Tuesday, July 02, 2019

Sermon - 3rd Sunday after Pentecost - Luke 9:51-62


Luke 9:51–62

“No Looking Back”

The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the mission of the church, and those workers in his kingdom, are always on the move.  You look at the Gospels, and Jesus doesn’t set up shop in one place and make everyone come and hear him there.  But he goes from town to town, village to village, preaching the kingdom.  He says, “that is why I have come”.

 It’s not like the Old Testament temple, where Jews would come from hundreds or even thousands of miles away to make their pilgrimages.  Jesus discussed this with the Samaritan woman at the well – since Jews and Samaritans argued over which place was the proper place to worship.  And Jesus told her that a time was coming when people would worship in spirit and in truth. 

The Christian faith has never been about sitting on our hands, resting on our laurels, keeping what we have, and simply being comfortable.  Rather, we have a mission – and we plant churches, send missionaries, and seek to fulfill the great commission – making disciples of all nations, even to the ends of the earth.  We give witness to Christ in our own vocations, to family and friends.  By our words when we can and by our actions in all things – we send a message, we live a message, that proclaims and exhibits the hope within us.  People ought to, and many people have, become open to hearing more about Christ because they’ve seen the love and faith-in-action of Christ’s followers.  Of course it can’t just stop there, but it’s always good to remember.  And so, no one is a private Christian.  All of this happens in full view of the world.  We confess Jesus before men, and he confesses us before his Father who is in heaven.

But it’s not always easy.  Look at Elijah.  He had just had this great success.  A moment on the mountaintop – both figuratively and literally – as he defeated the prophets of Baal in spectacular fashion.  Their idol-god was silent, but Yahweh sent down fire from heaven.  A miracle.  A triumph of faith.  Glory be to God!  But then wicked queen Jezebel found out about it, put a contract on Elijah’s life, and he fled into the wilderness in fear.  Now hunkered down in a cave, he throws himself a pity-party and wallows in the false idea that he’s the only one left.  Poor Elijah.  Boo hoo.

Yahweh has no time for such drama.  He has work for Elijah to do.  Speaking not in the wind or earthquake or fire, but in the tiny whisper, God sends Elijah back and gives him his marching orders.  Anoint this one, anoint that one, and get your successor Elisha ready.  Swords will be drawn.  Blood will be shed.  There’s no time for this despair, Elijah.  God is on the move.  Full forward.

And then you get to our Gospel reading, where Jesus is gathering followers.  He sends his disciples into a Samaritan town, and they are rejected.  James and John do not take this well.  They want to start dishing out the judgment.  They want fire and brimstone.  They want this town to get a whooping.  How dare they reject us, Jesus?!  Do you want us to call down fire from heaven, like Elijah did?  Can we go all Sodom and Gomorrah? 

But instead, Jesus rebukes them.  We don’t know the exact content of that rebuke, but knowing Jesus, you can imagine it.  Don’t be so quick to judge, James and John.  Don’t be so quick to condemn.  For with the measure you apply, it will be measured to you.  And you’re not free from sin, either.  You don’t follow me like you should, either.  You deserve your own portion of that fire and brimstone.  And of course we all do.  Rather than beat a dead horse, harangue sinners who’s hearts are already hardened, Jesus just moves on.  He keeps preaching.  He casts the seed into other soil, where perhaps it will take root and produce a harvest.  No looking back.

There’s much to learn here, for us individually, and as a church, even a church body.  Don’t be surprised when Jesus is rejected, when people spurn the Gospel.  Don’t be too keen to mete out the judgment that belongs to God alone.  But don’t get bogged down when they reject you, or the Bible, or common decency, for they’re really rejecting Jesus.  And don’t dwell on the failures of the past, the sins of the past, the unfinished business.  The kingdom of God moves ahead; it has an aim, a hope, a future. Faith looks forward.

And then Jesus sees these other people, who at first, at least, want to follow him – but with strings attached.  “I’ll follow you wherever you go!”  Oh, will you?  Where do you think I’m going, to a palace?  To a great throne?  Of course you’d want to follow there.  But I don’t even have a home to rest my head.  This following may not be what you’ve cracked it up to be, friend.

And then there’s the fellow who wants to go bury his father, and Jesus gives what seems like a callous reply.  Did he mean, let me wait around until my father dies? Perhaps.  It was considered the oldest son’s duty to bury his father, and then to receive the inheritance.  Or was he interested in waiting around for a year to re-bury the bones, as was the custom of some Jews (and as is even done in New Orleans today)?  Even though the 4th commandment teaches us to honor our parents, the 1st commandment tells us who ought to come first.  Following Jesus is more important than following the traditions of man, however honorable they may be.

And finally there’s the one who just wants to go back and kiss his family goodbye first.  And even for this man there’s a gentle rebuke from Jesus!  “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God!”

Jesus sees the heart.  He knew what each of these men needed to hear.  Of course he answers well, even if it seems strange or harsh to us.  But the Holy Spirit also inspired Luke to write this dialogue for us, and for all Christians.  We, too, need the reminders to put Christ first, to let the dead world bury its own dead, and to keep our eyes forward and hands on the plow for service and life in his kingdom.

Of course, we don’t do so well.  Quite often, we’re like Lot’s wife, looking back to our former way of life.  Like a dog that returns to his vomit, we, too, return to the sins from which Christ has freed us.  To the sin that so easily entangles us.  The Old Adam and the New Creation in us strive and struggle for supremacy.  Who will win the day? Who will set the agenda?  Will we go forward, or are we stuck looking back?

Enter Jesus, the one who never looks back.  The one whose face is set toward Jerusalem.  And he’s not just going there for a picnic.  He’s not going there even to celebrate a solemn feast with his disciples, or teach in the temple.  And he’s certainly not going there to call down the lightning and fire of judgment.  He knows what lies ahead for him.  And so do we.

Jesus is dead-set on the cross.  His hand is on the plow, even when they drive in the nails.  His face, sweating blood, never turns aside from his mission.  He will not pass this cup to any other.  Jesus Christ, Son of God from eternity, has an appointment with death just outside of Jerusalem.  And he will not be deterred, distracted, talked out of it, or hindered in anyway.  Not even his beloved disciple Peter can turn him aside from that cross, instead he says, “Get behind me Satan!”  No, Jesus is only going forward, forward, ever forward to Calvary, Cross, and death.

For all your turning back and turning away, Jesus stays the course.  For all your conditions and strings attached – Jesus gives his grace freely.  For all your half-hearted, hard-harted, self-righteous and self-deluded attempts to find your own way – you can come up only lost.  But Jesus knows the way.  And he rescues the sheep.  He cries out to us in a clarion call of mercy that invites us forward with him.  “Follow me”.

“Follow me” is not just an invitation to go for a walk, or even on a long journey.  It is the call to faith.  But it also entails going where he goes, at least in some sense.  Jesus goes forward to his cross, but he also calls us to take up our own crosses.  Jesus passes through the grave and gate of death, and so do the sheep who follow him.  But Jesus also leaves death in the dust, breaks open the grave, and rises never to die again.  So too we those who live and believe in him – even though we die, yet shall we live.  And Jesus even promises a place for us in the mansions of his Father’s house.

Follow Jesus.  Believe and trust in him.  And never look back.  Your future is secure in Christ.  May your eyes ever be fixed on him.  Amen.


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