June 30, 2013 6th Sunday After Pentecost

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[a]?" 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them, 56 and[b] 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."

“Total Allegiance”

We are called to total allegiance, but not blind allegiance in the call to discipleship.

Single minded devotion is demanded of those who would be disciples of Jesus.
this is not narrow mindedness, which leads to judgment and condemnation rather then understanding and compassion.  This is to be servants of one another through love.
To trust one another and trust the spirit of Christ., and walk in love.

What are our boundaries for our call to discipleship?

1.  We are not to call down damnation on anyone.
2.  We are not just to talk the talk, but walk the walk.
3.  We are not to get stuck with the dead.  Life is a gift.  Live it to the better end.
4.  Don’t look back; let go and press on.  “God will know how to draw glory even from our faults.”


“Following Jesus”  

Whatever else it means, to follow Jesus, it is a radical departure from what has been to what is yet to be.

It is an all consuming adventure which is full of uncertainty, vulnerability and openness to God’s surprises as they come upon us at the most unexpected moments, in unconventional ways and ask us to be ready to “ proclaim the Kingdom of God” in the very essence of our being.

It means being a servant, a steward, a slave.  We cannot do it our way - we have to do it His way.  We cannot consume one another, we are to serve one another in love.

As Douglas John Hall says, we are to “through love become slaves to one another”.  

Hans  Kung:  “True religiousness, in whatever faith, functions not to enslave but to free, not to injure but to heal, not to destabilize but to stabilize.”

True religion lives by grace which sets people free.  Free to be who we are.  Free to struggle with our purpose in life.  Free to choose without fear of reprisal, yet with responsibility for our choices.  Free to live knowing that I will always be loved, and also knowing that I have to choose how I am going to use my freedom - as an excuse to indulge in self-gratification at the expense of others; as a license to destroy myself and others;   or as an opportunity to love my neighbor as myself, to love as I have been loved!

Free to do good to all people!  That’s what freedom in Christ is all about.
For “...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.  There is no law against such things.”  Gal. 5:22,23
And there is no stopping those who live by the spirit!