Opening lines can set the tone for the entire book to follow. Moby Dick: “Call me Ishmael.” Leo Tolstoy: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Charles Dickens: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” The opening line of Chapter 10 of St. Luke’s gospel sets a similar thematic tone. The text begins, “The Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs.” Let’s unpack that sentence.
The Lord appointed seventy-two others. All of the gospel writers talk about the twelve, the chosen apostles who inaugurated the new Israel. Only Luke mentions these seventy-two. Why does he think it important to mention this aspect of the Jesus ministry? To answer that let’s put ourselves in St. Luke’s shoes. He is writing probably sometime around the year 80A.D. – about fifty years after the death of Jesus. During those first two generations of Christians the Jesus movement has spread rapidly out of Palestine and into the entire Roman empire and beyond. It has come to embrace the whole of society: Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free. The beginnings of a structure had arisen with a local bishop presiding over a community assisted by the presbyters and deacons. I wonder if St. Luke mentions the “seventy-two others” because he was concerned about a certain complacency creeping in among the early Christians. I wonder if he was concerned that people were starting to think it was someone else’s job to spread the faith. “Let those apostles do it. Let those bishops do it. I’ll be content just to go to Church on a Sunday.” So St. Luke tells the story of the “seventy-two others” to remind Christians that from the beginning it was everyone’s responsibility to share the faith. The Jesus movement did not spread because there was a professional caste of missionaries or apostles who were commissioned to preach the gospel. No, the Church blossomed and grew because everyone touched by Jesus brought the faith into their home, their workplace, the gymnasium, the market. It wasn’t just the twelve, the chosen few who caused the Church to grow. It was the “others,” the rest of the believers who were responsible for the message going out to all the earth. As then, so now. We should all count ourselves as among the seventy-two. It’s not merely the bishop’s job, or the pastor’s job, or the deacon’s job to grow the Church. It is all of our jobs. The founder of my congregation, Father Judge, used to say that every Catholic is called to be an apostle, every Catholic is a missionary. Quite frankly, for St. James to prosper and grow it will take each one of us doing our little bit, giving what we have to give, sharing the good news of Jesus.
Back to the introductory sentence: Jesus appointed seventy-two others whom he sent. Aha, we are tempted to say. We’re not like apostles and missionaries. How can I be sent? I have enough to take care of right here. I can’t be sent somewhere else. The answer of Fr. Judge: we are sent into the providence of our everyday lives. We are sent to our families, our co-workers, our golfing buddies, our shopping partners. Let’s take an example. If your family is anything like mine they need the message of Jesus. They need to know they are loved. They need to know they are forgiven. They need to know they can forgive others. They need to know the grief they are feeling can be healed. They need to know the suffering they are going through does not get the last word. They need to know that this life is a prelude to a richer and fuller life with God. And not just our families, the same is true among the many other friends and acquaintances woven into our lives. That’s where we are sent – into the desert of modern life, the jungle of overly busy existence, the islands of loneliness and fear that characterize the people we interact with every day.
St. Luke continues: Jesus appointed seventy-two others whom he sent in pairs. The business about being sent in pairs provides a hint about how we are supposed to fulfill the mission on which we are being sent. Being sent in pairs demonstrates that the faith spreads not so much by what we say but by how we live the message of Jesus. If you think about it, you don’t need two people to give a talk. One person can talk all by him or herself – but it is just talk. However, two people, two people have to show that they are living the life. They have to exhibit what they are talking about by caring for one another, by forgiving one another, by loving one another. For example, I am currently living by myself. You would be amazed at how patient I am with myself, how kind I am to myself, how forgiving I am of myself. But I suspect that come August when five more people come to live with me that kindness, that patience, that forgiveness will be sorely tested. Every married person can attest that whenever you have two people rubbing up against each other you have the giving and taking of wounds. So Jesus sent the seventy-two out in pairs to prove that the grace of God can work in the likes of us and transform us into people who do embody for one another the kindness and gentleness that God has shown to us.
There is one part of the mission of the seventy-two others that isn’t captured in the opening thematic sentence. Jesus sends them out with a sense of urgency. Their message is: The kingdom is at hand for you. People are hurting today. People are starving for love today. People are lost and alone today. But the kingdom is at hand, right here at your elbow. Don’t delay in responding to the invitation into God’s love. One upon a time there was a strategy session on the part of all the devils. They were planning how to tempt in this day and age. Mephistopheles said, “Let’s tell them there is no heaven.” Satan answered, “That won’t work. People know that life is precious and that God wouldn’t bestow it only to snatch it away.” The Beelzebub suggested, “Let’s tell them there is no hell.” Satan answered, “That won’t work. People know that God is just and that our actions have consequences.” Finally one little imp proposed, “Let’s tell them there is no hurry.” Satan answered, “That will work. If we can get people to delay, put off, hesitate before they commitment themselves to follow God are temptations will be successful.” Church, we are “the others” We are being sent out to embody in our love and care for one another the blessing we have received in being people of faith. Let’s not delay. Let’s make sure that everyone we encounter this day knows what a good and gracious God we serve.