Today’s scripture: Luke 10:1-16 (ESV-text and audio) (KJV) (The Message)
As you read, consider: What might God be saying to me? Summarize your thoughts in a sentence or two.
My thoughts (Brent Walsh):
Jesus was being stretched thin in his ministry, and there just wasn’t enough of him to go around.
He needed to expand his outreach and maximize his effectiveness. There were so many people who needed to be healed from physical illness and even more who needed to be rid of spiritual mold and mildew! So he set up a training seminar to teach his followers how to do some legwork for him. They would be like ambassadors who would represent him and “break the ice” for him.
When I read this passage, I can almost see Jesus behind a podium in the front of a classroom with his tie loosened and his sleeves rolled halfway up. His half-moon reading glasses are propped on the end of his nose and there are coffee stains on the notes he’s reading from. With urgency in his voice I can hear him say, “Okay, I know it’s been a long day, but listen up. I have just a few more things to go over before you go.”
With that, he flips his page over, around the stapled corner and moves through the next instructions:
- Don’t burden yourself down and don’t get distracted.
- Be polite. Don’t let the importance of your message cause you to lose sight of your mission. People will be more likely to welcome you if you have a smile on your face.
- Stay focused. Get to know your host and let your host get to know you — don’t move around from place to place like some sort of vagrant. You want the townspeople to learn to trust you and treat you like one of their own.
- Heal the sick whenever you have an opportunity. What better way to get people to listen to what you have to say? And when they are listening, tell them that the Kingdom of God is within their reach! Most people haven’t heard that often enough.
- Don’t waste your time with people who don’t welcome you. There are plenty of people who need you and want you around.
Now it’s as if Jesus looks up from his notes and pauses to remember some ancient wound that was inflicted on his soul. With anguish he loses sight of the students in front of him and sees only the self-righteous who wouldn’t listen.
Jesus angrily waves his reading glasses in the air at those who have offended him. “Woe to you!” he wails. And in this display of emotion we see the broken heart of a Jesus who wants nothing more than to be taken seriously. But when his anger is exhausted, he turns once again to his class and says, “Listen, don’t take it personally if they don’t accept you. It’s not about you. It’s me they’re afraid of. And it’s me they will ultimately face in the end.”
Just as if you and I were sitting in the classroom with Jesus, he urges us to go. Go out into our communities with a smile on our faces and a peace offering on our lips. Go out and prepare the way for the one who just wants to be taken seriously.
Thought for the day: What can I do today to prepare His way?
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.