Rough Road Ahead 6-29-25
Rough Road Ahead
Gal 5:1, 13-25; Luke 9:51-62
Gal 1, 13-25
For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.
Luke 9:51-62
When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village. As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Prayer - Keep coming toward us Jesus, and when you come to us, help us to welcome you as you are rather than as we might like you to be. Keep calling us to follow you. And when you call, give us the grace to hear your summons. And when we hear, give us the guts to follow you, wherever you choose to take us. And where you take us, enable us to pay the price of discipleship, even when there are rough roads ahead - Amen.
So here you are, in church on a pleasant summer Sunday. And here I am, stuck with a tough text from Luke 9 when, like many of you, I would just as soon be at the mountains or the beach. Why couldn’t Jesus have said, “Blessed are you who are poor in spirit”? We liked it when he said that. Or, “Let the little children come to me.” That’s a nice thought.
We live in a results-oriented world. Everything from education to performance reviews at work to government projects are evaluated based on so-called “objective measurement.” That’s not necessarily a bad thing. We need more accountability these days, and the tools that measure results can help with that. But we seem to think that everything in life can be measured by objective outcomes. I fear that if we approach the Christian life from the perspective of looking for results, we may be setting ourselves up for a serious disappointment.
One of my favorite theologians was the famous Catholic priest, professor, and author Henri Nouwen, who warns us against that approach. He insists that our ability to continue to serve others is not based on the results we see, but rather on the hope that is firmly grounded in Christ’s victory over death itself, which demonstrates “that there is light on the other side of darkness.” On the other hand, Nouwen warns that many of those who base their Christian lives on the search for visible results “have become disillusioned, bitter, and even hostile” to the faith “when years of hard work bear no fruit.” In fact, I would say that most people who lose their faith were expecting some kind of tangible results from following Jesus in discipleship.
I think our Gospel lesson for today has a lot to say about our expectations regarding what the decision to follow Christ means for us. Jesus is in a village in Samaria of all places, and some folks come up to him, to learn more about him and his work. Several folks express a desire to join him in his ministry. The first volunteered, saying “I will follow you wherever you go.” Sounds like the ideal candidate, perhaps words each of may have stated at some point in our lives. But Jesus seems to be aware that he doesn’t fully know what “I will follow you wherever you go” means. It means “not having a place to lay your head,” like Jesus. It would appear that he had some kind of expectation of a payoff for following Jesus, and Jesus rather bluntly confronts him with the truth that his expectation is unrealistic at best.
The second would-be disciple is one whom Jesus invited to follow him. But he asked Jesus to first be allowed to bury his father. It would seem to be a reasonable request. In that day and time, the obligation to see to the proper burial of parents was part of fulfilling the commandment to “honor your father and mother.” But Jesus responded in a way that seems quite harsh. He said, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Although there is significant debate about what Jesus meant, it would seem clear that the commitment to the seek first God’s Kingdom that is inherent in the decision to follow Jesus outweighs all other priorities.
The third would-be disciple also volunteered to follow Jesus, but asked permission to first go and say farewell to his family. Again it seems a reasonable request. Even Elijah allowed Elisha to say good-bye to his parents when he chose him to be his disciple while he was plowing his field. But Jesus will have nothing of the sort. Echoing the incident with Elisha, he says, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Perhaps this would-be disciple was looking for some kind of recognition from his family for the fact that he was going to be a disciple of the Messiah. It’s hard to say. What seems clear is that all three would-be disciples decided not to follow Jesus, the path of discipleship is hard, it a rough road.
Jesus says that no one who trifles with such mundane matters ought to try to be his disciple. Hard words! No wonder many, like the rich young man, went away. No wonder those Samaritans heard Jesus preach and knew they wanted none of it. His promise to them, it will be a rough road ahead.
“Why are so many Americans not attending church these days?” someone asked. And I, who’ve heard a score of reasons why American churches are in an “attendance recession” was tempted to reply, in love, “Why are people avoiding church and refusing to come listen to Jesus? Because it’s hard!”
I’ve got sympathy with those Samaritans who refused to receive Jesus into their town or into their hearts. And maybe Jesus does too. He refused to call down fire on their heads. Instead, he turned to his disciples and reminded them of the high cost of following him. He even repeatedly turned away some would-be followers by saying seemingly harsh and demanding things to them even when they said, “I’ll follow you wherever you go.” You see why everybody in town is not here this morning listening for a word from Jesus!
The message of this unusual story is that following Jesus means the Kingdom of God takes priority over everything else in our life. Following Jesus means giving yourself away without thought of reward or recognition. It means serving the purposes of compassion, justice, peace, and freedom simply because it’s the right thing to do, not for any payoff. And to all who approach the task looking for a reward, or a payoff, or recognition, it would seem that Jesus warns them to do themselves a favor and not start something that is going to result in the kind of disillusionment and even bitterness that Nouwen warns us against.
One reason why I mention Nouwen is because he knows the true cost of what he speaks. After his ordination as a Catholic priest, Nouwen began to study the connection between pastoral care, psychology, and theology in Holland. He finished those studies at the prestigious Menninger clinic. Along the way, his message of acceptance and compassion earned him quite a reputation and a following to match. For twenty years he taught Pastoral Care at some of the most distinguished universities in the U. S.--Notre Dame, Yale, and Harvard. But he left it all behind to become the chaplain at the Daybreak community in Toronto. It is a part of the world-wide network of L’Arche homes where the mentally handicapped and their caregivers lived together with others in a community.
In an age of social media, when following takes no more than a click to see someone and have access to all they have offered for you to follow, we can easily forget that to follow Jesus is not a spectator sport as much as we would like for it to be. To follow Jesus requires more than scrolling, and it will cost something; actually, it will cost a lot. Now naturally, Jesus could let them do these things that feel so crucial and necessary. I would also want to bury my parent or tell my people at home that I was leaving. However, the reason these were recorded was to show that this following is costly and promises to be a rough road ahead.
I don’t know that I would suggest we should not bury those we have lost in honor or take time to be with family and friends. Yet, thinking that following Jesus and living in a radically loving and wholly inclusive way won’t cost us something is misguided. Jesus is saying, “Do you truly want to follow me in practice, or do you want to be seen following me as perception?”
It seems to me that in our current world, more and more believers prefer the perception of wanting to be seen as a follower rather than following as actual practice. How many times have I, have you, seen a person at a stoplight panhandling? How many times have I not even looked at the person and just put my blinders on and drive on without a second thought? How many times have I chosen not to get involved in a social justice demonstration because I had to go the grocery store or wash clothes, or take my kids to a soccer game, baseball practice or ballet? Yes, even as a minister, I have chosen the easier path of perception far too many times than taking the rough road ahead of following that Jesus told us about time and time again, even today.
I wanted to share Henri Nouwen’s story because it illustrates the kind of sacrifice following Jesus demands. It means that the Kingdom of God takes priority over everything else. It means working for compassion, justice, peace, and freedom simply because it’s the right thing to do. It means giving oneself away in service to others without looking for a reward. Giving something away without expecting anything in return isn’t very popular these days. But it is the heart of Jesus’ call to follow him. The question is whether we will follow, or simply walk away like all the other would-be disciples. The choice is before us yet again, as it is each and every day, perception or reality, believing or following. May God continue to offer us the grace and opportunity to truly follow – thanks be to God – amen.