Taking the Scenic Route

In 1996, under the leadership of Rev. Otis Moss III the youth ministry that I was apart of took a retreat to Estes Park Colorado. Estes Park is a ski town height in the mountains and up they the YMCA has an entire campus of things to do. The highway is a straight shot from Denver to the destination. But there was something impeded the road.

Determination precedes Destination

It has been said, “what God has for you is for you” but don’t get it twisted what God has for you may include the scenic route. It may include difficult passage. The plan that God has for you to follow might be a plan that includes a difficult road, that if you were planning would avoid. The text says, the time for his ascension was close. The time is close, but there is a tension in v.51 that you cant avoid; although the days are coming for him to be received in glory, to be glorified before the angels, and take his place at the Right Hand of God he must first get to Jerusalem. So, before he can even get to the destiny that God has appointed for him he must first get from the north and head south to Jerusalem. It is a three day journey that because of problems he runs into turns into a 7 day journey.

Jesus sets makes up his mind to Get to Jerusalem. Nothing else matters. Everything now has in it the focus of his destination. He knows what is going to happen to him in Jerusalem, but he also knows it is apart of his destiny. And therein lies the point. To often do we miss out on what God has for us because we get discouraged by difficulty and quite before we reach our destiny. I look back at our ancestors and just how difficult it must have been to endure daily the afflictions of whips, chains, beatings, lynching, fear, rapes, and all other types of violence, and I’m so grateful they remained steadfast and determined to fight and survived until they reached the end. Can you imagine if Harriet Tubman…Frederic Douglass didn’t learn to read…(Run)

Delayed doesn't mean Denied

Now Jesus and the twelve get on the move. The leave the area of the Gadarense in the north heading south toward Jerusalem and they wish to take up rest in a Samarian village, but the meet resistance. There is ethnic and social tension between the Samaritans and the Jews. They are not permitted to stay there, dine there, rest there, drink there, use the bathroom there. The Samaritans hear that they are headed towards Jerusalem and they don’t like that and the deny entry into their village. What they deny Jesus is more than just shelter, they deny Jesus the quickest and easiest way to his destination. Because as you go through life you will not always be able to take the easy, quickest, safes, effortless, comfortable way to reach you goals. Sometimes you are detoured which causes you to get they delayed. But delayed does not mean denied. Just because you did not arrive at you goal when you wanted to, does not mean you didn’t get there when God had planned. And just because you may be in the middle of the long way now when you’d rather be settled, doesn’t mean you won’t reach your goal when in due season.

42 year old Zamboni driver, David Ayers, Carolina Hurricanes first NHL game wins game Against the Toronto Maple Leafs

We have to stop measuring our success by the time it takes and measure it by whether or not we did what we set out to do. If it takes you forever to earn that degree, earn that degree! If it takes forever to get that business off the ground, take your time and do it right.

And sometimes, when you are forced to take the long way, the scenic route you pick up some things on the journey that you wouldn’t have gotten if you had taken the easy way. (Elaborate)

Just thank God he created you in a way that you can handle the long way. (Preach)

Don’t let Distractions Derail you

Now the “Sons of Thunder” had something to say about it.

Exegete v. 54-56

They have recently received power.

They were followers of Jesus and had biblical precident

Its difficult enough to discern the will of God when its the enemy causing problems, buts its something else entirely when it is the people of God.

Jesus remedy to the detraction is to maintain the course that is set before him and to keep focused on his purpose.