My friend Jim was in his late twenties, an Essex man, and a Mormon. I bumped into him one day, shortly after his return from a six-month missionary assignment in France. I asked him how it had gone. ‘Well,’ he replied, ‘imagine trying to persuade the French to give up smoking, coffee,
and alcohol!’

Out and about in the UK we sometimes encounter missionaries – Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses, to say nothing of Christian street evangelists. Often, I’m not comfortable with the latter, yet I happily take part in our local Churches Together Good Friday walk of witness, which is a form of Christian street evangelism.

In Luke 10 Jesus sends out seventy (or maybe seventy-two) missionaries to go to ‘every town and place where he himself intended to go’. Although that first century Palestinian context differs from ours, this Gospel reading still speaks to us.

First, it reminds us about spiritual priorities. Jesus instructed them to, ‘carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no-one on the road’ (Luke 10:4). Instead of worrying about financial and other resources, like extra bags and sandals to go along with a purse, they were to focus on the message to be shared: ‘the kingdom of God has come near to you’ (Luke 10:9).

As a church we can organise ourselves to be ever more efficient, but little will come of that if we lack conviction about the good news of God’s love, revealed to us through Jesus Christ. Lacking such conviction, no resources will make a significant difference. Mission begins with the message and our belief in it. Establishing, then nurturing, faith in God, in Jesus Christ, comes before questions about additional resources.

Second, we are not responsible for how people respond to the message that we share. Nobody likes rejection. You feel bad about it. The easiest way to avoid that would be to avoid sharing the message in the first place! Fear of rejection is a powerful force which discourages or prevents us sharing anything, yet unless people are given the opportunity to say ‘no’ there’s no chance that anyone will say ‘yes’.

Today’s Gospel passage reminds us that there will always be some who reject your message. It’s inevitable and we should not hold ourselves responsible for that. Jesus assumes his message that God’s kingdom has come near will be accepted by some and rejected by others. He talks not only about those who share in the peace that the disciples offer when they enter a town, but also about those who do not share that peace (Luke 10:6), refusing to welcome his representatives (Luke 10:10).

Whether or not people accept Jesus’s representatives, though, the message is to be the same. ‘Whenever you enter a town, and its people welcome you… say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near you”’ (Luke 10:9); ‘whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you’ (Luke 10:10), your near-identical last word is, ‘yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near’ (Luke 10:11). We are not responsible for how people respond to the message that we share concerning Jesus. That’s up to them.

And this brings me to a third and final point. Yes, mission begins with a message and our belief in it; also, we are not responsible for how people choose to respond to what we share about that faith, that’s up to them. Then third, this is not about OUR mission. It’s about GOD’S mission.

The disciples returned to Jesus, joyful because they had experienced positive responses and been able to do some wonderful things. Jesus was happy about that, but he had a reminder for them: ‘nevertheless, do not rejoice at this … but rejoice that your names are written in heaven’ (Luke 11:20).

Our present and future does not depend upon our ‘success’ (or lack of it), measured by others’ responses to our news about God’s love. Whatever the outcome we remain secure in God’s love. Our ‘names are written in heaven,’ as Jesus puts it here in Luke’s Gospel.

So yes, Jesus both sent and sends out followers, including you and me, to share with the wider world the good news of God’s love, peace and justice. This works best when, first, we believe it ourselves; when second, we recognise that the responsibility for responding lies with those who receive it; and third, in remembering it’s God’s mission, not ours, and we will remain safe in God’s love.