Waiting in the wings

From Helen

Do you ever feel like you are missing out ? As children and teenagers I am sure that we all had that moment when we were saying things like, “it’s not fair, I shouldn’t miss out just because .....”. I remember that I hated the idea of sleeping too much in case I missed out on something happening, I explained to my Mum that I would go to sleep it everyone else did because then I wouldn’t miss out on anything. 

Jesus had lots of people around Him, lots of people following Him. We only really read about the 12 closest, the disciples. It is a bit like the others were just hangers on. I wonder if some of those following Jesus did feel as if they were missing out. The 12 got to spend more time on their own with Jesus, they got to go and do exciting things with Jesus such as seeing the miracles up close.  I wonder if people outside of the 12 really wanted to be in on the action !

 In our gospel reading this morning we heard of those who may have seen themselves on the edges being sent out in the name of Jesus.(Luke 10:1-10). Jesus had sent the 12 out to tell people about Him and to heal people. The 12 were getting yet another opportunity and these 70 that we heard of this morning had been watching from the wings.

Jesus called the 70 together and I wonder if they thought, at last, finally it is my turn now and I am going to do great things for Jesus.  You can imagine them listening with a mixture of excitement, pride and nerves. Jesus explained to them that these 70 had work to do. They were to go out to the harvest field. This wasn’t literal, I certainly for one would have been happy to miss out on going to harvest. Jesus was explaining that the harvest was the people ready to hear about Him. People who were in need of healing, people who needed to hear that God and that His Kingdom had come near. Basically that they were discovering more about God and His Kingdom, His rule of love and healing. These 70 had the honour of not missing out but being right in the action as they told people about Jesus and His love. 

The Kingdom of God that they were to proclaim wasn’t a kingdom such as the lovely kingdoms I used to read about in stories when I was a child, stories of handsome princes and beautiful princesses. The Kingdom of God was His reign on Earth. The Kingdom of God is how life will be in heaven by being perfect as we are in the presence of God. Bringing the Kingdom of God to people here is giving a chance for people to know heaven on Earth, a perfect moment of peace and love with God who loves us so much that He would die for us.

Back to the 70 they were workers for Jesus, they were to go out and share the good news of Him with others. My sister Ceri was telling me once about her daughter, our niece Rachel. Ceri was explaining that her and her husband Simon had always told the children that God was with them and they were to follow the adventures that God sent them on. Rachel was 18 and going off to climb Kilimanjaro- Ceri wished that God had sent Rachel somewhere much safer and just around the corner ! 

I was thinking about this when I was thinking about these 70. They had finally got their chance to be part of the action, they didn’t need to feel as if they were missing out. You would hope for some reassuring words, a nice motivational speech from Jesus the kind of words, “You can do this, be brave and strong I am with you. I look forward to receiving a nice postcard.” The 70 were not given anything as nice as this to think about. They were told, “I am sending you out like lambs amongst wolves.” That is not very reassuring. 

I wonder if any who had been feeling as if they were missing out thought, it’s ok I will go back to waiting in the wings. 

The next instruction Jesus gave would have been even more difficult for me. They weren’t to take a bag ? I love bags, I have quite a collection and that’s even with getting rid of a number. They were told to take no bag, no purse - these lambs amongst wolves were to wait on the kindness of others. They couldn’t even take their sandals.

This does not sound like a fun trip, except it was. Jesus had chosen them, He had called them and what a privilege they had. I suspect that if they had felt as if they were missing out, or even if they hadn’t felt this way, the joy of doing something for Jesus would have outweighed all concerns.

Jesus was sending these 70 out and they weren’t to be weighed down by bags, or stopping and having a chat because they had work to do and it was incredibly important work. They were to proclaim Jesus, they were to share the good news of Jesus with those they met. 

The 70 came back rejoicing. They were full of the joy that comes from sharing the best news ever with people and helping them to know God. The 70 were tasked with helping to bring heaven to earth.

This is our task as well. I don’t know if you feel that you can’t do as much as you used to and so what can you do for God. I don’t know if you feel as if all that you do seems wasted, how can you bring heaven to earth and make life better for people when there doesn’t seem to be a way to make things better. The point is that every time we pray for someone, every time we pray for our world we are praying for God’s kingdom to come as we pray for a better way. We won’t always get the answers that we hope for. We won’t always see miraculous healing but we will see people who are better able to cope than they did before. 

We never need to miss out on sharing the good news of Jesus, we never need to feel as if we can’t make life better. We are God’s children, we need to come out of the wings and pray and then  when we feel we have had enough of praying to just pray some more. The Kingdom of God has come near, let’s just start sharing it more and more. Amen.