Missing Jesus: What Following Jesus is Not ~ Luke 9:51-62

New Revised Standard (NRSV)

51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

52 And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him;

53 but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.

54 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?"

55 But he turned and rebuked them.

56 Then they went on to another village.

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."

58 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."

59 To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

60 But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

61 Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home."

62 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 It’s a series of fast paced vignettes about “following Jesus.” - biblical sound bites that whisk us from one drama to the next so fast that we’re left a bit breathless. When I read it through the first time my brain was doing a sort of, “But Jesus . . . can you just . . .  I don’t un . . . buh . . . if you would just wait . . . my legs are feeling a bit . . .” Yet Jesus races on, barely looking back. Luke’s vision of Jesus is one on the move toward Jerusalem – nothing will deter him, detain him, or stop him. Of course, we know it’s his death that motivates him. It’s in that movement toward the cross that our teaching happens. It’s important to remember that Jesus taught theology with death – his death – in view, vs. 51 tells us that he “set his face to go to Jerusalem”. Luke is borrowing from Isaiah who says that the One who would redeem Israel would “set his face like flint” (Isaiah 50:7). In another ancient translation of our text it says that Jesus “strengthened his face.” To do that is to remember what every athlete and dancer knows – that your body follows where you eyes go and that a focal point keeps you balanced and center when you are spinning. Sometimes, however, such hardening is more serious. When you realize the ship is going down – it’s neither kind nor helpful to have a tea party or sing kumbaya but simply to issue one sentence commands mindful that the time is short. These are words given while we race to the boarding gate or commands given by ER doctors for the wounded. Our text today reminds us that some of the most important theology is taught on the run, in the trenches, on the way, beside the road, on the lips of the one who knows his time is short. So grab your neighbors hand and hold on tight. There are some things we need to learn on the run about following Jesus.           1.      When it comes to following Jesus, rejection does not always mean wrath. The first vignette, vss. 52-56, is about the disciples. A Samaritan village rejects a request from Jesus for hospitality because the villagers did not want to to help him go to Jerusalem reflecting a dispute over which temple-city was the right one.  They had their own temple on Mount Gerizim and claimed that it was the original sanctuary. So they refuse to welcome Jesus and James and John are mad and ask to call judgment and fire down upon them. And Jesus rebukes them. The disciples, Jesus’ inner circle, are the first ones to miss “following” him. They believed their own self-righteousness allowed them to judge others, to act on Jesus’ behalf. They were wrong and that’s important for us. Can you remember that? Can you remember in your zeal and your love for Jesus – which I know is very sincere and apparent –that you will be and are a fallen follower? And when you reject Jesus – refuse to follow his way or fail to follow his teaching – be grateful that your rejection doesn’t have the final word. Can you remember that Jesus is not a dog that we can sic on people? Sic’em, Jesus! (and by the way, you’re not his dog either) which thankfully means that he won’t listen to others’ negative commands toward you.  It’s worth asking why Jesus is not upset by the Samaritans’ rejection. I believe it’s because we simply can’t know the fate of the rejecter and because Jesus always loves them – one of the biggest rejecters and prosecutors of the church wrote more of our Bible than any other writer – the Apostle Paul. And Samaria – Jesus will later command his followers to be witnesses in “Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth” and in Acts ch. 8 – we learn that the early church’s evangelism was successful and that an enormous revival broke out among the very people who initially refused Jesus. But while you can’t know the fate of the rejecter you can know the fate of the follower who messes up – Jesus will turn, vs. 55. Do you get the power of that? This one who will not be thwarted, who raced to Jerusalem, who strengthened his face, will turn to look at you. He pays attention. And what will he do? He will “rebuke.” This word is used for the work of Scripture and the voice of God in the OT which accomplished God’s will. It was believed by many Jews that only God can “rebuke” – it is his prerogative bound with his condemnation of sin and offer of forgiveness. It is an act, in other words, of God’s loving faithfulness in the face of sinners. When we fail to follow, God still follows through!           2.      