The Blessing of a Funeral

Last week I was honored to be one of the preachers at George Tolan’s funeral.  George was Ioana’s father and Suzy’s grandfather.  As I said at the funeral, he was a truly great man because he, like his Savior, laid down his life for the good of others.

George brought so much blessing to our family.  He was married to the same woman for almost sixty-five years, raised three daughters in communist Romania by working as a truck-driver, moved his family from the north of Romania to a city on the coast of the Black Sea – Constanta, in order to make life better for his family, a decision that would literally impact generations, as it allowed their oldest daughter, Ioana, to eventually meet a boy in her neighborhood, Dumitru.

George came to faith later in life and once he did, he was all in.  He didn’t see Jesus as a ticket out of hell but as the all-consuming reality of his life, worthy of his total allegiance.  This is why George persistently read the Scriptures and prayed when we gathered as a family.

The world didn’t notice his death, but the Lord was honored in his life.  And his family was truly blessed by and through him.

As we gathered to honor his life, we were compelled to consider our own death.  As one of the Romanian preachers said, we’re all racing toward our own graves.  This is a sobering reality and worthy of much reflection.

A funeral confronts you with the unbending reality of your mortality.  A loved one’s death makes you think of your own.  And their life, especially if it’s the kind of life George lived, makes us reevaluate the trajectory of our lives.  A funeral encourages us to live for what matters most.

What’s Most Important

In our text today, Luke 10:1-20, we’re challenged to think about what we’re living for, what matters most to us, what defines us.  In this passage, Jesus sends out workers to do his work.  He says they’ll be accepted by some and rejected by others.  He says that those who reject them will do so at great cost to themselves.  But then he says that the most important thing, the thing that matters most, isn’t their work for him, but that they belong to him.

In this text we’ll see workers sent (vv. 1-9), woes spoken (vv. 10-16), and names written (vv. 17-20).  The main point of this text is that God’s work is eternally important but not most important.

Workers Sent

In verses 1-9, we see Jesus send out workers.  Ever since chapter 5, Jesus has been gathering disciples (vv. 1-11).  In chapter 6, he chose twelve of them to be his special and primary followers.  We don’t know if the three folks from 9:57-62 ended up becoming followers, but we learned that if you wanted to follow Jesus, a difficult decision had to be made.  Following him was all or nothing because he demanded ultimate allegiance.

So it’s surprising to find so large a group, more than seventy people, who’re following Jesus in chapter 10.  This shows us that Jesus’ movement was more than a tight-knit group of twelve, but was a substantial missionary enterprise, and this despite the very high standards for admission.  Jesus is sharing his mission with a much wider circle than the twelve, sending out seventy-two.

Jesus choosing this number isn’t accidental.  Seventy is the number of nations that were scattered at Babel.  It’s as though Jesus is hinting at his plan to send his followers on a world-wide mission to all the nations.  As we’ll see, Jesus’ ministry, and by extension, the ministry of his disciples, is the beginning of the end for Satan and the gods of the nations.  This is the beginning of the great reversal, the beginning of the reestablishment of God’s kingdom on the earth.[1]

Jesus sends out these disciples “two by two” (v. 1) so they have companionship and mutual support, and also because the law required two witnesses for a valid legal testimony.

In verse 2, Jesus tells his workers to pray for more workers.  Jesus knows there’s a great harvest that has to be gathered into his barn, so as Lord of the Harvest he gives his workers their orders: pray for more workers.

The harvest is immense, but Jesus’ proposal is simple: pray for workers because, even with seventy-two going out, there aren’t enough workers, so Jesus says pray for God to reverse the trend.  He doesn’t mention things like long-range planning, better business management, crafting nice vision statements, or raising money.  He simply says, “Pray.”

But his challenge to pray doesn’t negate the urgency of the work.  The disciples should pray while they “go” (v. 3a).  Prayer and work aren’t at odds.  Prayer doesn’t mean passivity.

