Opening Verse of Scripture Psalm 52

But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. I will thank you forever, because of what you have done. In the presence of the faithful I will proclaim your name, for it is good.

Collect Prayer for the Day—Before we read we pray

Almighty God, you have broken the tyranny of sin and have sent the Spirit of your Son into our hearts whereby we call you Father: give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service, that we and all creation may be brought to the glorious liberty of the children of God; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. CW

God our saviour, look on this wounded world in pity and in power; hold us fast to your promises of peace won for us by your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. CW

First Bible Reading Isaiah Chapter 66:10-14 

Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her – that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious bosom. For thus says the LORD: I will extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse and be carried on her arm, and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice; your bodies shall flourish like the grass; and it shall be known that the hand of the LORD is with his servants, and his indignation is against his enemies. NRSV

Second Reading Galatians Chapter 6:7-16 

Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand! It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that try to compel you to be circumcised – only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. Even the circumcised do not themselves obey the law, but they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh. May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything! As for those who will follow this rule peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. NRSV

Gospel Reading Luke 10:1 -11,16-20 

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 labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers 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 labourer 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.’ NRSV

Post Communion Prayer

O God, whose beauty is beyond our imagining and whose power we cannot comprehend: show us your glory as far as we can grasp it, and shield us from knowing more than we can bear until we may look upon you without fear; through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Commentary  -

It seems somewhat ironic, to say the least, that in the gospel reading from Luke we are told that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, sends out his appointed representatives, the seventy, like lambs going into the midst of wolves. Isn’t the Good Shepherd supposed to be the guardian of the flock and lead the lambs and sheep into safe and secure places, green pastures, places of nourishment and refreshment? What’s more, those that are sent are to carry no protection, support, or provisions with them, even to cover their basis needs. They could be quite literally, eaten alive. That doesn’t sound like good planning either. But fortunately that’s not the complete story. When they do step out, they go with the assurance of faith and a desire to work for the Master, whatever that might take, wherever that might take them, and whatever they may find. And, whilst the shepherd may not be visible, He will not be far away as they work in the harvest fields, irrespective of what they may face. Henri de Tourville, a French Priest who lived in the latter half of the 1800’s, wrote:

‘It is said that there are on the battlefield, defeats as glorious as victories. That is true also of the daily defeats of the soul in the struggle which we begin afresh each day, making new plans to do better and experimenting with new ideas and methods in order to succeed. That is why God declares: ‘Happy is the servant whom when their master cometh He shall find…’ Find how? Victorious? Triumphant? Their task fully accomplished? No! Rather they shall be found watching, vigilant, wide awake; that is to say looking after the things that are not going well and putting them right time after time. That is our really great merit in the sight of God’

Luke sets out a fascinating mission strategy. Initially it is Jesus Himself who goes through the towns and villages healing people and assimilating a large following who come to hear His stories and see His miracles. Then Luke records that, after a night of prayer, Jesus chose twelve from His group of disciples, who became known as apostles (Lk 6 v 12, 13). They are sent out and as in the story today, come back and debrief what has happened. Now, Jesus calls a larger group for the special task He now has for them, who in turn, come back and debrief. Perhaps the now number chosen was symbolic with the seventy elders of Israel (Ex 24 v 1) but we should also remember that, in addition to the twelve or the seventy, it would seem there were still others on both occasions who were not ‘chosen’. That too is an encouragement as much of our discipleship is lived out, not in the limelight, but in the reality of our everyday lives as it would have been for many in Jesus’ time. And in our everyday lives, God calls us as Christians to go into the world, however dark and alien that can sometimes feel, because there is work to be done, a harvest to bring home for Him, people in need of the transforming love of God. Just as the twelve and the seventy, we are all called to expand the range and reach of the Good News of Jesus. Sometimes we will feel as vulnerable as a lamb before a wolf, but the assurance to those sent out is that God Himself equips and provides for whatever is needed. As the seventy went out they were vulnerable to the hospitality and generosity of others, they were to be content with what is enough, even if sparse, a concept our materialistic society seems to have lost sight of quite some time ago.

