Conversations: Sharing Our Faith with a Skeptical World
The Power of Showing Up
Rev. Jennifer Kates Witten, October 18, 2009

Luke 10:1–12; Isaiah 43:1–3

Today's sermon falls in the middle of a series of messages Pastor Thompson has been giving about how to share our faith. As you've gathered by now, this is not about how to pick the best street corner. And it's not about where to find the most convincing passages in the Bible.

This is ultimately about how we live with people whose world view and faith traditions are different from our own. And how to boldly yet respectfully witness to our faith in Christ. This morning I want to focus on the obvious, which is that sharing our faith always happens in the context of relationships.

Our passage for this morning is about just this. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is heading toward Jerusalem where he is about to be put on trial. So like any good leader who knows his time is almost up, Jesus empowers his disciples to help with the work. He says to them: everyone find a partner. Get ready for a trip. Don't bother to pack anything. You're going to be on the road traveling from village to village. And Jesus says, I'll be right behind you. Listen to their instructions.

After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house!' And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 'Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.'  (Luke 10:1-11)

What they are to do is in no way random. They are to be focused, clear about what they're doing. If they get to a home and there is peace, they are to go in. Stay awhile. If not, don't waste your time. Move on to the next house. Now when they get to a house, they aren't to stand at the door and hand out a religious tract.

No, they are to go inside. Sit down and have a meal. This was a common practice for travelers. An unwritten law in ancient times. If someone needed food, you were obligated to feed them.

Now the first disciples were Jewish. And part of the Jewish tradition is adhering to certain guidelines about what you eat. But in the passage for today, Jesus instructs them to specifically eat whatever is served. In so many words, he says, don't let your tradition be a barrier between you and your host. Eat the same foods. Receive whatever they give you.

There is something about sharing a meal that binds people together. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but the experts say it's really important for families to sit down together for dinner every single night. I'll confess I'm still working toward this goal, but the research seems to show that families connect when they share a meal. It must also be true for church families, because don't we spend a lot of time here at the church eating!

And so I imagine that many of you are as delighted as I am that the commission included the instruction to eat. Why?

Because something sacred often happens around the table.

This was certainly my experience a few weeks ago. Last month I had the privilege of traveling to Bosnia with World Vision. This is an organization that focuses on children in poverty around the world. Bosnia is a small, beautiful country in Eastern Europe. It's part of the former Yugoslavia. The winter Olympics were held here in 1984 and from a distance it looks like the perfect place for a vacation. But as you know, 13 years ago Bosnia was a war zone. Over 100,000 people were killed, and more than 1.8 million people were displaced.1 And even though it was a number of years ago, the country is still very much in recovery. The biggest challenge is trying to get people to come back. Most buildings still show signs of damage. The international courts are still indicting people for war crimes, including genocide. Currently 40% of the population is unemployed. And the overall sense of hope for their future is low.

So one afternoon, we traveled to a small town where a group of women welcomed us into their home and served us a fabulous Bosnian meal. Now Bosnians dress very nicely and carry themselves with a lot of pride so it's not readily apparent that they are poor. And the reason is because they haven't always been poor. When they were communist for some 40 years, they actually were quite well off.

Their leader, Tito, was widely respected. Most people were employed. Everyone had health insurance. People were highly educated and they were free to come and go from their country. In fact, they remember the days of communism as the best they've ever had it. Every single person we met, without exception, was in some way longing for these better days of long ago.

So it was in the home of these poor but very dignified women that we gathered around a beautiful table not only to eat but also to hear their stories.

There is no other way to describe what we heard than to say these women were like the lambs caught by the wolves that Jesus warned his disciple about. Across the table from me was a shy woman named Fata. And Fata's story was sadly common. On June 1, 1992, her husband and two teenage sons were among the 700 men taken from this small village never to return. The women were also taken away. The older ones forced to live in deplorable conditions. The younger ones taken to camps where they were assaulted night after night. They had lived through an absolute nightmare.

We sat there horrified by what we were hearing. And completely unsure of how to respond. And then they said, it wasn't very long ago that we were unable to talk about this. It was too painful. But we've learned that when we do share and people listen, some of the pain is released.

We were reminded that we didn't have to say anything at all. Our role was simply to listen.

I sat there in this lovely home struck by how deeply these women long for the peace they once had. When everyone in their family was still alive; the husbands, sons and brothers. When they didn't have nightmares. And when neighbors of all different ethnicities lived happily side by side. Yet this peace was no more.

Now Jesus instructed his disciples to enter a home saying, "Peace to this house!" This was a common first century greeting. But isn't peace also what every home longs for? Certainly true for the families I met in Bosnia, but isn't it also true for us? Because peace, in the Biblical languages, isn't just about the absence of conflict and war, it's about wholeness.

And to be human is to be in touch with this lack of wholeness. The brokenness. In you. And me. Our loved ones. Our relationships. Certainly in the world at large. We're aware that all that is not entirely right and well. And yet it's into this broken world that Jesus came speaking of peace/wholeness, and calling his followers to do the same.

Certainly Jesus was speaking of the promise for peace that would come. We look forward in faith to that day when all will be made right.

But our faith also makes the bold claim that the Spirit of Jesus is alive. And is moving this world toward wholeness. Completion. Peace. And he's using your life and mine to do it.

