Pentecost 6
Luke 9:51-62
If you were put on trial for
being Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
This question has been on my
mind a lot since I first read it this past week. It’s a question that hits you square in the
chest and forces you to stop and examine your life asking further, “am I living
a life that shows others that I am a Christian? Or if folks knew me, would they
question my claim to follow Christ?” And
I’ll admit to you that my biggest hurdle in living the Christian life is my
desire for control. As much as I have
gotten better at rolling with the punches in the past decade, there’s still
part of me that likes to have things planned well in advance and for
predictability to be the name of the game.
And I know that I’m not the only one…I’m sure that at one time or
another we’ve all found it easier to have a sense of control, especially when
the chaos of life hits and spins us in an entirely opposite direction than
which we were heading in the first place.
This desire for control is
one of the themes that can be found in our Gospel text this morning. We join Jesus at the very end of Chapter nine
of Luke. At the beginning of Chapter
nine, Jesus had sent out the twelve disciples and given them the power to heal
the sick and cast out demons. A little
bit after this he went up to the mountain with Peter, James, and John, and was
transfigured before them and in the presence of Moses and Elijah. And now, after having come down from the
mountain and speaking about his death for the second time, Jesus has set his
face towards Jerusalem. This means that
Jesus is on a mission, a mission to go to Jerusalem and to accomplish what God
had sent him to do…and nothing will stop him.
But he’s got to travel
through some towns if he’s going to get there and the first place he stops is a
Samaritan town. And we’re told by Luke
that they did not receive him because his face was set towards Jerusalem. So it seems that the Samaritans know what’s
up…that Jesus is on a mission…and, maybe, they want absolutely nothing to do
with that mission. Or maybe, they
realize that Jesus is singlemindedly carrying out the mission and won’t have
the time to preach or teach or heal or cast out like they would like him to so
they just let him pass on through. Luke
doesn’t flat out say they reject him, but it seems like that is the case. Jesus won’t play according to our plans, so
why bother?
And that’s when the disciples
come into play. James and John and the rest of the twelve are also aware that
Jesus is on a mission and it is their task to help get him to Jerusalem in a
timely manner so that Jesus can accomplish what he was sent to do. But their reaction to the Samaritans not
receiving Jesus is shocking…‘Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down
from heaven and consume them?’ It’s not totally surprising considering the relationship
between the Jews and the Samaritans, but still, not something you expect to
hear from Jesus’ inner circle after he has preached about loving your enemies
and praying for those who persecute you.
But again, they had a mission to help Jesus accomplish his mission and
you could forget anyone who tried to get in their way.
But what about the folks who
either are asked to follow Jesus or ask Jesus if they can follow? There’s certainly a “please can I follow, but
on my own terms” kind of theme running through this part of the story. Please let me follow…but after I bury my dad,
and it could be years before that happens because we have no idea what state of
health his dad is in. Yes, Lord, I will
follow…but after I go and say goodbye to my wife and kids…and my parents…and my
siblings…and my in-laws…and my cousins…and give instructions to my servants as
to how to continue to run the household…let me take care of what I have planned
first, and then I will come and follow.
To be fair, both men make
reasonable requests…and it might seem pretty harsh that Jesus responded in the
way that he did “let the dead bury their own dead” “no one who takes to the plow and turns back
is fit for the kingdom of God.” Wow!
But if you think about it,
being the only one who truly understands the scope and ultimate purpose of his
mission, Jesus is inviting folks to let go of the control…to realize that life
doesn’t always go as planned and that being called to share in the mission of
Jesus Christ often means that our hopes and dreams and plans and goals will
sometimes be disappointed. It means
knowing that Jesus is going to call us into action at unexpected times and to
go to unexpected places and, as disciples, we are expected to go and do, even
if our plans don’t match, because the mission that Jesus is on is a mission
that makes a difference…and if we’re not willing to let go of some control and
let some of our plans be disappointed for the sake of the Gospel, do we really
have what it takes to be full fledged disciples?
Professor David Lose from
Luther Seminary puts it this way…”Does the grace, mercy, and love of God made
incarnate in Jesus trump our plans and shape our lives, or do we shape our
faith to fit the lives we’ve already planned?”
If we’re 100% honest, I think
that there are times when we all fall into the second category. Living a life that follows our own plans is
comfortable…it’s convenient…it’s predictable.
We have a semblance of control when we follow our own plans. But the life of a disciple isn’t comfortable,
it is not always convenient and it’s not always predictable. Being a disciple means that Jesus is going to
demand that his mission come before our plans and that
requires us to give up control. Because
it’s not about having control…control is just an illusion anyways, just ask the
person battling cancer, the neighbor fighting addition, the friend who lost all
their personal belongings in a tornado or a flood. The truth is that none of us knows what
tomorrow is going to bring…or even this afternoon…and even our best laid plans
can go awry at any moment. But it’s not
about us having control…or even about letting God take control…it’s about a man
who set his face towards Jerusalem and went to the cross, entering into our out
of control and chaotic existence and coming out on the other side, bringing us,
with him, into a place of peace.
There’s a rabbi named David
Paskin who wrote a song based on the greeting that is shared in the Jewish
community when someone dies. In English
it’s translated “May the Place comfort you.”
In the youtube video of this song, he explains that he never understood
why, in times of grief, people would refer to God as the Place. But as he thought about it, he came to the
conclusion that what was really being said is that in times where life is out
of control and chaos filled, there is sometimes a space…an empty space and may
you learn to live in that space and may it become a place of comfort and peace
even though right now it’s a place that hurts.
In setting his face to Jerusalem, Jesus calls us to follow…and it’s a
mission that demands we live into the reality that we are not into control,
that life is full of chaos, and that Jesus’ mission trumps our plans. But on the cross, Jesus dives head first into
our out of control world and brings us out safe on the other side, and brings
us peace. May we all have the courage to
live in to the chaos, to let our plans be upset by the mission of Christ, and
find peace in his presence with us in the places that are out of control. Amen
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