By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
July 27,2025
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Luke 11:1–13 (ESV)
1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” 5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Over the past few years there has been a great deal of discussion about many things. What is a true Christian? What are the true beliefs? And surprisingly prayers. I have spoken about these things in many different aspects, because they are important. But prayer is probably the one area I have spoken the most about.
Prayer is, in my opinion, the most important, misunderstood, and neglected aspect of faith. Prayer is in the simplest of definitions talking with God. That seems easy enough, right. If it is so easy why do I say that it is the most misunderstood and neglected aspects of faith? Notice that simple definition again, talking with God. Most people talk at God. Prayer is a conversation. It is just as relational as any other relationship we find beneficial in our lives. Communications is the most important aspect of any relationship. If your manager at work is a poor communicator, you are left wondering what you are supposed to do at work, and you will likely neglect an important aspect of the project simply because you did not know it needed done because no one spoke to you about it.
In marriage, we all know that the United States has terrible statistics regarding marriage. Many would say that the leading cause for marriage failures is finances. That is a scapegoat of a reason, the real reason is a lack of communication that comes in the form of assumptions. We assume our partner will think one way but they actually think something else, and because we have not communicated well this starts snowballing into resentment. The reason finances gets sighted the most is because it is difficult to speak about finances, and we do not want to start an argument so we just stay quiet.
We talk at God. We tell God what we think, we beg and plea for our needs, our desires, our dreams. But do we allow God to speak?
“Now Jesus was praying in a certain place,” There is a rhythm to Jesus’s life and prayer is an important part of that rhythm. Jesus made it a custom to worship with his community. When the Sabbath came, Jesus joined with the community in the synagogue to express his love and devotion to God. Jesus also withdrew to isolated places to pray. He would get away from the crowds, and deepen his own intimacy with God. And after he prayed, especially in the gospel accounts of Luke, he would embark on some ministry endeavor.
We have adapted this rhythm in the mission statement of our Meeting. Loving God, Embracing the Holy Spirit, and Living the love of Christ with others. We express our love to God when we join as a community to worship. We live the love of Christ with others when we encourage one another, when we give our offerings, when we share a meal with someone, or when we provide any care or service to someone. Our lives should continually reflect the love of Christ wherever we are. We should work as if we are serving God. When we feed the hungry, cloth the naked, visit the imprisoned, or offer hospitality to the foreigner. The list is endless, but every action we take should be reflecting the love of Christ with others. But what about embracing the Holy Spirit? This is prayer. This is that time where we communicate with God. This is that time where we talk with God, letting God know what is going on in our life, and allowing God to speak to us through the words of scripture, the lyrics of a song, the voice of a trusted friend, or a odd chance encounter with a stranger. There are any number of ways God can speak to us. But are we listening? Are we allowing space for a conversation to take place? Are we allowing God to be God?
Jesus was in a certain place praying. He was actively showing his disciples his holy rhythm of life, and when he finished one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”
This is common for any expression of faith. It does not matter what religion it may be, in every expression of faith there is a method of interaction with the divine, and the practitioners learn this methodology from the religious leaders. The faith of the Hebrews was no different. The Torah is filled with sacrifice and teachings for worship. We often see this as the law for proper worship, but if we were to take a step back, these commandments are teaching us a lifestyle of prayer. The sacrifices show us where we often fail and need divine assistance. The commandments or the teachings show us how we fall short in our relationships, and teach us how to adjust our perspectives regard the needs of others as equal to our own needs. Then we have the Psalms, each of these are more than songs. They are the heart of the author crying out to God in praise, lament, anger, and sorrow and they also include a release of tension into expressions of hope. The Psalms are prayers, and they teach us what a life of prayer is.
John the baptist, like most teachers within the Hebrew religious structure, taught his disciples how to pray, or how to interact with God. The disciples of Jesus see this lifestyle that Jesus is living before them and they want to know how to have that kind of life. A life of hope even when all seems lost. A life of power, when we so often feel powerless. A life of joy even in the face of abuse.
Jesus then says to them, “When you pray say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom Come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”
Luke’s account of this prayer is a little shorter than the teaching found in Matthew, which is what is commonly regarded as “The Lord’s Prayer.” It is shorter but the teaching remains the same.
Jesus begins with, Father.
