I have a confession to make. I had a
plan for my life. I had an entire map drawn out in my mind of what my entire
life would look like from beginning to end. Now, to show you how amusing it
sounds, I did not have the plan until I was about 15; you know, that time when
we ALL knew exactly what our lives would look like. Here are some examples of
how wonderful a plan it was. I would be married by the age of 22, have three
kids (cause I wanted to make sure I wasn’t too old as they grew up). I would
retire from the military by the age of 37, maybe 40, as either a Lieutenant
Colonel in the army or Commander in the Navy. Sounds good doesn’t it? Sounds
like the life. So I began on this journey. First, I needed a girlfriend and
that was the first sign that things weren’t going to go well. But I was focused
on having this life that I planned. My mind was set on this life that I took
the time to plan. My focus was all about this plan.
Our Gospel reading has Jesus on a
mission. His face was set toward Jerusalem. It is a clever way for Luke to say
that Jesus is setting out on this mission. He knows where he is going and what
he is going to do. Kinda sounds like a well scripted movie, doesn’t it? Jesus
sends out his messengers to the Samaritan village to announce that Jesus is
coming through. I can picture it as if it were from a movie. I could imagine
that the Samaritans get ready to line the streets to greet the approaching
Jesus with songs and giving Jesus honor, maybe even their version of a ticker
tape parade; the leader coming out to greet Jesus and give him a key to the
city. It would be nice if that happened, but it didn’t.
The Samaritans did not do any of
that. The Samaritans did not even receive Jesus. They were not even concerned
that he was coming to town. Our Gospel reading says they did not receive him
because his face was “set toward Jerusalem.” Jesus was on a mission! Did the
Samaritans think they were less important or not part of the mission? There was
a history of Samaritans and Jews not getting along; so, was this just another
Jew coming through town. Our Gospel reading does not tell us why they did not
receive him. There reaction to Jesus approaching is important because we then
see the reaction of the disciples.
When James and John see the reaction
of the Samaritans, they go into full blown “anger mode.” I mean they don’t say
“let’s just leave.” NO! They ask Jesus if they should command fire to come down
and take them all out. Talk about over-reacting! These two guys want to take
out the whole village. They are ready to say BURN IT DOWN! Flatten the place!
James and John are waiting for the instruction to take out the town and all who
live in it (as if they had the power to command such a thing). They are ready
to curse the place and be on their way, without a thought.
Jesus remains focused on his
mission. He does not want the place destroyed because his mission is bigger
than town’s people. His mission is so important that he cannot let people who
do not receive him sidetrack him from this mission. Because we all know the
mission that Jesus is on. We all know the importance of this mission and that
this mission leads to the most important place, for you and for me; that this
mission will take Jesus to a place that was regarded as a place of shame.
Yet this mission also tells us
something about ourselves. As Jesus is focused on his mission to the hill
outside of Jerusalem, there are many others who want to join this mission.
There are many who want to follow this leader wherever he goes; because they
have been touched in some way shape or form by his words and his actions. Their
encounter with Jesus touched into the deepest part of their being…their heart.
They were so moved they wanted to set their faces toward Jesus, the Messiah.
When they tell Jesus they want to follow, but first they want to say goodbye,
Jesus responds, “Let the dead bury themselves” and “no one who puts hand to the
plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of heaven.” It sounds like Jesus is
seriously scolding the people who merely want to say goodbye.
Jesus is not scolding them. Jesus is
telling them that this mission to follow, this calling to follow him means
giving up control. It means giving up control of our lives no matter how much
we have planned out, whether it be every year of our lives, our friends,
careers, spouses, the number of children we have, or the house we live in;
Jesus is telling us that when we live our lives as disciples of God, focusing
on God’s promises of Grace and Mercy, and with God’s love at the heart of who
we are, God leads us in a very different direction than what we might have
planned.
Out of all those plans that I made
for my life, not one of them happened at the time I had planned. I am not a
father of three. I am a stepdad to two men who can be frustrating at times
because “that’s not the way I would do it…” but bring much joy to my life. I
did not retire from the military, at all, but went into careers that I felt God
had a physical hand in getting me to where God needed me to be. I did not try
and ask God for fire to consume anyone or any town.
While that all sounds nice, there
was never a promise that any of this would be easy for any of us. Through our
lives we all have had struggles. We have dealt with diagnosis of illnesses with
ourselves or loved ones. We all, at one time or another, struggled in some way
shape or form in our personal lives, professional lives and in our faith lives.
Jesus never promised that it would be easy. I don’t know about you but that is
one thing I wish Jesus would have promised. Through all our struggles, we do
have the promise that God is with us; God walks with us to lean on, yell at,
and to cry with, in those times of struggle and to celebrate in our moments of
great joy.
Jesus is telling us to look forward
to the promises of God. Have you ever plowed a field, driven a car or walked
down the street looking behind you? If you did, I am confident that the
straight line you think you were walking or driving would send you off in a bad
direction. Jesus is telling us to look forward to the promises of God. Because,
Jesus mission is set on that hill outside of Jerusalem. It is that hill where
the cross that was once a symbol of shame becomes a cross of Glory. It is the
cross where we see Jesus’ mission as not only going to Jerusalem to overturn
tables in the temple, but to Go where God called his only Son to be placed and
pay for our sins to show us that we are loved beyond what we may be able to
comprehend.
This week we will celebrate the
founding of our country. A large group of people whose mission was to create a
country…this country. We celebrate, starting tomorrow, 150th Anniversary
of men whose mission it was to protect a small town in Pennsylvania just a few
miles north of here. Fifty years ago, this summer, we will celebrate a speech
that was given on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. It was given by a man who
was said to carry the bible in one hand and the Constitution in the other. In
all these cases, all these groups felt called by God to do these things, say
these things, live out God’s call to follow.
Just as they were called to a
mission, we too are called to a mission. A mission to proclaim the Good News
that Jesus Christ is the son of God. The Good News that Christ walks with us in
our journey and in this world to show us and share with others the love of God.
We bring our burdens to the cross and rejoice in that Jesus mission was for our
sake. We come because we look forward to the promise of forgiveness and life
eternal in a loving God. Thanks be to God: AMEN
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