The mission is urgent and may be dangerous (v. 3b).  It’s so urgent that they don’t need to bother with taking a lot of stuff.  They even need to avoid saying hi to friends on the road (v. 4).  This is likely hyperbolic language indicating that the mission is extremely urgent.

When they come to a house, they bless it with a word of “peace,” or “shalom” (v. 5).  If there’s someone there who accepts them, a “son of peace,” then they should stay.  If not, their peace will come back to them like a bounced check (v. 6b).

Verses 7-8 talk about the kind of posture the disciples should have among those who accept them.  They weren’t to take much with them because they needed to depend on God for everything they need.  The way God will provide for his messengers is through the hospitality of those they’re sent to.  Provision will come from the houses that welcome them.

Paul upheld this principle, quoting verse 7 to Timothy (1 Tim. 5:18), and arguing that the work (and workers) of the gospel should be maintained by those who benefit from it (1 Cor. 9:3-18).  But this doesn’t mean it’s okay for gospel ministers to “shop around” until they find the best food and best bed in town.  Doing this insults their first host and sends the message that their conveniences are more important than proclaiming the gospel.  Jesus says there’s to be no slithering around town looking for the best room and board.

Verse 9 summarizes the work of these workers: heal and proclaim.  Followers of Jesus Christ are sent into the world to proclaim and reveal God’s kingdom.  We speak and show the gospel.  Speaking is more important than showing but speaking without showing is empty words.

The work of these workers reveals that the future age has invaded the present age, that heaven is coming to earth, that the kingdom of God is infiltrating the kingdom of men.  It hasn’t come completely, but in Jesus, and by extension those who represent him, the beginning of the end has begun.  God’s work through these workers is urgent because it’s eternally important.

Woes Spoken

The eternal significance of their work is highlighted by what Jesus says next about those who reject them.  In verses 10-16, we see woes spoken.

Jesus says that not everyone will be happy to hear the news that God’s kingdom has arrived.  As he told the twelve previously (9:5), when they’re rejected they’re to symbolically shake the dust off their feet (v. 11).  This communicated that those who rejected them would be rejected by God, in effect saying, “We’re even leaving your dust behind to face God’s judgement and we’re free of responsibility for you.”

Jesus even says that people who reject these messengers will be punished more severely than Sodom on judgment day (v. 12).  Jesus says the same about Chorazin, Bethsaida, and even his home-base of Capernaum (vv. 13-15).  Jesus says that these pagan nations will fare better on judgment day than towns full of Israelites, God’s chosen people.  This was profoundly shocking!

Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom won’t get a pass on judgment day, but God’s judgment will be less severe for them than for these Galilean towns.

Why?  Because these Jewish towns had the Messiah walking and working and preaching in their midst, and because they were offered a more explicit call to repentance than Sodom.  So they’re more guilty for their response of rejection.

Rejecting their message was serious business because it was an eternally important message (v. 11b).  And because it was a rejection of God himself (v. 16).

All who die without conscious faith in Christ will be judged and perish eternally.  However, because God is just, his judgment will be based on the light that we received.  Those who reject lots of light will receive a more severe judgment.  Nineteenth century Anglican pastor J. C. Ryle says this: “(These declarations) teach us that all will be judged according to their spiritual light, and that from those who have enjoyed most religious privileges, most will be required.”[2]

How could people reject such a beautiful message?  God’s kingdom has come!  You can be reconciled to your Maker!  He wants to save you!  Heaven has come to earth!

Ryle says it’s because of “the exceeding hardness and unbelief of the human heart.  It was possible to hear Christ preach, and to see Christ’s miracles, and yet to remain unconverted.”[3]

The message is rejected, not because it’s a message of hope, but because it’s a message of repentance.  As Mark says, “(The Twelve) went out and proclaimed that people should repent” (6:12).  People who don’t want to own their sin before a holy God and change their ways in light of his kingdom coming in Jesus are setting themselves up for judgment.

Those who reject repentance, reject grace because they assume they don’t need it.  This kind of self-righteousness, or belief that sin isn’t a big deal and that good deeds can make up for any faults, is the pathway to hell.  Those who don’t repent aren’t saved.  Those who reject repentance accept judgment.

