1. ICEL What does a good pastor do? Luke 10: 1-20 Message by Jack McDonald Anglican chaplain in Leuven

2. ICEL Luke 10: 1-20 1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 2 He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. 5 ‘When you enter a house, first say, “Peace to this house.” 5 ‘When you enter a house, first say, “Peace to this house.” 6 If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. 6 If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you.

3. ICEL Luke 10: 1-20 7 Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. 8 ‘When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. 8 ‘When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. 9 Heal those there who are ill and tell them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” 9 Heal those there who are ill and tell them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” 10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11 “Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: 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.

4. ICEL Luke 10: 1-20 13 ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. 16 ‘Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.’

5. ICEL Luke 10: 1-20 17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.’ 18 He replied, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’

6. ICEL How does Jesus' world fit into our world? There are big differences between 1st century Palestine and 21st century Belgium! How do we read, follow and obey the following instructions by Jesus? "Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road." (Luke 10.4) "Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you." (Luke 10.8)

7. ICEL They sounded much worse in 1st century Palestine, where Jesus' instructions flouted what was held as dear and essential: Not to greet a fellow-traveller was a gross personal insult. Leviticus 11 gave clear, unambiguous laws about food and diet: camel, hyrax, hare, pig, shellfish, birds of prey, crows, ostriches, gulls, owls, cormorants, ibises, moorhen, pelicans, stork, heron, hoopoes, bats, insects which aren't locusts, animals which swarm, are explicitly forbidden as food.

8. ICEL Who evangelises in pairs on the streets today? Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), sect founded by Joseph Smith in 1830 Jehovah's Witnesses, sect founded by Joseph Rutherford in 1918 Bizarre, fanciful, fabricated!

9. ICEL Yet there are some in the faithful Christian Church who do seek to obey Jesus here! Kees and Toos Rosies The story of ICEL So how do we read and receive Jesus in Luke 10?

10. ICEL Martin Luther (1483-1546) Von der Freiheit eines Christenmenschen (1520) (On Christian Freedom) Bodily nature (externals, clothes, food, work, buildings, heating, lighting, money) Spiritual nature - the New Person in Christ Jesus ("The spiritual nature is justice, liberty, the Word of God, the Gospel, the preaching which comes from Christ, faith, salvation, the new nature in Christ, the inner nature of mankind." On Christian Freedom §1)

11. ICEL "Two Kingdoms" Theology Ein' feste burg (Martin Luther, 1529) Verse 4 (translated by Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)) And though they take our life Goods, honour, children, wife, Yet is their profit small: These things shall vanish all. The City of God remaineth!

12. ICEL But pastors are still needed! St Paul speaks on the variety of gifts in Christ's church in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4. Martin Luther: "Servants, overseers, men of knowledge set apart, who must preach Christ to others, and teach the faith and Christian freedom..." (On Christian Freedom §17) Ministers of Word and sacrament

13. ICEL George Herbert (1593-1633) The Elixir (1633) (verse 1) Teach me, my God and King In all things thee to see And what I do in anything To do it as for thee. (verse 5) A servant with this clause Makes drudgery divine: Who sweeps a room, as for thy laws, Makes that and th' action fine.

14. ICEL Our true Christian liberty is real. Our true Christian liberty is spiritual.