Luke 9:62-10:2
Yesterday the church remembered the Martyrs of New Guinea. Christian missionaries, originally sent there in the 1860's to evangelize and spread the Good News. No easy task in a land of 500 languages. The history of God and man is replete with men and women who wished to spread God's word, a revealed message ( a prophet or prophetess ) or in our time, the message of The Good News.
In the entire world there are many stories of people who stepped forward to convey truths and challenge the status quo. What of Christopher Columbus? What of Galileo who stepped forward to challenge the church's view of the universe? What of Rosa Parks who also stepped forward, literally to sit in the front of the bus?
When the Lord appointed the seventy, it was done so in a manner consistent with prophets and preachers both past and present. It is never an easy job. Sometimes these people pay with their lives for the information they carry. The Martyrs of New Guinea wished nothing more than to spread the Good News, the joy in their hearts that comes from knowing God is your love, your saviour, your hope. They did not retreat from that cause and their beliefs in the face of danger.
Who are the seventy today? the Rosa Parks? The Nelson Mandala's? The Susan B. Anthony's? Like I said, never an easy mission, often met with severe resistance from society and from organized religions. The message is delivered and sometimes it takes a while to sink in, perhaps years, decades or centuries. The voice of the 'seventy' in our lives , the prophets of today, the leaders of today, will not be silenced. More importantly, they carry a message of love and equality for all. How will we remember Darren Manzella, who, while not a martyr, he was a soldier, an American, a prophet and outspoken opponent of DADT? He challenged the government while serving with honor. Do we recognize the voice of equality as expressed by Harvey Milk? Out and Proud. Or what of Bishop Gene Robinson? Holy man, man of God, gay man, loving voice of equality and "hearts, not parts".
In a time when we find it difficult to hear even the ones we love, our friends and our coworkers, how will we hear the voices of the prophets of today? How will we hear the voices of 'the seventy' that still wish to convey the message that God's love is here? How will we hear the voices of the prophets that teach us that God's message of love and equality is alive? Can we find the time and make the effort to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit alive in our world?
Most of us will not be called upon to give our lives for our faith but we are all called upon to witness to God's love and to fight the good fight for justice and equality.
Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’
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 labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out
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