Made for this Moment
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
Lyndale UCC- June 29, 2025
Rev. Dr. Rebecca Voelkel & Rev. T. Michael Rock
Click here to see Part 1 of the sermon.
Click here to see Part 2 of the sermon.
After this, Jesus appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the God of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into the harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
“When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The Realm of God has come near to you.’ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The Realm of God has come near.’
“Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects the One who sent me.”
The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Jesus, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
God, make us instruments of your peace. Holy One, make us embodiers of your fabulousness. Beloved, make us lovers of your people… in these words, in our hearts, and in our whole lives. Amen.
[Rebecca] In May, T Michael celebrated 30 years of ordained ministry. In August, I will celebrate the 28th anniversary of my ordination. For both of us, the most important, most faithful, and most fun part of ministry is when we get to do it collaboratively. As we talked about Pride and read over our scripture from the Lectionary for this morning, we felt like the text called us into embodying collaboration and Pride did, too. So, we’re going to share here some of the conversation and collaboration we’ve been having as we engage this moment, our text, and Pride Sunday.
Our text for this morning is the story of Jesus sending out seventy-two disciples. They are to go out ahead of him, organizing, building relationships, making a way for him. It is interesting to note that this is a parallel story both with the calling and commissioning of the 12 disciples earlier in Luke AND with Moses’ appointing of seventy-two elders. And he tells them, “I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.” Furthermore, they are to carry no purse, no bag, no sandals.
There are at least two things about this text that are important. While the ministry to which the seventy-two (and, by extension, we) are called is done in the midst of perilous times and places, Jesus is calling them as they are—not with any fancy tools or costumes, not with any money or anything that makes them more important than they are. Jesus’ call to the disciples and to us, is all about authenticity. Jesus calls them exactly as they are. But it’s important to note that Jesus sends them in pairs. They do not go out alone. They go together. And, it is only after they go out together and have made a way, that Jesus then follows them. And, not only must they rely on each other, the disciples must rely on the hospitality of those who host them in the towns they enter.
Authenticity and community. Bringing the fullness of who you are and relying on others in order to have a chance of getting the ministry done.
[T Michael] Authenticity and Community. That is a great hand-off in the preaching world. St. Francis de Sales is known for saying, “Be who you are and be that well”. He partnered with St. Jance to form Houses of Hospitality for people fleeing war, famine and disease. They sprung up in monastic communities and cities as places of refuge and care. Think about that invitation on this Pride Sunday, “Be who you are and be that well.” In the common tongue of today, it is, “You be You” or “Tú sé Tú” or “nei zauhai nei”.
This is about living your truth in the most authentic way possible. Show up, spread peace and receive welcome. These acts of reciprocity are what will change the world. The first thing in the scripture reading is an empowering message of personal authority. You have everything you need to do this work because it is in your blood and bones. You don’t need anything else but to hold onto the fact that you are loved, you are loving and you are lovable. The abundance of God’s love is plentiful, but the workers are few. We are called to model and mirror God’s love and grace in every interaction and relationship. It will save us and everyone else who is open.
I love that we will also get nourishment from this work. When I was a kid, there was an anti-bullying program in my town called, “Yellow Stars”. The houses that were a safe place for a kid to show up in need put a yellow star in their front window. I don’t know how they vetted these folks and I didn’t really care. The adults around me called me a “precocious child” which I though was a complement even if they rolled their eyes when they said it. Anyway, this precocious child rode around town for several weeks in the summer on his banana seat yellow Schwinn with ribbons on the handlebars and visited all the yellow star houses. I was welcomed most of the time with open arms and a plate of warm cookies and cool lemonade. I got to meet some amazing women who worked in hospitality and community care. I would stay and linger on their too soft furniture and share a message of peace and gratitude. It was a good day when I visited and was welcomed in by 8 or so houses.
I don’t think I had heard this gospel story, but I did know that my story was linked with their stories and the giving and receiving of hospitality saved me and them. Today, those yellow stars are pride flags and progress banners announcing our shared liberation.
[Rebecca] This morning, we are celebrating the 55th anniversary of the first Pride parade. Beth Zemsky, a brilliant Jewish lesbian strategist and mentor to many of us, often points out two things about Pride. She says, the Stonewall riots in the summer of 1969, were a protest against police brutality and against decades of shame, extortion, and violence. They were a huge NO to the systems and symbols of oppression that killed and maimed LGBTQ+ people. They were largely led by trans women of color like Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson and other members of what would become STAR (the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries). These protests and riots were and are largely deconstructive. They are about resistance and stopping harm.
