My First Sermon

When Susan Toth, editor of Jefferson Patch, and I met for an interview that became a profile piece on me in the Patch, she suggested that when I began the blog she invited me to do, a great first blog would be my first sermon, if I still had it.

Well, I do still have it BUT when I read it, I thought, "I can't post this. It's definitely not the way I preach now." But after reading her article I thought, "well, why not. It kind of fits."

So here it is, my first sermon from 13 years ago. It mentions the age of my children as 2-12. Today they are almost 16-26.

The scripture lesson for this message is listed below. You might wish to read it first to give context.

Luke 1-11, 16-20

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

This morning's scripture is set on Jesus' way to Jerusalem. As he traveled he would preach in the towns that he passed through. In this morning's passage, Jesus sends disciples to the towns he plans to visit to prepare the way for him. The text says that Jesus sent out 72 disciples. We know that Jesus had twelve disciples, Simon Peter, James and John, Andrew and Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew called Levi, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who was to betray him.

The 72 were in addition to these twelve that are called the Apostles. Stories of the miracles that Jesus performed and his teaching had spread far and wide. As a result, large crowds followed him wherever he went. Many were simply the curious.

You’ve seen it happen, an exciting personality is in a public place and attracts large crowds. Many of the people in that crowd are drawn by the crowd itself. They want to see what’s going on, what all the excitement is. Many have heard who the celebrity is and want to get a look for themselves. There undoubtedly were many of the same type of people in the crowds that followed Jesus.

But there were others in those crowds, too. Many people were touched by Jesus. The Bible has many, many stories of Jesus changing lives of people. From the people whose bodies he healed to those who’s spirits he changed, these people were not there as the curious. In Mark’s gospel we read how Bartimaeus, when healed of his blindness, left his old life to follow the Lord. We also hear of the women who followed him. In the resurrection story, as told by Luke, we see that these women included Mary Magdalene, Joanne, Mary the mother of James, and several others. These women are referred to in the story of the Walk to Emmaus which follows as “some women from our group,” inferring that there were other women as well.

Luke tells us in the book of Acts that about 120 believers were present when Mathais was chosen to replace the traitor, Judas, as one of the Apostles. These and other accounts indicate to us that there were many faithful people who followed Jesus. When we hear the phrase “the disciples” we think of the 12, but this story gives us evidence of many more.

This morning's lesson tells us that Jesus chose 72 other disciples. The King James Version and the Revised Standard Version both put the number of disciples at 70, which is the number shown in some early manuscripts. The number 70 was significant to the Jews of Jesus' day. It was the number of elders who were chosen to help Moses in the task of leading and directing the people in the wilderness. It was also the number of the members of the Sanhedrian, which was the supreme counsel or governing body of the Jews. If we relate the number of disciples that Jesus chose to these bodies, we can see the relation as these disciples being the helpers of Jesus.

We are used to seeing Jesus do his work by himself. Many times he would be walking down the road, or be teaching a group of people and a hurting person or people would cry out to him to heal them, to have mercy on them. Jesus talks to the people and says the word and they are healed. He did it by himself. Why then this talk of helpers?

Well, the Bible also tells of times when his disciples, the 12, assisted Jesus. When Jesus was teaching a great crowd of 5000, it grew late and his disciples asked him to send them home so that they might get something to eat. Jesus told them to feed the crowd.

He had the apostles have the crowd sit down and after blessing the five loaves and two fishes provided by a young boy, He gave it to his disciples to give to the crowd. After all ate and were satisfied, the 12 gathered up the leftovers and filled 12 baskets. Jesus did the miracle, but he had helpers. His disciples helped with things that were essential to the task at hand.

I have four children, four boys ages 2 to 12, Jim, Tom, Jon and Little Paul. And like any of you who have children or grandchildren in the same age group, I hear a lot about the Disney company. Whether it’s cartoons on Disney’s One Saturday Morning TV show or the inevitable pleading for a vacation at Disney World, it seems that my wife, Terry and I hear something about Disney on at least a weekly basis.

Some of you might remember that back in the 1980s the Disney company was not the healthy corporation that we see so much of today. Rather it had become stodgy and complacent. The company had ceased to be innovative and as a result had lost a lot of its value, as far as Wall Street was concerned. There is a book out that details the attempts to take over and likely dismantle this once great entertainment company, as happened to so many other companies during that decade. But, the company managed to stave off the takeover artists and recover. A new Chief Executive Officer was hired, Michael Eisner. Under his direction the company rebounded.

Now Disney has recaptured its creativity and leadership in animation, they have gotten into new ventures in movie making and expanded their theme parks. Their merchandising is second to none. I cannot think of a major mall that I have been in or know of that does not have a Disney store prominently featured. When this turnaround is discussed, Mr. Eisner is given the credit for revitalizing the company. Several of his chief corporate officers are often mentioned as the team that was able to "bring the magic" back to Disney. But these people could not have done all of this work by themselves. There are thousands of people who helped in this turnaround. From the workers in the corporate offices to the characters in the theme parks and even to Mickey Mouse himself, all of these people helped to do the work and that turnaround could not have happened without them.

Jesus had his "chief corporate officers" too. His 12 disciples were his right hand men and did much of the work of his ministry with Jesus. But just as with Disney, there were many others who worked with Jesus and for Jesus in performing the work that Jesus was sent to accomplish. The 70, or 72 disciples were sent out to villages and towns that Jesus planned to visit to prepare the town to receive Him. They went in groups of two. It’s interesting that Jesus doesn’t send them alone, as he doesn’t leave us alone. He has them go together so that they can support each other and help each other in their mutual ministry.

When these disciples return, we hear of their joyous recounting of their work and how even demons obeyed them when they used the name of the Lord. They had healed the sick and preached that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Jesus had equipped them for the task to which they had been called. And they had been able to do the work by following his instructions.

The reading for this morning skips over a few verses in this chapter, verses 12-15.

These verses contain a pronouncement of woe on three towns, Korazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. One of these three, Korazin, is only mentioned here and nowhere else in the gospel record of Jesus’ life and ministry. The inference is that Jesus did many mighty works there, but we have absolutely no record of them. This shows us that we have only a glimpse of Jesus' life and ministry and that the mission and work of these disciples is likely not the only work done by disciples other than the 12. We can safely assume that Jesus had many helpers in the performance of his earthly ministry.

In looking at the Methodist Church of today, many have compared its structure to that of a business. In our annual conference, for example, you have a Chief Executive Officer, the Bishop. There are corporate officers, the district superintendents, and many boards and committees that are charged with making the work of the church happen. When you see news articles about the United Methodist Church, it’s frequently these people who get mentioned. But as with a modern corporation, like Disney, it’s the rank and file that get the work done.

This morning's scripture gives us one example of how Jesus calls us common folk to ministry.

As baptized Christians, we are all called to ministry through our baptism. Jesus used the 72 to reach a wider area than he could by himself or with just his apostles. We have a much wider area to reach for Christ. Jesus is asking us for our help. He will give us what we need to do the job he is asking us to do. He won’t leave us alone. This morning's scripture makes that plain.

We.. are being sent out.

Can Jesus count on your help?

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, we ask that you seek our help in what ever way we can give it. Make us joyful helpers. Give us the assurance that we won’t be alone, that we will be able to handle what you give us to do. We admit that sometimes it’s tough to hear your call. That it can be a frightening thing. Comfort us. Be with us. Grant that we will always seek to do your will as your faithful helpers. We ask this prayer in the name of our Lord, Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Until next time, Live it!

Pastor Paul Zorn