Rejoice that your name is written in heaven as you work in the harvest field!

Just saying, “Brussels sprouts,” calls to mind either rejoicing or gags and groans. The Brussels sprouts booth may not be the first one you run to at the local farmers’ market. Left on its own, it is a hard, bitter earthy cabbage, but when other ingredients like cheese, bacon or sugar are added, Brussels sprouts become quite tasty. Speaking of a misunderstood cabbage, today is our monthly fellowship meal with the theme: Oktoberfest.

For many, saying the name, “Oktoberfest” fills our minds with images of comfort food. Perhaps we think of carb and fat rich delicacies like a warm soft pretzel with a cheese sauce or a bratwurst with brown mustard, but there is also a cabbage dish. Sauerkraut, which you may or may not appreciate as a comfort food, is fermented cabbage. Long ago, cabbage harvesters recognized the need to add fermenting ingredients like salt and vinegar to prolong their crop’s shelf life, otherwise it would rot.

A rotten feeling settled in the heart of Elisha’s servant in our Old Testament reading from 2 Kings 6. It happened, after the King of Aram, who was at war with Israel, learned that the prophet Elisha by the power of God had been alerting Israel’s army to his army’s movements, so he sent his army to confront Elisha. The Aramean army went to Dothan where Elisha was staying and surround the city. In the morning, Elisha’s servant woke up to this terrifying sight, but when he told Elisha, he was unafraid. We then hear what Elisha did to calm his servant in 2 Kings 6,

17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Missing the key ingredient of trust in God, his servant’s outlook was rotten, but with the words of Elisha, his servant saw the Lord’s army standing ready to fight.

The name of the Lord carries power. When Elisha wanted to calm his servant’s fear, he prayed to the Lord and the Lord opened his servant’s eyes to see who was fighting for him. In our Gospel reading from Luke 10, we hear about the power of the name of the Lord to bring people into the kingdom of God, which is his rule in our hearts; it is his gift of faith, hope and trust that he has saved us and will bring us to heaven someday. But, before we hear about the results of the Lord’s name bringing people into his kingdom, it will help us to hear the wider context from earlier in Luke 10,

1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

After his work in Galilee, Jesus began to head south through Samaria to Jerusalem. The seventy-two that he sent out ahead of him had a simple message, 9 … ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ The response to their message was mixed, but they still returned to Jesus with rejoicing.

Although they were filled with joy, those Jesus sent out had misunderstood the purpose of their work. In our Gospel reading from Luke 10, we hear the seventy-two reporting back to Jesus,

17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

The seventy-two saw the power of Jesus’ name, but they were like young drivers excited about driving alone to a movie theater for the first time, not realizing the full power a driver’s license brings. To correct their misunderstanding,

18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Jesus turned the eyes of the seventy-two from their joy in trampling the demons who war against us on the earth to heaven where true rejoicing will endure forever.

The work in the harvest field Jesus wanted the seventy-two to do is the same that he has called us to do. The harvest field Jesus spoke of is everyone who needs to hear about the kingdom of God; they are all who do not believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. The harvest is plentiful because so many people live without faith, who have the devil and demons standing between them and God. They face the temptations of the devil to sin and when they give in, Satan is there to accuse them of sin filling their hearts with guilt and despair. Like snakes and scorpions biting and stinging, those without hope in Jesus are poisoned in life until they rot in the grave and are consumed by the fires of hell. And Satan is working on us too. He works to slither his way between us and God by getting us excited about the power of Jesus’ name, but to do what we want with it rather than what God wants. It happens when we limit the size of the harvest field excluding people based on our preferences leaving many people to rot; Satan wants us sprinkling as little seed as possible. Satan also loves it when we misuse God’s name to force morality on others or excuse sin with cheap grace. When we focus on the results we want to see from the name of Jesus, our eyes turn from heaven to earth where the devil works threatening to pull us even further down to hell.

Jesus wanted his name to be the power behind your name being written in heaven. Jesus caused the demons to submit to the seventy-two when his name was invoked. Then, he reminded the seventy-two in our Gospel reading from Luke 10,

18 … “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”

The full meaning behind Jesus’ words was later revealed to John in the book of Revelation. In our New Testament reading from Revelation 12, we hear about the war that broke out after Jesus was born into this world,

7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.

When Jesus was born, all the prophecies or battle plans came to life. Jesus stepped onto the battlefield and over the course of his life he made it clear that he was the Messiah, the Chosen one, the Christ, who would win the decisive battle at Jerusalem. Jesus trampled the devil at Jerusalem, crushing the serpent’s head as prophesied to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, through his sacrifice on the cross and resurrection. These events guaranteed the victory for Michael and his angels as they fought the dragon, which is the devil, and his demons. And we hear the victory cry in our New Testament reading from Revelation 12,

10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”

Jesus saved us from the accusations of Satan by his blood sacrificed on the cross and he saved us from death through his resurrection. Jesus was absolutely sure he would do this to save us, which was reflected in the words of his testimony in our Gospel reading from Luke 10,

19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Jesus proved his power over the satanic scorpions and other wicked things that bite, sting and accuse us. By the name of Jesus our names have been written in heaven.

God has proved his gracious power, so we trust in his name as we carry out his mission. We work in the harvest field by recognizing the wounds of other people. The poisonous bites of satanic snakes and scorpions rot people’s hearts in different ways. Some people are caught in fear of the evil in the world or afraid of their guilt and impending judgment. Others are filled with pride and joy in their own choices and achievements indifferent to the great equalizer, death. We recognize these wounds and apply the healing name of Jesus to them. The words of our testimony are the promises Jesus made and kept to save us. We share the truth of his birth, death, resurrection and ascension. This message is the power to trample the devil’s hold on people and bring them into the kingdom of God. This message puts Jesus between us and God, so that Christ speaks for us, defending us and allowing us to be accepted into heaven. We share Jesus like we share our favorite food. Even if your favorite food is Brussels sprouts, and you think others will not like it, you still tell them about it and encourage them to try it. Jesus’ name is the sweet and satisfying gospel of life for us, so we share him. We share praying that all might have their name written in heaven.

The Brussels sprouts booth may not be the first one you run to at the local farmers’ market. Left on its own, it is a hard, bitter earthy cabbage, but when other ingredients like cheese, bacon or sugar are added, Brussels sprouts become quite tasty. At one time, all of us were part of the harvest field in danger of rotting away, but others shared Jesus with us. And God worked through his word to give us the gift of faith, so we are no longer bitter, hardened sinners, but his rejoicing, loving saints. Share his name with others confident in the power of Jesus’ name to save and rejoice that your name is written in heaven as you work in the harvest field. Amen.