God’s work is eternally important; so much is at stake.  The message of his kingdom coming in Christ is an urgent message that demands a clear response: repentance and faith.  If you’ve heard this message but not clearly responded in faith and repentance, you must do so today!

Names Written

In verses 17-20, after instructing his workers on what to expect in their mission, he says something unexpected.

Jesus sends workers, calls for prayer for more workers, elevates the urgency of the work, highlights the danger of the work, talks about the blessings of the work, and the judgement for rejecting the work, and then when his workers return from the work he sent them to do, he tells them, “If you think your work for me is the most important thing, you’ve misunderstood.  Your joy must be rooted in who you are, not in what you do.”

As I’ve said, the work of the seventy-two is massively and eternally important.  Jesus even says here that there’s a spiritual conflict underneath their ministry.  There’s a supernatural dimension to the work they’re engaged in.  Jesus says that, as a result of their work, he “saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (v. 18).  This vision reveals just how significant their mission was.

On judgment day, God will finally defeat Satan.  But even though Satan’s final defeat is still in the future, his destruction is revealed in the present as Jesus and his workers cast out demons.  In Jesus’ vision this is depicted as a cataclysmic fall, “swift as a flash of lightning.”[4]   Satan and his minions are still wreaking havoc on earth, but their end is inevitable, an end revealed through the work of Jesus’ workers.  This means that their work is a big deal, with massive, eternal, and spiritual implications.

But then Jesus says that there’s something more important than their work (v. 20).  Rather than obsessing over spiritual power, they should rejoice that they belong to God.  Their salvation, not their power over demons, should be their sustaining joy.

And their salvation was sure and stable no matter what happened because their “names were written in heaven” (v. 20).  The New Testament says that God has a “book” (Phil. 4:3), or “roll” (Heb. 12:23), of all the names of his people.  The book is called “the Lamb’s book of life,” and the names were “written before the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8, 17:8, 20:12, 21:27).

You don’t write your name in this book, it’s not your book.  It’s the Lamb’s book.  And the Lord doesn’t write your name in this book after he’s observed how awesome you are.  No, the names in this book were written before you existed.  This is sobering because it reminds us that salvation belongs to the Lord.  And encouraging because the Lord never changes his mind.  He didn’t write your name with a pencil.  If your name is in this book, it can never be erased.

Why does Jesus bring this book up?  To remind his workers what matters most.  They think their work for Jesus is the most important thing.  So Jesus reminds them that spiritual achievement isn’t more important than belonging to God.  He’s saying, “If you think your work for me is the most important thing, you’ve misunderstood.  Your joy must be rooted in who you are, not in what you do.”  This is the matter that matters most.

The Matter that Matters Most

For those of you who’re following Jesus, keep up the good work, do all the work you can for the Lord, but remember that your work for him doesn’t save you or define you.

If you’re not yet a follower of Jesus, it’s easy to think that you need to start doing lots of different things to be a Christian, but Jesus says working for him won’t save you.  The only way to know that you belong to God is by totally trusting in Jesus’ work for you, not your work for him.

When we begin following Jesus and see him work in our lives, it’s good to be grateful for that work.  But Jesus says our primary joy isn’t in the power he gives us or in the success of our mission, but in knowing him.

Our highest thrill shouldn’t be in power but in grace.  We don’t obsess over power or visible results but we rest in who Jesus says we are.  This is the matter that matters most.  God’s work is eternally important but not most important.

George Tolan understood this.  His life revealed his faith.  It was sobering to look at his wallet after the funeral, to open it up and find it basically empty.  He didn’t have much by the world’s standards, but he lived for what matters most, and now he’s truly rich.

[1]Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015), 280-81.

[2]Quoted in Dale Ralph Davis, Luke 1-13: The Year of the Lord’s Favor, Focus on the Bible (Fearn, Ross-shire, UK: Christian Focus, 2021), 177.

[3]Quoted in ibid.

[4]Diane G. Chen, Luke, New Covenant Commentary Series (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2017), 148.