaires, you can bet that the days are coming when more evangelical actions such as this will be needed, where folks will be stirred to leave their sense of security behind for the sake of the gospel, the good news, the evangelion that proclaims God’s kingdom has come – in our hearts and our minds – and soon and very soon, will come in its full glory. Until then, we’ll go where Jesus sends us, even if it means going like sheep into the midst of wolves, we’ll shake off the dust from our feet as a protest to those who do would deny good news to the poor, and we’ll do so knowing that Jesus has our back because, as with the 70, there is no place to which we go that Jesus won’t be coming in afterwards.
With my wife Kristen and parishioner Emily at the No Kings Rally in Durham on June 21.
The work of the 70, the evangelism they are called to proclaim, is transformative, not just for those who received it, but for the 70 themselves. They return from their journey, practically giddy with excitement for what they have done and seen. I wonder if they had stories on the road of the ways they supported each other – God help the one that got paired with Judas, though. They are ready, willing, and more than able to get down to some holy business. Then Jesus tempers their excitement somewhat by telling them that he saw Satan fall from heaven like lighting. This isn’t a description of the past or a prediction of the future, mind you, it’s a present reality. Satan – the adversary, the forces of wickedness that rebel against God and corrupt and destroy the creatures of God, to borrow, again, from our baptismal covenant – is defeated because the Kingdom is at hand and it is proclaimed by the mouths, the hands, and the feet of the people of God, the people preaching with their very lives the good news to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. As John Wesley, a damn fine Anglican, once put it, “When the 70 went forth, the kingdom of Satan, which was highly exalted, was swiftly and suddenly cast down.”
Wherever you go, and however you bring good news to the poor, Satan is once again cast down. At times, it can feel like we’re all just lambs in the midst of wolves, and the truth is that not everyone can do everything. That’s why he sent them in twos, so that when one stumbled, the other could be there to pick them up. So it was for the 70, so it is for us. Maybe yours is a more active role, or perhaps it is simply too great a risk to the health of you or your family. Fear not, because whether you are marching in the light of God or speaking truth to power through a phone call at home, yours is the work of an evangelist, which is anything but solitary. And never, ever underestimate the most important tool at an evangelist’s disposal: prayer. That is something that every single one of us can do, without ceasing, in word or action. Because prayer grounds us, it de-centers the pain and fear that can often take hold of us, and centers Jesus, who is the one who calls us, in love, like the 70. Not one of them was too small or insignificant to do their holy work. The same is true for us. We all have a role to play.
All this has happened before, so says Battlestar Galactica, and all this will happen again. The 70 were sent into a broken system, to a people who were hurting. They were sent in pairs, to remember that one does not undertake such efforts alone. We have all, likewise, been called and are sent into a broken system, where people are hurting. Sent like lambs into the midst of wolves at times, but always sent together, because the work of bringing and being good news to the poor is never done alone. There is no pre-determined quotas to fill, no salvation tallies, or charts of blessings to calculate. No blame or shame to be hurled as insults. Just the work of an evangelist: be who God made you to be. Give what God has already given you. Receive from others, as though you are receiving the very Sacrament in your hand. Whether accepted or rejected, center Jesus and his good news, and know, to your very core, that wherever you are sent, God’s reign is near.
