Little People

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 laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves …” [Luke 10:1-3].

As I have related in some of these weekly meditations, for the past six years I’ve had the privilege of leading a Bible Study centered in the Carolina Arbors, a “55+” community in southern Durham. While Jane and I moved “back to Durham” just before the pandemic, I continue to enjoy my weekly association with those devout friends. Early on with the group, I began to share some basic theological rules which form the core of my own belief system. The CA group chuckles because I call one of them “Grandmother Lib’s Rule.” The rule: “God can do—and will do—anything that pleases Him.” I love the rule because of its direct simplicity. There is no nuance. And, since we worship a Triune God, all three Persons within the Holy Trinity share that same strength and power. Jesus Christ, therefore, could/can do anything that He desires.

And yet, when we read the Gospel lesson appointed for this upcoming Sunday [Luke 10:1-11, 16-20, Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, RCL, Year C], we see what at first blush appears to be an exception to Grandmother Lib’s Rule. That is to say that if Jesus can do anything He desires, why does He need to send ahead 70 of his followers as advance workers, as folks who will test the waters?

Well, Grandmother Lib would also remind us that Jesus did not need to send anyone; He desired to send those unnamed folks out before Him. As we learned in last week’s lesson, Jesus has set his face toward Jerusalem and He’s of the mind that His message now needs to be proclaimed to all who will hear it.

Throughout Holy Scripture, one sees that while Yahweh is omnipresent and omnipotent, Yahweh never seems to work alone. At the time of Abram and Sarai, Yahweh could have blessed the world without utilizing a barren old couple. Yahweh could have blessed the cosmos without forming a special covenant with an insignificant people—the house of Israel. There were many peoples with better education, more stores of arms and foodstuffs, greater armies and smarter generals. Yahweh could just as easily have acted alone and yet, He did not.

Similarly, Jesus did not need disciples. The twelve He chose had no particular qualifications. None had gone to Divinity School. None had spent years of study in the Hebrew Scriptures. None appeared to have excelled in public speaking. And yet, Jesus chose not to work alone. He chose those twelve.

And it’s important that we always remember an additional point: He didn’t just choose those twelve; there were many more who followed after Him. In this week’s lesson from Luke, we see that he sends out 70, in groups of two, as an advance team. Again, we hear nothing about their qualifications. Who knows what gifts and graces they may have had (or lacked)? We don’t even know their names!

It’s as if He’s sending out an “army,” or at least a group of raiding parties. Only, Jesus appears to go about it all wrong. Instead of equipping this group of 70 as soldiers—he admits that He is sending them out as “lambs among wolves” [Luke 10:3]—He sends them out without a fighting chance. He “unequips” them, telling them to go without a purse or money, without a bag (or supplies), without even sandals on their feet [Luke 10:4]. They are to be armed only with the Peace of Christ. Fat chance of success with that kind of planning and administration, many of us would allow.

Of course, the marvelous thing about all this is that it works! They return “with joy,” crying, “Lord in your name even the demons submit to us!” [Luke 10:17]. So much for wolves.

Jesus responds, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning” [10:18].

In OT stories, Yahweh also prefers not to work alone. I’m reminded of one of my favorites, found in 2 Kings 5. It’s the story of the healing of the Syrian general, Naaman. The first part of that long, winding story is the First Lesson for this upcoming Sunday [2 Kings 5:1-14]. I suspect you remember at least the highlights.

Naaman is sort of like Norman Schwarzkopf, only he works for the king of Syria. He’s a popular public figure, apparently a good speaker, a careful planner, and an efficient leader and general. One day, he looks in the mirror and sees the spot on his face—the spot that soon develops into leprosy. Norman—I mean Naaman—tries everything. He even secures several tubes of steroid cream on the black market, but all to no avail. If news of his leprosy gets out, he’s done.

