1 “The Job Description of a Disciple” by Ann

							“The Job Description of a Disciple”
by Ann Dieterle
July 8, 2007
Luke 10: 1-12, 16-20

I got my job for the state of Florida through a friend who was ending her internship there.
They wanted me to start earlier than I was able because one of the project coordinators
needed help managing a week-long conference at one of those resort hotels that doubles
as a convention center. I believe the supervisor’s direct quote to Sarah was: “tell your
friend that after the registration stuff is over in the mornings she can play tennis and
enjoy the pool for the rest of the day.”

Now that’s a great job description!

Embedded in this passage from Luke this morning is the job description for a disciple of
Jesus. The purpose for the 70 ‘other’ disciples whom Jesus appoints is to go and work
among the people in villages and towns, curing the sick and telling them the kingdom of
God has come near- essentially preparing the way for the ministry that Jesus himself
would do when he arrived.

This sounds a lot like the work of John the Baptist, whose mission was to ‘prepare the
way of the Lord,’ and like John the Baptist, the working environment for these disciples
is rather primitive.

The furnishings and equipment provided are sparse. They do get a partner- Jesus sends
them out two-by-two- but they won’t be given an office. Instead they are sent out to live
and work like sheep among wolves. And they don’t get any special equipment to do their
work, either. In fact, Jesus tells them explicitly that they are not to take anything with
them, except for the clothes on their backs.

As for salary and other perks? Well, the 70 get room and board when they happen upon a
town that welcomes them, but there’s no guarantee of that. Jesus tells them most
assuredly that some towns will reject them altogether.

The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few, and it is hardly any wonder why when
you read this passage. One wonders if a little creative wording might have secured a few
more laborers.

But there’s nothing to gain by sugar coating the hard parts of discipleship. The strength
of the Gospel lies not in any flowery presentation, but in it’s raw honesty. Even if you
could get more laborers with pretty language, they wouldn’t stay for the long haul. And
if they reaped any harvest at all- it would not bear the authentic fruit of the Gospel.

Discipleship is hard, and there’s really no way around it.




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In a scene from the movie A League of Their Own, the star player decides to quit and
sneak away without telling the manager. When he corners her about why she’s leaving,
she skirts the issue for a few moments until finally giving the true answer- that “it just got
too hard.”

The manager answers her by saying: “Of course it’s hard. It’s supposed to be hard. If it
wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.”

There are probably many reasons why “the laborers are few,” but certainly one of them is
because discipleship is hard.

It is hard to turn your whole life over to a purpose you don’t fully understand- and we
never fully understand the mysteries of God or the labors to which God calls us.

It is hard to trust Jesus and to ‘live like sheep among wolves” when most of us have that
natural desire for safety and security. And even though we live in a time and place where
Christianity is an accepted religion, unlike those first disciples, we are still a little like
sheep among wolves. We may not face persecution- but we will face apathy among
ourselves and among those with whom we work, because many people get by just fine
without God- at least in the material sense. Why bother with the extra trouble when
everything is OK the way it is? And we will face demons- we will meet our own demons
and those of others in the course of our work, because confronting them is a part of the
healing process.

Discipleship is hard, but the hard is what makes it great.

We don’t get many specifics about the respective journeys of the 70, but they come back
on fire and full of joy- you can almost imagine them falling over themselves trying to tell
Jesus the stories of their journeys- like children who just returned from a fun week at
camp. They must have had difficult experiences, they must have suffered rejections, but
those were all distant memories in light of the GOOD work that was accomplished.
“Lord, in your name, even the demons submit to us.” And we saw Satan falling from
heaven.

The 70 were given the job to cure the sick and proclaim the Kingdom of God come near.

It is a hard life in many instances- but can you put a value on those difficulties when the
fruit of your labor is healing for someone who is suffering, or contributing even in a
small way to the fulfillment of the kingdom of God? Or even more- to the joy and love
that is found when two or more are bound together in the company of Jesus? If we
consider more recent, prominent examples of disciples of Jesus- like Mother Theresa who
worked among the destitute in Calcutta, or Desmond Tutu who fought to end Apartheid
in South Africa- we wouldn’t classify their work as easy- but we do think of them as full
of love and joy. Mother Theresa and Bishop Tutu both knew what St. Paul found true so
many years before: that any hardship is not worth comparing to the glory of God.




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The trouble with using Mother Theresa or Desmond Tutu as examples of discipleship is
that we are tempted to think: ‘well, that’s great for them, but they are extraordinary
people- what do they have to do with me?”

But the thing is that they were once sitting, listening to someone preach- using seemingly
grandiose examples of persons they couldn’t compare to, and thinking that same thing-
what does their life have to do with mine?

What we consider extraordinary feats of discipleship is nothing more than ordinary
people following Jesus the best way that they know how.

How can we follow Jesus more closely?

Is there a small change in your life that you could make? I’ve found that the smallest
changes often yield the sweetest fruit- whether it is beginning and ending a day with 10
minutes of prayer, or reading one chapter of Scripture a day.

Is there a gift that you have to offer, but you’re not sure how it fits into the Church, or
into the community? If this is the case, please don’t hesitate to ask for guidance. I’ve
heard more than one person say that they don’t want to “bother the priest” about things
like that- but I will tell you, and I know that it’s true for Fr. Michael as well- those are the
conversations that I LOVE. Helping people to know and follow Jesus more fully is the
main reason I became a priest.

The harvest is plentiful outside the doors of Hickory Neck, and Jesus has called us as
laborers. So go on your way-

The harvest is plentiful outside the doors of Hickory Neck, and Jesus has called us all as
laborers. So go on your way- and remember, in the hard work of the Gospel you will find
the great joy of your life.




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