This is a unique aspect of Jesus’s teaching on prayer. It is not that traditional Hebrew understanding did not recognize God as Father, but they would only refer to God as father of creation, or father of the nation. And usually they would add some description to distinguish God from all other fathers. Jesus simply says father.
This is a recognition of something profound. In ancient times the father was the source, or the seed, of life. Modern science has expanded our understanding of the biology behind life, but there is still something significant that remains with father. Without a father life would not occur. The father initiates life, where the mother nurtures and incubates life.
To address God as Father is a form of intimacy, but it is much more. It is a recognition of who we are, where we are, and how we relate to God. Some of us do not like the intimacy that saying father might imply, but it is a reality. To say God, is abstract, it is intangible. We cannot connect with God because God is other natured. But when we say Father it connects us to God. God is our source of life, the initiator of life, he is our father. Without God we would not be. This is why the teaching of God is to honor our father and mother, not because they are always wonderful people, it is because without them we would not be. And we should honor them because we exist.
Father. Our initiator of life, our source, our creator, our reason for existence. Hallowed be your name.
Hallowed is an interesting word. This is an imperative verb, meaning we are to participate in it. Hallowed is to be sanctified, or set apart for unique or special honor. But there is more to this verb, it is imperative, so it it is a commanding verb, but it is also passive meaning, it will or is happening even if we do not acknowledge it. God is hallowed, he is sanctified or set apart for special honor by his very nature. God is hallowed or will be hallowed by all of creation because of who and what God is. He is hallowed because he is both the initiator and sustainer of life, God is both father and mother, and we honor God, we hallow God because without God life would not exist.
Your kingdom come.
This is where prayer becomes misunderstood. Kingdom is the scope of influence. In our contemporary world we could look at this word as a nation. Nation is more than a political system of government, it is more than geography. It is a scope of influence. Right now many are concerned with the state of our government because we see that America was once great, and in many ways that influence has dwindled. But I want us to consider something the scope of influence of our nation’s ideology has not dwindled, our way of thinking has spread beyond what we ever imagined it could have. And because it has expanded, we begin to feel as if we have lost something because we are no longer unique. We are simply one nation among many. But this is not what Jesus is teaching, if it was he would have said our kingdom come. No, he does not say our, but your. This means that what I think, what you think, what we think does not really matter, what is most important is what God thinks. It is his influence, his wisdom, his teachings or commands we want to come.
We often mistake what we want as something God wants. We often think that if we gain power among humankind we are spreading the influence of God. We often think that we must take the seven mountains of culture for God, and hold that power because that is what Jesus teaches in this prayer. But is that what Jesus is teaching?
We begin the prayer with Father, we accept our place as recipients of life from our life source. We hallow his name, we recognize that it is God and only God that is truly sanctified and set above all things. And then we submit ourselves to his influence. We submit so that his influence can come. Come here is the imperative verb. Unlike hallowed it is not passive, come is active. We must actively submit, and actively participate in the expansion of God’s kingdom.
This first statement of the prayer is a recognition of who God is, and who we are. We are recipients of life, where he is the initiator. It is his influence that is actively coming, and we are submissive participants.
How often do we pray like this? I read a great deal about prayer and so often what is being taught is not submission but aggression. We must take the nation back. We must conquer the seven mountains, we must command the spiritual powers to do our bidding. Some of my favorite songs even unwittingly promote this sort of thing, We make plans and strategies, but what Jesus is teaching us to do is to submit. He is asking us to become aware and to accept the reality of who we are in the eyes of God. We are beloved children of the life giver.
We cannot participate in prayer until we come to accept the reality of who we are. We cannot participate in any relationship until we take on a role within that relationship. I cannot be a husband if I do not have a wife. I cannot have a wife unless someone desires to become my wife. I cannot become a father unless there is a mother. And I cannot become a dad unless I actively submit to the role within that relationship. We cannot be in any relationship without mutual submission. Without submission there is not a relationship only exploitation and injustice.
When there is submission there is freedom to discourse. There are certain roles within a relationship, and those that are in those roles have obligations. Since God is the initiator or father of life, not only the father but also the one that nurtures and incubates life so the mother too. God has an obligation to sustain life, or to provide for our needs. Give us each day our daily bread. Give is a present active imperative verb. That means that it is to happen right now, but it is God that is the one that acts. How does God do this? There are many ways this can occur. God could just speak things into being, or he might prompt one of his many children to act on his behalf. God will provide what we need when we need it.
