Luke 10:1-12
          Numbers plus a little extra

1 After this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to come. 2 And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and salute no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, `Peace be to this house!' 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace shall rest upon him; but if not, it shall return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages; do not go from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you; 9 heal the sick in it and say to them, `The kingdom of God has come near to you.' 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11 `Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off against you; nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come  near.' 12 I tell you, it shall be more tolerable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

          There are two themes here I'd like to pick up on. Sadly, this would make a terribly long blog entry. Terribly long to read and terribly long to write with the time I have to devote to this endeavor. So let me make my main point and make my second point at the end, however brief.

           We have the number twelve imbedded in our brains, 12 Apostles, twelve tribes of Israel, this is probably not a coincidence. Numbers have always held a significance to mankind and both Hebrew scripture and Christian scripture are no different.

           When Jesus is asked how many times we are to forgive, up to seven times? Jesus replies, not up to seven times but seventy times seven. The number seven is highly symbolic. Seven is considered the totality of the universe (3 the sky + 4 the earth). Seventy times seven then is more than 490, it represents an enormous number. So I find it telling also that Jesus appointed 70 others to go ahead. To all the corners of creation, of the created world? I find it also telling that while we are so accustomed to hearing about the twelve Apostles, here is another seventy followers who are to spread the word, prepare the way for the word. Missionaries? Preachers? Again, seventy perhaps not being so literal, simply meaning a very large number of people.

            In Jesus time there was no "Masters in Pastoral theology" degree such as I have. Being a believer, imperfect but faithful was all that was called for.  Jesus recognized we are all on a journey to wholeness, otherwise he would not have picked a group of apostles who routinely got his questions wrong, failed to get the point and asked for the true meaning of  parables and in the case of Peter ( the rock, the one to whom he entrusts the church), outright denied him three times?

            My point is this, are you, are we all part of the seventy? If we believe, try to behave, try to be faithful, is that enough for Jesus that he would entrust us to witness to others about the love and gifts he has bestowed on us? I am not talking about the preachy, self righteous, verse quoting, born again lunatics. I am speaking of living our lives in the public realm as best we can, being faithful and loving. That is true witness.

          You are loved, you are chosen.

part two.

          The last few verses of this reading today speak about hospitality or lack thereof and the ensuing threat of punishment.  "It shall be more tolerable on that day for Sodom than for that town". That section in quotes there might be skipped over by almost everyone except for someone like myself who likes to delve into matters of translation and the true meaning of bible passages, especially when they are used against the gay community. The passages of Hebrew text that speak of Sodom and Gomorrah are often used as an example of swift retribution for sexual immorality. In fact, the reading has to do with the lack of hospitality afforded to the guests of Lot.  While Lot was incredibly gracious, the people of Sodom were not. They wanted to wield power over the visitors in a demeaning way (sexual, in a subservient role and in those days that was a womanly, passive role). It had nothing to do with homosexuality as we know it today. It was not about loving relationships. This was about raping guests to show they had power. It was about the town of Sodom not being hospitable to guests that Lot clearly was caring for in his home. Read the scripture and a decent translation and you'll see.  This kind of behaviour is as foreign to true loving relationships  as rape is in a loving heterosexual marriage.

All this time this passage has been used as thee scripture to brand same sex relationships. This reading is not about relationships at all. It is about rape.  I think I should leave it there, you get the message.