The disciples come back full of their stories of God’s intervention in the lives of those they have met which in their exhilaration they want to share. But rather than encourage this or praise them for their efforts (or even say thank-you) Jesus seems strangely brusque. ‘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.’ Those who have been sent out are feeling hugely positive, excited, they feel as if they are an integral and important part of a successful and world changing movement. The future appears better than it’s ever looked. But there is only one future that Jesus is really interested in, the bringing about of God’s Kingdom in the here and now which is why what comes through in Jesus’ response is the sense of urgency that He communicates to those who are engaged in His work. Without the harvest people will starve and die, physically and spiritually. The harvest won’t wait, and neither will the Kingdom in this model. Paul picks up this urgency in his letter to the Galatians, ‘So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all…’.  In our own way, each one of us is called into the harvest field. We don’t quite know what we may find, or how we will be received, but we do know that the God of the Harvest goes with us. Critically, in the world of today the urgency to go is no less diminished. 
Sam Cappleman

Meditation

The J B Phillips translation of the beginning of Romans 12 uses the words, ‘Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good…’. Over the past few months it’s as if we’ve been living in some of the most uncertain times we’ve known for years, and in times of uncertainty it’s easy to get ‘moulded’ into the worlds way of thinking and behaving. To feel overwhelmed by the cares and pressures of the world and our times. When we hear the news to have a sense that it’s all getting a bit out of control. To feel squeezed and intimidated by the immensity and scale of some of the overwhelming challenges we face. At the same time, we hope and pray for God’s perspective and intervention to the predicament humanity so often creates for itself. The Good News is that God offers us the opportunity through Christ and empowered by His Holy Spirit not to be squeezed and pressured by the world around us, but conversely to know and experience the liberating freedom that faith in the risen Jesus brings, and the eternal hope we have in Him. More than that, through His grace we’re invited to share that faith and hope with others so they can know Christ’s freedom too. That’s a key part of what we do as people of the Christian faith. It’s what Luke talks about when he speaks about the seventy being sent out.

The Brazilian liberation theologian, Rubem Alves, once said, 'Hope is hearing the melody of the future and faith is dancing to that melody in the here and now’. Alves, who was also a poet, wrote, ‘Prophets are not visionaries who announce a future that is coming. Prophets are poets who design a future that may happen. Poets suggest a way.’ As followers of Christ, we both hear the melody of the eternal future and dance to it as we live out our faith in the here and now. As we do, as God’s prophets and poets, we point to, and suggest a way, for others to follow, none other than the way of Christ. A way which lets God Himself re-mould our minds from within, so that we demonstrate with our lives, our words and our actions, that the plan that God has for all is indeed good. A plan where we reflect not the squeezing, decaying and fractured mould of the world but the eternal mould of a liberating God who creates us in His image and sends us out into His world.   Sam Cappleman

Hymns

1. Glorious things of thee are spoken (Tune Austria)
2. I the Lord of sea and sky
3. Judge eternal
4. We have a gospel to proclaim
5. Go forth and tell

Intercessions

Holy God, in whom we live and move and have our being, we make our prayers to you.

Guide our nation in the days and months ahead to walk the paths of peace and reconciliation. 

Give to our leaders wisdom and sensitivity to work for unity and the common good.

Mend broken relationships and restore to wholeness whatever has been damaged by heated debate. 

You are Sovereign of all. You created the world without national borders. You created us as one people on one planet. But we have divided and fractured, scattered and marginalized. Draw us together by the one Spirit. Draw us together in Your One Love. Draw us together, so that we might understand that Your love knows no bounds. For we are all part of Your beloved community; we all belong to You. 

God of justice and love, your way commands our obedience. We can do nothing apart from the blessings you bestow. We offer our lives and these our gifts to You. We pray that the work of Your church may be enlarged, enriched and strengthened as it seeks to do your will and to show compassion, justice, and mercy in our world of need. Accept what we bring, and multiply its effectiveness, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

O Lord, save us from self-centredness in our prayers and help us to remember to pray for others. May we be so lovingly absorbed with those for whom we pray that we may feel their needs as keenly as our own, and intercede for them sensitively, with understanding and imagination. 

Sustain and support the anxious and fearful and lift up all who are dejected.