When it comes to following Jesus, romanticism and eagerness are not necessarily faithfulness. The second vignette, vss. 57-58, is about a willing volunteer. Here and in vs. 61 are the only places in the Gospel where someone volunteers to follow Jesus with no action taken on Jesus’ part (healing, exorcism, summons, etc.). Maybe he’s catching Jesus on the way to Jerusalem while he passes through a summer camp – there’s good music, inspirational talks, lots of fun and a feeling of community. He’s excited but Jesus senses something else - romance, an easy life. It’s still a fairly easy thing in the church to imagine Jesus’ life – the godly life – as a romantic life in which if we follow really well then life will go really well – we’ll be happy, fulfilled, liked, with a successful job, good marriage, excellent health, etc. What I love is that Jesus doesn’t tell this one who romantically declares his fidelity that he will have some hard nights, but responds that he himself has hard nights. The chosen One of God, the sinless one, the leader, suffers – he has no roof, he tells us, no bed, no home – he is vulnerable, despised, and homeless. I forget this truth every other day - forget that he talked about the cross in my life not simply his, forget that the spiritual masters always speak of the desert or dark night of the soul, forget that being a disciple places me constantly face-to-face with my own sin and suffering as well as those of others, forget that growing is a painful experience. I forget but on one memorable occasion I was reminded not by a believer, but by an atheist. Greg Whitesides illus. –(to hear the actual story visit www.mcchurch.org, click on the resources tab and then sermons)  Sitting in the computer room for history grad. students at UCSB– “Religion is for the weak,” Greg said – “for people who can’t handle life; who fold or hide when life gets tough.” And as I listened to his strident critique of the weak-willed, simple minded religious folk who use religion to save themselves from harsh realities, I found myself thrown back to some of the early Gospel teaching I heard as a child – “Come to Jesus and your life will be better.” “Jesus will meet every need. Only believe and you will find peace and joy.” And through his tirade and my own memories something shattered within me. The china cabinet of my romanticized Christian belief was tipped over allowing all of its contents to crash to the ground with an almost physical thump in my chest. Before I knew it I was standing over Greg – whose back was to me -  and shouting at him with bits of spit hurling through the air, “You think it’s easy to believe in a God that doesn’t always come when you call? That it’s easy to surrender your life to a God who demands obedience, hounds you at every turn, and yet who seems so silent. That it’s weak to try and love someone who has destroyed your life! You try it!, I screamed. Okay, not my finest moment. But Greg’s gift was to expose in me this terrible flaw that I believed I romantically earned God’s love, that I was a good follower, that God was some divine vending machine dolling out favors for those who had correct change. Do you know what happens when you toss that American, best-selling dime store romantic novel called Christianity: the Good Life for Good People into the fire? You will lose the starry-eyed vision of Christian prosperity but you will truly see the reality of grace.           3.      When it comes to following Jesus, family is not always a Christian virtue. The final two characters are the most difficult. I wish that they weren’t in there. One wants to bury his father, the other to say good-bye to family. These aren’t criminals, jerks, outrageous requests, or difficult tasks. And I told Jesus, ‘I’d take’em.” But he challenges them. It’s tempting to want to fill in something negative about these relationships – to soften their blow by contriving some explanation which will let us off the hook – a dysfunctional family, burial practices that make Jesus’ words less strident. Yet, the radicalness of Jesus’ words lies in his claim to priority over the best, not the worst, of human relationships. It’s interesting that Jesus never made the choice of following him a choice between himself and the devil but a choice between himself and fathers, families, and friends. I also want to recognize that there are plenty of people in this world for whom this is not an abstract dilemma. By following Jesus they have left everything. But now I have a confession to make. I looked back – part of me wants to say, “I didn’t mean to but the truer part says, “Yeah, you did.” What I am trying to say is that. “I am not fit for the kingdom.” I have done or assumed all of these things – these people are me. But these “failed followings” don’t stop Jesus. They don’t stop him from doing what he was sent to do. That’s the overall point of these vignettes. The NT speaks of two ways of following Jesus: imitation and participation. We need both. I imagine that you read this passage in that imitation mode thinking that this was about us doing better, trying harder, following more faithfully. But Luke wants to remind us that we will fail, we are these characters – all of us are not fit for the kingdom. When we talked about this in staff, Sheri Marcantonio rightly asked, “Where’s the love?” The love my friends is that you will fail but he did not. He has accomplished God’s work on our behalf. He followed God faithfully.  We curse our enemies. We want their death like James and John – Jesus blessed enemies on the cross and died for them. We romanticize faith – Jesus was often vilified, ridiculed, and marginalized. He was faithful when life fell in. We say our families are our number one priority – Jesus subordinated his good family to the needs of the kingdom. Friends, I have good news for you today! You are not fit for the kingdom but He is. Following Jesus is not about your performance but about his. Some of you need to confess that you’ve forgotten that. And some of you maybe want to confess for the first time that you need it – someone to act on your behalf.