Kingdom of God

At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others
whom he sent ahead of him in pairs
to every town and place he intended to visit.
He said to them,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.
Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;
and greet no one along the way.
Into whatever house you enter, first say,
‘Peace to this household.’
If a peaceful person lives there,
your peace will rest on him;
but if not, it will return to you.
Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you,
for the laborer deserves his payment.
Do not move about from one house to another.
Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,
eat what is set before you,
cure the sick in it and say to them,
‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.’
Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you,
go out into the streets and say,
‘The dust of your town that clings to our feet,
even that we shake off against you.’
Yet know this: the kingdom of God is at hand.
I tell you,
it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town.”

The seventy-two returned rejoicing, and said,
“Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.”
Jesus said, “I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky.
Behold, I have given you the power to ‘tread upon serpents’ and scorpions
and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you,
but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

Prayer

Dear Father there is much to think about in today's reading. They are sent in pairs, the harvest is abundant, peace to this household and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Dear Father what struck me was what Jesus said at the end, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven. More than anything we would all rejoice knowing our names are in heaven, wouldn't we. But for us to have this we must also do the will of God. Where we gather the harvest by how we love one another. You give us the strength to conquer the foe when we are part of your kingdom. As Jesus has said never rejoice because the spirits are subject to us, but because our names are written in heaven because we have done your will. Amen