Luke 9:51-62
(Sung) Will you come and follow me if I but
call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know and never
be the same?
Will you let my love be shown,
will you let my name be known,
will you let my life be grown in you and you
in me?
This is the first
verse of the hymn we will sing together in just a few moments. It’s a beautiful
song with a lovely tune, but listen to those words and consider the meaning at
the heart of this song. Pay attention to them as you sing them. They reflect both
the invitation of Jesus to be his disciples to follow him, to commit to a life
shaped and guided by Jesus Christ himself, and the need for each of us to
respond to this invitation:
“Will you come and follow me if I
but call your name?”
“Will you go where you don’t know
and never be the same?”
The
kind of discipleship that Jesus calls for takes courage, and it takes faith
that God will lead us and guide our way, showing us what it is that God has in
mind for us as individuals, at members of a community of faith, as citizens of
the world, and as human beings created and sustained by the love of God.
We don’t know where such following will
lead. It does take trust to follow. It also takes trust in
God’s plan to keep following when the
results you want or expect are not the results you
necessarily see and experience.
Each
week, we gather to worship and praise God. That is the primary focus and objective
of our worship service. We come to be stirred
up and to be challenged in our
discipleship. Jesus gathers us around the table in the meal we share. Here, we
are forgiven for our failures to follow as Jesus commands, and we are nourished
and strengthened in the meal as we
are sent out into the world to try again. We are called to share the love of
God with our neighbor, and we are emboldened to go out in courage, knowing not where our path of discipleship will
lead us.
“Will
you let my love be shown, will you let my
name be known?”
Listening
to the Word of God and hearing the proclamation of the gospel are part of our
preparation for going out. We love, because we
have experienced God’s love and we share
the story because we want others
to know and experience the same kind of love, mercy, and grace that is uniquely from
God. The gospel of Luke today reveals some key things that disciples need to
know as they follow Jesus by going out into the world. So let’s look a little
more closely at this gospel text.
We are told here
that Jesus has “set his face” toward Jerusalem. That turn of phrase – “to set
one’s face” means to move with firm
determination; to move with purpose and
resolve; to proceed with confidence and courage.
You and I know why Jesus has set his
face toward Jerusalem. We know,
although the disciples do not know,
what will happen when Jesus arrives in there. We know the rejection he
will face there. We know where this
journey toward Jerusalem will take him, and how it will end.
But as we read
these words, Jesus is just starting out, embarking on this journey, a journey
that begins in chapter 9 but doesn’t actually end with Jesus reaching the city of Jerusalem until the
end of chapter 19. As a result, my friends, we will be reading about this
journey and learning more and more about what following Jesus means, for the
next 19 weeks.
The path Jesus
follows between this beginning place and his destination of Jerusalem is not a
direct flight. It is like getting on a plane from Baltimore, Maryland for your
destination of Chicago, Illinois, and having your plane take you there via
Birmingham Alabama, Wichita Kansas, and Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania, with stops along the way, before
you finally make it to Chicago. Some of your stops are planned. Some are
detours and emergency stops along the way. But you continue to persist, knowing
that Chicago is really where you want to be.
I suppose the
fact that Jesus’ trip was so circuitous should comfort us, because our own
journey of discipleship seems just as convoluted sometimes. Our individual
stories often take unexpected twists and turns, and so does the story of our
mission as the church of Christ. There are surprises along the way, and
disappointments, and successes and failures, and sweet times of years past, and
challenges as we vision for the future. Twists and turns require us to be
strong and enduring, faithful and joyful. They also require us to listen carefully
to the message Jesus brings.
Jesus wants to
prepare us well for the work of being his disciples.
All along the
way on his journey, Jesus teaches his disciples what it means to do mission and
ministry for God, and what they need to know about following Jesus even when he
is no longer with them.
Because of
course, just as Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem, and knows what he will
encounter there, Jesus also knows intimately well the kinds of challenges his
disciples will face – both now and in the future.
And so, there is
a lot of movement in these verses. Just look at the words we see most often repeated
–
Jesus set his
face to journey to Jerusalem (vs.51)
-and journeying they enter into a Samaritan village (vs. 52)
-because his face was journeying into Jerusalem (vs. 53)
-and they journeyed into another village (vs. 56)
-and
as they journeyed on the way, a
certain person said to him… (vs. 57)
Then there are
these –
“They were going along the road…” (vs. 57)
“I
will follow wherever you go.” (vs.