But notice what it is that is being asked for, it is our daily bread. Jesus does not teach us to ask for the things we want. I want a great many things. I want a new computer. I want to pay off my student loans. I want a house to call my own. These wants I can justify. I can make a list of how I would be able to do my job as a pastor better if I had these things, but do I need them? I need a place to rest. I need a the tools to perform the role I have been given well, but my desires are necessarily what I need. Jesus teaches us to ask for our daily bread, these are the things that will maintain and sustain us for what we will encounter in the present moment.
We have what we need. God has provided what we have needed, and God is providing what we need today. This is again one of the areas where we have misunderstanding. We want things. We justify them in our minds. We plead with God to bring healing, deliverance, or any number of things. In our minds they are a necessity. There are books throughout Christian spheres where we are taught to pray specifics because if we are not specific God does not know what we need. These teachings will go so far as saying we do not receive what we ask because we do not have faith that God will provide. That is not what Jesus is teaching us. That is not what scripture teaches. Paul tells us to boldly approach God, he teaches yet even this great apostolic saint had a thorn in the flesh that was not removed. Did Paul not have faith? If you believe that Paul did not have faith when he wrote or influenced most of the New Testament, I encourage you to read it again. Paul tells us that God did not remove the thorn because his grace was sufficient.
This means Paul did not need the thorn to be removed for God’s kingdom to come. Paul desired it, he wanted it but he did not need it. Jesus is teaching us to submit to God, and to be content with we are given. Is it a sin to ask for what we want. No, it is good to ask but we need to remember that this is a conversation not an order. God as the giver and sustainer of life is not obligated to grant us our desires, but God will give what we need today.
Now comes the neglected part of prayer. We make an assumption about God, and our assumption is unfulfilled so we begin to withdraw from the relationship. This does not change who God is, or who we are in God’s eyes. But it does change how we see ourselves. We begin to think that I deserve things because I am good. But Jesus taught Nicodemus that no one is good but God. We begin to say that there is no God or if there is a God he is not good because there is so much evil within our world. So we stop participating in the relationship.
Are you good? In every situation have you acted justly? When you were at the store and the service was slow, were you patient? When your order was not fulfilled to your specifications did you approach the situation demanding more than what was required? Just this week I ordered a plate from Panda Express, a plate has two entrees and a side. I only received one entree and one side. I was upset. I was so upset that I immediately sent a note to Panda Express demanding justice. What would justice be in that situation? In most cases we would believe that what we deserve is something for free. But if we really think about it, they could refund the difference between a bowl, which is one entree and one side, and a plate, because that is what I received. But in our mind that is not justice. We want revenge, we want more.
Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. We live in a world of fallen humanity. Each and every one of us lives with this false sense of entitlement and justice in our minds. We think we deserve things. And then when things do not happen how we think it should we become upset. Why are their abused children in the world if there is a good God? Why is there war? Why do I have to pay higher insurance premiums? Why did it flood? Why? Why? Why?
Did God cause all of this? The reality is that we live in a fallen world. Everyone around us thinks they are entitled. Yet no one is. We demand that justice is served for all the law breakers, we justify the building of prisons for all the law breakers, but we often fail to recognize that we have all broken the law. Forgive us our sins, and let us forgive those that wrong us.
This again is submission. It is a recognition that I am not perfect and because I am not perfect I should give grace to those around me that are struggling too. And lead us not into temptation. Help me in my weaknesses. Help me because I am prone to wander as the hymn today stated. Help me God to remain true. Help me to recognize that I am a child of God, that it is Your kingdom and not my own. And help me to forgive just as I have been forgiven.
I recognize that I have spoken long today. And I have only gone four verses into the thirteen that we read. I hope this shows us just how important prayer is to our life as a Christian, to our lifestyle as a disciple of Christ. It truly is a lifestyle where we are to love God, embrace the Holy Spirit and to live the love of Christ with others. It is a life of submission and companionship. It is a life where we work together as we encourage one anther to see the world as it truly is. As we go into this time of open worship, I encourage us to be honest. Is God’s influence expanding around the world? Do not be quick to answer, but instead consider it fully. We live is a wonderful world. We have so much more today than we did a generation ago. Yes there is still a great deal wrong, there is still evil and injustice, but that should give us all encouragement because we can still pray: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” God is still at work and we are still called to participate. Let us not get focused on the sin but instead let us boldly approach our Father to show us where we can shine his light.
