FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
4 July 2010

When I left from my sabbatical trip to Italy, our younger daughter looked at my carry-on suitcase and expandable briefcase, as asked, “Is that it? For four weeks!” So I explained to her the principle of mix-and-match: two pairs of trousers and three shirts is six different outfits, and that was how I managed to travel light. I don't think she was impressed; but then her older sister once took eight pairs of shoes to France for a seven-day holiday.

In the Gospel we've just heard, Jesus sends out a large group of his followers to prepare the way for him by preaching the message of the kingdom – an advance party, if you like, scouting out the land and reporting back to Jesus as he prepares to follow where he has sent them. And he gives them some directions about how to travel light.

First, they are to be wary. Jesus warns them he is sending them like sheep among wolves. Some things never change. I also took a new money belt with me, mindful that my fried Father Frank had almost had his wallet stolen in Rome last year. Their task will not be easy and will arouse animosity. Second, they are to be single-minded. They are not to take more than the bare necessities, nor are they to be idle on the way. Carry-on baggage only!

Third, they are to become a part of whatever home or community they enter, staying in one place, sharing in the life of home and village. And finally, when they get a hostile reception, they are not to waste their time, but to shake the dust off their feet and be on their way. And Jesus goes on to tell them, that if they are rejected, it is not just them but Christ himself they are refusing to hear.

These are not just words for the seventy sent by Jesus; they are words for the whole Church, and for us too, because like the seventy we too are called preach the message of the kingdom. And that will not be any easier for us either.

As I say at every baptism at the signing with the cross, standing up for what's right, for the values of the kingdom, can be very hard indeed … which is why Jesus likens it to taking up our own cross after him. We don't want to stand out; we want to “go with the flow”; we don't want to make ourselves unpopular or appear priggish or expose ourselves to ridicule, and the more overt our witness to our faith the harder it gets. And in many places even today, being a Christian can mean active persecution and even death.

Thank God we don't have to face that. But we still need a degree of determination. Our Christianity cannot be something we put on when it is convenient, and take off when it is not. We need to live as Christ would have us live each and every day; and that means making choices. What does really matter in our lives? What are those things, that like the seventy, we need to free ourselves from to be better messengers of the kingdom? It might be habits of thoughts or speech or it might be an attachment to materials things – the latest this, that or the other.

Paul puts it very succinctly in this morning's Epistle, in his ongoing battle with those who wanted Gentile Christians to conform to the Jewish Law, and in particular to undergo circumcision. “They only want that” says Paul, “so they won't be singled out.” May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

But Jesus' words also remind us that the most powerful witness to our faith is found in our daily conduct amongst those closest to us.

The seventy are to live their message in the homes and villages they visit, putting into practice those Gospel virtues Paul reminded us of last week: love, joy, peace, patiences, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Preach the Gospel at all times, Saint Francis of Assisi is supposed to have said; if necessary, use words. Witness begins at home. And actions speak the loudest.

What about shaking the dust of your feet? I think Jesus is telling us that if the message is not getting through, we simply have to move on.

There are some we will never reach, through no fault of our own; and the Good News is too important to waste, as Jesus himself reminds us with his strange admonition not to cast pearls before swine. Certainly Jesus himself was carefully selective about when and where he took his message.

And so the seventy go. And when they come back they are mightily impressed by what they have achieved. It's obviously been a productive trip. Even the demons submit to them! But Jesus warns them not to set too much store by success – there are more important things … that their names are written in heaven. And that's something we need to hear too.

Last night I watched the first episode of the BBC's new clerical sitcom, Rev. on the computer. And having been pressed by the Archdeacon on his attendance figures, the central character – Adam, a new priest in an inner-London parish – is heartened to see his congregation dramatically increase in numbers the following Sunday. Except that it's not about him, or about the Gospel, but about parents trying to get their children into the church school, which is rumoured to have had a good OFSTED report. Needless to say, the increased attendance is ephemeral. And by the end of the episode Adam has resisted the temptation to be seduced by it all, and has done the right thing. (I shan't tell you what it is in case you see it in repeat.)

Like the seventy, we are called to proclaim the Good News, focusing on what is essential, living the message in our homes and with those among whom we live and move, and seeking to exercise a right discernment in all we do. And we pray with our collect that the God who calls his whole Church to serve him will guide and direct each of us as we live out our calling. And we rejoice that, whether we are successful or not, are names are written in heaven.