To Theophilus friend of God ......

 People who like quizzes might prefer me to begin with a question such as: Who wrote a quarter of the New Testament?

The answer is of course St Luke.

Luke the Evangelist wrote both the Gospel that bears his name but also the Acts of the Apostles.

As an evangelist Luke was writing from the perspective of a historian about events that he had not witnessed personally.

However his writing in the Acts of the Apostles suggests that he was describing activities in which he was involved.

Luke indicates that he was not an eyewitness to the events described in his Gospel he does 'repeatedly' use the word 'we' in describing the missionary journeys that he presumably undertook with Paul and which he describes in the Acts of the Apostles.

In Colossians Paul writes:

Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings.

 A near contemporary historian, Epiphanious, suggests that Luke could have been one of the seventy we read about in the Gospel set for the Feast of St Luke.

As we read, the mission of the seventy was the same as Jesus' own ministry, to cure the sick and to announce the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

Given that it would be almost impossible to establish the truth of the connection between the seventy and St Luke, and the fact that Luke does not indicate his involvement as he describes the mission, nevertheless there is a connection to be seen between Jesus' mission and the mission that Luke was involved with Paul as they travelled around the Mediterranean establishing congregations.

As Jesus sent the seventy, so Paul and his disciples went to every town and place sharing the Good News of Jesus' death and resurrection. These were not the rumours that the seventy shared with their hearers but represented the announcement of the work of salvation in the light of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The challenge to the seventy is a preview of the ministry that Jesus gives us today.

Last week saw the Ordination of Malcolm Railton to the priesthood I'm sure that for Malcolm as for all of us ordained into the Priesthood our ministry is subject to the new rigours of Covid. The Eucharist itself is subject to restrictions, visiting is severely constrained and the occasional offices Baptism, Marriage and Funerals subject to restrictions.

Todays Gospel sets Ordination in the context of of Jesus commissioning of the seventy it is also a preview of the ministry that all christians are ordained to exercise, going ahead bringing Jesus' message to whoever will hear it.

But our prayers for Malcolm's ministry as a Priest after the order of Melchizadek are real and heartfelt it is both a privilege and a responsibility.

There will be resistance and rejection, the seventy are sent in pairs, like Jehovas Witnesses, possibly for protection but also for mutual support. The message will be rejected as it was then and as it is now as more and more people fall away from belief and from faith, and as is often commented these days as people reject the good news of the gospel their loss of belief seems to lead to their believing in anything.

The seventy were encouraged to 'Travel Light'. We also are told that we should't let 'stuff' get in the way of our sharing the Gospel with any who will listen. As for the seventy so for us, Jesus doesn't say anything about measuring success.

Interesting that traditionally a stipend was not a wage, rather it was rather a payment that, unlike St Paul, who worked as a Tent Maker, released you from the need to earn. That I suppose is why a parish was called a 'living'.

Somehow we are getting more and more used to living with membership figures, electoral rolls, giving levels, budgets, annual reports and so on. It's how people will measure our ministry but this way of thinking is contrary to this text.

The Palestinian word 'Intafada' actually means 'shaking the dust  off your sandals' and this is what Jesus advises 'if people don't accept your message, shake the dust of your feet and move on.

As an evangelist Luke has recorded the good news, The gospel of Jesus. He has shared this good news with his own generation and the generation that has followed, including ours.

Unusually in the introduction of his recording of the life of the early church The Acts of the Apostles he dedicates the work to Theophilus meaning Love or friend of God.

So today we give thanks for the life and work of St Luke. We recognise the power of the story he tells and rejoice in the Good News that he shares with Theophilus and all who are friends of God.