This exercise is written for activists in mission who have a hard time retreating and being still, yet nevertheless genuinely affirm the value of stopping to reflect on Scripture and listen for the voice of the Spirit. It is a version of lectio divina. The idea is to give one short passage sustained attention, drawing deeply on the riches it has to offer. You will read Luke 10:1-12 five times slowly. Yes, that’s right – FIVE times! Don’t rush this. If you carefully think about how this text intersects with your current missional context you could easily spend a whole day working through this exercise. At the very least, allow 15 minutes for each phase; 90 minutes in total.
First Phase – read Luke 10:1-12
Front line mission is often a lonely business, but that’s not the way Jesus intends it to be. He appointed and sent disciples into mission not alone but with a companion. How encouraging it is to have someone working alongside us who has a sense of being appointed and sent by Jesus that is every bit as strong as our own. You can’t get that simply through clever recruitment. Companions in mission are given by the Lord himself. Our part is to pray to the Lord of the harvest, then keep our eyes and ears open for the answer to our prayer. Such a companion will be more than a follower who signs up to your vision; they will have their own vision derived directly from Jesus that is complementary to yours. Teamwork must have been very important to Jesus. Even though there was much work to do and insufficient workers to cover all that needed to be done, he did not compromise his teamwork strategy by sending people out singly just to cover more area. How is your mission enterprise reflecting that value?
Write a short prayer of response then speak it out aloud to God.
Listen internally for what the Spirit might be communicating to you.
Invite God to carry forward his transforming work in your heart, your soul and your mind.
Second Phase – read Luke 10:1-12
Given the choice between being weak or strong, empty-handed or well-resourced, dependent or in control, most of us would naturally prefer strength, resources and taking charge. Jesus presents us with the radical challenge to engage in mission from a position of little power, having few material resources and needing to rely on the kindness and generosity of other people. This runs directly counter to the conventional wisdom of our culture about how to get things done effectively and efficiently. If we are to be representatives of the kingdom of God that is now at hand, we must be prepared to operate by its values. In this new order, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, his power is made perfect in our weakness, and the meek inherit the earth. If your mission effort seems under-resourced and lacking in profile and influence, what do you think the Lord would say to you about that?
Write a short prayer of response then speak it out aloud to God.
Listen internally for what the Spirit might be communicating to you.
Invite God to carry forward his transforming work in your heart, your soul and your mind.
Third Phase – read Luke 10:1-12
When Jesus sent out the seventy-two he was in Samaritan territory. This was a highly complex and difficult missional context for his Jewish disciples. It is well known that relations between Jews and Samaritans were strained to the point of hostility at that time, with faults on both sides. Middle-eastern hospitality is legendary; in this culture sharing food with visitors has been elevated to an art form of a quality encountered nowhere else on earth. But Jews tended to look down on Samaritan hospitality as ‘unclean’, and Samaritans tended to despise the superior attitude of Jews. In our passage from Luke 10, Jesus twice urged the seventy-two to eat whatever was put before them. They were not to ask questions of the food so they could judge whether or not it was ‘clean’. Jesus was restructuring their ethical framework, setting the importance and urgency of mission as a higher moral priority than scruples about dietary laws. How does Jesus’ missional imperative challenge your ethical framework?
Write a short prayer of response then speak it out aloud to God.
Listen internally for what the Spirit might be communicating to you.
Invite God to carry forward his transforming work in your heart, your soul and your mind.
Fourth Phase – read Luke 10:1-12
The council worker was about to renew the road sign. On the post was an old sign with faded, illegible writing. In his hand, ready to be applied to the old sign, was clear, hi-viz lettering. Neither the signpost nor the lettering alone was of much use. Only when put together did they fulfil their purpose. For Jesus, the good news of the Kingdom is both practical and propositional. He expects his disciples to both demonstrate it and declare it. The sick are to be healed and the message is to be explained in words. Missional enterprises that emphasise one element to the detriment of the other tend not to make a lasting impact and even run the risk of distorting the gospel. Words accompanying deeds enhance clarity. Deeds accompanying words enhance credibility. Of course this even-handedness is not perfectly balanced in every circumstance. Choices must be made about where to start and when one aspect or the other needs to be employed. There is no standard answer to the questions posed by such a wide range of missional contexts, but it is generally true that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Are you communicating both your knowledge and your care?
Write a short prayer of response then speak it out aloud to God.
Listen internally for what the Spirit might be communicating to you.
Invite God to carry forward his transforming work in your heart, your soul and your mind.
Fifth Phase – read Luke 10:1-12
When the people to whom we are sent are responsive to the message, mission is so exhilarating, so much fun. But it doesn’t always turn out that way. This is the understanding Jesus gives the seventy-two right at the beginning. Setbacks should come as no surprise to us; they are to be expected, even if we do our part faithfully and well. This passage from Luke 10 relates to a specific, short-term missional project and cannot be taken as a template for the administration of every missional enterprise. However, in this instance Jesus instructs the seventy-two to concentrate their efforts on responsive situations and to move on from those who are hostile, neither returning hostility nor compromising the message. In other circumstances it may be appropriate to persevere in a hostile situation as long as one can do so graciously and with integrity. Jesus leaves us with a final thought about our experiences of both welcome and hostility in the context of mission. The reactions we get are not about us, they are about Jesus. How might that make a difference to the way you deal with the emotional impact of acceptance and rejection of your missional efforts?
Write a short prayer of response then speak it out aloud to God.
Listen internally for what the Spirit might be communicating to you.
Invite God to carry forward his transforming work in your heart, your soul and your mind.
Sixth Phase
Summarise the insights you’ve gained from this exercise and the action you will now take in response.