5 Pentecost

July 1, 2007

Year C

St. Francis, Norris

…he set his face to go to Jerusalem. I tend to forget what a difficult task travel would have been in Jesus time. He set his face to go to Jerusalem would not be the equivalent of saying I’m going to Knoxville today. (Or Nashville or Chattanooga for that matter.) It would equate more to…I’ll be in San Francisco in three days drive.

We take travel for granted. I personally think of travel as something you do to get away from your everyday life. Travel is what you do on vacation. I know many of you don’t look at travel that same way, especially if your work involves travel. If you pay any attention at all, you can determine whether travelers are there for work or pleasure when they first get on a airplane.

Well, it is safe to say that Jesus was not headed out on vacation here. The next ten chapters of Luke’s Gospel are told as Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem. They didn’t have radios back then so storytelling was what you did to pass the time on a journey. That might not be a bad idea for our times, too.

What does it mean that he “Set his face to go”? It means that Jesus must summon his own resolution to go to his death. This passage is a good argument against pre-destination in my opinion. Jesus has already told the disciples about his impending crucifixion and resurrection in Jerusalem. I think it would be right to say that the option was open to Jesus to stay the heck away from Jerusalem if he wanted. That was apparently the only place he could be killed, so why go? But go he did. Of his own volition.

Divine foreordination does not rule out our need or responsibilities to show determination and fortitude in our own lives. We all know that we are going to die. As Christians we are all supposed to realize that life is eternal, so why don’t we all just sit back and wait for it to come? Why did Jesus not do that?

Obviously Jesus accepted his fate. Evil was coming on him and we find him going to meet that evil face to face. In John: (10-17) Jesus talks about God loving him because he is willing to lay down his life. No one takes it from me he says. I have the power to lay it down. (It always amazes me that Jesus looks at giving his life as a power.) And although Jesus had accepted it, he had to bear it alone. He tries to tell his disciples exactly what is going to happen but they refuse to understand. They ask if he wants them to command fire to come down. Wouldn’t that be like me asking Tiger Woods if he wants me to tell him how he should play a particular golf shot? It’s no wonder that Jesus sometimes seems to lose patience with them.

But aren’t we all the same? When we hear a story of terrible wrongdoing we wish that fire would come down and destroy the wrongdoer too. But of course that isn’t the way of God, in spite of our wishes. God is patient. Thanks be to God.

Maybe it was because he knew Jesus was a little irritated that one of them said, “I will follow you wherever you go”. Jesus goes on to tell them that there is no place to go. Only a destination at the cross. And since Jesus has a TOTAL commitment to fulfill, he seems to really lambaste his closest followers.

The lesson seems harsh. Let someone else bury your father…don’t bother to tell your family good-bye. It sounds like if you are to be worthy of the kingdom of God, you must be willing to forsake everything else. Not just worldly possessions but everything!

So it seems to me that no-one can qualify for the kingdom of God. No one other than Christ himself. And that I think is the true meaning in this passage. No one is worthy of the kingdom of God. No one is willing to forsake everything and everybody in order to be worthy. Some are able to forsake wealth and live in poverty and prayer. But even the monks of old were incapable of qualifying. If nothing else they had a place to stay and knew from where the next meal was coming.

Certainly Jesus knew that none could live up to these standards. And Jesus always taught that we should be in community and love one another. The contradictions in this passage bother a lot of people, including me. This lectionary passage commences just a bit late in Luke. Going back only five verses we learn that the disciples were arguing over which of them is the greatest and fussing about someone else working in his name. Someone that they didn’t even know.

Jesus was putting them in there place, no doubt. They were getting a little cocky. People were beginning to notice them and they liked it. A little fame and notoriety perhaps. Earning respect.

Jesus seems to be a tough guy to work for at times. You give up everything and follow and what do you get? Criticism and lectures. Every time you think you’re about to catch on to something…you get a lecture. Sometimes they even seem to be a bit sarcastic, in my opinion. Kind of like when you brought that good report card home and your parent said, “you should have been doing that all along!” Or kind of like when your child came running to show you that picture they had colored and you said, “that’s great sweetheart, but if you…whatever”

The point is that you can never do enough to deserve the kingdom of God, heaven, eternal life. ONLY Jesus was capable of that and he made it possible for us to ride on his coattails. I said possible. The story today depicts the disciples fighting for position in the kingdom and a willingness to do whatever it takes. To a point that is.

Jesus does not require nor even request that we turn our backs on our loved ones in order to be holy. The point being made is that we should never get to the point that we feel we have done all that is necessary for the kingdom. There is always more to do, more to sacrifice and, yes, more to put away and leave behind.

Beware those times that you are satisfied that you are a good Christian. Chances are that you are a good Christian. But, it is not your determination to make.

There is no end to the Christian life. That is true in more than metaphorical terms. It is true in more than the concept of eternity. There is no end to the effort to move toward the kingdom. You cannot work your way into it. But if you truly do the things that you have been taught …well…then the forgiveness and grace of God will allow that last step into the kingdom. In spite of the fact you are unworthy.