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church June 07, 2026 Click here to join our meeting for worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Romans 4:13–25 (ESV) 13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church May 31, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 2 Corinthians 13:11–14 (ESV) 11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace…
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By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
July 6, 2025
Click here to join our Meeting for Worship
Luke 10:1–11, 16-20 (ESV)
1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’
16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” 17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
This week my family went out to the farm. While there I helped my dad finish his wheat harvest. There is something about wheat harvest. It is the celebration of a year’s labor, everything you have worked so hard to accomplish is right in front of you. I love harvest.
There is something else about harvest. It is grueling work. You would think with all the machinery we have in contemporary agriculture things would go quickly, and for the most part you are correct. But there is a problem with today’s machinery. Just like every cell phone or electronic device you have in you home, there is some company that have some sort of proprietor tool required to do any maintenance on the machine. Most of us face this with out Iphones, some of us face this with our printers since HP has made it so their entire printer will not function unless you have used their replacement ink cartridges. For most people this is a minor inconvenience or annoyance but when your machinery, machinery that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars breaks down it becomes a nightmare. Especially when it happens during harvest.
In harvest every moment counts. You have a short window of time to get the crop out of the field before it begins to lose value. If it happens to be a year with greater than average rainfall, the seeds within the wheat head begin to sprout while they are still in the head, this renders the crop a failure because once the seed begins to germinate the nutritional value is displaced. And since we cannot easily digest grass, the grain that was once a staple in our diet is basically worthless. In a dry year every ounce of moisture within the plant evaporates and the seed shrivels into some raisin like stone, and because it has shriveled a gust of wind can cause the seed to fall out of the head so when you attempt to harvest the grain there is nothing remaining.
These are extreme cases, but when machinery has specialized equipment that fails, and the company requires only certified technicians to fix it, a simple breakdown in the field can become costly. Not only in the cost of hiring the repair, but there are a limited number of qualified technicians, these technicians may or may not be available when you need them and there are times where you might have to take the entire machine into the service station to be repaired. And if that happens you will need to hire transport, because the service stations are at times hundreds of miles away.
I helped my dad with harvest. And as we were out in the field a warning light came on. My heart sunk. I have a history with machinery. If some unexplainable event that cannot be replicated in a machine will occur it will occur when I am operating it. I could tell you stories but we do not have time today. This warning light came one and it was a warning light I have never seen lite up except when the engine is first started, you know when every light comes on to test if they are working. This light was for the auger that conveyed the grain from the separator to the bin. I looked all over to see what was causing the problem. I could not see a thing. And the worst thing was that I had nearly a full bin of wheat so most of what I needed to see was under the grain. We had to slowly remove the grain to reveal each component. We did not want to remove all the grain because then you would have to stand on narrow supports while hanging onto metal that had been sharpened by years of grain wearing it to a razor’s edge.
We finally got to where we could see the problem. A piece of metal about nine inches by three inches had lodged itself in the cog of a chain. A piece of metal that was a half of an inch thick. We do not know where it came from. We do not know how it got there. But it stopped everything. And we were wondering if this was one of those things that would cause a month long wait for repairs. We were able to remove the obstruction, and once it was removed everything seemed to work fine. We still do not know where it came from.
Why do I tell you this story? I tell you because harvest is important. It is the culmination of all of your labor. If you are an accountant harvest is tax season. If you work in retail, the holiday sales event on the Friday after Thanksgiving is harvest. If you are a research scientist, the day you submit your paper to the journal is harvest. It is the one thing all your labor, everything you have worked for comes together.
Jesus appointed seventy-two others to send out ahead of him. And as he sent them he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
There is a great deal that can be said about this passage. But I want us to focus just for a moment on the urgency of harvest. It is the culmination of labor, everything you have done up to this point revolves around this one thing. Jesus is sending out seventy-two of his disciples. He is sending them out ahead of him, and he tells them, the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.
