Proper 8 C / Follow Me / St. Luke 9:51-62
30 June 2013 – Redeemer
(edited from 2007)
Luke0951 Proper 8 C Follow Me 2013
“Follow me.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going up to heaven.”
“Oh, I’d love to go to heaven. How are you getting there?”
“I’m traveling through Jerusalem.”
“Jerusalem? How will you get to heaven through Jerusalem?”
“There the Son of man will be handed over to sinful men, he will be crucified and on the third day He will rise (Luke 24:7). I will get to heaven through suffering and death. Follow me!”
“Suffering? Death? No thanks, I want to go to heaven, but not that way. Have a nice trip!”
“Follow me.” Why is it so hard to follow Jesus? Why do we run down the path of sin when we know the way of righteousness? Why is it easy and exciting to walk away from God and difficult and toilsome to walk with Him? Why do we sin the most in the highest and most clearly defined vocations God has given us – as husband and wife, son and daughter, brother and sister? Why are we so eager to run after earthly treasure and so easily deterred from the everlasting treasures of Christ? Why do we fear dying when we know the Risen Lord? Why is it so hard to follow Jesus?
As He sets His face toward Jerusalem in today’s text Jesus invites those along the way to follow Him – the Samaritans, his disciples, some other men. In their responses we see ourselves and the roadblocks we erect on this journey. In Jesus we see the Way by which our journey will end by being taken up to the Father.
And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. (52-53) There was great hostility between the Samaritans and the Jews. The Jews worshiped at Mt. Zion. The Samaritans believed that Mt. Gerazim in Samaria was the center of God’s activity. For the Samaritans all religious roads must lead to that mountain in their territory. And that is why they rejected Jesus – He wasn’t going to Gerazim. He was journeying to Jerusalem.
Why is it so hard to follow Jesus? Because we are Samaritans. We want all roads to lead to us. We want God to conform to our expectations rather than repent ourselves and be conformed to His will. We want to be the center of religious experience. Did you get something out of the service? Were the hymns inspiring to you? Was the sermon uplifting? Were the people friendly? Were you comfortable? We want God to worship at our mountain instead of us worshiping at His.
Jesus is not deterred by the Samaritans. He must go to Jerusalem because only by way of His cross would those Samaritans be saved. Not on Mt. Gerazim, not on my mountain, but on God’s Mountain, on Mt. Calvary is the sacrifice for sin offered. It is outside Jerusalem that the wide gate to hell is closed and the narrow gate of heaven opened.
Each week God’s Holy Spirit takes us on a journey in the Divine Service. Some of the scenery stays the same – the Confession, the Creed, the Kyrie. Some of the scenery changes – the readings, the hymn, the sermon and prayers. But throughout the entire journey there is only one destination which matters. Did the journey bring us to Jerusalem? Did we hear of Christ crucified for our sins and raised from the grave? Did the journey end with an empty cross and an open tomb, with Jesus our Savior risen and living. Did we receive His forgiveness? Was His life and resurrection delivered to us as our very own? Christians travel the path of the liturgy because only through Christ does the journey end with us being taken up to our Father.
Jesus journeys to Jerusalem and He is patient with the Samaritans. He is traveling toward the cross for them. His disciples are not as patient. When James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” (54) The disciples were ready to teach those Samaritans a lesson. They had seen Jesus in His glory on the Mount of Transfiguration. Perhaps now was time for some more glory – show Your power Jesus, a little fire and brimstone for their sins.
Why is it hard to follow Jesus? Because we are the disciples. We want to see power and might and yet God works in quiet and merciful ways. We’re like Elijah in the Old Testament reading – he forgot the Lord’s power because hadn’t seen it for a little while and he whined, “The people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even only I, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” Elijah wanted the Lord to do something visible and mighty. But when the Lord came to Elijah He didn’t appear in the mighty wind or in the powerful earthquake, but in the low whisper. By that low whisper of His Word the Lord revealed to Elijah that Elijah was not alone. The Lord brought Elijah out of his despair.
Why is it hard to follow Jesus? Because Jesus is patient and merciful. He humbly and quietly goes to the cross. He doesn’t bring His Kingdom to you by might or sight, but by the low whisper of His Word and by the humble means of water, bread, and wine. He does not force you on this journey. He loves you, dies for you, forgives you and calls you, “Follow me.” It is hard to follow because we believe that we deserve God’s mercy and others don’t. It is hard to follow because the way of His kingdom is not the way of the world. It is hard to follow because the cross offers very little visible benefit. And for all of that we should be most thankful.
Jesus encountered three other men on the way. We don’t know if they joined the journey or not, but it’s obvious from Jesus’ words to each of them that they were reluctant travelers. Jesus set His face on Jerusalem, but these men set their faces on something else. The first man’s face was set on his own power – I will follow you wherever you go. The other two men set their faces on earthly things – burying the dead, saying good-bye to family. They had no idea where Jesus was going. Jesus is going on a journey where He will lose everything. His only garment will be taken by the soldiers. His life will be offered up for the sins of the world. He will be buried in a borrowed tomb (the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.) Even in death He will have no place of His own. Jesus loses everything so that He might win us. He journeys alone as our Savior so that we might go through the grave and be taken up to heaven.
Why is it hard to follow Jesus? Because we set our face on earthly things. We set our face on bank balances and beauty, on pleasure and popularity, on health and happiness, on power and paychecks, on family and food, on politics and presidents. But these things are weak, passing away, vapors that will never fuel us for the journey.
Jesus concludes His travelogue with a proverb. “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Jesus knows where He is going. He is going to the cross and when that journey is complete He will be taken up, taken up in the resurrection, taken up in the ascension. Jesus calls us to follow, not to look back, but to set our face on Him, to live and work and walk and die knowing the end of our journey. Through His journey through cross and tomb our journey ends with life and the resurrection. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pastor Bruce Timm
30 June 2007 anno Domini
(edit) 29 June 2013 anno Domini