Luke 10:1–11, 16–20
Trinity Presbyterian Church (USA)
Pensacola, FL – July 6, 2025
Communion + Baptism Sunday
Brief Summary
This sermon contrasts competitive eating (like Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Contest) with Communion and baptism, reminding us that faith isn't about competition or excess but about peace, simplicity, and sharing God's presence gently. Jesus sent out 72 disciples with minimal belongings to bring peace wherever they went. In the same way, Communion and baptism are small, simple acts that carry great spiritual meaning. We're called not to force faith like hot dog disciples but to share Christ's peace quietly and faithfully in our daily lives.
Family Car Ride Discussion Questions
-
Why do you think Jesus told his disciples to travel light and focus only on sharing peace?
(What does that teach us about how we should share God's love today?) -
The sermon said Communion and baptism use only small amounts of bread, cup, or water.
(Why do you think small, simple things can still be powerful signs of God's love?) -
When have you felt God's peace this week?
(How can our family share that peace with others in simple ways?)
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go.
He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
Go on your way; I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.
Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.
Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house!' And if a person of peace is there, your peace will rest on that person, but if not, it will return to you.
Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid.
Do not move about from house to house.
Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 'Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you.
Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.'
"Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me."
17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, "Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!" 18 He said to them, "I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.
19 Indeed, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you.
20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
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This Is Not A Competition
If you're like me… and I know at least a couple of you are… and you admit it.
If you're like me, you spent time this weekend doing one of the most honored rituals of our nation. Together, we tuned in and watched the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Raise your hand. Don't deny it. I know you did.
Competitive Eating.
It makes Lee Greenwood even MORE proud to be an American.
Many who participate and/or watch from a safe distance are moved to place their hand over their heart, and claw at it. My country, my cardiologist.
Yes, the magnetic draw of this competition is one of the reasons we have to build border walls. Italy has its pizza. England has cold toast and beans. But nobody but nobody has Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Contest. More American than baseball and apple pie if it was made from various meat trimmings forced into casings formed by the small intestines of sheep. (At least the ones that "snap" when you bite them.)
God bless the USA.
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Speaking of food,
today, we're sharing an even more sacred supper. We're sharing Communion. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. But honestly, as suppers go, it's pretty lite. It wasn't always that way. Back in Bible times, it was more like an all-you-can-eat potluck dinner. Eating (and drinking) got competitive. Really.
The Apostle Paul writes to the church in Corinth that they need to stop behaving like wild hyenas and act more civilized at the Lord's Table. The wealthy one-percent were arriving early and gorging on all the good food. They got drunk on the wine. And when the commonfolk finally got to eat, the kitchen was closed. Instead of showing God's kingdom, The Lord's Supper was just one more example of social inequality amplified. The rich rubbed their bulbous tummies while the poor people's stomachs growled for a bite. Communion got turned into its own form of competitive eating. Paul was not proud to be a Corinthian.
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Jesus picked 72 disciples – just one and a half more than the number of hot dogs Joey Chestnut ate. Jesus sent 72 -- 36 preacher pairs – to be his advance teams. Sent them into 36 towns to scout out and prepare people for his FIRST coming.
He said:
Go on your way; I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.
It's that new show "Barefoot and Afraid."
He was so strict he wouldn't even let them take their PHONES! Imagine traveling to some new town with nary a GPS. Not even a Triple-A Triptik. (Ask your parents. Triptiks were cool.)
72 preachers – with no money. No backpack. No shoes. Tell the truth. Would you want Trinity's search committee to pick a pastor who showed up to an interview like that? Holy Cow, indeed.
And then his next rule must have been super-size important, because he says it twice.
"Eat what is put before you."
"Only what they provide."
Don't be like your little brother and magically show up at the house with the best food. ("My mom said it was OK to eat here.") Pick a place at random and stay there. Be satisfied with whatever they offer you.
The only qualification – the only thing to look for -- is whether or not the people in the house have "peace."
"Whatever house you enter," he said, "first say, 'Peace to this house!' And if a person of peace is there, your peace will rest on that person, but if not, it will return to you."
The currency of these transactions – The one sign to look for – is NOT "Vacancy." Not "Air Conditioning." Not even the Ten Commandments in their front yard.
Let this ONE thing be a sign unto you. If you find a house of PEACE, with people of PEACE, where your blessing of PEACE is received, there's your sign. And it's a sign from God.
…eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'
And that's the plan, Stan.
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I think sometimes, Christians believe that for the good of the heathen we bump into….
Or for us to get God's gold star of approval….
we think we have to cram Jesus down people's throats, because we're the hot dog disciples. Doesn't matter if the person's already full. Doesn't matter if their tastes are different than ours. Doesn't matter if they're on Ozempic.
And then we think we have to keep SCORE of the number SERVED, like it's a competition.
Evangelism, the way Jesus presents it, is about the gentle exchange of peace. Go about your ministry without your baggage. Leave your emotional, spiritual, competitive trappings at home. Do your ministry without illusions of what makes for success.
And that's like the intention behind how we share the Lord's Supper. You're not going to get stuffed here today. You won't be force-fed anything. We share small pieces of bread and small drinks of a cup – we share them in God's economy of peace. There's one thing on the menu. And the leftovers don't get counted.
Same with baptism. When we baptize, we don't haul in a firehose. Jim Green would have our heads. We sprinkle just enough water to be a sign of peace. We share the peace in promises. Child-size portions, baby-size. Peace be with you. And also with you. That's enough. And it is good. Very good. The peace of Christ in bread, cup, and baptism is enough to get you through your whole life.
And that's just delicious.
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On the Fourth of July, at the Nathan's contest at – where else? – Coney Island, the co-founder of major league eating (and I'm sure they'll put that on his tombstone) – co-founder Joe George Shea welcomed back (quote) the Michelangelo of competitive eating, Joey Chestnut, after his one-year suspension for eating a plant-based hot dog -- with these words:
"…there are those who stand immortal. Not through the grace of heaven but through their own triumphs. I speak of this man. Formed from the shards of shattered angels. Wielding the white sword of righteousness. Standing as quiet as truth."
I thought: Did I write that? Sounds like me.
The whole contest is silly. It's fun. We need that.
But we also need the opposite. Instead of the overblown and overeaten, we need the small. We need the simple. We need the freely available peace of Christ. Made holy in its modesty. We need to taste it. We need to feel it washing over us.
We need to know that unlike holidays that come and go, the peace Christ brings, the peace Christ sends us to share, the peace we can receive and accept when it's placed before us – unlike things that come and go, Christ's peace stays with us. Stays with us our whole lives long. And then some.
May the peace of Christ be with you.
Let's pray:
