A Church On Fire - Week 4: The Harvest Is Plentiful But We Need Workers

It’s The Season of Pentecost!  And we are kicking off what is the longest liturgical season of the historic church with a sermon series entitled "A Church On Fire."  

The inspiration for this series comes from an unlikely source, an Italian anarchist who detested the Church, who once said: 

“The only church that illuminates is a burning church” - Buenaventura Durutti 

When I first read this quote some years ago, it convicted me, and it still does.  The kind of church that is a light in its community is on fire with the zeal of sharing the Good News that God became one of us to rescue all of us.  

And we should be learning through this series that Pentecost is a time for the Church to reflect on what it will be in whatever age it finds itself.  

This is particularly relevant for us right now, as we live in an era when churches committed to following Jesus and sharing the Good News that God is for us are needed more than ever. 

Today, we will read a passage from Luke’s Gospel where Jesus sends out his followers to share the Good News in a spirit of vulnerability.

Before we dig into our text, I'd like to spend a few moments talking about some Street Preachers I've encountered in my life - A Lesson In Sincerity and Being Vulnerable.  

Brother Jed

Brother Jed, who died a few years ago, spent decades traveling to college campuses and preaching in the public spaces where students gathered.  I encountered him at Florida State University in 2000.  

Brother Jed would travel to northern universities in the Spring and Fall, and spend the winter in the South.  He believed that Christians could live a sinless life, and he thought that he was doing just that.  

When I saw him, he was railing against LGBTQ-plus folk, women who dressed inappropriately, sinful music, and a host of other things.  Occasionally, a student would argue with Brother Jed. When that happened, his trusty, offensive sign-toting assistant would begin to video the encounter, presumably to show the folks back home just how godless the universities in the U.S. are.  

The State Street Preacher 

I first encountered the State Street Preacher when I moved to Chicago in the early 2000s.  His name is Samuel Chambers, and he has been preaching on the same street since 1969, six days a week, for up to eight hours a day.   

Chambers preached against the LGBTQ-plus community, premarital sex, smoking, and cross-dressing, and was never shy about telling people he suspected of any of those things that they were going to Hell.  He also preaches that women's primary purpose is to have children and obey men.  

Once when I was passing by him, he accosted a group of young men who were smoking by shouting at them over and over again, "There ain't no smoking section in Hell!"  

London

I don't have a name for the last street preacher on my list.  He was a young man who had posted up in a busy square in London, standing on a box---kind of like street preachers of old.  

His message was simple.  "God loves you."  He told the passersby that they were loved by God, and that God was for them, and wanted them to experience that love.  I sat and watched him for a while, waiting for him to segue into something like the many street preachers I'd heard before, but he didn't.  

It was remarkable.  It was the first time I'd heard someone preaching on the street share a message of love rather than one of judgment.  

Ultimately, all these street preachers share a commonality despite the diverse messages they preach.

They took their calling to share the Gospel seriously.

What if we took our calling to share the Good News more seriously?

What does that even look like for us?  

Jesus commissioned his followers to lead with vulnerability and commit themselves to the task of embodying the Kingdom of God.

A CHURCH ON FIRE JOURNEYS OUTSIDE ITS WALLS

Luke 10:1-11; 16-20

10 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2 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.

“The harvest is plentiful” - there’s a lot of need and longing for more.  

3 Go on your way; I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.

5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ 6 And if a person of peace is there, your peace will rest on that person, but if not, it will return to you. 7 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. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9 cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘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.’

Like lambs before wolves - vulnerable, coming in peace. 

“Peace to you!” - The approach is simple, disarmingly genuine, and sincere. 

If peace is not returned, “shake the dust,” a powerful sign.   

16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” 18 He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 19 Indeed, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Limited Commission vs. Great Commission: A Theory. 

We are still called to the same vulnerability, sincerity, and peace, but with a caveat to never give up on sharing the Good News.  

Questions to Ask Ourselves

1. If we truly believe in Jesus’ message, why be complacent about it?
2. Are we acting out of vulnerability and sincerity?
3. What are some ways to “go out like lambs” in our context?
4. Is our church on fire with the message of God’s Kingdom?

A CHURCH ON FIRE JOURNEYS OUTSIDE ITS WALLS