You know how the story goes. An unnamed servant girl—a Hebrew girl who was carried off during one of the many Syrian raids on Jewish villages—works for Naaman’s wife. This “little person” tells her boss that there’s a Jewish prophet down in Samaria who can heal her husband. We may say, Wait a minute, Naaman isn’t Jewish. Why should the slave girl help the man who planned the raid that led to her kidnapping? Go back to Grandmother Lib’s rule; rinse, repeat.

I’m omitting a bunch of wonderfully juicy details, but you know the story. Naaman travels down to Samaria with a ton of loot; modern medicine is expensive. When he gets to the shack where Elisha lives, the prophet won’t even come out on the front porch to greet him. Naaman thinks, “Who does this so-called prophet think he is?”

What’s worse is the advice that Elisha gives—advice, by the way, that is given through an assistant. It isn’t even given face to face. “Go wash seven times in the Jordan.” Elisha might just as easily have said, “Take two aspirin and call me in the morning.”

Naaman, incensed, says that the Jordan is hardly more than a ditch. He goes on to say that aren’t the great Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? “Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” [2 Kings 5:12].

Again, Yahweh works through a person of low rank, a little person. One of Naaman’s servants says to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” Naaman begrudgingly trudges down to the Jordan, dips seven times, and the rest is interesting history.

Yahweh could have cured Naaman while Naaman stood in his Syrian barracks, if Yahweh had desired to do so. But Yahweh chose, at least it seems, to work through two lowly servants to bring about healing to a powerful and privileged man.

It is amazing to see how God uses ordinary folks to do extraordinary things. During my Asbury years, Chet and Luna were some of my dearest friends. They were my parents’ age. Chet had spent years in the military. He was a no nonsense sort, but you could tell that he had a soft side was well.

I was still a Div Student, but had been assigned at Asbury UMC, near Duke’s East Campus, to do my field education work. Luna was to have surgery and so, without advance notice—I didn’t know any better—I appeared at the surgical waiting room about half an hour before Luna was taken back to the OR. I was waiting there when Chet appeared, his face filled with worry. “Tom, what are you doing here?”

I told him that I had come to sit with him during Luna’s surgery. He said, “Well, you hardly know us. You’re new to Asbury.” I responded that yes, that was true, but that Wally (the senior pastor) was visiting with some shut-ins and I’d volunteered to check on him and Luna at Duke North.

Chet and I talked quietly for the next few hours. I don’t remember a word we said. We shared coffee and a few prayers. Luna came through the surgery just fine and the world, it seemed, was somewhat back to normal.

Three weeks later, during my office hours at Asbury, I looked up when I heard someone tapping on the frosted glass window of my office door. Chet stuck his head in and said, “Got a minute?”

“Sure,” I replied.

“I’ve got an idea,” he said. “You know, with my background, I’m a pretty good planner. Well, I’ve inventoried the church population and recognize that we have 23 shut-in members, folks who cannot come to church.”

I said, “Yes, that sounds about right.”

Chet continued, “Oh , it’s right; I’ve double-checked. Anyway, because of the numbers, it takes you and Wally a long time to get around to the group, what with your studies at Duke and Wally’s many responsibilities.”

“Yes,” I continued.

“Well, I’m going to pay each of them a half-hour visit every week. I figure if I map out the correct schedule and route, I can manage it in about 20 hours each week.”

I nodded, looking at something imaginary in the distance.

He continued, “You see, when you were sitting with me in that waiting room, neither of us really knew how to act or what to say, but it didn’t matter. You were present in that moment for me and that’s what I needed. I can be present for the 23 folks who would come to church every Sunday if they weren’t homebound.”

A tear swelling within my eye and I said, “Chet, that would be wonderful. I’m sure the Lord would appreciate your effort.”

Chet chortled back, “He’s the One who told me to do it!”

For years thereafter, Chet dutifully visited Asbury’s lonely shut-ins religiously. He talked with them and he prayed with them. He assured them that they were loved. He laughed with them and he cried with them. On some occasions, he even cajoled some of the other older men at Asbury into tagging along.

You see, Chet steps forward and I promise you, Satan is dethroned. Only a marvelous God chooses to work through little people like us. What’s He asking you to help Him with?