Christian Living

CARRY NEITHER PURSE, NOR SCRIP, NOR SHOES

by Chi Onwuchekwa
03/14/19
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“Then He said to them, …carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes… ”                                                                                                             Luke 10:2,4

Welcome to this edition of The Awakening Call.

We find in the gospel of Luke, at the beginning of the tenth chapter an account of Jesus sending out the seventy (70) while drawing their attention to the great harvest field. There were to labour to bring in the ‘great harvest’; an assignment very similar to the great commission.

But then in verse 4, we find what I consider a strange instruction – they were to take no purse, no bag (scrip) and no shoes. And the question is why would the LORD send out a people to a place He Himself describes as being like ‘sheep among wolves’ and yet not allow them to carry what little money, cloth and shoes they would need to be comfortable enough to do the job? Why send them out without money, provisions and shoes?

I believe that what He sought to inculcate in them (and also in us) is what He spent a while trying to inculcate in Israel and what Moses describes in Deuteronomy 8:3 as:

‘…that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone;…’

I am absolutely confident that Jesus was not proposing poverty as a necessity  in answering the call of God. Poverty is not a virtue and heaven knows that we need billions to do genuine, sincere and effective kingdom work not only to be able to bring in this ‘great harvest’ but to nurture and preserve the harvest that is already in.

So, why ask them to empty themselves of financial and material comfort?

I think that it is to help them and us to know and acknowledge that success as true sons and in the ministry would be dependent on something other than material provisions. They were given the power and authority of Jesus. And from Jesus’ words in Acts 1, we now know that true success is dependent on receiving the Holy Spirit and His power. That is the non-negotiable and indispensable requirement for genuine and sincere kingdom life and work. And that is why the LORD told them in Acts 1 not to be too quick to run into the harvest field but to ‘tarry’ until they receive the Promise of the Father… the Holy Spirit’.

And so while we must be willing to go into the harvest field (‘the world’) without purse, bag or shoes…’ (though warring against the distressing and terrifying effects of lack), we must however not go without the Holy Spirit. We struggle so terribly without Him because it is only when He comes that we receive the power to do and to finish the work He has committed into our hands.

We must be ready to tarry. The Early Church did and the effect of that outpouring were phenomenal – the Word of God grew and prevailed (Acts 19:20), cities were converted to the faith, the church grew even in the midst of persecution and the enduring work of the early church is there to see.

I have heard conversations that people will be encouraged to come and stay when a church has great facilities. There is nothing wrong with that except that our confidence to win and disciple souls must not rest on that. It must rest solely on the truth that we carry the authority of Jesus and are filled with His Holy Ghost and power. Material provisions must be an issue of just wanting to provide a decent and conducive atmosphere for brethren to worship.

Earthly kings and men of means have always been swayed and won over by the visible presence and power of God in the life of His people – Joseph in Egypt, Daniel in Babylon and Nehemiah in Persia. We can win and sway this generation to God if we carry His genuine presence and power!

Knowing this, let us tarry. There is really no point labouring or going into the harvest field without His presence and power. If we do, we become like the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18 – a people who need to jump, and shout and wail all day for their god to show up. But to Elijah – the man on whom rested God’s presence and power – it only took a few moments and a single call for the fire of God to fall.

Isn’t this worth waiting for? A power that comes and we can win 3,000 souls in a day; a power that can heal the sick, open blind eyes, raise the dead and set the captives free; a power that can turn cities upside down for God’s eternal glory.

The Holy Spirit is the Promise of the Father and our God is a promise keeper. All they had to do was tarry.

Let us tarry.

Shalom!

Chinwe Onwuchekwa