whom he sent ahead of him in pairs
to every town and place he intended to visit.
He said to them,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.
Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves."
-Luke 10:1-3
I like to read this passage to Kairos leaders as I begin the workshop in which the leaders reflect on their lives and their retreat experiences, identify a compelling story of sin, grace, and/or conversion from their lives, and attempt to write it down. Being a retreat leader is largely about putting yourself out there, taking a risk, and being vulnerable and honest, even when others are hesitant to do so as of yet.
Jesus asks his friends to do just this, as he appoints them to be bearers of His good news. And he warns them that it won't be easy, comparing them to prey among predators. These seventy-two are blessed to be called to such a task, and they have the love and support of Christ to fuel them amid the awaiting challenges.
When we were baptized, God called us all to be part of Someone (Jesus Christ) and Something (the Church) bigger than ourselves. We became part of a holy nation, a royal priesthood. Whether that manifests itself in single life, married life, religious life, or priesthood, all baptized people are called to dedicate themselves to selfless love. And whether one's state of life leads to a blue-collar or white-collar career, to the business sector or to education, to direct ministry or to working with data, we all have countless opportunities to live out this call.
In both big decisions and small, in our grandest actions and our smallest gestures, in our professional business and our private lives, God calls us to be ministers. To minister is to love and care for another person, and this fits exactly with the way our faith necessarily calls us to be the hands and feet of Christ for others.
The seventy-two are some of the first people to whom Jesus extends this call, building on the baptisms by John and the individual calls to His first disciples. We are part of this seventy-two, messengers asked to prepare a way for Christ in our world. And in order to give us a way to engage with the various ways that we can live out this call, I want to gather reflections from many different Kingdom-builders in our Church.
About once a week, this blog will feature personal reflections from guest bloggers, who will become part of the72, The Restless Heart's community writers. I don't know if we'll get 72 different witnesses to log their thoughts here, but week-by-week, another person striving to live out an answer to God's call will answer the question, "How am I called to live my ministry?"
Some guests will publish their thoughts first-hand in their own words; others will share their reflection with me in an interview, which I will publish on their behalf. Either way, I hope you can find resonance between your efforts to live your baptismal call and theirs. I'll introduce them by name and share a short bio at the top of their posts with contact information if you'd like to connect with them.
I hope that bridges are built between fellow kingdom builders that create newfound consolation in our ongoing efforts to grow closer to one another and to God. Oh, and by the way, I like to share the rest of Luke 10 with my leaders, because it has a pretty happy ending for the ones that Jesus sends forth:
“Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.”
Jesus said, “I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky.
Behold, I have given you the power ‘to tread upon serpents’ and scorpions
and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you.
Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you,
but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
-Luke 10:17-20
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