You might for a moment say, wait seventy-two, I thought there were only twelve disciples? You are correct, but remember there were multitudes of people that came to listen to Jesus. And many of those people like the twelve called by Jesus, followed them where ever they went. These were students, under the care of the disciples, you might call them disciples of the disciples. Jesus would teach the twelve, and the twelve would, when they had the time, go and teach their own students. This is the way of the rabbi. It is the way of any master and apprentice relationship, because one does not know if they truly understand something unless they try to teach it to someone else.
If we were to divide this number up, if each of the disciples had six disciples that would make seventy-two. Jesus would train his disciples, and he sent them out and they each found six people they could teach, but he sent them out two by two, so each pair found twelve disciples of their own. Jesus is showing us the importance of multiplication ministries. A group, any group, if it wants to grow the members must participate in bringing in new members. You cannot expect the one leader within the group to bring everyone in, because that leader is investing their time in you. The leader cannot go out finding new participants because you still need attention. But if you go out and reflect the teachings of the leader to others around you, what was once twelve quickly grows to seventy-two, and if each of those disciples make disciples. Soon what was once twelve within three cycles of going out, will grow to over five hundred. This is the number of people scripture says had seen and experienced the risen Lord.
There is more to this number. If you look at the scripture some translations will say seventy-two, where others will say seventy. Is this a contradiction? Not really because the number is symbolism. It points back to the history of Israel, and the story of God throughout the nations. When the sons of Jacob sold their brother Joseph into slavery, they eventually found themselves in need of food because a famine had occurred across the world. They had heard that Egypt had grain to spare so they went to Egypt to purchase grain to eat. Only to find themselves looking directly into the face of their brother. Seventy people from the house of Jacob went and settled in the land of Egypt with Joseph. And it is from these seventy that the nation emerged. Just as from the seventy that Jesus sent out the church would emerge.
There is more. There are three distinct stories of human fallen-ness in beginnings of scripture. The first is the fall within the garden when our first parents desired equality with God, possessing the knowledge of good and evil. The second was the fall that caused the flood, when the sons of God found the daughters of man to be attractive. And the third story of fallen-ness is the tower of Babel. After the confusion of the languages, it is said that the nations were divided among the sons of God, and that these nations populated the land surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. This number of nations was seventy-two.
So we have two numbers seventy and seventy-two, one represents Israel, and the other represents the nations. And as Jesus sends them out ahead of him he speaks of the harvest. The culmination of all his labor. What is the labor of God? What is the point and purpose of Israel? When God called Abraham, he called him to become the father of nations. He called the children of this father to be the light to all nations. And through them all nations would be brought back to the one true most high God. The harvest of God, the culmination of God’s labor and that of Israel is to bring all the nations, all the people groups to God. Even Simeon on the day Jesus was presented at the temple cried this praise at as he worshiped, “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised. I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people. He is the light to reveal God to the nations and he is the glory of your people Israel!”
Jesus appointed and sent out seventy-two others, two by two. He sent them into every town and place where he himself was about to go. He sent them with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Telling them, “carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.”
He tells them to be earnest in their mission. Do not get distracted, do not stop and talk to people but go to the town, go to the place you will have the most opportunity to be effective. I want you to think about that for a moment. Where are these thirty-six groups going to go? Are they going to the far east? Are they going to Rome? Are they going to Greece? No they are going home. They are going back to their hometowns, or to the town next to theirs. They are going to the people they know and they are going to talk with them. They are not going to worry about having food, money or a spare pair of shoes, because they are going to a place where the laws of hospitality are in place. If a friend comes to visit you are to provide for them. And if they are hospitable people all of their needs while they are traveling will be provided.
And if they go to a place, and they are received as a son of peace, you are to remain there. What does this mean? Peace is a sign of blessing, it is the absence of conflict. It is a state of mutual cooperation and profit. When humanity fell they entered into conflict. They entered into the rebellion that was already waging in the unseen realm. And the rebels within the heavenly hosts manipulated our first parent into thinking that God was holding something from them. Enmity became our state of being. We became enemies of God, because we could no longer trust that He had mutual profit on his mind.
When Jesus tells us to greet the house by saying “Peace be to this house!” He is telling them to bless the people of that house, as it is a greeting of hope and faith. It is saying to the ones that live there that as with the widow of Zarephath during the days of Elijah, as long as I remain with you, you will have enough.
And they are to remain there. They are to eat and drink what is provided to them, for the laborer deserves his wages. They are not to go house to house seeking the place with the greater wealth so that they can eat better, because that is not the point of our labor. Our labor is not for what we can receive our labor is reflect the light of God to the nations.
