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Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

We had a really great discussion of this reading at bible study. It starts with Jesus sending out the 70 (or 72!) disciples out to proclaim the kingdom of God. It has a pretty direct message to those of us reading this two millenia on. 

The metaphor of the harvest in verse 2 suggests a fairly aggressive approach—go into the towns and bring the message of the kingdom to the inhabitants. Jesus acknowledges that the “labourers are few.”  We are to “Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that he may send out labourers into his harvest”.

That’s us. And we are being sent out as the disciples were “as lambs among wolves”. And indeed the wolves are out there. There are only a couple of Christian denominations who take this as a literal command from Christ. Could you go and knock on a door to proclaim the kingdom? I know that I certainly couldn’t. Why do I shy away from sharing such a vital message of hope? (Maybe it’s the British upbringing that said a lady NEVER discusses politics or religion!)

Are there aother ways? Verse 9 says “Heal the sick who are therein, and tell them, ‘The Kingdom of God has come near to you'”. Most of us cannot physically heal the sick (though I am incredibly fortunate to have a Christian doctor). So what else can we do?

Over the years St. Oswald’s has taken part in many outreach projects—some close to home, some on the other side of the world. Some were one-ofs like the Kenyan water project. Others like the Food Bank Drive are ongoing. But do we share that we do this for the love of the Lord? Or do we tend to say: “here’s the money you need to build a bathhouse for the orphanage” and leave it at that?

Just how do we proclaim to kingdom in our everyday lives?