This doesn't mean Jesus is looking for people who have their act together. Or even people with a mature faith. Certainly wasn't the case for the disciples. As Nathan Reeder, our Junior High director pointed out to me – these guys were new to the faith. They were young Christians. And yet Jesus still sent them out. Questions. Doubts. Insecurities and all.

Sometimes I think one of the best gifts we can give each other is to be honest about who we are. To admit what we don't know. What we're struggling with. To own up to our fear. Regret and just put it all out there. Nothing sugar coated. It's a gift because it creates the space for the other person to say, "Me, too."

I don't know what you're struggling with right now. What you're praying about. But I trust that the one we're praying to is about this work of meeting us in the struggle. And maybe you've found, as I certainly have, that it's in our connections with one another that we get a glimpse of this.

For this is exactly what those Bosnian women found to be happening. As they voiced their painful memories. they found that through this encounter, a little bit of their pain went away. The healing power of God was showing up.

It's amazing what God sometimes does through our encounters with each other. Through our conversation.

Speaking of conversation, my husband and I often joke about the fact that women on average use about 1000 more words a day than men. I know, no surprise! So at the end of the day when my husband comes home from work we share about our day. After a short time, he's done. And I've got the sense that I'm just getting started. I've got 1000 more words to get in!

But it doesn't actually matter if you're female or male, psychologists tells us there is power for everyone in simply being heard. Maybe you've had the experience I've had where you're listening to someone talk. They have a lot to say and you're mostly just listening. Not really saying anything. At the end of the conversation they say, thanks, that was really helpful! And you're thinking I really didn't say anything at all! No surprise, right. They just needed to talk. And be heard.

It's a gift when someone shows up with no agenda but simply the desire to listen. For no other reason than that they are just interested. Jesus sent the disciples out with few instructions. Mostly, they were just to go. With no experience. No script. In fact, Jesus said take nothing! Just show up. With your partner. Trusting that Jesus was following close behind.

Our world is desperately in need of Christians who have the courage to show up. When I was in Bosnia, a number of people said that Bosnians generally feel like the international community let them down. There is a sense of feeling somewhat forgotten and neglected because not enough of the world showed up to help prevent a war that never should have happened.

The war was predominately sparked by Serbian extremists who wanted to take over Bosnia for the Serbs. It resulted in a full blown war between three people groups: Orthodox Serbs, Catholic Croats and Islamic Bosniacs. These people groups are so proud that as you drive along the countryside they display their ethnicity through the architecture of the roofs. Serb homes have a roof that comes to a traditional point. Croat homes have a flat top. And the roof of a Bosniac home is a four sided cube. Now before the war, communities were mixed. Muslims and Christians lived side by side as neighbors and friends. Since the war, the tension is now much greater. Communities are much more segregated. Perhaps the most frightening fact I learned was that even the elementary schools are divided by ethnicity.

This is particularly true in the capital city of Sarayavo. I was told that before the war, it was a mixed, secular town. People were Muslim or Christian on the holidays. Muslim women didn't wear head scarves. But now that the war is over, the Orthodox Christians have gone some where else and it's a predominantly Muslim city. Mosques are everywhere and the people are quite devout.

Our leader speculated that the reason for this was because of what happened during the war. The Muslims were the primary targets of the Serbian army. And the atrocities committed against these people were absolutely outrageous.

And when this was happening, the international Muslim community rallied together to help its people and as a result the Muslims of Sarayavo became quite religious.

One night I watched hundreds of Muslims worship and pray together and I couldn't help but wonder what this city would be like if the international Christian community had showed up? Would they have become Christian? All I could see was that it was obvious these Muslims were now very committed to their faith. And the presence of the ones who showed up to help them had made a deep impact.

In our story for today Jesus sent out 70 people. Seventy, symbolic for covering the entire earth. They were to go to every corner of the world.

You and I are a part of this call. Sometimes called to actually go somewhere but always called to show up with a heart moved by the plight of our neighbor, whether they live next door or on the other side of the world.

For the wisdom and comedy of God is that the preferred method of communicating with us is apparently through people. Ordinary, broken, sometimes less than impressive people like you and me. It's through us and the connections we share that God reveals the message we so desperately need to know, which Isaiah prophesied thousands of years ago, and that is we are not alone. The love of God is with us.

Our Stephen Ministers can tell you that the irony is we often sense God's love most when we give our love away.

Let me close by telling you a story about the Roma. The Roma people are the lepers of Europe. They are known as the gypsies. And they are the most despised, neglected, and vulnerable people group in Bosnia. Most aide organizations don't even work with them because they are viewed as too difficult. Very few Roma are educated. Most marry young and have little hope for escaping a life of poverty.

When I was in Bosnia, I met a woman who was working with young Roma girls. And she shared a story with me about one young girl who was already a mother in her early teens. This teenager had recently become a sponsored child, which meant that someone from another country – in this case, Australia – would be paying about $30.00 a month for some of her basic needs to be met. Like food and health care. And this young girl was totally confused by this whole idea. She could not understand why someone from the other side of the world, who she'd likely never meet, would care about her. This girl's parents had never cared about her. This idea of being loved was a totally foreign concept. And it was making a very big impact.

I am convinced that who and what we care about is our most powerful witness. Jesus sends us out into the world because our small lives are about something much, much bigger than ourselves.

God is mending the broken tapestry of our world.

And the good news is you and I are a part of it.

All we have to do is prayerfully discern where we're called to show up.
Amen.