“What does Jesus sound like?” That was the question that a mother once asked her child.  She was reading a book to her son before bedtime, and as often is done, the mother did different voices for different characters in the book. This night, she was reading one of the Arch books about the life of Jesus. The son interrupted his mom and said she was doing Jesus’ voice wrong.  And so the mom asked, “What does Jesus sound like?”  The young boy explained, first of all, that is was a man’s voice, not a woman’s voice. It was deeper and slower and grumpier.

The next Sunday, when they were in church, right in the middle of the absolution, the young boy whispered into his mom’s ear, “Mama, that’s what Jesus sounds like.”  To me, as a young boy, that was the voice I heard when I went up to children’s messages, when I received a blessing at the communion rail, when I heard the Bible read in church, it was that voice which always said, “This is the Word of the Lord.” That was Jesus speaking. Because when I heard Jesus’ word, I heard my pastor’s voice.

Now, I’m pretty certain that when Jesus was alive he did not sound like a middle aged, staunch German Lutheran like Pastor Krohn. Nevertheless, growing up that was the voice of Jesus. “The one who hears you hears me…” Jesus Himself gives the words.  While Jesus walked this earth in visible form, He appointed and sent men directly into the world to speak His Word.  After He ascended into Heaven He worked and continues to work through His Church to call men to serve in the Office of the Public Ministry. This Office is a ministry of the Word, for where the pastor speaks God’s Word, he carries God’s own authority, and is in fact, “God’s mouth” (Luther).

Today's Gospel deals with the public proclamation of God's Kingdom.  Jesus was on route to Jerusalem and to the cross.  He was taking His time at each town along the way to teach and to heal. As He goes, He sends some of His disciples on ahead to the towns and areas He planned to visit as He made His way to the cross.  Our text says, "The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of Him, two by two, into every town and place where He Himself was about to go… Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, east what it set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God has come near to you’” (Luke 10:1, 8-9). The mission of these seventy-two messengers was part of God's answer to the second petition of the Lord's Prayer - Thy Kingdom come. Through their proclamation of Jesus’ word, through divine healing delivered by them, the Kingdom of God came near to all who heard and received this Word in faith.

This is a great comfort to us all.  First of all for me, a pastor; I know that even when my faith feels weak or I feel ill prepared for Sunday morning, these words of forgiveness and peace are from Christ Himself.  They do not depend on me.  For you who hear the words; you know that no matter what type of pastor you have - even if he is a jerk, for Jesus only uses sinners – as long as he speaks in the stead and by the command of Christ, and by virtue of the Office as a called and ordained servant of the Word, the words of peace and forgiveness do not depend upon the man, but come from Christ Himself. Where those He sends to stand in the stead and by the command of Christ, He is present throwing Satan down, forgiving sin, granting life. 

The Word and the Sacraments are the tools of the Church that the Lord has given us to use.  To preach the Word and to administer the Sacraments are the pastor’s calling. That may seem weak and ineffective from a technical perspective, but the power and effectiveness come from not from the man, but the Lord who calls and sends them in His stead. The answer to spiritual weariness, fear, and temptation that afflict the Christian is found not in anything special or extraordinary as the world understands it. The answer to every Christian’s problem is actually very general, and the means are very ordinary. The answer is always Christ crucified for me, and that Christ is found in Word and Sacrament. For the Word and Sacrament is the substance of the Christian life and it’s where we point others – here, in these means, God meets man. Here in the Word and Sacrament, heaven comes down to earth. By believing that God’s Word has power, and that it is the power unto salvation. Rejoicing that your names are written in heaven and showing others the hope you have in Christ. That the Holy Spirit will guide you to plant and water the seeds of faith, to reassure the doubting, to comfort the downhearted, to forgive sin, to proclaim Christ and His kingdom that overcomes the world.

That doesn’t mean that the pastor does all the work.  Your job as listeners to the Word is to hear it, believe it, and then share it with others in your families and workplace and lives. It is to point others to Jesus. Speaking God’s Word isn’t just the job of pastors, it is yours. By virtue of your Baptism into Christ, you are a royal priesthood. Whenever a Christian faithfully speak the words of God, it is not we who speak, but Christ who speaks through us. 

When Jesus said, "The one who hears you hears me," He also said, "… the one who rejects you rejects Me, and the one who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."  The one who sent Jesus is God the Father.  In His love, He sent Jesus to take our place as the object of His wrath against sin.  By the power of the Word, He gathers to Himself a holy people then He sends them out into a world knowing full well that we may receive the same treatment He did – rejection, persecution, death. Empowered by Jesus, those seventy-two disciples advance into Satan’s territory as people believing the Gospel.  We remain in this warzone fighting against the devil, combatting sin. The devil does everything he can to halt the advance of the Gospel. But Christ invades the sinful world by the lowly means of His Word, a word that is powerful and effective. A Word that brings the eternal kingdom of God with it. We cannot lose, the kingdom of God is present wherever the Word of God is preached and where the Divine healing is delivered in the Sacrament.

As the seventy-two return to Jesus, they are filled with joy for the power of Word.  Our Lord says not to rejoice in the works of our hands or the results of our efforts. We rejoice in what God has done for us. Rejoice that our names are written in heaven. For the Kingdom of God has come near to you today.  In the Gospel, heaven descends to earth.  God comes near and speaks His Word of approval to you for the sake of His Son.  Value this Word, and hold tightly to it.  Do not trade this Gospel for anything, not even your earthly life, but rejoice in the Lord!  The Lord guard and keep you in this Word until the Day of Christ’s return, where we will see Him face to face and hear the voice of our Lord. Amen.