In the tenth chapter of Luke, Jesus is described as sending out seventy emissaries (seventy-two in some manuscripts). Either number is fine, both were important in Judaism. I prefer seventy, because the Jewish scripture describes Moses also sending out seventy, and it would make sense that the Mosaic tradition be the source of that detail in this vignette. Jesus sends out these seventy like lambs being sent into the midst of wolves, he says, and with orders to travel light -- no luggage, no sandals -- and not to greet people, but rather to stay focussed on the mission of being a blessing and not a curse. They are to depend on the generosity of those whom they evangelize. They will proclaim the nearness of the Kingdom and shake off the dust of communities that will not listen. [One of my ancestors lived in Bath, North Carolina, at the same time the retired pirate Blackbeard resided there. On several occasions the early Methodist leader and famed orator George Whitefield preached there without desired effect. Following his final visit, he cursed the town, literally dusted off his feet, and departed, never to return.]
The seventy return, declaring that they have been successful, and Jesus tells them that he has had a vision of Satan falling from heaven, but that they should not fancy "success" against the Dark Side but, rather, right relationship with God.
What might this pericope have to say to us in this age? First, an abundant harvest is promised, but it is clear that we will not bring in the Kingdom of God. God will do that in God's good time. But God will not bring in the Kingdom around us, either. We are in partnership, The effort of the seventy portends the downfall of "Satan" and inauguration of the new age when God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Are you and I doing our part of build the Kingdom of God on earth. Do we need to be "raptured" into the world to make a difference?
Second, these envoys are to travel light. I believe that is a good reminder that we may use our possessions but must never be owned by them. Once, at lunch with a nun long before I went to seminary but after I became a lay leader, she castigated me for having bought a Lincoln Mark III automobile. I paused and said that I could appreciate the beauty of the design, the car's wonderful engineering, and the pleasant experience of using it, but that if it mattered a whit whether I lost it, I would get rid of it tomorrow. She seemed to think that a good response. Attachment is the issue. Nothing must be imprescendible for us. That reminds me of Saint Francis who, after conversion, gave away all his goods and appeared nude before his bishop, to be assigned! His Grace kindly provided Francis with a staff and cloak, and the rest is history.
Third, we can see that our reward will be salvation, which is right relationship with God, now and always. Our eternal life in God grows as we do the Gospel and diminshes when we don't. Let us stay in the right direction, the direction that leads to Life
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