This sermon from July 6 marked my first Sunday as rector at Christ The King Anglican Church in St. Augustine, FL.
Twenty years ago, the writer David Foster Wallace delivered his famous commencement speech “This Is Water.” There are not many famous commencement speeches. And he began by sharing this story: Two fish are swimming along, and they meet an older fish swimming the other way. He nods and says, “Morning boys. How’s the water?” The two young fish keep swimming until one turns to the other and says, “Wait… what’s water?”
Wallace shared the story to make this point: sometimes the most important realities are the hardest to see—and even harder to talk about.1
Today in our Gospel reading, Luke 10:1-20, Jesus sends his disciples out into the world to announce a reality that their neighbors did not see or know about. That the kingdom of God is coming, and life-altering peace has arrived. And just like in our Gospel reading, there are people today in our community swimming along who do not know the most important reality: that Jesus Christ the King is on the throne, he has conquered sin and death and the forces of evil, and Christ alone provides the wholeness of a transformed life.
The lesson from our Gospel reading today is this: Jesus sends us on mission with the message of God’s peace and the joy of heavenly citizenship.
As Christians, we are cross-cultural missionaries who belong to the kingdom of heaven. We are outsiders whose names are written inside the Book of Life.
Today let us consider our mission, our message, and our joy.
OUR MISSION
In this section of Luke’s Gospel, we are learning what it means to follow King Jesus. In chapter 9, some rejected Jesus or walked away because it was too costly. Because following Jesus requires us to change direction, to drop everything and follow him, to join him in the work of God’s kingdom. And at the beginning of Luke 10, we learn that following Jesus means being sent on mission.
Look with me at verses 2 through 4: “And Jesus 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. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.’” (vv. 2-4)
The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. The time has come; God’s kingdom is breaking through. But who will go? Notice Jesus isn’t sending his twelve disciples. He’s sending seventy-two out into the surrounding areas to prepare the way. We don’t even know their names. They’re ordinary, but they’re sent on an extraordinary mission.
They are ordinary and nameless, but they go because the Lord of the harvest sent them. Jesus is in control. And to reinforce that point, Jesus highlights their weakness—“lambs in the midst of wolves”— and their dependence on him—no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals. They are not to rely on their own strength or their own special skills, but on the Lord of the harvest. Just as Jesus told the discouraged fishermen who would become his disciples to cast their nets on the other side of the boat, Jesus sends these nameless, ordinary people because there is a harvest waiting. They don’t need anything but to trust in Jesus and go on their way.
What is our mission? To make it known that Christ is on the throne. His kingdom is drawing near. And if that is our mission, then everyone who follows Jesus is a missionary.2
For you and me, we need to recognize that we are cross-cultural missionaries in our own communities.3 We pay attention to the people around us to see how we can bring the peace and love of Jesus to their lives.
What does it mean to be cross-cultural missionaries in our communities? We’re not crossing an ocean or a border. No, but we are crossing a cultural boundary—where the values of God’s kingdom confront the patterns of this world.
Now it’s easy for me to apply the thinking of a cross-cultural missionary because I’m new to Florida. I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve experienced culture shock in the past month. I’m not used to being outside all the time and definitely not used to talking to my neighbors outside after dark. I’m still adjusting to how people here aren’t in a constant hurry, and how easy it is to strike up a conversation with a stranger. It’s sunny and it’s friendly. It’s easy to feel comfortable.
But, as much as it feels like we live in paradise, the kingdom of heaven is coming and our neighbors need to know the peace that’s found only in Jesus.
We are cross-cultural missionaries not because we’re strangers to St. Augustine but because our home is in the kingdom of God. Being a cross-cultural missionary means being on high alert to where the kingdom is breaking through and identifying the people around you who need to know Jesus.
There’s an urgency to Jesus’s instructions. Why is there an emphasis on traveling lightly and declaring peace? Jesus is deliberately echoing Deuteronomy 20, where Israel was instructed to offer peace to foreign cities before engaging in battle.4
But Jesus flips the script: go as vulnerable strangers to declare peace. If they reject you, leave them to God. And it’s this peaceful practice that engages in a different kind of warfare. It’s spiritual warfare. Our enemies are not of flesh and blood but spiritual forces of evil. Look at verses 18 and 19. By proclaiming the message of God’s salvation and living peaceably before others, the demons tremble and Satan falls like lightning.
You will meet people who are friendly and smile and say “God bless” and it can lull you to a false sense of comfort. The reality is you have neighbors who are prisoners to sin and death and the evil rulers of an unseen world, and they don’t even know it!
But the King who conquered sin and death is here, and so we are sent with a message of God’s peace and freedom.
What’s OUR MESSAGE: Look with me at verse 5. Jesus says: “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’” Jesus sends them with a message, but the message comes with a lifestyle. They are to show love and compassion and understanding toward others: “Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”
“Peace be to this house.” But this peace isn’t good vibes or beach-town friendliness. The peace Jesus speaks of is tied to the Old Testament word shalom—the deep, life-transforming wholeness that comes from being in right relationship with God and others.
Without Jesus, every one of us is dead in our sins. But because Christ is risen and reigning, we are made alive. Through him, we have peace with God and are sent as people of reconciliation to our neighbors.
Peace isn’t an abstract concept—it’s the healing of broken lives, the restoration of relationships, the evidence that God’s kingdom is breaking through.