57)
“Let
me go first to bury my father.” (vs.
59)
“go and
proclaim the kingdom of God.” (vs. 60)
It seems that
discipleship happens in constant movement –that is, continued movement is required of disciples – Jesus discourages and
admonishes those who want to look back for the purpose of staying with one foot
planted in the past. It is hard – no, it is impossible
to be a disciple if there is no movement.
An important
aspect of discipleship is being willing to go where God sends, where Jesus
calls us to go. One of the great challenges of the church today is that for so
many years, because the culture around us supported church membership and
church participation, it seemed discipleship meant no more than coming to
church, being friendly toward those who visited, opening our purses to the
needs that were brought to us, supporting ministry near and far through the
work we did inside our walls. At
least, that is often the way we worked, and how our lives as church played out.
But Jesus doesn’t call us and say, “Stay put,” or “Play it safe”.
We live in an
age in which those things we came to expect are no longer true. In the church
of the past, we became complacent. We knew
that the church would always be here,
and that it would be here for us. We
expected that the pews would always be
filled by those who found their way to and through our doors. Then we would
do what we do best by welcoming those who came.
But Jesus prepares
his disciples for mission and ministry that takes place outside the walls of any building - even in a hostile world. And what does Jesus
tell his disciples to do? Go!
First, Jesus sends his disciples out. He sends them
into places and territories where they are strangers, no longer members among a
close-knit group. They enter a village of Samaritans, and we remember that the
Samaritans are considered “other” – Jews are not supposed to mix with
Samaritans, and vice versa. Yet Jesus sends them to this place where the
preparations they seek to make ready for Jesus are not welcome – where they are not welcome. Where Jesus is not welcome. Just like many
places today.
Their first
instinct is to crush those who don’t want to receive Jesus. The rejection
stings. Who wants to endure more of that? And who wants to be sent out, only to
face defeat and failure – and hostility? But Jesus has a different response.
They are instructed to depend on the hospitality of those they visit, to wipe
the dust from their feet if they are not accepted, and to wish whomever they
encounter and interact with, peace.
As we reach
outside our walls, we learn from this story that the good news in Jesus Christ will not always be welcome. Go anyway.
We may not feel “ready”. Go anyway.
We will not know what the outcome
will be. Go anyway. And preach the gospel; the sometimes unwelcome, challenging
word of a loving, inclusive Lord God who expects much from his disciples.
Jesus tells
those who are procrastinating, let go of the past and all that holds you back
from truly following him. “Lord, first let me go bury my father.” And Jesus said,
“Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom
of God.”
Discipleship at
its heart calls us to follow Jesus, to go where we don’t know the ending, to deny
our tendency to cling to the past, to forget what the church was like 20 years
ago, or 30 years ago, or even 7 years ago - and to look toward the future,
while serving God in the present.
We confess that
this is a hard thing for us to do. We don’t like this challenging “new” world.
We want the direct flight, the non-stop journey to our destination. We don’t
like all these detours and delays.
What kinds of
things hold us back from discipleship – from following Jesus?
Most often, fear
– fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear
of success – for if we go among
strangers, or if we welcome outsiders in, we will be changed. We fear the
unknown.
Frankly, if
discipleship means letting go of all these things, “none of us will make the
cut to follow Jesus. Our desire for soft pillows and comfortable beds, for
fulfilling family and social obligations, [even] our patriotism will frequently
have higher priorities than following Jesus – especially following Jesus all
the way to Jerusalem and the cross.” (Brian Stoffregen)
Yet, our
ever-loving Jesus is calling us to let go of all those things. As Jesus sets
his face toward Jerusalem, he is calling us to follow him, and promises the
gift of his Spirit will constantly be with us, making discipleship possible.
In a moment we will
sing, “Will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?”
What will our
answer be? By the power of the Holy Spirit, let it be ‘yes.’
Please pray with me:
O God, you have called your
servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet
untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage,
not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love
supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.*
* From Morning Prayer, Evangelical Lutheran Worship,2006.
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