Sermon – Pentecost 5 (Trinity 4)

THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM

(1 Kings 19:15-16 & 19-21) Elijah and Elisha

Galatians 5:1, 13-25 Freedom in the Spirit

Luke 9:51-62 Jesus sets his face towards Jerusalem

Psalm 16

The common theme for the readings today is clearly discipleship – This involves accepting the mission and adopting the lifestyle that is the hallmark of a Christian.

Luke narrates Jesus’ encounter with three people as is on the road to Jerusalem. They are presented with the concrete possibility of following him in his mission.

It is significant that Jesus was travelling. We are told that he ‘resolutely set out’ for Jerusalem – and as I have said before Jerusalem wasn’t just a geographical location – this was where his mission will meet it’s goal – it’s completion – The passion, the resurrection and the ascension. Going resolutely up to Jerusalem indicates his surrendering faithfully to the will of God.

Whilst he is travelling – he meets the three people – and in these encounters he explains the importance of discipleship and Christian life. Jesus says “Follow me” and

The first person says “I will follow you wherever I go” and Jesus replies “the son of man has nowhere to lay his head” Thus Discipleship must be unconditional and without security. It might mean that there are no times of refuge – a 24 hour a day job if you like.

The second person says “Lord, first let me go and bury my father”. There are several temptations here – by which we may be kept from true discipleship. Firstly, the suggestion that we only ever really accept faith as a sideline to the other things in our life. Corporate faith if you like, rather than personal faith. Secondly, it is suggesting that we tend to put off our duty by prioritising the wrong things. And thirdly, it is telling us that we should put the mission of the Kingdom of God before even family- nothing should get in the way.

“Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of

God.“

After a busy week of funerals, this thought always came to mind!

The third person in my translation said “I will follow you Lord, but first let me go and say goodbye to my family”. The Greek “apotaxasthai tois eis ton oikon mou” is actually “Let me go and set in order my household affairs”. I think this is the strangest excuse really – for me, I was imagining what the man really meant. And I think it could be one of these;

“I’ve heard that you are really dangerous, so I’m going to make double sure my life insurance is in place before I follow you.” Or,

“I’m going home so that my family can persuade me that it’s a bad idea.”

This, of course is the temptation to be tempted to inaction. We KNOW what we must do as Christians – and it’s about giving up our security to the benefit others.

“no one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God”

The Gospel according to St. Luke is a wonderful book in the Bible. It is the third and longest of the Gospels – and it is a synoptic Gospel (synoptic means literally “seeing together”) and it relates to the similarity between Matthew, Mark and Luke. The Gospel according to Mark was written first and used as the source for the other two – although it is suggested that there was another source, which might have been written or unwritten. Scholars call this “Q” – which is from the German word for source “Quelle”.

The author also wrote the Acts of the Apostles, and like other Gospels it was circulated anonymously. Luke was named in Colossians as a doctor and disciple of Paul (although some question this). In the introduction to Luke’s Gospel it states that “many others have created and orderly narrative of events”, we are told that this Gospel is created after thorough research and from the stories of the original eye-witnesses.

Luke writes in several literary styles to bring the stories of Jesus to life – Luke was a Greek or Syrian who wrote for gentile/ non-Jewish Christians. The Gospel is addressed to the author's patron, Theophilus, which in Greek simply means Friend of God, and may not be a name but a generic term for a Christian. The Gospel is clearly directed at Christians, or at those who already knew about Christianity, rather than a general audience, since the ascription goes on to state that the Gospel was written "so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught"

And all these years later, as we read the Gospel that is aimed at us! The countless generations that would come later. The writing style of Luke’s Gospel always leaves me putting myself in the picture, answering the questions about my own life that Jesus asks.

The Kingdom of God is received as a ‘gift’, in total openness, and it involves all the dimensions of human life. In God’s love for us all, and especially those who suffer, He wants salvation to permeate everything – so that our history can be transformed by His grace.

The Gospel call of Jesus to discipleship is not merely to the three unfortunates who meet Jesus on the day, but to us today. We know this.

In the reading from Galatians, the disciples determined surrender to the will of God is the experience of real freedom. “For freedom Christ has set us free” he says in verse 1.

Salvation is liberation, he says “through love become slaves to one another”. What a thought! For Paul, this is our ‘new way’ to understand life and liberation – “not according to the flesh”, but “according to the Spirit”.

Today, Christ is on the road to Jerusalem again – he is in our hearts inviting us to experience the real freedom of discipleship – where we find our existence in Him.