To listen to the sermon from Sunday July 08, 2007 preached by The Reverend William R. Nesbit, Jr. click here.

St. Charles' Episcopal Church – St. Charles, IL
The Sixth Sunday After Pentecost Proper 9 – Year Sunday July 8, 2007
Isaiah 66:10-16 -- Psalm 66:1-8 -- Galatians 6:[1-10], 14-18 -- Luke 10:1-12, 16-20
Rev. William R. Nesbit, Jr.

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.
This week our lessons follow on the theme from last week; the cost of discipleship.
Last week we heard a little about what discipleship is not. We had James and John,the
two "Sons of thunder," asking permission to call in an air strike a Samaritan town
that had rejected Jesus. Jesus rebukes them and reminds them that the message he brings
is not about punishment and zealous condemnation. In the next part of the story Jesus
warns his disciples of the folly of conditional or qualified following.

This week we learn a little more about discipleship. Jesus has appointed seventy scouts
to go ahead on his route and prepare the towns for his arrival. What an interesting
metaphor for discipleship and evangelism. Scouting out ahead. We do not bring other
people to Jesus, we merely prepare for His arrival. It takes a lot of the stress out of
evangelism. We don't have to do the hard work of conversion, that's God's work; the work
of the Spirit. It shifts the focus of the whole enterprise of evangelism away from
ourselves and puts it where it rightfully should be, toward God.

In Jesus' instructions to the seventy He tells them to travel light; to be ready to run
at a moments notice. To take nothing that might encumber them. This is good advice for
us to remember even now, for the wolves lived not only in ages past, they are outside
our doors today.
There is much in modern society that runs counter to the Gospel message; that would seek
to devour us. And it comes in many guises.I remember when I was a child I would say the
pledge of allegiance, with the line about "one nation under God" and I always figured
that America was some how under Gods special protection. We had American flags in our
church, and "In God We Trust" on our money and being a Christian, the dominant faith in
the country, it just seemed like we were God's country.

Every year on the fourth of July, we celebrate the birth of our great nation, and the
promise that it has given, and I pray still gives to the world. Now, I am as patriotic
as the next guy, maybe even more than most, but I wonder if we're missing the mark; if
Miss Liberty isn't slouching a bit with the torch, of late. It may just be that the
blindness of youth is rubbing off,
but I keep thinking it was better "back then." (This is beginning to scare me, because
"old folks" talk this way, and I still think I'm too young to be an "old folk.")


But then it hits me. We are the seventy. We started with such exuberance and accomplished
so much at the beginning that we forgot who it was that gave us the power. We missed the
message. Now before this illustration gets out of hand I want to tell you that I always
get very nervous whenever religion gets too involved in politics; or more correctly when
religious institutions get too involved in pushing their private agendas by political
means. I know now that America is not the new Jerusalem, that we are not the new chosen
people. That being said, it is obvious that God has, for some reason, "blessed us with
a goodly heritage." It is surely not because we are better than any other country, even
a cursory reading of the Bible shows us
that God doesn't work that way. That being said, if we are going to be the self
proclaimed champions of freedom and justice in the world, I do believe that we should
keep in closer touch with the source of true freedom and true justice. It is important.

We, the People, the true source of the power behind our government need the guidance and
even more importantly the new life and hope that comes with a life lived in faith.
It's not that churches should be more involved in politics; churches are prone to the
same failings of all hierarchical organizations, the seduction of power. Still, our
faith life should play a very important role in how we make political decisions.

This was a strong and clear assumption that under-girded the writing of all the early
documents of the country, both the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution.
You can see it in how they are written. Our founding fathers relied on "divine
providence" for protection and guidance. They appealed to the "supreme Judge" to shape
the morality of their intentions.
I'm not so sure we can make that assumption any more.

Statisticians tell us that Americans go to church more often than the people of any other
country in the world. I just wish we acted more like it. I wish Americans were known
more for the power of their love, than for their love of power. Maybe after all, the
story of the founding of America is another story like the sending out of the
seventy.Maybe when it gets right down to it, we are all the seventy, maybe the story
of
the sending out of the seventy is the story of all human endeavor. Whether it's a
country, or a church, or any group activity. We start off with high ideals. We always
start off with high ideals, but it's hard to keep them.

After all the careful planning that Jesus goes through, the seventy come back celebrating
"their" great victory. Isn't it amusing to note that the seventy missed their own
message and need to be reminded of it by their master. They return in joy saying,
"Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!"
Amazed by their own power, they forget the power isn't theirs. Notice how Jesus gently
refocuses their joy from earthly power to heavenly reward, or as Paul would say, from
the flesh to the Spirit. It isn't that they shouldn't rejoice, it's just that they
should rejoice in the power of the Spirit.

Are we all that different? In America we have much to rejoice in. And though we all had a
hand in it, to be sure, we must never forget that the victory is God's, and the grace
isn't guaranteed. Did you notice that the message was the same for both the village
that accepts and the village that rejects? The kingdom of God has come near to you.

As we remember the founding of the United States of Americaand all the glory of its
history, we, too, have received a message. The kingdom of God has indeed come very near
to us.
The question yet to be answered, is; Do we accept that message, or do we reject it?

Well?