Jesus sent 72 — and now he’s sending us

From the villages of Galilee to the neighborhoods of Lake Norman, Cornelius and beyond.

This sermon was given by the Rev. David Libbon at Good Shepherd Anglican Church in Cornelius, North Carolina, on July 6, 2025.

You can view the sermon here, starting 24:30 into the service.

The text for today was Luke 10:1-20.

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In Luke 10:1–20, Jesus sends out 72 disciples to prepare the way for his coming, empowering them for ministry, warning of rejection, and reminding them to rejoice not in power but in their secure place in heaven.

What struck me in Sunday’s gospel reading was the number 72.

We often focus on the 12 apostles — Jesus’ inner circle, handpicked for leadership — but forget that he had many other disciples.

The 72 were part of that larger group, and in this passage, Jesus sends them out two by two to prepare villages in Galilee for his arrival.

But not all who followed stayed. In John 6, after Jesus’ hard teaching on being the Bread of Life, many disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. That moment revealed who truly believed and who didn’t.

These 72, though, responded in faith — and Jesus entrusted them with a mission.

Pastor David said:

“Jesus is announcing the kingdom and he’s using prayer-filled, ordinary, nameless people to do so. Men and women like you and like me.”

The message was unmistakable. Pastor David reminded us — ordinary Christians, largely unknown to the world — that Jesus also is calling us to take the gospel to our neighbors.

Jesus said in Luke 10:2, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Our church sits in Cornelius, just 10 miles north of Charlotte and less than a mile from Lake Norman — North Carolina’s largest man-made lake, known for its boating and growing residential communities.

Pastor David noted that within a 2-mile radius of our church, the population is expected to grow by thousands in just the next three years.

In other words, the harvest truly is plentiful — and Jesus is calling us to be his laborers. There is kingdom work to be done.

Just as he told the 72, Jesus tells us to pray — and then to go. We are his ambassadors, sent to proclaim that the kingdom of God is near.

David said:

“Do you know that if you are in Christ this morning, you are an ambassador of his kingdom? Every trip to the Home Depot, every walk of the dog around the block, every date night, every Fourth of July cookout — if you are in Christ, you are an ambassador of his kingdom, and you bring the kingdom of God with you.”

That kind of mindset changes everything.

It means our ordinary lives — our errands, conversations and routines — are full of eternal purpose.

Like the 72, we’re not called because we’re impressive, but because Jesus is gracious and his mission is urgent.

So we pray. We go. And we trust that as we carry the message of the kingdom, the King himself goes with us.