Our labor is to reflect the light of God.
The seventy-two went out and they returned. They entered the towns and villages, and they saw the might hand of God working in the lives of the people they met as they spoke, prayed, and cared for the sick among them. They came back to Jesus in joy saying, “Lord even the demons are subject to us in your name!” They had power. They felt as if they could do anything and everything. They thought that they were becoming like God.
In their ministry they felt as if they had harnessed the magic of Yahweh. That they could control the universe by the mere utterance of Jesus as if it were abracadabra. And if they say those magic words the universe would be at their command. Even the demons, the forces of evil are subject to us they say. We can conquer the world, we can demand that those living under the deception of demonic forces snap to attentions and obey our will.
I can understand their excitement. Ministry can be intoxicating. When I was in Ukraine, twenty years ago, I saw spiritual lights illuminating the faces of the people I spoke to. And each time I saw it I wanted to see more and more. I thought I was turning into some spiritual master as the people around me began to understand the way of God. But then something happened one of my students had a seizure. We are not sure why this occurred, but I have some suspicion that it was drug related. I became angry with God at that point. I was serving. I was teaching, talking, encouraging, praying over others. I was doing all this work, and someone was not obeying my words. I thought if I do not save this one student from darkness my entire life plans would unravel. How was I to get the desires of my heart if I cannot save this one person?
Jesus said to those joyful people, “I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven.” This almost seems out of place. They are speaking of the amazing power they have in Jesus’s name and Jesus brings up the name of the greatest adversary. Why? Remember the number is symbolic. Remember the number of disciples is to remind us of the nation of Israel, and the restoration of the nations. Remember we are participating in a harvest not of our own, but we are under the direction of the Lord of the harvest. It is not our harvest, but God’s we are only there to help him reap the culmination of all his labor.
“I saw Satan fall like lightning.” Jesus said. If we are to believe the traditions surrounding Satan, or Lucifer, we would know that this being was the choir master of the heavenly hosts. He directed the worship, he was able to bring forth the best of all creation to bring honor and praise to God the Most High. Yet he began to think he needed the praise himself. He began to believe that he, Lucifer, was the one that brought about all the good things and deserved recognition. And he instigated a rebellion, where tradition says a third of the angels fell with him. A third of the angels is never spoken of in scripture or in ancient sacred writings. It is a myth that we have come up with because a third of the stars fall from the sky in the last days. But the point of the myth is that the rebellion is real and it is easy to begin to think that we are powerful in ourselves. We can begin to think that even the demons are subject to us if we use the right words. “Behold,” Jesus continues, “I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
There is a great deal of attention placed on signs and wonders. There are entire ministries devoted to training you to be a prophet, or a healer, or any number of things. I believe in these gifts, but I believe that it is God working through us when the miraculous happens, we are not actually involved beyond going out into the community ministering in Jesus’s name. We do not have power in ourselves. We are not the ones that bring the demons or evil spiritual forces to task. We are laborers in God’s harvest. It is God that has the power. “Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Rejoice because God knows your name. Rejoice because the Most High God of the universe knows who you are, and has given you a place to participate in his harvest. Rejoice that God wants you to be in communion with you.
This week I helped my dad with harvest. The culmination of his year’s labor was right there around us. And we broke down. Everything came to a literal grinding holt. I thought I had caused harm. I thought I was about to ruin everything. I thought like I thought twenty years ago that I had failed and someone was left in the darkness because I failed to live up to God’s standard.
It is not about us. Sometimes people reject God. Sometimes entire people groups reject God. Sometimes our attention can be diverted from what is most important and be placed on something else. Sometimes we think we must cast out demons, we must heal, we must or God will not be praised. But that is not the point. We are only called to go, and enter the house and say, “Peace be to this house.” We are to go eating and drinking, caring for the sick, and teaching about the kingdom has come near. We are to accept hospitality and give hospitality. And rejoice that God knows our names.
Let us live in that Peace. Let us be bearers of Peace, and conduits of hope.
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By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church May 10, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 3:13–22 (ESV) 13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church May 03, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 2:2–10 (ESV) 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 26, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Query 4 (Faith and Practice of EFC-MAYM pg 61) Do you provide for the suitable Christian education and recreation of your children and those under your care, and…
