June 26, 2022 – Pentecost +3C

“When the days drew near for [Jesus] to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village. As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 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.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:51-62

All three of these vignettes use the Greek word AKOLOUTHEO – which, of course means “to follow” – (by the way it is from this Greek word AKOLOO that we get our word Acolyte). When we run into a word or situation that is repeated so often in just a few verses of a text appointed for a Sunday, like the use of the word AKOLOUTHEO, then we need to look closer at this word. What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus for us today? Well, the meaning of AKOLOUTHEO is not just to follow – it means “to follow one who precedes you – to follow as an attendant.”

Making Jesus the number one priority in our lives runs completely against what society tells us is important – and that is, of course, ourselves.  Following Jesus, we learn, means that we don’t put ourselves first, but more importantly, that we do not allow the issues of the past to impede our process of following. In fact Jesus says, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”  Well, for preachers a hundred years ago, I guess this image of putting one’s hand to the plow and not looking back would be more applicable or at least understandable. Today we might say something like “one cannot drive a car forward while looking out the back window.”  I remember back, when I was probably eight or nine, I remember watching my brother who was probably 12 at the time learning to use the riding mower. He was cutting the grass on the side of the house – and he looked behind him at something that had distracted him and he ran right into one of my father’s prized apple trees – which was just a bit bigger than a sapling – and he bent that tree entirely down to the ground before my father could stop the mower – just saving the tree. The text tells us straight – you can’t plow while looking back just like you can’t drive anything while looking behind you without creating havoc or missing what is important. When it comes to being disciples for Christ, it isn’t that we should never look back at the good things from our lives, or the life of the congregation, we just can’t wallow in them so that we find ourselves hitting obstacles and slowing us down – just like we shouldn’t constantly look back at the sin of our lives because we know that Christ has already forgiven us when we are truly repentant.

Of course, the opposite of looking back is looking ahead – something that churches have a tough time doing especially when things are going well – or even more difficult when a church is in survival mode. It is more comforting to ride the successes or to remember the good ole days. But the radical nature of Jesus’ calling is to remember that we need to constantly look ahead and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us forward to where G-d wants us to go. 

We need to keep the appropriate vision – keeping our eyes up – facing the community with our eyes straight ahead and not ignoring the wrongs that we see and encounter and deal with on a daily basis. If we say that we are followers of Christ, then we can’t look down and away from injustice – we can’t look back and miss opportunities for growth – we need to pick up our crosses and look straight ahead – we need to keep the image of the one plowing, picking a point on the horizon and moving toward it – with Christ leading us the entire way. 

Pastor Dave

June 25, 2022 – Words of Wisdom, Napoleon Bonaparte

“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”   Napoleon Bonaparte

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.  And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.  If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.  Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?  And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?  Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:38-48

OK – so maybe using Napoleon’s thoughts and words as a source of wisdom may seem counter-intuitive. But if you noticed, the scripture lesson from Matthew I have chosen does not encourage us to watch our enemy self-destruct (as per the wisdom of Napoleon) – but instead reminds us that we are to love our enemies, not watch with glee when they self-destruct. There are too many people who still believe that “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” is the biblical instruction for dealing with our enemies. Jesus turned that scriptural teaching on its head in the Sermon on the Mount.

Now, of course, hating someone is easy, while loving someone with the love of G-d is hard. And in some instances, loving someone is almost impossible.  For example, we have had people in this world, people like Napoleon, like Hitler, and like Genghis Khan who did things in this world that made it hard for people to love them. You may have someone in your live right now that you just cannot bring yourself to love, because they have either abandoned you, or hurt you, or offended you, etc. Hating them is so much easier. Jesus knew that – but Jesus also knew the love that is G-d – so Jesus knew that love always trumps hate.  Yes, evil and hate are so easy – so easy.  But love takes something more – and that something is the love of G-d. It will take knowing the love of G-d before we can love in the name of G-d.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, the love of your Father is as easy as looking upon the cross – knowing that You died because G-d so loved this broken world. Help me to remember that G-d continues to love the world and love me and all people. Amen.

Pastor Dave