Luke 10:1-24

Have you heard of Amish Friendship bread? Somewhere, someone began to share. They had the dough necessary to make some bread, but rather than using all of the dough for the bread, they cut a chunk off, and they gave it to someone else. This person, then, used that chunk to create another batch of dough. They needed that chunk, that starter dough, to make the rest of the dough rise and be fit for baking. But the second person didn’t use all of their dough, either. They saved a hunk, and gave that to a friend, or two. And those friends gave hunks to their friends, and so on and so on. From one loaf came dozens, hundreds, thousands, even millions of loaves of bread, all shared among friends. It was the same dough, creating more dough, creating more. And it all began with one.

Ephesians 4:4 tells us that:

There is one body and one Spirit— just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all

It all began with one God, who created the world. And it all began with one Savior, who died to save the world. It all began with Jesus, who called 12 disciples to follow Him, to learn from Him, to copy Him. And it all began with Jesus, sending His disciples out into His world to make more copies. Jesus began it all, and He gave Himself to His disciples, who passed it on to others, who passed it on to others, who passed it on.

We’ve been hearing this month about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. A disciple of Jesus looks and acts and talks and lives like Jesus, because a disciple of Jesus has Jesus living inside of them, taking over their brain, controlling their fingers, affecting their heart. So, with Jesus in them, a disciple of Jesus loves God with all their heart and soul and mind and strength, because that’s what Jesus does. A disciple of Jesus love their neighbor as much as they love themselves, because that’s what Jesus does. A disciple of Jesus loves themselves, because that’s what Jesus does.

And, a disciple of Jesus goes and makes other disciples of Jesus, because that’s what Jesus does. He made the first disciples, the first batch of followers. And then He told those disciples to go and make other disciples. We know about Jesus last, great command, just before He ascended to His thrown, when He told us to go into all the world and make disciples.

But that wasn’t the first time He told us to make copies of ourselves. Here in Luke 10, He sends us out. Verse 1:

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.

The multiplication process had started already by this point. Jesus had chosen 12 disciples, Peter, James, John, Matthew, Thaddeus, and the rest. But by chapter 10, there were 72 people who were like Jesus enough to be sent out to make other people like Jesus. He sent them out in pairs, to encourage one another, maybe to correct each other when they made mistakes.

He sent them out, because, verse 2:

“The harvest is plentiful,

He didn’t send them out to plant. He didn’t send them out to weed. He didn’t send them out to talk and debate about the many different theories of hybrids and fertilizer combinations, which denomination of seed corn is better, which doctrine of field care is best. He sent them out, He sends us out because the harvest is ready, the harvest is full, there are plenty of people out there just waiting to be changed.

But there’s a problem. Verse 2:

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

We’re not passing ourselves on. We’re not making copies. We’re not making disciples. Why is that? Why are we not doing what Jesus clearly told us to do? Could it be that we don’t see the harvest the same way Jesus does? Jesus says the harvest is plentiful. Do we agree? Sometimes, I think we see the harvest as being bare and meager. Maybe, once in a while, every ten years or so, we’ll find someone who shows a little interest in Jesus, someone who didn’t grow up in a church, but wants to know about Jesus anyway. Once in a while, we might find someone, but the findings are few and far between.

Well, Jesus disagrees, and who do you think is right, Jesus or us? That’s what I thought. Jesus sees plenty of people, a plentiful harvest of people just waiting to be told about Jesus. So Jesus tells us, in verse 2:

Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

That sounds safe enough, doesn’t it? THAT we can do. We can ask the Lord to send people, other people, of course, to go and make disciples. We’ll ask.

