Have You Set Your Face 2
“Have You Set Your Face?”
Luke 9:51-56 (NRSV)
It was just a regular cabinet meeting; except that part of the conference staff was meeting with us, and we were consulting with an immigration lawyer. After what seemed to me to be hours of questions and answers we finished the conversation and we took a break. One of the conference staff turned towards me and asked me, you cannot play poker can you? This is not the first time that someone comments on my inability to hide my feelings. Most people can easily tell what I am thinking just by looking at my face. No matter how hard I try to hide it, my face betrays my feelings. Yes, I guess I cannot play poker, nor run for elective office; since in our society in order to move ahead you must be able to hide your feelings and be able to speak a lot without saying anything.
The gospel of Luke tells us that: “When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem;” He must have been inspired by the prophet Isaiah Chapter 50, verse 7 where it says: “Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like a hard stone, and I know I will not be put to shame.” With firm determination Jesus “sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him.” Luke does not give us much information, but I imagine that those that were sent ahead secured a place for a meal and a time of rest. They found a gathering place where they could prepare for their dramatic entrance to Jerusalem. This entrance was not to be just like many of the others, a time of healing and teaching; this was to be a time of confrontation and the establishment of the eternal kingdom of David. The disciples had spend all the time on the road planning about who was going to have what place in the new kingdom.
The group finally arrived and found the messengers waiting for them at the entrance to the village. They took the tired group to the meeting place. “But they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.” The residents of this unnamed village did not want any trouble; they saw something in the face of Jesus that told them he was going for a dangerous confrontation. They could read in his face the determination to confront the religious and political leaders of Jerusalem, you could tell that his mind was made up and there was no chance of changing it.
This was a clear sign of disrespect to the prophet, teacher and future king of Israel. The disciples were already planning the takeover of Jerusalem and the over throw of the Roman Empire. They were getting closer to re-establishing David’s kingdom; and this time it was going to be an eternal kingdom. So when James and John saw how disrespectful these Samaritans were to their leader, they immediately thought about a fitting punishment. They asked Jesus, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” they were expecting a yes response from Jesus, maybe their revolution would start early; but instead Jesus turned around and rebuked them.
The retention bonuses that AIG gave to their executives have dominated the press these last few days. You can hardly read the newspaper or see the news on television without some kind of update about the AIG bonus. President Barak Obama has shared with the nation how angry he is; our lawmakers have passed a law dealing with it. There are some people that are so angry that they have threatened the life of those executives if they do not return the bonuses.
This comes just a few weeks after we heard the story about Nadya Suleman. Ms. Suleman gave birth to octuplets. It was reported that she is a single mom, unemployed and in welfare. She was living in a combination of food stamps, student loans and disability claims. Her elderly mother, who was caring for her six older children couldn’t make her mortgage payments. At the beginning she was seen as a miracle mom and had a deal to publish a book, but Mike Furtney, her publicist quit representing her after receiving several deaths threats.
It seems that our nation has developed a James and John complex. We seem to want to solve any offense by calling fire from heaven and burning the offenders. The disciples could claim ignorance, that they made an innocent mistake. They could claim that they were influenced by an eye for an eye theology, but we have had over two thousand years of a message of forgiving and loving our enemies.
Many of us rejecting this apparent thirst for blood have moved as far as we can from this arrogant judgmental behavior. That is good. The problem is that in doing so, many of us in the Church have become like the Samaritans in that village, we do not welcome Jesus because we do not want any trouble. We refuse to talk about Jesus because we do not want to offend, upset or bother anybody. We do not want anyone to think that we are fanatics, we believe that our faith is a personal matter and need not be shared with anyone else. And in that area we are doing a great job.
A couple of years ago, the Newspaper USA Today had an article about a new book written by Stephen Prothero, chairman of the religion department at Boston University. The article stated that 60% of Americans can’t name five of the Ten Commandments, and 50% of high school seniors think Sodom and Gomorrah were married.” When I read this I immediately went to purchase the book. In it I found several interesting statements. Dr. Prothero, presents what he calls a paradox: that is that Americans are both deeply religious and profoundly ignorant about religion. He states that one of the most religious countries on earth is also a nation of religious illiterates. But the most disturbing statement that he made in his book was to say that: “Basic religious literacy is lacking even in seminaries, where many ministers-in-the-making are unable to describe the distinguishing marks of the denominations they are training to serve.”
Jesus never had a problem offending people, Jesus ministry was about presenting the truth and giving the opportunity for people to accept or reject him. Jesus had to tell his disciples after this event what the ultimate plan was; it was not about a throne but a cross. Jesus asked them: “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” Jesus response to the refusal of these Samaritans to let him into their village was to move on to another village. They made their choice, but Jesus would not compromise his mission.
Soon we will celebrate Palm Sunday; it is the beginning of the week that we call: “Holy Week.” The celebration of the last days of Christ on earth, the period of time that the meek, gentle Jesus was transformed into a table turning, whip user, temple cleaning person. The cries of Hosanna still ringing in Jesus ears; he proceeded to offend the business and religious leaders of his time. What do people see went they look into our faces? Can people look at us and see the determination to follow Christ? Have we set our faces to enter the kingdom of God? We need to be careful not to move to the extreme of killing those that disagree with us, or be quiet in order not to offend anyone.
“As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.” (Luke 19:37-40) Set your face to win Freehold, respect people’s right to choose, but give them the choice. Amen.