Sermon: "The Urgency of Following Jesus"

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, Jesus 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 towards 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 plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'

We seem to live in a world where people are divided into groups which are at enmity.  As we see wars happening in so many parts of the world, they always seem to involve two groups with their own political and religious agendas.   For many of these groups, there is a long history.  Much of the hostility goes back many generations.  Such hostility can also be evident in communities and even in families.   It is not unknown for one branch of a family not to speak to the other. The reason for this may not even be known as it could well be something that happened generations ago before any of the people living now were born. 

In the time in which today’s gospel story is set, we see such a situation between two groups,  Jews and Samaritans.  Their history went back a long way and by the time of Jesus they were real enemies. They would not even use the same cups and plates let alone speak to each other.  We take up the story in the today’s gospel where Jesus begins his journey to Jerusalem where he was to be crucified.  Remember Jesus and the disciples would be described in today’s terminology as being “of no fixed abode”, so they relied on people providing accommodation and food for them as they travelled around.  Usually this was no problem as they lived in a society where hospitality was always given. It was very much part of the accepted culture.  However, when they arrived in one village which was a Samaritan village, the village refused to give them hospitality because they were on their way to Jerusalem.  Two of the disciples, the brothers James and John, who were nicknamed “sons of thunder” because of their fiery tempers, asked Jesus to call down fire from heaven to destroy the village.  In today’s terms they may well have said to Jesus “Let’s call in the heavy mob.”  Jesus is angry with them for even suggesting such a thing and he is certainly not going to take sides in this debate.  In the story as Luke tells it, we read in the very next chapter the parable of the Good Samaritan, who was the one least expected to help someone attacked on the road, and was in fact the one who did.  As they continue their journey from the village where they were given no hospitality to find another village that would, they are approached by someone who in complete contrast to the Samaritan village gives a great pledge of loyalty to Jesus.   “I will follow you wherever you go.”   Jesus seems unimpressed as he reminds this person that following him is tough as he points out that even wild animals and birds have a place they can call their own, but Jesus does not.  Next two more people want to follow Jesus and his answer to them seems very harsh, almost untypical of the caring and compassionate Jesus as Luke’s gospel portrays him.  He appears unwilling to let a man go to his father’s funeral if he wants to follow Jesus, and to another he says there is no time to say good bye to the folks at home before starting on the journey with Jesus.  This seems so tough, and we cannot pretend it is easy to understand.  One explanation could be is that Jesus is stressing the urgency and priority of doing God’s work. It is as though he is saying,  “Don’t let the claims of  God on our lives be made to fit in with all the other claims on our lives”.   The final words of this story taken from an illustration from farming seem to stress this point even more, that once we make the commitment, we are not to look back. 

Jesus indeed challenges us. He gives us a tough challenge.  As we see the picture given by Luke as a whole, Jesus certainly is compassionate and expects his followers to be also, but he reminds us all that once we make that commitment to him, be it through our baptism, confirmation, or any other commitment, he expects us to see it through.  Pray he will give us all the grace and the strength to do that. 

Preached by: Reverend John Davies at Llanfwrog Parish Church on Sunday,1st July 2007