Beth goes on to say that the first Pride parade, celebrated in New York on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots, was the beginning of the LGBTQ+ movement. It was the beginning of constructive, building work toward a world of LGBTQ+ justice and joy.
Perhaps this is another thing to lift up from our scripture. Jesus sends the seventy-two out and instructs them in protest and resistance: kicking the dust off their feet, giving authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. Jesus also instructs them to cure the sick, to build relationship. BOTH sacred NO’s AND building justice and joy are what discipleship is about. Particularly in times like these, it is important to recognize that we are called to both stopping harm AND to building the world for which we dream and long.
Maggie and I spent about two hours on Friday at the Capitol with thousands of kindred Minnesotans and people from all over the country paying our respects to Melissa and Mark Hortman and their beloved Golden Retriever, Gilbert as they all lay in state. It was the fourth time I’d been to the Capitol since they were assassinated. There is something about being together that is a balm… and each time I read many of the things that were placed on the memorial… so many of them were by people who felt seen and loved by Melissa for who they authentically were…
And, I had this experience at the candlelight vigil about ten days ago as the sun set and I looked up at the Capitol building. Every single light was on. It was just beautiful and it reminded me of the story that Ben Guess tells. Ben is the Executive Director of the ACLU in Ohio but is also an ordained UCC minister and was on the national staff of the UCC. He tells the story of being afraid to come out to his mom and so he asked his sister to do it. The plan was that Ben would drive around while his sister told his mom and if it went well, his sister would turn the porch light on. After she came out to their mom for Ben, she told their mom about the plan. Ben’s mom responded by turning on every single light in the house.
My friends, in times like these… I think we need to find ways to be our beautiful, bodacious, authentic selves. We need to lean in and hold each other. We need to resist and build and turn on the lights of welcome for each other. I know it is scary and maddening and heart-breaking. But, we were made for this moment.
[T Michael] Indeed, we are made for this moment. Lyndale UCC has been doing this ministry of opening to the Gospel and responding to the world since 1884. The community joined in the inclusive invitation to be in the United Church of Christ in the early 60’s with the promise of responding to the gospel in real time for real people. This about sharing the story and not keeping it to ourselves. The path we chose in this movement was ecumenical and interfaith and grew to include people of all faiths and no faith. It was rooted in action AND contemplation, resistance AND solidarity, Dan Berrigan called it many years ago, “picket and pray” and before that it was Gandhi who taught, “non-cooperation with empire and constructive programs”.
This has been and will be the work that binds us together in community. We will call out and name the injustices and name anything that diminishes, dehumanizes or destroys ourselves, others and our sacred mother earth. We will resist evil and cast out demons. We are given that authority to say that the “big beautiful bill” is really a shit show that is meant to harm the vulnerable and increase the wealth of the domination system. We will name the hard hearted way that anti-trans legislation in MN and around the country works against the principles of our faith and doesn’t resemble following Christ in any way. This path of fighting against and non-cooperation is often called the via negativa,
And we will shine all the lights of welcome and inclusion for all those who are lost and living in fear. We will follow the path of liberation and cooperation and constructing a new way, often called the via positiva. We will hand all the flags and encourage folks to join us at the table of love and joy and grace. We will grow together and feel all that good sustenance when people accept our message of peace and radical welcome.
We have to be transformational and creative when we follow these paths and also remember that the evolution of this works takes us to this Pride Sunday and I get to celebrate being in a
new faith community getting to embrace this new found partnership with an amazing friend of decades in Rebecca Voelkel and the path we get to dance is really not one of resistance or solidarity today, although we are deeply committed to that work with you amazing people. But today is Pride Sunday and we dancing the middle path, the via funkativa. On this path we celebrate the uniqueness and wonder each of brings. On the via funkativa, we get to be foolish and playful and silly and bask in the wonder and beauty of God. The gospel story of the via funkativa is considering the lilies of the field and how they neither toil or spin, but they are clothed in God’s frilly wonder and they smell great. Pride Sunday has no room for worry or anxiety just love and togetherness. I look forward to charting this path with Rebecca and with all of you today and holding a reminder for all of us if we get too caught up in fighting injustice and constructing a new world that we need time to dance and sing and relish in funkiness of God’s amazing love. Friends, this has been the movement and mission of folks who follow Jesus and that is why we call it, THE GOOD NEWS!
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