We just might not be ready for His answer. In verse 2 Jesus tells us to ask, and in verse 3, He says, Go! You, you are the answer to your prayer. I’m sending you to tell others about what I do. I’m sending you to do what I did. I want you to copy me. Act as I acted. Treat them the way I treat them. Sound like me. Look like me. Be my disciple and make other disciples. Verse 9:

Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’

This was the message that Jesus spoke again and again and again. He kept telling people that the kingdom of God was here. He backed it up with proof. He showed them and He told them that the kingdom of God was breaking into this world, overcoming and transforming. Now, He sends us to show and to tell the same message.

But, not everyone will want to hear about this. Not everyone will like you, because not everyone like Jesus, and you look like Jesus. Verse 10:

But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.’

Our job stays the same. Even when people reject us, even when they mock us, we keep saying the same thing, that God is changing people into Jesus-look-alikes, that He’s making a kingdom, He’s creating a world of disciples, copies of Jesus.

There’s a clear choice that has to be made. Either we live as disciples of Jesus, or we die. Either our lives are taken over by Jesus completely, or we lose our lives. The next verses list cities that face the consequence of being destroyed, because they rejected the gospel that the disciples were bringing. The choice is clear: believe what the disciples are telling you, become disciples of Jesus yourself and receive life beyond words, beyond imagination, eternal life. Or, reject what the disciples are telling you, reject Jesus, and there will be suffering beyond words, beyond imagination, eternal suffering.

It’s that simple. The choice is clear. But whether people choose right, or choose wrong, the job of the disciple remains the same. To make Jesus visible to people, with our lives. To make Jesus clearly heard, with our mouths. And, verse 16:

“He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

Because we look like Jesus and talk like Jesus. Because we are disciples of Jesus. We are little Jesus’s.

And 72 little Jesus’s went out into the harvest and they lit the world on fire. And they came back, verse 17:

The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

They went into the harvest, and it showed. God changed the world, through them. People listened, and they believed, because the disciples acted like disciples.

Jesus saw it, too. Verse 18:

He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

Because Jesus taught 12, and then 72, and then hundreds, and then thousands, and then millions, Satan’s kingdom is falling, and God’s kingdom is growing. And He’s still sending us out. He’s sending out His disciples. He doesn’t send His disciples to church. He doesn’t send His disciples to Bible Studies and Caregroups. He sends His disciples to make other disciples. Each one of us has the responsibility to make another disciple. Each one of us has the responsibility to help someone love God with all of their being. Each one of us has the responsibility to help someone love their neighbor. Each one of us has the responsibility to help someone love themselves.

Are you doing this? Are you a disciple of Jesus? Do you love God and your neighbor, and yourself? And are you making copies of yourself, copies of Jesus? Is there someone in your life that you’re praying for, that you’re speaking with, that you’re spending significant portions of time with, that you’re hoping will become a disciple? If you’re a disciple of Jesus, then you have someone like that in your life.

Maybe you think you’re not qualified. Maybe you think you don’t know enough. Maybe you’re scared to talk about Jesus. Maybe you wish people would just catch on by watching what you do and don’t do. They won’t. They won’t know it’s Jesus that has had this effect on you, unless you tell them. And you know enough to tell them. You know that Jesus died to take away sins, to heal brokenness, to remove shame and guilt. You know that Jesus rose again from the dead to bring hope, to bring healing, to bring life. You know that. You’ve been given that.

Now, just pass that along. There are plenty of people out there with broken parts. Tell them that Jesus died to fix the brokenness. There are plenty of people around us despairing. Tell them that Jesus rose again to give them hope. You know lots of people who carry shame and guilt. Tell them that Jesus went to a lot of trouble so that they wouldn’t have to be guilty anymore. The harvest plentiful. We just need to go

You’ve been given salvation. You’re a disciple of Jesus. Go make more. Like the Amish friendship bread, we pass it on. We make copies of ourselves, copies of Jesus, disciples of Christ.

Today, Jesus gives us actual bread. The bread, the juice that Jesus is serving us today gives us the courage, the energy, even the urge to make other disciples. Receive the strength and nourishment from Jesus today. Enjoy the energy He gives you. And then, give it to a friend.