Sixth Sunday a. Pentecost, 06/26/2016

Sermon on Luke 9:51-62, by Brad Everett

One of the guidelines when studying Scripture is to trust that a verse or passage that sounds hard or difficult, is that way for a reason. Take it at face value and don’t try to smooth out its rough edges because if the goal is to come up with a reading that makes us feel better there’s a good chance we’ve missed the meaning of the passage.

So we come to this morning’s gospel and find Jesus saying some pretty harsh things.

A man approaches Jesus and says he will follow wherever Jesus goes—which by this point in the gospel appears to be one of our Lord’s goals—that people would believe the good news of the gospel and follow him. But Jesus’ words about having no place to lay his head are not exactly the enthusiastic ‘welcome aboard’ one might expect.

To another Jesus says ‘follow me’. The man is willing, but makes what seems a perfectly reasonable request to first bury his father — it’s not clear if the father was dead and awaiting burial or if there were family obligations that would only be fulfilled on the father’s passing which would then give him the freedom to follow. Jesus’ response sounds totally unsympathetic, declaring the dead can bury their own dead.

Yet one more person says they will follow Jesus, but first they want to say farewell to those at home. Jesus’ comment about those putting hand to plow and looking back not being fit of the kingdom of God, reads like an ultimatum—if you are following me then follow, but if you go home first, just stay there.

Yes these words of Jesus sound harsh and in fact they are; but they grab our attention for a good and gracious reason. Jesus desires that those who initially heard these words and those of us hearing them today might come to understand the complete and radical nature of the freedom that comes with life in him. the reality is that sometimes this can’t be done gently, and we need to be shaken out of our comfortable delusions.

Everyone has their own ideas of what freedom is and isn’t, but Jesus’ striking statements shake us loose from our own notions because it’s only when we let go of what we think we know that we can experience this freedom he offers fully and completely.

I’m sure we’ve heard or perhaps have even have said things like “I wish I wasn’t so tied down. I wish I didn’t have so many obligations etc.”

The follower of Christ has only those obligations and responsibilities that Jesus has given them. They are free to do what he desires of them. And that is true freedom because he knows us best, loves us most and knows what each of us needs to live the lives we were created and called to live.

So the follower of Jesus need not be concerned with a place to lay his or her head, nor do they have to worry about obligations to family and friends—other than what the Lord places on them. Their focus is to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind and spirit, and then to love their neighbor as themselves. As they give themselves wholly to God, the Spirit guides them as to how best live out that love with those around them. To be clear, these verses do not give husbands or wives, mothers or fathers, sons or daughters, who follows Christ a pass on their obligations as a spouse, parent or child. Rather, they look to Christ to show them how best fulfill these obligations, rather than assuming they know best, or worse struggling trying to figure it all out on their own.

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, St. Paul describes this in his letter to the Galatians as living by the Spirit —life empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit. At a glance there might not appear to be so much of a difference between this and any other well-intentioned way of living. But upon closer inspection there is a fundamental difference. Most people want what they think is best for themselves, their loved ones, or those around them—but what is “best” is open to interpretation as well as open to being tainted by sin. None of our desires is totally pure. Even our best intentions are tainted by sinful self-interest, or a lack of understanding. How many times have we endeavored to do what we were so sure was ‘the right thing, for the right reasons’ only to have it fall to pieces?

Thus St. Paul begins todays reading from Galatians by noting that Christ has set us free—not for self-indulgence but to better serve God and our neighbor. He illustrates this freedom by drawing a contrast between the desires of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. Simply put, the desires of the flesh are us doing what we want because we want to—that’s the common thread that runs through this list connecting fornication, sorcery, drunkenness, quarrels and dissension and the rest. And lest one think St. Paul intended this to be an exhaustive list he adds the catch-all line “and things like these” i.e. things driven by self-centered and self-serving desires—driven to do what we want because we want to.

However, the source of the fruits of the Spirit is the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. And we can tell they are of the Spirit because these fruits fulfill the two commandments—love of God and love of neighbor.

As it says in Galatians, those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its desires and passions. What we want—and not just those things we might think of as self-centered and sinful but also those we might consider noble or well-intentioned—has been put to death, so that we can be brought to life in Christ and made open to the Spirit working in and through us.

This is tough, because the “flesh with its passions and desires” does not die easily. It raises its head every time we hear the commands of Christ and in response utter the phrase “o.k. but…” and insert what we think should happen. The flesh threatens in each instance we resist the Spirit’s leading in favour of a direction we are more comfortable with and feel we understand to our satisfaction. The flesh lurks, waiting to impose its slavery of self-gratification when we resist the freedom of Jesus to love God and our neighbor. The flesh waits patiently to tempt us to question and doubt the promises of God, to put our faith in our desires and plans, rather than trusting in the goodness and mercy of Jesus in the life to which he has called us regardless of the struggles it may involve.

Life in the Spirit frees us from servitude to our sinful desires. Life in the freedom Jesus gives, saves us from the tyranny trying to sort out our desires and rescues us from the oppression of struggling to fulfill them. The freedom of Christ, demands we give up our desires which end in death, in exchange for eternal life that begins now and continues in the world to come.

The texts for today are not easy to hear, nor is it necessarily comfortable to have God put this into practice in our lives. But Jesus never offered, let alone promised anything easy or comfortable—instead he offers and promises His love and life everlasting

Pr. Brad Everett
Strathmore, AB
E-Mail: everettsts@gmail.com

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