The following sermon was preached at saint benedict’s table on Sunday June 30, 2019. You can also listen to the live recording or subscribe to our podcast. Just click here.
Before we move into the readings I want to take a moment to thank you all for all the ways you have supported and encouraged me as I went through the ordination process. It’s been an eventful five years and I am endlessly grateful for each one of you.
Most of you will know that I was ordained as a priest about two weeks ago but what you may not know is that June 17th was already an important date for me. Five years ago on that day I completed the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route across Northern Spain.
A pilgrimage can be a literal journey to a physical place, but it is also common to use the idea of pilgrimage as a metaphor to describe our daily lives. People casually talk about their lives as a journey and we devour stories like The Lord of the Rings and the Wizard of Oz.
There are lots of references to pilgrimages in the Bible as well. You could even say it’s one of the main themes in the Bible, it’s that common. It’s there, but it’s subtle, one of those themes you can easily overlook. I’ve been reading the Bible my whole life and I never really noticed all the references to pilgrimages, until I did notice them, and then I couldn’t believe it took me so long to see something that now seems so obvious.
For example, scholars note that Luke frames his entire gospel narrative in the context of a pilgrimage. NT Wright observes that, “Travelling in obedience to God’s call is one of Luke’s central pictures for what it means to be a Christian. Following Jesus is what it’s all about.”
Jesus’ contemporaries would also have been familiar with the stories of the pilgrimages of their ancestors. Stories like the Exodus when their ancestors travelled from Egypt to the Promised Land.
They would have known the story of Ruth and Naomi’s pilgrimage to Bethlehem.
They would have sung the series of psalms (120-134) that speak directly to the idea that our lives are a journey and are commonly referred to today as the pilgrim psalms.
They would also likely have had their own personal experience of pilgrimage. Jewish people who lived in Galilee regularly went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. A journey that would take about three to four days.
A lot of the action in Luke occurs as Jesus and his followers are on pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Neil Elliot has observed that, “All that Jesus teaches about justice, about the right use of wealth, about prayer and steadfastness in his cause, he teaches as he leads his followers toward a final confrontation in Jerusalem.” (People’s Bible)
Our reading from Luke begins, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” (51)
Jesus has his game face on, his do not mess with me face, his nothing is going to get in my way face.
I have a friend whose face gets like that when she decides it’s her turn to pay for dinner. When that happens, there is no point in arguing with her. I let her pay.
Jesus is going to go to Jerusalem by way of Samaria. That’s an odd choice given that Jews and Samaritans aren’t supposed to get along. Most Jewish people in Galilee would have avoided going through Samaria by walking along the Jordan Valley and beginning the ascent to Jerusalem at Jericho.
By the way, have you ever noticed that a lot of older churches are built in such a way that you often have to climb a set of stairs to get inside and then another series of stairs to get to the altar? All Saints is built like that. The purpose of this design choice isn’t simply to frustrate folks with mobility issues – although I am sure it does frustrate them – it’s designed to mimic the fact that in order to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, you had to climb up a hill.
Jesus is determined, he has set his face towards Jerusalem and nothing is going to get in his way.
Well, some things may get in his way. Luke tells us that Jesus sent scouts ahead of him who went to a Samaritan village to prepare things for his arrival but “they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.” (53)
Now our gospel reading doesn’t make this clear, but it’s possible that Jesus has been spending time and gaining a following in Samaria. He may not simply be passing through Samaria on his way to Jerusalem, he may have already been in Samaria for quite some time.
This is suggested by the story in John of the Samaritan woman at the well. (4:4-41)
In that story, Jesus and a woman from Samaria have an in-depth theological discussion and one of the things that the Samaritan woman discusses with Jesus is the correct location for worship. Samaritans believed it was Mount Gerizim while Jewish people believed it was the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus explains that this debate no longer matters because he has come to bring about a new way of worshipping God that is not dependent on location. The Samaritan woman believes this is truly good news and she becomes one of the first evangelists, sharing the gospel with her neighbours.
If people in Samaria have begun to hear and believe this good news, Jesus’ choice to go to Jerusalem would be confusing. “Hey Jesus, after years of hearing our Jewish neighbours say that Jerusalem is better that Mount Gerizim, you came along and said that location doesn’t matter and we believed you but now, now you’re going to privilege Jerusalem by traveling there?”
This pilgrimage to Jerusalem might seem like a betrayal. It might very well be why they are now angry enough that they would refuse to offer Jesus hospitality.
Whatever the reason, the villages won’t receive Jesus and James and John are not impressed. They turn to Jesus and say, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” (54)
Sooo… I have a couple of questions for the disciples, but the first one is: What makes James and John so sure that they are capable of calling down fire from heaven?
We don’t have any stories that indicate this is something they have ever been able to do. Calling down fire from heaven to destroy a village isn’t even something we’ve seen Jesus do, let alone one of his followers. But James and John offer to do just that as if they are sure that they can and as if they believe that Jesus will appreciate this offer. As if they are doing Jesus a favour.
It’s like there are saying, “Step aside Jesus and let us handle this one. We’ve been waiting our whole lives for a chance to smite some Samaritans.”
Where does this sort of profound confidence – overconfidence? – come from?
