Scripture: Psalm 77: 1-2, 11-20; Luke 9: 51-62
When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans
to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward
Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us
to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" But he turned and rebuked
them. Then they went on to another village. As they were going along the road, someone
said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him,
"Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to
lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord,
first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury
their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said,
"I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home."
Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the
kingdom of God."
- Luke 9: 51-62
Jesus would have made a lousy parish pastor. Listen to these hard sayings: "Go
sell, all that you have and give it to the poor," or "Those who lose their life
for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it," or "Whoever comes to
me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and
even life itself, cannot be my disciple." Are you impressed with his pastoral warmth
and social sensitivity?
These are tough words. They're not designed to win popularity contests or to gain
approval for next year's salary increase. Jesus would have made a poor parish pastor.
After preaching such pointed words, there would only be three people left in the pew. All
of them would complain that Jesus' sermons weren't long enough because they couldn't
finish their naps.
The things Jesus says in today's Gospel lesson are harsh and unreasonable.
When one enthusiastic recruit offers himself saying, "I will follow you
anywhere." Jesus answers the man, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have
nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." Jesus promises uncertainty
and homelessness.
When Jesus urges another to"Follow me," the would be follower implores,
"Lord, first let me go and bury my father." We think, of course, that's a
reasonable request. To bury one's parent is a sacred obligation. Jesus, who must have
flunked grief counseling, insists, "Let the dead bury the dead."
The third aspiring disciple says, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say
farewell to those at my home." Jesus says to him, "No one who puts a hand to the
plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." What about the family values?
Jesus seems to say, "Forget them!" Jesus could not have made it as a pastor of a
congregation.
The church growth experts advise that what is really important for effective ministry
is to meet people's needs. Make sure worship is spiritually satisfying and the music is
the best. Help people feel at home. Education should never be boring. Offer convenient
opportunities for direct mission involvement that take into account people's busy lives,
demanding jobs and vacation schedules. Make sure that worship ends on time.
Effective ministry is a little like running a political campaign. Find out what people
want and give it to them.
All of this (to meet people's needs) makes a lot of sense. Except that this is not what
Jesus says. What he says is so wildly different.
"Let the dead bury their own dead."
"Those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save
it."
"Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children,
brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple."
"Come follow me."
Jesus would have made a lousy parish pastor. In fact, he preaches the complete opposite
of what makes sense. Far from making it easier to become a disciple, he warns us about how
hard it is. He is so discouraging about following him that he suggests that people really
ought to go home and conduct a hard-nose feasibility study.
When the crowds gathered around Jesus, they all seemed so sincere. They, like we,
wanted to deepen their relationship with God. They, like we, wanted to have purposeful
lives. They wanted healing. They wanted forgiveness. They wanted peace. They wanted to
belong. They, like we, want to go with him, to follow him, to be picked up and loved, and
to be come a part of something that could change the world. And they had no clue what the
cost would be.
Jesus turned his face toward Jerusalem and saw where they were heading. He could see.
Can you see? Jesus turns his eyes back to the crowd. Does he still not look upon them with
love? Why does he say these harsh things about hating mothers and fathers, and leaving the
dead behind and losing your life for the sake of the Gospel? Because he is about the truth
and Jesus wants his followers to know how it will really be. The worst thing he can do is
to sweep these people up in a great movement of peace and love, justice and mercy and have
the people believe they were headed off to a party when in reality they were headed into
battle, unarmed and vulnerable.
Jesus turned his face toward Jerusalem. He knows what lies there. Luke, writing about
Jesus, knows what discipleship is about, too. People lost their lives. The Romans could
snatch you in the night. Once you made following Jesus your first priority than everything
else fell by the wayside not because God doesn't like loving families or safety or
comforting the grieving. Of course, God wants these things, but the world Jesus lives in -
the world you and I live in - doesn't easily accommodate the wildly, transforming,
unconditional love of God that turns everything upside down. The world rejects it.
Jesus turned his face toward Jerusalem because as long as the world opposes those who
would transform it into something more just, more inclusive, more hospitable, where every
child is fed, every skin color declared beautiful, every long-term committed, monogamous
relationship declared blessed, then the transformers will pay a high price.
Ask Abraham Lincoln. Ask Martin Luther King. Ask Nelson Mandela. No one who tangles
with the principalities and powers of this world goes away unscathed. No one.
Jesus turns his face toward Jerusalem because he knows that the path is hard. The path
is hard but the Spirit blows him there. The same Spirit that blew over the deep at
creation and brought order and life; the same Spirit that blew through the prophets and
declared a day when "justice would roll down like waters...;" the same Spirit
that rested him at his baptism; the same Spirit that blew him into the wilderness to
confront his own demons, that same Spirit with a hot summer fierceness blew him to
Jerusalem, to Calvary, and to the cross. Jesus turns his face toward Jerusalem because
that is where salvation is found.
If the world was kinder and gentler, if the world was more accepting of reformers, if
the world looked more like God created it to be, then discipleship would be a breeze, but
it's not. If following Jesus was like shopping at the supermarket or getting a manicure or
shooting a round of golf, then it would be easy, but its not easy.
"Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children,
brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple." Following
Jesus costs us everything: all that we love, all that we are. To follow Jesus is to lead a
life ready to die, and to die having really lived.
Jesus would have made a lousy parish pastor, but he does make a very good Savior, and
he is not finished with us yet. His love keeps pushing and probing into the very recesses
of human evil and suffering that attend our lives. The best that he offers us is the cross
- the very thing that got him killed. The very thing that could not contain him. The one
he carried with him when he faced Jerusalem, the one on Golgatha, the one he continues to
carry into every episode of human desecration of the earth, every wound of the broken,
every crushed hope, every insurmountable burden. Jesus is always there, Jesus is always
here, offering to share our crosses, to carry our burdens, to forgive what we cannot
forgive, to allow us to gather under the shadows of his cross, so that our sufferings
become sheltered in his so that all things are redeemed. Jesus faces Jerusalem and leads
us there because if anyone has courage then he does and then so do we.
Discipleship is not for everyone. Jesus is clearly telling us that not all can shoulder
the cross. Not all have what it takes. But I do not think that means we are lost. It means
that even when we are weak, even when we cannot face toward Jerusalem, he lifts us up and
carries us and says, "Come, all you who are overburdened and I will give you
rest."
When we cannot carry our loved ones, when we cannot carry ourselves, he picks us up and
takes us to that place where crosses are transformed into Easter, where suffering is
redeemed, where hope once gone, becomes unable to be extinguished, where even death
becomes life.
Jesus doesn't say following him will be easy. He wants us to know the cost. He wants us
to know that only with our full commitment will we know freedom. He wants us to know that
when we give ourselves over completely to his way, so that nothing is left over, we
experience a kind of power, peace and freedom that the world doesn't know. When we know
it, it changes the world.Œ
Jesus would have made a lousy pastor, but he is a wonderful Savior. This is good news.
Amen.
