On this holiday weekend as we celebrate the formation and founding of our country and our independence as a nation, we frequently find ourselves thinking about certain characteristics associated with American identity. Characteristics like individualism, invulnerability, and self-sufficiency are often celebrated. Today, in our present time and culture, we are also seeing the growing disease of extreme individualism and Christian nationalism. These malignant ideologies are not at all representative of Christianity, and they do not at all represent the Christian message or connect in any way to the teachings of Jesus. Frankly, perceptions of American individualism and self-sufficiency infuse almost every aspect of our lives, including religion. We, as a people, preserve and perpetuate the myth that we are a nation defined by the idea that people should set their own course through life. This is reflected in so many aspects of culture. Think of Frank Sinatra singing “My Way.” Think of movies in which famous actors like John Wayne render a rugged brand of individualism and self-imposed justice.
As Americans, we have fallen in love with the idea of the self-made person, the rags to riches story. We have created the myth that if you make it to the top of your profession, you deserve a huge salary because you are the one responsible for getting to the top. We have this sense in which we are to live as invulnerable human beings. This rugged individual ethos permeates virtually every aspect of the way in which we think about achievement, education, work, and vocation. It infuses our understanding of how we are to live, how we should raise our children, and even the way in which we understand religion and faith. As a matter of fact, the concept of decision theology – the belief that a person must accept Jesus as one’s personal Lord and Savior and the idea that each individual must accept God’s gift of salvation – developed in and grew out of the 19th and 20th century American focus on individualism. When writing about the challenge of individualism in our present culture, theologian, David Lose, suggests, “this individualism we celebrate is as much a myth of the culture as is our invulnerability. The pilgrims and pioneers who settled this land were incredibly aware that their survival depended on each other. The colonies they eventually established, after all, we called ‘commonwealths,’ places where the good of any individual was inextricably linked to the good of the whole. And as Benjamin Franklin said at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, ‘We must hang together, or assuredly we will all hang separately.’” The truth of the matter is, the people who founded this country needed each other and needed community in order to survive.
It is striking to me that, on this holiday weekend as we celebrate our nation and our identity as people, we have a Bible reading that teaches us not about individualism and invulnerability. No, it teaches us about vulnerability and community. When it comes to a life of faith the reality is that the Bible paints a picture of life that rarely coincides with our culture’s most commonly held assumptions. Today, we hear the antithesis of an individualistic, self-sufficient, invulnerable way of thinking and being as we learn about Jesus sending his disciples on a mission. Jesus sends seventy disciples out and he does not send them to be self-sufficient. No, he sends them out completely unprepared! They are not permitted to have anything that might enable them any level of self-sufficiency. As a result, they go forth into this mission as vulnerable disciples; their well-being is utterly dependent on the people to whom they have been sent, some of whom will respond with hostility rather than hospitality. And you can never tell which you’re going to get until it’s too late.
I love the way this story is told in The Message translation of the Bible. We hear Jesus say the following:
“What a huge harvest! And how few the harvest hands. So, on your knees; ask the God of the Harvest to send harvest hands. On your way! But be careful – this is hazardous work. You’re like lambs in a wolf pack. Travel light. Comb and toothbrush and no extra luggage. Don’t loiter and make small talk with everyone you meet along the way. When you enter a home, greet the family, ‘Peace.’ If your greeting is received, then it’s a good place to stay. But if it’s not received, take it back and get out. Don’t impose yourself. Stay at one home, taking your meals there, for a worker deserves three square meals. Don’t move from house to house, looking for the best cook in town. When you enter a town and are received, eat what they set before you, heal anyone who is sick, and tell them, ‘God’s kingdom is right on your doorstep!’ When you enter a town and are not received, go out in the street and say, ‘The only thing we got from you is the dirt on our feet, and we’re giving it back. Did you have any idea that God’s kingdom was right on your doorstep?’”
Inescapable vulnerability is implicit in the mission to which Jesus calls and sends his disciples. He sends them out in pairs, and he instructs them to rely entirely upon the hospitality of others. He sends them out two by two – this is not something they do alone as individuals. He is blunt about how difficult and dangerous this mission might be. The seventy will be going into a hostile world, yet Jesus does not arm them for battle; rather, they will go out like lambs – lambs among wolves. Jesus sends them seemingly very unprepared, very vulnerable, and quite uncertain of what they will encounter. And, no matter how hard they try, they cannot control the outcome. The outcome depends totally on God. Some of the people they visit will not share in the message and peace they offer; sometimes whole towns will reject them. But the gift Jesus gives them as he sends them out two by two is the gift of his presence – the promise that he goes with them – and the gift of solidarity they find as they work together while trusting his promise. In their working together, their hope and welfare are inextricably linked to that of those around them and those they meet. Jesus commands vulnerable dependence from his disciples as he sends them to proclaim the good news that God’s kingdom has drawn near. And, they are told to do this through relational, grateful, gracious presence and conversation.
Today’s reading is instructional for us on this holiday weekend. As we live in a world that seems to become increasingly individualistic, more “I” and “me” centered with progressively harsh edges that divide, we follow in the footsteps of the seventy messengers. We have been called as a community of people, not individuals, a community of people to share with those around us in the greater community the good news of God’s forgiveness, love, grace, healing, and peace. And, we do not work alone. Our mission is a shared mission. We work together as the community of Christ and our hope and welfare is inextricably linked to that of those around us. Together, we have been appointed to go out into the world and announce that God’s kingdom has drawn near. In fact, it is right on people’s doorstep! And we go together, remembering Jesus’ promise that he is with us, as we too invite others into this mission of which we are a part. This Jesus’ mission is one of compassion, grace, forgiveness, love, meaning, and purpose. Participating in this Jesus mission means working and living together in intimate community, becoming vulnerable, and giving up our need to control. And, quite frankly, that kind of vulnerability makes this work a lot more fun because it is then all about what God is doing and has done, and it is not about us. All we need to do is tend to the harvest God has already planted! This Jesus mission has to do with the very life of life itself because it is all about God, the One who gives life, the One who sustains life, the One who exists and is present to us as life-giving community, and the One who will ultimately bring all life to a glorious conclusion. And, I am so grateful that we get to do this Jesus mission together. Quite frankly, I find it makes this mission deeply meaningful and makes it a mission that is filled with joy.