We are sent on mission with a message of peace that can change broken lives in our midst. When they accept that peace, it remains with them forever.
Jesus says to “go your way.” Whether you are at work, in the grocery store, the gym, or by the pool. I want you to know that when you leave this church, you are sent on the mission field. I love our signs that remind you of this truth as you pull out of the parking lot.
But where is our mission field as Christ the King? Well, it’s wherever you live. Our congregation is spread as far north as Ponte Vedra and as far south as Port Orange. But we have two major concentrations I want to highlight: The first is those in our congregation who live in the St. Augustine South area, a 7-mile stretch on US-1, between the intersections of 312 and 206, where the church is located. The second cluster is our church family who live along US-1 in Palm Coast.
We have communities in these areas with schools and small businesses and local events, where you can dwell as a neighbor who belongs to the kingdom of God. You can proclaim God’s peace and live among them marked by God’s love and compassion. Do you notice the people and places around you as a missionary would? Where do you see evidence of God’s kingdom and a need for God’s peace?
If you belong to Jesus, you are sent on mission with a message. So I would challenge you to take time this week to prayerfully walk around your neighborhood and the places you visit most often and ask these 3 questions:
Without asking anyone, do I know the first and last names of the people who live and work beside me?
What can I describe about them that would only be known by someone who’s been inside their house?
Do I know what keeps them up at night? What are the big questions they are wrestling with?5
Asking yourself these questions can help you pay attention to the people in your life who need to hear that the kingdom of God has come near.
And guess what? Jesus is honest that some people will reject the message. But don’t be discouraged. Jesus’s instructions in Luke 10 remind you that rejection is not personal. Shake the dust and leave it to God. Because not only is rejection not personal, but it’s not always permanent.
Sometimes your presence and obedience to God plants a seed. You won’t know if what you say or how you live will make a difference or when. Maybe it’s not immediate, and maybe you’ll never know.
It’s only your job to announce the message of peace and God’s salvation. It’s the Lord of the harvest who changes hearts.
Even the Apostle Paul was afraid of rejection when he was going to Corinth. But in Acts 18:9-10 the Lord said to him in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”
“I have many in this city who are my people.”
“The harvest is plentiful.”
Scripture both tells us that God is in control and that we are sent to proclaim the message. We don’t know God’s plans or who will respond, or even when. Paul himself rejected the gospel before he was converted. You never know the story God is writing for someone, even for those who initially reject the message. We rely completely on God for this mission, and it’s because of God’s work through Jesus that we even have a message to share.
And that brings us to consider OUR JOY.
“The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!’”
They are excited to see results; their mission was a success! But Jesus tells them their joy is not in spiritual power but in the gift of heavenly citizenship.
Hear what Jesus says in verse 20: “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
The image Jesus uses here, of names being written in heaven, is that of a census, an official registry of citizens. The greatest joy we have is not in our accomplishments but in our secure standing before God that we receive through Jesus Christ’s saving work. And when we belong to Jesus, we can rejoice in our lasting citizenship in heaven.6 A citizenship in a kingdom that will outlast all the nations on earth.
Now this is the beauty of a lectionary with assigned readings. It’s my first Sunday in the pulpit as your new rector, and it’s Fourth of July weekend—but here I am preaching on a Gospel text that reminds us of our ultimate allegiance to King Jesus and our true citizenship in heaven.
But this has been the counter-cultural reality for Christians since the beginning of the church. We are sojourners and strangers here on earth, but in Christ, we are a holy nation, a people for his own possession.
In the second-century Roman Empire, Christians lived in such a peculiar manner that an ancient letter was written to explain what this lifestyle was all about. In what’s known as the Epistle to Diognetus, the author defends the strangeness of Christians in Roman society. They blend in wherever they go by following local customs and laws, but they stand out. Why? Because of the way they treated others with love. They way they refused retaliation and blessed those who persecuted them. Christians can make their home anywhere, but they remain outsiders. “Every foreign country is their fatherland, and every fatherland is foreign,” the author writes. Why? Because their ultimate citizenship, their true homeland? It’s in heaven.
Our true citizenship in heaven means that our joy is not defined by whether our political party is in charge. Our true citizenship in heaven means our compassion and love is not dictated by toeing the party line. Our true citizenship in heaven means we are sent to proclaim peace to those who do not look like us or vote like us or think like us.
Our greatest joy? That we belong to Jesus and our names are written in the Book of Life. And from that overflowing joy, not out of duty or striving for approval, but it’s from a place of joy that we ought to share the message of God’s peace.
Many people around us are swimming along in default mode, unaware that the kingdom of God is breaking in all around them. You are sent to notice, to bless, to point them to the peace of Christ.
The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Lord of the harvest, send us.
Michael Frost, Surprise the World, page 86
Alan J. Roxburgh’s book Missional: Joining God in the Neighborhood was very helpful for this sermon. The book is an extended reflection on Luke 10. I learned about the book from Mark Lau Branson’s Memories, Hopes, and Conversations, which I’ve been using as a resource to prepare for leading Christ The King Anglican Church.
Joseph Sykora, “A Different Kind of War: Deuteronomy 20:1–14 and Luke 10:1–24 in Dialogue,” Journal of Theological Interpretation
Roxburgh, Missional, page 123
Darrell L. Bock, Luke 9:51-24:53, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, page 1008
Share this post