We remember those we have loved but see no more and pray for those left behind to grieve for a while and then to continue on life’s journey knowing that it will not be the same in many different ways.

Help us all to show to the bereaved our love and compassion and to share the certain knowledge that

With you, Lord, is the well of life and in your light do we see light. 

Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead

Lord it is right and good to give you our thanks and praise, O God, for you have raised us up as a new creation and written our names in the book of life. You created the earth in your goodness and its plentiful harvest feeds your creatures. Through the law and prophets you revealed yourself as the God who heals us and makes us whole. Through Christ Jesus, whom you have robed in glory, you deliver us from the power of sin and death and send us as labourers into the harvest to proclaim your nearness, to immerse people into your healing waters, and to reap eternal life in your Spirit.

We pray to you Lord for your church and it's mission - the mission you have entrusted to us. Help us to be bold for you in the face of evil and injustice - and to show forth your healing power in the face of suffering and disease. Bless us as we share the good news of your love - that we may indeed be a blessing to others.

We pray to you Lord for the persons and situations that you have placed upon our hearts this day. Intercede, O Lord, and bring new hope, new joy, new life where it is needed. Send us as peacemakers and witnesses to your kingdom, and fill our hearts with joy in your promises of salvation; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

You are Sovereign of all. You created the world without national borders. You created us as one people on one planet. But we have divided and fractured, scattered and marginalized. Draw us together by the one Spirit. Draw us together in Your One Love. Draw us together, so that we might understand that Your love knows no bounds. For we are all part of Your beloved community; we all belong to You. In the name of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, we pray. Amen. 

"I will thank (God) for the pleasures given me through my senses, for the glory of the thunder, for the mystery of music, the singing of the birds and the laughter of children… Truly, O Lord, the earth is full of thy riches! " --- Edward King (1829-1910) Bishop of Lincoln 

God of fresh beginnings, you make all things new in the wisdom of Jesus Christ. Make us agents of your transforming power and heralds of your reign of justice and peace, that all may share in the healing Christ brings. Amen.

Father, may everything we do begin with your inspiration and continue with your saving help. Let our work always find its origin in you and through you reach completion. Amen

God of justice and love, your way commands our obedience. We can do nothing apart from the blessings you bestow. We offer our lives and these our gifts to You. We pray that the work of Your church may be enlarged, enriched and strengthened as it seeks to do your will and to show compassion, justice, and mercy in our world of need. Accept what we bring, and multiply its effectiveness, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

O Lord, save us from self-centredness in our prayers and help us to remember to pray for others. May we be so lovingly absorbed with those for whom we pray that we may feel their needs as keenly as our own, and intercede for them sensitively, with understanding and imagination. We ask this in Christ’s name. Amen (after John Calvin 1509-64)

Whether I fly with angels, fall with dust,/ Thy hands made both and I am there: / Thy power and love, my love and trust / Make one place everywhere. (George Herbert 1593-1633)

Create within us, O God, a longing to obey your commandments and a thankfulness for all your mercies. Let us honour you in the thoughts of our hearts, let us glorify you in the words we speak and let us magnify you in the things that we do; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen John Wesley (1703-1791)

Additional Material

Commentary

If you travel around Bedford at the moment you will see that Harvest has already started. Farmers are making the most of the fine weather we have been having and the crops are already being cut and bundled up. It is a time of year when farmers call in friends and relatives and ask them to get stuck in because they are fighting a battle against time. They want to get as much of the work done as quickly as possible, time is of the essence because if the weather breaks crops can be ruined and fortunes lost. There is no time to waste this is serious business so work now, sleep later. 

This is the context in which Jesus addresses his disciples in the reading today from Luke. Jesus tells them the harvest is ready and it needs to be gathered in. There is therefore an urgency, this is serious work and it needs to be done quickly. Just like a farmer Jesus extends the work beyond the immediate twelve disciples and he send out not just twelve but seventy of them. 

I suspect that some of the twelve probably wondered why Jesus was including others and not just the special ones, and I also suspect that some of the seventy were hesitant about going and would have preferred not to have to get so involved. In a way they are like us and at different times we swing from wanting to get stuck in and wishing that we could just let somebody else get on with it. 

The Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto showed that 80% of Italy was owned by 20% of the population. This has become widened to express the idea of the 80/20 rule or The Paretto Principle. Essentially what is says is that 80% of the results can be attributed to 20% of the people. In Christian ministry that means that 

20% of the Christians volunteer 80% of the work 

20% of the Christians give 80% of the offering 

It is interesting that some manuscripts say that Jesus sent out 70 and others say it was 72. The number is most likely meant to look back to Genesis where we find a list of Gentile nations descended from Noah. In Hebrew 70 nations are listed whilst in the Septuagint, the Greek translation, it was recorded as 72. The inference which we are expected to draw is that Jesus is sending out the same number of messengers as there are nations. If that is the case then once again we see a very clear message from Jesus that his mission is not confined to the Jewish people.

If Jesus had sent out just the twelve then that would have been just over the 20%, instead he sends out 70 and Jesus is making the point that this mission to spread the gospel is shared between all of his people and it is for all people. 

Another piece of information from the Old Testament is from Deuteronomy where two witnesses are required for authentic testimony. Our Old Testament was the Bible of Jesus and he lives and breathes those scriptures, so we can be sure little details like this have significance they would not have been lost on him or his disciples. 

The single mindedness which Jesus impresses with the analogy of the harvest is further reinforced by the instructions which Jesus gives to the disciples concerning how they should travel and how they should carry out the missionary task. They should travel light because he doesn’t want them hanging around. They have work to do and they must not waste time. They travel light by only taking minimal supplies, not even money. They are to trust God for their needs and they are to recognise that as God is sending them out he will equip them for the task. 

This is both a frightening and reassuring command. On the one hand they are going to wonder where the next meal is coming from, but on the other hand this is the first step in recognising that they are not responsible for this work - God is. They are called to be faithful and do as they are told, they are not to think that they are God’s salesmen. If they go and they find that people listen then that is great, if however people show no interest then they should just move on. It isn’t that they should be impolite or aggressive, this is not a ‘take it or leave it’ approach. They are told to enter houses and bring the message of God’s peace. They go to all people indiscriminately and without judgement they offer the good news, but if it is rejected they just move on. 

We are told that the disciples spread this message by both their words and their deeds. They are to show compassion to those who are sick. The Christian Gospel is always most effective when expressed in action as well as spoken. To speak words of the love of Christ meaningfully to those who are hungry, homeless, bereaved, afraid, poor or in any kind of need, we must also show the compassion as indeed did Jesus. The words of Jesus in Matthew 25 are clear 

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” 

The passage concludes with Jesus speaking about power over snakes and scorpions. You have probably see on the television some people in America who have chosen to take this literally! It is not to be advised, any more literally than chopping off bits of your body which cause you to sin. However there is an important message about the power of God. The Christian who serves God has nothing to fear for there is no greater authority or power. 

Last week I attended the pilgrimage for St Alban, Britain’s first saint from the early third century and a powerful witness. As he stood before the Roman magistrates he proclaimed 

I am called Alban and I worship and adore the true and living God who created all things

Alban is honoured as Britain’s first saint, but his story is of an ordinary man doing an ordinary thing which brought about an amazing testimony and a significant witness that has lasted through the centuries. We might not be called to such sacrifice, but we can all reflect upon how we might become a part of the 20%! Charles Royden

Meditation

Corrie ten Boom was arrested by the Gestapo in February 1944 and sent to Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. Years later, while speaking in Church, she saw the former SS guard who had tortured and humiliated her sister. After the service he came up to her “smiling broadly and with outstretched hand “Thank you for the message” he said. “Jesus has washed my sins away”. Corrie was stunned into silence. She had preached forgiveness, but could she show it, feel it towards the person who had caused such harm to her sister? For a long moment, she paused, then prayed silently. “Lord Jesus, forgive me and help me to forgive him.” As she took his hand, Corrie felt an amazing current passing from herself to the former Gestapo guard and love filled her heart. So she concluded. “I discovered that when God tells us to love our enemies he gives, along with the commandment, the love itself.” (Corrie ten Boom)