Readings:
Isaiah 66:10-14
Galations 6:1-16
Luke 10:1-11,16-20
Lay Preacher: Jan Veseth-Rogers
Today’s text from Luke brings home a message often at the heart of Jesus’ teaching:
It’s Not About Me!
In a theme that has been and will be revisited by others preaching this summer, Jesus’ words are sometimes hard to take, to hear, to “wrap our heads and hearts around”. Today is no exception.
Jan points out that Jesus, as He so often does, chooses His words deliberately. As is also often the case, those whose eyes remain on the prize often choose words that are direct, concise, blunt. Here we are called to evangelize, from the Greek “to proclaim”.
A calling with which we are often not comfortable, one we have to wrap our heads around, but often are not successful in doing. Jan points out several characteristics of evangelizers:
They are chosen (but they need to answer their call).
They are “sent out in pairs” because God is aware that human beings, in their nature, seek relationship. Jesus also knew it would too often be too hard to “go it alone” as disciples in His cause. These people take the form of mentors, friends and soulmates with whom we travel on our spiritual journeys.
Evangelizers are sent out ahead of Jesus, an advanced press corps, of sorts.
Jesus warns those sent ahead to be prepared for rejection. The overriding message is that “at the very heart of it, we are only ever messengers”. And it’s about the message, not about us! We will, most assuredly, encounter rejection, but Jesus is reminding us that it is His message that is being rejected.
Don’t take it personally, he offers. Keep at it! I’m right behind you.
Jan drew a picture of traveling as a young girl and knowing she could “travel light” as her parents would “take care of her every need”. Perhaps, she also offers, Jesus is telling us to trust that God will also be our spiritual parent. And to travel light in that knowledge.
The words Jesus chooses do not invoke us to “quit our jobs and become itinerant preachers and missionaries. We are not called to “have all the answers”. We cannot. We only have to ever know “who sent us”. We need to constantly remind ourselves “It’s not about us, but He who sent us”.
Rick Warren opens his book A Purpose Driven Life with those simple remindful words:
It’s Not About You!
Hearing these words, a sermon by Pastor Mohn was brought to mind. She drew the farming analogy quite well and likened us to sowers of seeds. And that we should remind ourselves that ours is not to always overly worry about the ground rejecting those seeds. We are called to plant His seeds.
God does the harvesting.
It’s Not About Us ……
Isaiah 66:10-14
Galations 6:1-16
Luke 10:1-11,16-20
Lay Preacher: Jan Veseth-Rogers
Today’s text from Luke brings home a message often at the heart of Jesus’ teaching:
It’s Not About Me!
In a theme that has been and will be revisited by others preaching this summer, Jesus’ words are sometimes hard to take, to hear, to “wrap our heads and hearts around”. Today is no exception.
Jan points out that Jesus, as He so often does, chooses His words deliberately. As is also often the case, those whose eyes remain on the prize often choose words that are direct, concise, blunt. Here we are called to evangelize, from the Greek “to proclaim”.
A calling with which we are often not comfortable, one we have to wrap our heads around, but often are not successful in doing. Jan points out several characteristics of evangelizers:
They are chosen (but they need to answer their call).
They are “sent out in pairs” because God is aware that human beings, in their nature, seek relationship. Jesus also knew it would too often be too hard to “go it alone” as disciples in His cause. These people take the form of mentors, friends and soulmates with whom we travel on our spiritual journeys.
Evangelizers are sent out ahead of Jesus, an advanced press corps, of sorts.
Jesus warns those sent ahead to be prepared for rejection. The overriding message is that “at the very heart of it, we are only ever messengers”. And it’s about the message, not about us! We will, most assuredly, encounter rejection, but Jesus is reminding us that it is His message that is being rejected.
Don’t take it personally, he offers. Keep at it! I’m right behind you.
Jan drew a picture of traveling as a young girl and knowing she could “travel light” as her parents would “take care of her every need”. Perhaps, she also offers, Jesus is telling us to trust that God will also be our spiritual parent. And to travel light in that knowledge.
The words Jesus chooses do not invoke us to “quit our jobs and become itinerant preachers and missionaries. We are not called to “have all the answers”. We cannot. We only have to ever know “who sent us”. We need to constantly remind ourselves “It’s not about us, but He who sent us”.
Rick Warren opens his book A Purpose Driven Life with those simple remindful words:
It’s Not About You!
Hearing these words, a sermon by Pastor Mohn was brought to mind. She drew the farming analogy quite well and likened us to sowers of seeds. And that we should remind ourselves that ours is not to always overly worry about the ground rejecting those seeds. We are called to plant His seeds.
God does the harvesting.
It’s Not About Us ……
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