Day 27 - 40 Days of Prayer - Clark Cowden

Read Luke 10:1-12

This passage reminds us that we are called to be Jesus’ “sent ones”. Chapter four of our Book of Order reminds us that membership is ministry. We do not become members of a church for the benefits we will receive for ourselves. Membership is meant to be ministry. Jesus is the One Who loves us so much that He won’t allow us to get comfortable and complacent where we are. Jesus is the One Who sends us out into the world, out of our comfort zones, to move beyond our level of confidence, to discover that God has given us gifts and abilities we did not think we had.

Jesus sends his disciples ahead of Him, to every town and place where He was about to go. We are called to plant seeds and prepare the way for people to encounter the living Creator of the Universe. This can be really scary for some of us. Jesus compares it to lambs being sent into a pack of wolves. It can make us anxious and scared. We often don’t talk to our neighbors or welcome the strangers because we are afraid. But, even the wolves need someone to minister to them, and we often discover we have ministry skills we could not have imagined.

When Jesus sends us out, He does not give us everything we need. He says carry no purse, no bag, no sandals. This means that when we go to people’s homes, we are not only going to share what we have with them, but we also need to receive something from them. We don’t have enough food or water or clothes or shelter. We can’t take everything with us. So, we go in a position of need, in a position of faith, dependent on those we are going to minister to, so that we must allow them to minister to us. This keeps us humble, keeps us from becoming arrogant or paternalistic, and gives them the joy of ministering to us, as well.

Jesus asks us to enter people’s homes, sit down at their tables, receive their food, and take time to listen to their stories. When was the last time you slowed down long enough for somebody else to tell you their story? When was the last time you were asked to share your story with someone else? This can be such a gift! It is wonderful and rare to have someone give you their full, undivided attention, and not be trying to sell you something! When you listen someone into free speech, you can begin to hear where Christ has been at work in their lives, in ways that they may not even recognize.

This passage cultivates a missional imagination inside of us, about what some experiments would be that God is inviting us to initiate. It prompts us to consider how we might move back into our neighborhoods. Who lives on our street that might be in need of the peace of Christ? Who around us might be oblivious to the fact that the Kingdom of God has come near? And how can we begin to build and gain their trust so we can be Christ’s witnesses?
This is both an exciting and a challenging time to be in ministry! There are many of these opportunities around us each day, but we may have to re-orient our thinking and our actions to discover what God is doing in our communities. Let’s pray that God would show us. Let’s pray that the Holy Spirit will lead us. Let’s pray that Christ will include us in what He is already doing. Because there’s nothing more exciting than to be a part of where God is at work!

Clark Cowden
Executive Presbyter
Presbytery of San Diego