Thursday, March 2, 2017

What i said on Wednesday (Sermon for March 1)



Ash Wednesday 2017
 
The reading

Luke 9:51-62

When the days drew near for him 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."

The message

Today’s short reading from Luke’s Gospel can be difficult to follow or find good news in. It is an odd place to look for the strength to go through Lent. We hear Jesus being rejected by a village in Samaria, his disciples offering to “command fire from heaven to destroy the offending community” and Jesus own rejection of potential followers, writing off the desire to follow him as insincere or made by people who were not ready or capable of doing it.

To hear good news for us in todays reading, we need to look at context, details and take a wide view of Jesus work.   We start by hearing that Jesus had “set his face to Jerusalem”.  To set your face to something was a Semitic saying at the time that meant total and complete commitment to doing something (today we might say keep your eye on the prize).    In this reading from Luke, Jesus has set his face on enduring trial, suffering, death and resurrection for the salvation of all people (events that will all unfold through the layers of political and religious power in Jerusalem).   This death and resurrection has already been misunderstood, ignored or rejected by Jesus closest followers several times. (they cannot understand how the Messiah, the all powerful, restorer and expected savior could suffer or die).  God knows how against a cultural of power, wealth and glory this message is and God does not give up on people so easily. Jesus does not just destroy them with fire from heaven and then go out and get new disciples. Jesus keeps saying he will suffer, die and rise again.  

The Samaritans do not even get to the point of hearing this uncomfortable message. It appears that they reject Jesus simply because he is going to Jerusalem (they do not care to find out why). This situation had its roots in events from centuries earlier.  A dispute over leadership split Israel into 2 different kingdoms.  Jerusalem was the capital of the Southern Kingdom and Samaria was the capital of the Northern Kingdom.  Over time, the Samaritans were seen as a different religious and cultural group.  The 2 kingdoms developed their own temples, leadership and rituals and to put it mildly, they did not like each other.  

Our first hint at good news in todays reading is in how Jesus and his disciples respond to this rejection.  Jesus followers have little time or patience for this insult and since they didn’t like those people already, they want to destroy the Samaritans with fire from heaven. Jesus rejects this response (and yells at the people who suggest it). Instead, Jesus pushes on and they simply go to another village. God does not give up on people so easily.  Days later, Jesus will actually tell the parable of the Good Samaritan (our reading for this upcoming Sunday). In this story, the God loving and righteous person in the story is a Samaritan, a member of the community that just rejected Jesus.  It does not stop there, Jesus continues to send his disciples to all nations and people, again and again. The Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts (the story of the early church post Jesus resurrection) are both written by the same author and stress God’s love, welcome and salvation for all people. By Acts 8, there is progress in converting and welcoming  the Samaritans and then the Gentiles (non-jewish people) into God’s kingdom. 

That’s where this bowl of ashes comes in. We do not need to have ash put on our heads as a reminder that we are dust and to dust we shall return.  We get that reminder more than we need in our suffering, in the pain and struggle around us, in the inequality, violence and anger we see and feel and take part in everyday, in the news of death and fear of uncertainty.  We need ash on our heads as a reminder that we are dust that God loves. We need ash on our heads as a reminder that God loves other people too, even the ones we do not like.

The last verses of today’s reading, where Jesus rejects potential followers because they seem to be filled with excuses and reasons to procrastinate, is exactly what it sounds like, a reminder that following Jesus is not easy, it is not a part time job, or the way to power , wealth and glory.  Lent is a time for us to set our face on God’s love and grace, to keep going back, to endure defeat and rejection. It is an invitation for us to ask what have we set our faces toward

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