July 08, 2001
Building a Team

TEXT: Luke 10:1-12; 17-20
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.

“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. Stay in the house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you.’ Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near. I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.”

"He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Our Lord was passing through Samaria on his way to Jerusalem when He was refused overnight accommodations. There was no love lost between Jews and Samaritans, and so it was not uncommon to see a sign saying, “No Jews wanted.” Segregation has been around for a long time.
This kind of prejudice angered the disciples to the degree they were willing to fight. “Shall we call fire from heaven to destroy them?” James and John asked Jesus. Hearing this the Savior rebuked them. “What kind of talk is this? God wants these people to be saved, not destroyed.” So they went on to the next town.

One sport writer recently wrote that he believed the Los Angeles Lakers, who won the NBA championship in June, is one of the best, if not the best, basketball teams that has ever played the game. They have great players like Shaquille O’Neil, Kobe Bryant, and Rick Fox, but they also have a great coach in Phil Jackson who knows how to build a team. No matter how great the personnel, there must be a strong leader who can build the team.

During His ministry, Jesus served as a coach who was building a team. These people would touch others with the good news of the Gospel. The core members of this team were the twelve disciples, but today our Lord is equipping another group of people to serve as His ambassadors. I believe this is one of the most enlightening, but misinterpreted, portions of the New Testament Scripture we have. Let’s take a look at it.

Who were these 72 people talked about in the text?

They were people who had been instructed by Jesus. They heard him teach, witnessed his miracles, and observed His concern for people. This might be identified as a “classroom experience.” Now they were to go out and experience what it meant to talk with people about their relationship with God. They had been listening. Now they were going to tell others about it. They were going to learn by doing.

My wife and I recently spent two weeks in Alaska. When we boarded the airplane in Anchorage for Minneapolis, I would have been very uncomfortable had the pilot said, “Welcome aboard. I am your pilot, and I have had several years of classroom instruction on how to fly an airplane. Today will be my first attempt to actually pilot the plane. Just sit back and enjoy your flight.”
I, together with all the other passengers, would have the last word, “Let us out of here. We are not flying over these rugged mountains and glaciers with an inexperienced person in the cockpit.” As important as it is to study the textbooks, we learn by doing. So it is in witnessing to our Christian faith.

As Jesus sent them out to practice their discipleship, he gave them a simple but specific set of instructions. They were to heal the sick and tell them, “The Kingdom of God is near” (10) While many people would receive them warmly, others would be unkind. Jesus did not try to be deceptive making them believe it would be an experience mission. Rather, he said, “I send you out as lambs among wolves.”

This text raises some penetrating questions, which the Church has a tendency to avoid. As we read the bulletins of many churches, it is obvious the congregation does not lack for activity. However, what place does “evangelism training” have in this schedule? How much training is being done to better prepare believers to share their faith in Christ with others? How well are we equipped to care for the needs of others? Can we verbalize our own relationship with Christ? Are we able to tell of our experiences in the Christian walk that might catch the attention of some who yet have to taste of God’s love?

On our Alaskan cruise, we traveled with a teacher who was very excited about all she was seeing. “I can hardly wait to teach the children about glaciers, panning for gold, and less than three hours of darkness. She would make those units in geography live in the minds of those students, because the teacher had been there and was telling them first hand what Mount McKinley, the highest point in North America, looked like. Our witness is much more dynamic when we share what we have experienced. That’s the way it is without a Christian witness. As we walk with Christ and feel His love, there arises a story to tell an unbelieving friend or relative. This text is too thought provoking to overlook, yet sharing our faith with others is so intimidating that we decide not to be a part of the team Jesus is building to bring the Good News to our world.

The text is also misunderstood. The 72 returned with joy saying, “Even the demons submit to us in your name.” Jesus must have sensed a new pride in them. “Don’t rejoice in this power I have given you, but be happy that your names are written in heaven, and you are a part of my team,” was his counsel to them. God’s power is greater than Satan’s, and Christians do see some marvelous things happen in the lives of people through their ministries. How easy it is to feel we really had much to do with this person’s conversion. We are simply instruments in His hands.

The effectiveness of our congregation’s ministry depends on how seriously we take this text in training and sending out people with the message of God’s Word. It would be well for us to study the Sunday bulletins listing all of the activities in the weekly program in the light of this text see what priority evangelism training has in our churches. Remember, Jesus wanted every believer to be a witness for Him. That’s the way the Kingdom is built.

Amen.

Rev. Homer Larsen
Christian Crusaders