Jesus sent out 70 people in pairs ahead of him to every town and place that he himself intended to go. He sent them into freaky, scary places to face possible criticism and rejection. Sound familiar?
Jesus' mission hasn't changed much. His intent? To overcome the world with friendship and peace. Only this time, he's sending us. Do your neighbors freak you out? Go meet them! Are you good with them? Then move to the next place that scares you....
We are living in an extraordinary time when we have the opportunity to extend Jesus' work amongst people who think, live, and worship differently than we do. The arc of the universe is bent toward friendship.
After the sermon, I told the congregation that I don't like to say things that aren't true. This sermon was helped by a bit aof research that showed death by murder and war are on the decline and in fact at one of the lowest points in 500 years. While terrorism is on the rise, the annual number of lives claimed by terrorist acts is significantly lower than those historically claimed by murder and war. Do the research yourself, or check out the sermon attachment, which is a brief glance at the numbers. Friendship is winning!