But there will be no burned villages or villagers this day. Jesus rebukes James and John, and their pilgrimage continues.
Incidentally, if you decide to walk the Camino de Santiago, the way of St James, it is this James’ burial space you are purported to be walking to. He may seem like a bit of a mess now, but James does learn along the way and eventually becomes a man worthy of admiration.
As Jesus and his disciples continue their journey to Jerusalem, Luke describes a series of encounters with three different people along the way (57-62).
Now before we look at those interactions, there are a couple of things I think we need to keep in mind. Firstly, these three people are three individual people and when Jesus interacts with them, he is interacting with them as unique individuals at a unique point in his earthly ministry.
Remember that Jesus has “set his face towards Jerusalem.” He is a man with a mission that will require all of his focus and concentration. There is no time for anything or anyone who will try and distract him from doing what he knows he needs to do.
And if we want to follow him on this road, we need to be willing to be equally focused.
I had a lot of great adventures on the Camino, but I also turned down an equally large number of them because I needed to be in Santiago by a particular date. By saying “yes” to the Camino, I had to say “no” to other things. I had to say “no” to good things, important things even, because those things conflicted with the thing I had said “yes” to.
When Jesus meets these three people along the way, they all say they want to follow him, but Jesus tests them to make sure that their “yes” is really a “yes.” Do they understand what they will have to say “no” to in order to say “yes” to Jesus?
The first man Jesus meets says, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
Which is a pretty audacious statement. You’ve got to admire this guy’s confidence. Over confidence?
I mean really, you’re going to follow Jesus wherever he goes? How can you even say such a thing when you have absolutely no idea where he is going? This journey will end with death on a cross. Are you sure you’re prepared to go that far?
We make these kinds of audacious statements all the time, when we sign leases or job contracts, in church services, marriage liturgies, ordinations….
Will you obey your bishop?
I will.
And I mean it. And I have no idea what that means.
And while it is impossible to fully understand what we are agreeing to in those moments, in a healthy process the person who we are pledging such unfailing loyalty to should do their best to let us know something of what we are getting ourselves into.
And Jesus does just that, he says to this man, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (58)
These are some of the conditions of following Jesus. Saying “yes” to following Jesus on this pilgrim road is also saying “no” to security, safety, and stability.
Jesus directly asks the next person he meets to follow him, and this man is willing to do so, on one condition. “First let me go and bury my father.” (59)
But Jesus says, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” (60)
That’s pretty harsh don’t you think?
Now it’s not clear what the man meant by “let me go and bury my father.” Has his father literally just died and is about to be buried? Is he near death? Or does the man simply mean that he won’t be able to follow Jesus until some unspecified point in the future when his father is no longer living?
We don’t know. What we do know is that it was a sacred Jewish obligation to make your father’s burial your top priority. It was more important than even saying your daily prayers. So Jesus’ statement that the man should let the dead bury the dead would certainly have caught people’s attention.
The man’s willingness to follow Jesus is conditional and that just doesn’t work anymore. You can’t put something or someone ahead of Jesus. You can’t say, “My first priority is to bury my father and then I’ll follow you.”
And I think this issue, this idea of priorities is what Jesus is speaking to rather than literally condemning the importance of burying a family member. And church tradition seems to agree. Some of our most beautiful liturgies are our funeral liturgies.
Jesus is on an urgent, time sensitive mission. He can’t be distracted or allow anything to get in his way, and he needs the people around him to be similarly focused.
In times like this, our priorities need to shift and some things that are normally highly valued need to be put on the back burner.
Kalyn Falk once said to me, “I mean, Sabbath is truly important and we should all practice it, but if your house catches fire on the Sabbath you need to stop resting and get to work getting everyone out of the house.”
Then a third person comes forward wanting to conditionally follow Jesus. “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.”
I will follow you, but first let me bury my father. I will follow you, but first let me say farewell to those at my home.
Again there is a desire to follow Jesus, but not to make following Jesus the top priority.
And Jesus uses an interesting metaphor to explain why this just doesn’t work.
“No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (61-62)
I’m not sure if anyone in this room has ever tried to plow a field by hand. I certainly haven’t, but basically, it’s a task that requires you to focus on where you are going, not on where you have been. If you focus on a spot ahead of you where you intend to wind up, you can create a fairly straight row. If you keep looking behind you, you won’t. You have to choose to keep looking forward in order to be effective.
Jesus has set his face towards Jerusalem. There is no looking back, and he needs the people who will join him on this pilgrimage to have the same level of focus.
There are times to look behind you, there are times to rest and to care for your family, and there are times to set your face towards Jerusalem and make sure that nothing distracts you from that purpose.
Whenever you say “yes” to something you are inevitably saying “no” to something else. It’s interesting to me that the only people who receives a rebuke from Jesus in this passage are the disciples who want to bring down judgement on others whose choices differ from theirs. It’s also interesting that Luke doesn’t tell us what the three men decide to do. Do they return home to their families? Do they bury their father? Do they follow Jesus on this road to Jerusalem?
What are the things you are saying a conscious “yes” and “no” to in your life? What are you saying “yes” and “no” to without being fully aware you are doing so? Does any of that need to shift? If so how?
May you be gentle with yourself as you reflect, curious about what you discover, and inspired to say “yes” fully and without conditions.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.