Luke 9:51-62
51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them, 56 and they went to another village. 57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58 Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." 59 He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." 61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." 62 Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
“Can We Follow Where He Leads?”
Have you ever been in a hurry to get where you are going? How about… when you are only an hour out from your destination… on a 12 hour trip… with the kids screaming in the back… your head pounding… your patience running thin… and your destination just can’t come quickly enough. Minutes feel like hours on a trip like that don’t they? You get to the point where you become determined just to make it. Perhaps we can sympathize a little bit with Jesus in our scripture text this morning. He was determined to make his destination… although the way the NIV puts it, Jesus “resolutely” set out for Jerusalem.
Actually, in the literal Greek, Luke mentions this journey 6 times. This is obviously important to the story. Jesus is going somewhere. He is not a drifter. He is not a vagrant. He is not a wanderer.
Jesus is the man with the plan. He is moving forward. He is on the 11th hour of a 12 hour trip and he is determined to accomplish his final goal. And what is the goal? What awaits for him at Jerusalem? The Journey is not a literal Point A to Point B following Mapquest’s handy dandy instructions. The journey that Jesus is resolutely following is the journey to the cross. As far as geography, we could assume that Jesus was following a broken GPS because following these verses he goes over here, then over here, then over here, then over here again. Jesus is on a journey towards the cross, and there is no time to lose.
Yet, there is still some time to stop and gather more followers! He would save everyone who followed him soon enough on the cross… but first he needed more to follow him. And we hear about his first stop in Samaria. And what happens?
Jesus hears a response that God hears far… far… too often. No thank you! Why? Because he was going to Jerusalem. Now it could be that Samaria just hated Jerusalem the way we hate Pontiac the week of the Pontiac – Prairie Central football game… but I believe it goes so much deeper than that. Remember, Jesus was not only going to Jerusalem as a physical location… he was also going to the cross. Jesus is inviting the Samaritans to follow him on a path of pain, and trial. They know that Jesus teaches it will be worth it, but that it won’t be easy! And their response? Keep moving. We’re not buying. Have fun on your little pain and suffering Journey. They like so many others… like the idea of following Christ, but are not willing to pay the price of following Christ.
Now before Jesus can leave this town in the dust, before he takes a single step… the disciples step up to prove once again how brilliant, amazing, and perfect they are for being the “chosen” ones to follow Christ.
The indignant disciples who are “Oh So Ready” to condemn the Samaritans… the outsiders… the ignorant... the stubborn… the… well let’s just stop there… these disciples show us how even Jesus closest followers sometimes aren’t always the sharpest tools in the shed. James and John personally go to Jesus, I imagine with noses high in the air, and say “let’s call fire down from heaven and nuke these ingrates let the have “what for.” That will show them.” Don’t you just love how they phrase this “request”… let US call down fire. Scripture says that Jesus rebuked them. But can’t you about imagine how that conversation could have gone?
“Oh… Let US call down fire. Sure James, you launch the first fireball. In fact… someone here SHOULD be getting a fireball but it is NOT the Samaritans. In fact if you don’t get back there and be quiet and STOP touching your brother, I will bring down fireballs on you BOTH.” I know how those long trips go. Scripture says, “Jesus rebuked them.” Then Jesus continues on his journey. Resolutley.
In stead of raining down fire, Jesus shows us the way that God responds to people who are not interested in him. He has nothing to do with the people who want nothing to do with him. He does not stop… he does not beg… he does not punish them. He just says, okay, if that’s the way you want it for now, so be it… and he keeps right on going. Why? Remember, we are on a journey here. Jesus is the man with the plan. He is not going to beat the door down to go where he is not wanted. He will wait for the door to be opened for him. That also means it is up to us to open the door.
As he continues toward the next town, Jesus gets buffeted by several people all at ounce and here we have three people back to back who are challenged by Christ to “follow him.” Now, it seems that we also have three people with very reasonable requests in our scripture text, and three completely unreasonable responses from Jesus. The first guy comes along and Jesus says, “Following me will leave you with no earthly possessions.” And he says “Yeah, but…” and Jesus keeps moving forward. The second guy comes along, and Jesus says “Follow me.” His response, “Yeah, but… let me go bury my father.” And Jesus keeps moving forward. The third guy comes along, “Yeah, but… let me go say goodbye to my family.” And Jesus keeps moving forward… leaving all three men behind… sitting on their “Yeah, buts.”
Remember, we are on a journey here. There is a time table. Jesus is the man with the plan. Are you in or out. “Yeah but.” “Yeah but” is not good enough even if it is for a great reason. You notice that all three of our yeah buts in this story had excellent reasons to resist, yet, what do we find? Jesus is consistent! Your “yeah but” gets you a “don’t bother.”
Why? I think God is trying to tell us something here. He is not interested in our excuses. He is not interested in our agenda. He is interested in our obedience. He will take care of the rest of the details if we will just let him.
Imagine this story if they said yes? The guy who was unwilling to give up his possessions; follow Christ and learn what REAL wealth is. The guy who wanted to bury his dad; follow Christ and who knows… maybe he’d follow you to your dad’s. Wouldn’t that be something? You know dead people had a habit of doing very odd things around Jesus… like NOT staying dead. How about the guy who wanted to say goodbye to his family? What about following Christ to find that your family follows him because of you. How about that? Now, how do those “Yeah, buts” look? They are stumbling blocks.
This is a story of people approaching and wanting to follow Jesus, but they are unable, or unwilling, to trust and obey. How can you follow someone if you are not willing to do what they ask of you? It doesn’t work.
Jesus is the one on the journey. He is the man with the plan. Do you want to come along or not? Let your yes be yes or your no be no. God does not want to hear an excuse, even if it is a great one. God wants our obedience and trust. He will figure out the details.
That is the difference between a follower and a disciple. A follower is willing to give God a little bit of their lives, a disciple is willing to give it all. Now, to their credit, even though they are not in perfect line with what Jesus would want, the disciples who follow Christ gave up everything to trust and obey.
They may not understand perfectly who Jesus is, or what he is up to, or be able to give a perfect theological response to even 1% of the stuff they have personally witnessed… but that doesn’t matter. Truth be told, these men following Jesus kind of prove to be bumbling fools most of the time don’t they? “They said NO, let’s call down fire.” No guys, that’s not what were about! And how many times after Jesus told a parable did they walk behind him. “Yeah, that’s right. Hey James, what the heck was that about. I don’t know, I don’t think that was in the syllabus.” Why on earth would Jesus surround himself with this band of idiots?
We have already heard the answer several times this morning. To be a disciple, a true follower of Christ, we are not asked to be great thinkers or theologians, we are not asked to be perfect, we are asked to be obedient.
The disciples did not have a clue who Jesus was, they did not have a clue where they were going, they did not have a clue of what waited in store for them. All they knew was that this was the man with the plan. He is on journey here, and they wanted to go with him. “Whatever you say Jesus. Whatever you say.”
That is what our scripture text challenges us to do today, and every day. Will we follow where Christ leads? Will we follow his will? Will we follow his path? Will we be like the disciples… and trust God in our lives.
Is there anyone who will follow? Is there anyone who is willing to look into the eyes of Jesus and say to him… “Whatever you say Lord, I will follow.”
