DON’T YOU JUST HATE IT WHEN…
“Don’t
you just hate in when…when Jesus is really clear.
That
is my thought for today. We do not have a lot to read, and what we are reading
today is really straightforward.
Take
a read through it and then I will share a thought.
A Samaritan Village Rejects Jesus
51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent
messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53 But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do
you want us to tell fire to come
down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 And they went on to another village.
The Cost of Following Jesus
57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 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.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to
bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for
the kingdom of God.”
If you want to do an
interesting exercise then draw a line down a piece of paper and on one side
write down the things Jesus does (heal people, feed people, etc.) and on the
other side write down what he says. It is amazing. He does wonderful things and
he says challenging, even outrageous, things.
Today he says, enough with the
excuses!
I am married to a school
teacher. If you are one, or know one, then they may have shared some bizarre
excuses with you that their students offered them.
Sooner or later we know we
either want to follow Jesus, or we don’t. And following him means following his
teaching—and some of his teachings are sharp. Jesus did not say follow me and
you will be happy…he said, take up your cross.
Today the readings can seem
harsh. The bit about burying your father (or not) is Jesus saying the Kingdom
of God comes before social obligations, no matter how important. Now you can
take this literally or instructionally. I take it as follows. If you are using
your social obligations as an excuse, then Jesus is calling you out. If you
really are following Jesus, then I expect he will want you to honor your father
and mother. In this scene I get the sense that people are yelling out to Jesus,
paying him lip service…and lip service…well he will have none of that.
The point, I think, is that it is not easy to follow Jesus...but try…and when you fall down, when you are not
perfect (for me that is multiple times a day) don’t try and make excuses…just
say to Jesus you are sorry, get up, and start following…did you notice, he is not
interested in you looking back…he is not, he is always looking forward.
I think your comments today tie in nicely with what you were getting at on the 19th with regards to change being hard and asking God what parts we need to make new. For when we fall down, then say that we are sorry, and get up again to try and follow the cross, that means making a change or else we will simply fall again. It isn't enough to just apologize, but our behaviour must then change in order for the apology to really have meaning, otherwise the apology just becomes empty words. Following the cross means changing our ways. There is that old adage that actions speak louder than words.
ReplyDeleteThis is also a fine example of the idea of contradictions that you referenced in your sermon this past Sunday. God accepts us exactly as we are because He did after all create us, yet God also expects us to change to become the type of person Jesus taught us to be. As you said Sunday, "the God who loves us wants to change us". Definitely something to get our attention making us stop, think, and turn to the cross.
Amen.
DeleteAmen.
DeleteSo hard to work through that contradiction of loving God more than your family, More than you children and your parents, yet doing what your supposed to, Honor Your mother and father, etc... The contradiction definitely brought me back to your sermon Sunday
ReplyDeleteThanks Adam. One commentary put me onto this idea of making excuses. All these folks are "hailing Jesus and saying they want to follow him, but do they?" I think Jesus wants us to honor our parents and our kids. I do know some people who have had to make tough choices...but I also like the idea that Jesus is testing their sincerity more than demanding they dishonor their parents.
ReplyDelete