Sermon - 5 after Pentecost "determined for the journey"

Sermon – 5th Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 9:51-62
June 27, 2010
Journey with Jesus sermon series part 1 “determined for the journey”

Today is the first of a sermon series I’ll be starting entitled: “Journey with Jesus.” In our lectionary going through Luke’s gospel, we are now at a turning point in the gospel, where Jesus “sets his face” to go to Jerusalem. This section is known as the “travel narrative,” a unique section in the gospel of Luke where Jesus journeys to Jerusalem, emblematic of his mission and ultimate destiny of the cross.
So as we go through these summer months, which is often a time of our own travels, we will join Jesus on this journey. On this journey we will experience the new thing Jesus is doing and the kingdom of God unfolding before us. We will learn what it really means to follow Jesus and be his disciple. It is going to be an exciting journey, full of twists, turns and surprises. We will see things we never thought we’d see. We’ll eat with people we never imagined we would. Our ideas of grace and merit will be challenged, and our perceptions about God and the world will be turned on their head. There will be conflict and danger on this journey. It won’t always be easy, it won’t always be comfortable, there will be sacrifice… but it is the journey Jesus calls us on, and surely he will be there leading us every step of the way.

John Isner and Nicolas Mahut played the longest tennis match ever this week. It set a record of 11 hours 5 minutes over 3 days and a total of 183 games. Isner finally won it and he fell to the ground and hugged Mahut. You can imagine how exhausted both players were. In fact, Isner’s mother Karen was so concerned about her son she said "He was kind of stumbling around, and I was kind of worried. My friends had to sort of hold me back, because I was kind of inclined to go on the court and go, 'OK. That's it. We're done here.'" It is clear that both players showed remarkable resiliency and determination.

In today’s Gospel, the first verse indicates a strong sense of resiliency and determination. It says: “When the days drew near for him to be taken up… he set his face to go to Jerusalem (NRSV).” He set his face, or fixated upon, gave his full attention to…Jerusalem. Other translations express more specifically the sense of determination the word denotes. They use words such as determined, resolutely, and steadfastly.
It is clear that Jesus is determined. It doesn’t matter how long the match is, how many calluses he gets, or how short of breath he becomes.
He can’t be dissuaded or distracted, he is unfettered in his mission to go to Jerusalem.
Jesus determination to go to Jerusalem means that he is determined to bring the kingdom of God, and fully committed to the mission that the love of God would be experienced and salvation would be realized. We see here and will continue to see that Jesus is determined and desperate to draw near to us, to love us, to heal us, to bring us grace, mercy and redemption.
So as we begin this journey with Jesus, we can see the urgency and determination from the beginning. There is no turning back.

And this is how he calls us, to follow him with the same determination…
In today’s gospel we have three people who say they want to follow Jesus:
1. To the first he says: “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” In other words, this is going to be no pleasure cruise. We don’t stay in fancy hotels on this journey. I am homeless, Jesus says. The kingdom of God is at hand and the mission is urgent.
2. To the second, who wants to bury his father Jesus says: "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." This may seem rash, but Jesus again is saying that the mission is urgent. Go and proclaim the kingdom of God!
3. To the third, who wants to say goodbye to his family. “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Again, the mission is urgent, there is no time to look back!

In each case, Jesus responds by explaining what true discipleship is, and what Jesus wants of us. So this is journeying with Jesus, following Jesus, this is discipleship. It’s not neglecting your family, but following Jesus with resolve, determination, and resiliency. When following Jesus is the ultimate priority, it is going to shape everything else in our lives, our other commitments. There is no greater commitment than following Jesus and proclaiming God’s kingdom. And this is what it looks like, when Jesus calls us to follow him we drop everything, and we follow him with all of our focus and passion.
Jesus emphasizes this because he knows there will be distractions, challenges, worries, fears and the tendency to follow in a half hazard manner. Are we being distracted? Do we lack passion, devotion?
What are the predictable, pleasant and routine parts of our lives that we are being called to leave behind?
How are we being called to follow Jesus? What does Jesus want of us?

As we embark on this journey, we do so knowing that the one who leads us does so with great resolve, resiliency, devotion and determination. Might we follow him with like resolve, resiliency, devotion and determination. Amen.