Luke 10:1–12 (ESV)
Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two
10 After this the Lord
appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the
harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to
this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house.
8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and
say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
With this reading today, I could go so many directions... but my mind is bent on one thing. In the news is Fr Francois Murad (49) who was butchered and killed, apparently by a kitchen knife for the beheading
over in Syria. This man gave his life to Christ, was a laborer for the harvest. Those who did not like him or his teaching killed him. Today’s reading states: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore
pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves." He was spreading the news about Jesus Christ. Jesus warned his disciples: “8
Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and
say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.”
We are living in a day today where we are persecuted for our beliefs. Even our own government has been persecuting us through IRS audits. We see that Walmart, Kmart, Target, etc... are shutting down Paula Deen over a racial slur that should have
never happened, yet I can go buy copies of the movie Blazining Saddles, or hip hop music that is using the same words. Alec Baldwin makes a homophobic twitter, but that is ok. I don’t know if Paula Deen is a Christian, but I see groups being
singled out. We are about forgiveness. Love your enemies as yourselves.
I pray: O Lord, I live in a world that does persecute Christians. Help me to be faithful unto death, to continue
to be a witness, and to live and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Protect me Lord and guide me. Amen.