Views From The Pews – Sunday, July 6, 2025

Brothers and Sisters,

Ten things that we can learn about this mission to which we are called. – https://mypastoralponderings.com/2022/07/02

1 – You don’t have to be an “expert” to be sent by Jesus – Jesus doesn’t call the equipped, as it has been said; he equips the called. Jesus didn’t identify people with gifts for mission. He gave his followers the gifts that they would need for the mission. And then he sent them. 

2 – Go, but don’t go alone – use the “buddy system”

Jesus sends the seventy out in pairs. Even when they aren’t with Jesus (physically), they are still not alone. They go in pairs, and then they return with joy. Jesus spent a lot of his ministry building community. And he is still doing that, through his church. And today’s gospel reading is just one more reminder of that. 

3 – Don’t try to do the work of Jesus – just prepare the way for him. – We are not sent to save the world. We are just getting the world ready for our Savior. 

4 – Before you go, pray. Always start with prayer.  – before you ever share your faith, or do anything in the name of the Lord – pray. Invite God to be a part of that ministry. And then keep your eyes open. 

5 – Travel light. – “Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals,” Jesus says. Travel light, in other words. Why? Perhaps because being a missionary means, above all, trusting in Jesus.

6 – Stay focused on the mission.

Jesus says a strange thing in this reading. He says: “Greet no one on the road.” Why wouldn’t being a missionary involve greeting people on the road? Well, often it does, of course. Jesus is telling  us, to stay focused on the mission to which we have been called. It is easy to get distracted from our task, to get wrapped up in all sorts of other things., Stay focused on what God is doing in the world. And pay attention to what God is calling you to do and to be in the world.

7 – Don’t worry about failing. – Jesus says that if you enter a town, and they don’t welcome you, shake the dust off your feet and try somewhere else. 

8 – You don’t have to be Jesus. But when in doubt, do what Jesus did. – We  are called to continue his mission.. We feed those who are hungry. We clothe those who are naked. We heal those who are sick. We comfort those who are hurting. We speak a word of hope to those who are despairing. We do what Jesus did, as best we can, and as faithfully as we can. 

9 – Go, and then return. 

Go, Jesus says, but then come back. Serve in the world, and worship in the church. We go, but then we return.. We go in peace, to love and serve the Lord. But then each week we return, to hear God’s word.. 

10 – Finally, when something good happens in our work for Jesus, we are to rejoice not in our success, but in Jesus. Always in Jesus. – Again, it is not about us. It is always about Jesus. And as Jesus said to those returning disciples: “Do not rejoice at your success, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”