In our Gospel reading today we hear of those seventy-two followers whom our Lord commissioned to go out and be laborers for the harvest, they preached His word, they cured those who were ill, and drove out demons from those afflicted. Even when their efforts were rejected, they used that lack of acceptance as an opportunity, by shaking the dust from their feet in testimony against those who rejected the teachings of Christ which they proclaimed. They were sent out into a sometimes-hostile world to do Jesus’ work, and to bring hope to those who were awaiting Him. With all these efforts taking place, the fruits of this did not escape our Lords notice, He saw “Satan fall like lightning from the sky”, and those from whom the effort had been put forth, were told to rejoice because their names had been recorded in heaven. If there is a life goal for each one of us, it should be for our names to be similarly written in heaven because of our efforts and obedience. To still go out, each one of us, and labor for Gods purpose, and to in this way draw closer to Christ.
In our second reading, Saint Paul addresses the Galatians and imparts to them a perspective that is the one that if we live by it, will allow each one of us to do our Lords work, and to then draw close to Him – we must each be crucified in Christ, and in doing so, to withdraw from the world in the sense that we no longer abide by its standards and goals, but instead we actively reject much of what we are told is important by worldly standards, and focus on what is important by heavenly standards. The world is focused on the purely physical, but when we are crucified in Christ, our physical selves take a radical back seat to the other half of our makeup, the spirit, and in doing so, there comes an equally radical shift in our conscious thoughts. We die to self with this crucifixion, we instead draw closer to Christ, by embracing the same call that He made to Saint Peter – “You, follow me”.
When we withdraw the way, I have been describing, this does not mean that we draw back from the rest of humanity. No, very much the opposite, we instead embrace our brothers and sisters in Christ in a whole new way, and we are even more active in our efforts to reach out to all of them. We become spiritual extroverts in our efforts, and in doing so, we will then naturally become worldly introverts. We will reject the allure of material pursuits and the covetousness that so often accompanies it, and instead seek the things that do not decay in their value and substance, but rather appreciate in value and form with each step closer to heaven. The societal obsession with “stuff” becomes unpalatable to us and is replaced with an appetite for water and spirit, peace and love, closeness to humanity the creations of our Lord in His image, and so for our Lord himself. Our Amazon accounts may perhaps suffer a bit, which is probably a good thing, but that which is recorded in heaven will show a new worth for each of us.
The thing is, even with our pursuit of the things of heaven, we will also still experience a profound new worth here on earth, a worth that is evident to others and will hopefully attract them if they can see past the worldly glare, and that will bring peace to us in a way that we will find of the greatest value. The same peace that was given and remained with those who were willing to embrace it, when the seventy-two who were laboring for our Lord sent it upon them, will come to those now who accept it, and to those who today answer that same call to labor for our Lord.
The Deacons Bench 