Let Us Not Grow Weary - Sermon for the Fourth Sunday After Pentecost (July 6, 2025)

Scripture Readings: 2 Kings 5:1–14 | Psalm 30 | Galatians 6:1–16 | Luke 10:1–11, 16–20

“So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.” (Galatians 6:9).

Once again we are gathered for worship, surrounded, not only by the beauty of nature, and of our beloved St. Luke’s Church building… but also by the gravestones of our brothers and sisters in Christ who have gone on before us into death, but whom we trust are now at rest in the holy presence of the Living God… awaiting the time when all things are made new, and Christ’s Kingdom comes in all its fullness.
 
Each year, we take time during this Churchyard service to remember all those who have shared in the life of our Parish family across generations… and we give thanks for their faithful labours and witness… working together in this wider community in the service of God’s good Kingdom. Thanks to them, and by the grace of God, St. Luke’s Church remains a visible sign of God’s enduring presence and Kingdom at work here in Gondola Point.
 
And this remains our calling today as Christ’s people, as it has been in each generation: to live in our world as visible signs and witnesses to the Good News of Jesus Christ.

In our Gospel reading today, we heard how the Lord Jesus sent His disciples ahead of Him into the communities of Israel as heralds of their King whose Kingdom was on its way. They were to go packing lightly, trusting that their needs would be met along the way by the hospitality and generosity of those who received their message.
 
But the point of their going wasn’t to settle down and make themselves comfortable at the expense of their neighbours… personally profiting from the hospitality and generosity of their hosts. They were sent out in a state of vulnerability and openness to serve as witnesses to Jesus Christ… offering all those they met a foretaste of His life and light… so that all those they met would be given the opportunity to respond to this Good News they had come to share.
 
In short, they were sent out not to be served, but to serve… to offer God’s grace and a glimpse of Christ’s Kingdom at work here and now… and to offer it to anyone who was open to receiving it.
 
Turning now to our second reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Christians in Galatia. Not to those sent out as wandering ambassadors, but to an already established and rooted community, living in a world where most of their neighbours did not yet know about the Good News of Jesus that they had received, and which they were now struggling to try and live up to together.
 
St. Paul spends some time in this letter warning them against the dangers of self-centred pride and divisiveness, and urges them instead to be diligent in their service of the Risen King Jesus, and care for one another. And here he uses the image of planting seeds, and harvesting… hard work that requires persistence, and patience, and trust… persevering in the hope that the work done will eventually be well worth it.
 
Galatians 6:7-10, “you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.”

But unlike the planting of regular seeds, we know that God’s Kingdom grows in some pretty surprising and unexpected ways at times. Not always through obvious success and strength… the signs of growth that our world often looks for. Actually, a faithful witness to the Good News of Jesus Christ, the crucified and Risen Lord, often involves sharing in real suffering, uncertainty, and times of struggle… and it always asks us to be open to sharing the saving love of the Living God far beyond our own familiar and comfortable boundaries.
 
We can see this in our first reading today from Second Kings, and the story of Naaman: an Aramean general… one of the fierce enemies of ancient Israel. Naaman was struck down by a serious skin disease… leprosy... a threat that this proud military man could not overcome through his own considerable power and might. But where does he receive a sign of hope? From a pretty unexpected source: one of his wife’s servants, a captured Israelite slave girl points Naaman in the right direction.
 
2 Kings 5:2-3, “Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, ‘If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! [The capital city of Northern Israel]. He would cure him of his leprosy.’”
 
The story goes on to tell of how this enemy of God’s people visits the prophet Elisha, and eventually humbles himself before the Living God, and is miraculously healed! Naaman goes back home, honoring the LORD… totally transformed by this encounter… all through the simple but honest witness of this young captive girl.
 
Now the point of the story is not that this girl had been captured, and her whole life turned upside down… from freedom to slavery… all to benefit some powerful man. When we read the whole of Scripture, we see time and again that the Living God does not approve of our all-too-common structures and systems that use and exploit the vulnerable in order to lift up the powerful. In fact, it’s quite the opposite! That kind of proud self-centredness is a big part of the problem that God’s Kingdom challenges head on.
 
No, the point is that even when God’s people find ourselves in seemingly fragile, painful, and powerless situations, that doesn’t mean our story’s over! God’s Holy Spirit can and does work through us wherever we are… through the things we say and do… to help us become signs and witnesses of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Risen King of Kings. Jesus said to His disciples in our Gospel Reading: “See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.” (Luke 10:3). But the Good News is we know that it’s not the wolves of the world, but the Lamb of God who was slain and raised again from the dead to take away the sins of the world who has ultimately won the day. And when we His sheep follow Him faithfully, we too will one day share in His victory.
 
Our parish family… centred here at St. Luke’s Church, has been through a lot over the last almost 200 years: times of uncertainty, and prosperity… times of discouragement, and hope. And in each of those seasons, across generations, we have been called, not simply to be concerned with serving or defending ourselves… with propping up our own purposes and plans… but with pointing to what the Living God has done for us all in Jesus Christ, and what God is still doing in this place.

So, in this sacred place… surrounded by the beauty of God’s creation, and all those who have gone on before us: let us take heart, and as St. Paul says, “let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9).
 
Let us sincerely and diligently care for one another, and for our neighbours… whomever they might be… so that they too might come to know the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ, who loves them and gave His life for us all.
 
And let us remember that, though at times we may feel like lambs sent out among wolves, the Risen Lord is always with us. And who knows how His Holy Spirit at work in us might work through us to transform Gondola Point for good… and for generations to come? Amen.