Luke 9:51-62
That
to Which our Heart Clings
This
is a busy morning for us. Following both
services, we invite you to have a look at the displays in the narthex. Three of our LCM students will be heading off
for a year of global mission work. Yes –
I said three, two have determined this is not the best for them at this time. More about that as this sermon progresses.
We
are also awarding the LCM Alumni Academic Scholarship this morning. This year’s recipient will be leaving soon
for a semester of study in South Korea.
We wanted to send Sammi Brinson off with our blessings; and to call
attention to the never ending efforts of this ministry to support students in
their academic pursuits and vocational journey.
Yes,
a busy morning. A morning in which we
speak of serious life choices.
The
serious life choices being made by
these young adults brings home to each of us the serious life choices we have made.
It also prompts us to consider the serious
life choices which remain before us.
Those don’t end with a college degree (or two), nor do these cease after
a mortgage is signed or a marriage begun.
Every day of our lives we are all faced with serious life choices. Most
of the days of our lives we can look past them or pretend they are not before
us. But not today.
Today,
the events on our congregational calendar align with the appointed readings
from scripture in order to remind us that serious
life choices must be made.
Luke
9:51 tells us that the time is drawing near for Jesus to be taken up. “Taken up”?
Is that code for something else?
We all know the sequence of events by which he will be taken. “Up” – as in to the heavens - may eventually
come. But first he will be taken up the
hill to the barracks of the guards and beaten.
Then he will be taken up to Golgotha and placed up upon a cross. Serious life events are about to come his
way.
In
Luke 9:51, these code words remind us that events are not as essential as
outcomes. Luke 9:51 encourages us to
remember what Jesus is setting out to accomplish. And they are our invitation to remain focused
on those same ends.
As
he sets out on this mission, everyone around him either gets on board with him
or is repelled by his laser focus.
See
the line in which James and John asked about calling down fire to destroy the
inhabitants of this Samaritan village?
Notice that Jesus rebukes them.
Jesus knows what the gospel writer wants all of us to notice – that the
villagers could not receive him.
Why? First line, and fourth line
- repeated twice. Jesus’ face is set
toward Jerusalem. These villagers were
not going to get on board. Jesus’ rebuke
is for James and John, not those as of yet unprepared to share his unwavering
commitment to the kingdom of God.
This
exchange is terribly important as we face our own serous life choices. Too often we are threatened with a fire
raining down from above. In too many
instances we are warned not to be found among those not receiving. This exchange
reinforces both the enormity of Jesus’ mission AND his unwavering care for the least among us. “The least” surely includes those so
frightened and overwhelmed that they cannot muster the ability to climb on
board.
This
exchange exposes the heart and mind of the One who came to care for this
sick. The one who reminded his listeners
that those who are well have no need for a doctor.
This
exchange reinforces his compassion for the crowds, harassed and helpless like
sheep without a shepherd.
This
exchange makes it clear that Jesus will do what none of them are capable of
doing. He will accomplish what we, left
on our own, cannot.
The
way will not be easy. Jesus is less
concerned with not being received than he is with those who follow him knowing
what lies ahead. Foxes have holes, birds
have nests. Not us. The dead bodies will pile up. It is not our role to bury them.
If
you are waiting for me to get to the last line, that moment has come. If you were reading from one of those bibles
with red lettering, this one would jump out at you: “No one who puts a hand to the plow and
looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
This
may have been a summary condemnation of the one who met them on the road and
the one who wanted to bury his father.
Or, it may be a reference to the opening exchange in which Jesus has no
rebuke for those who do not share the focus set on his face and in his life. Perhaps the message in this sentence is to
see the serous life choice when it is presented to us and to be prepared to
live up to and in to the commitment we make.
Gabby
and Cole have decided not to go to England with YAGM. I am disappointed. But by grace of God I had the capacity to
reply to their notes to me with graciousness and compassion. I know that YAGM is a life-changing
opportunity. But it isn’t the only one.
It
was one of our LCM alumni who approached me about an academic scholarship. The prime donor shared their experience of
this ministry’s commitment to helping students get their degrees and discover
the many and various ways in which God is served. Sammi is but the latest helping all of us
discover how to live the life of a disciple in the world.
There
are many ways in which we may fit into the proclamation of the kingdom of
God. The serious life choice is seeking
that way with the start of each new day.
Jesus
does what none of us are able to do.
Jesus protects us when some of Jesus’ other disciples want to distract
us with talk of fire and brimstone.
Without such interruptions, we can see our way to share the grace and
compassion and care which oozed forth from every encounter Jesus has with those
whom he came to save.
Amen.