Sermon preached at St. Alban's, Spirit Lake, on June 30 & July 1, 2007
(Proper 8, Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, Year C, BCP Lectionary)
by the Rev. Carl D. Mann

Texts:   1 Kings 19:15-16,19-21
Psalm 16 or 16:5-11
Galatians 5:1,13-25
Luke 9:51-62

Back in early June of 1980, after graduating from Luther College I received a phone call from my Archeology professor. “Hey Scout, how does this sound to you? Hard, dirty work in blistering heat for a period of three weeks; payment is minimum wage, room and board, all the beer you can drink, and all the tobacco you can chew with me as your primary source of companionship and entertainment. Can I count you in?” And without a moment’s hesitation, I said, “Yup!” He then gave me the logistics and said, “Bring your sleeping bag. The room part of ‘room and board’ is an empty, old farmhouse with hard wood floors.” And so began one of the most memorable summers of my life.

Now as primitive as conditions were on that archeological dig, it was probably like staying at the Hilton compared to what Jesus was offering to those who wanted to be his disciples. Today’s Gospel is sort of a continuation of Jesus’ discourse on what it means to be a disciple. One must deny oneself, pick up one’s Cross on a daily basis, and follow Jesus.

One potential disciple said, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” You see, Jesus couldn’t even guarantee the luxury of an empty old farmhouse with hard wood floors to his followers, let alone sleeping bags, food, and drink. I find it ironic that the Lord of all creation could provide shelter for foxes, food for the lowliest of sparrows, and clothes of surpassing beauty for the fields of the earth, and yet was completely dependent upon the hospitality of others for his personal needs. But you see, that was part of God’s plan. He, Himself, set the ultimate example by leaving behind in heaven the splendor of his own majesty and taking on the simple adornment of flesh. He gave everything up to become man, and as a man, he gave everything up including his life in order to lead us into reconciliation with the Father. Jesus is not asking anything of us that he hasn’t already done or is in the process of doing himself, and everything that he does is in complete obedience to the Father on our behalf.

Another potential disciple appears and Jesus says to him the traditional, “Follow me.” To which the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” To which Jesus answers, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Ouch! That one stings a little bit. How is it that Jesus can be so cold and callous? Burying one’s own father was the fundamental fulfilling of the fifth commandment: Honor thy father and thy mother. And Jesus says elsewhere in the Scripture that he came to fulfill the law not to abolish it. “For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.”

Now some commentaries say that in middle-eastern culture there is an idiom about burying one’s father, which is an expression that puts conditions on a designated request. It basically means, “I’ll get around to it when everything is in order.” Well, we all know that there is never a time when everything is in order. There is no perfect time to fall in love and get married. There is no perfect time to have children. There is no perfect time to pick up your family and all of your belongings, and livestock, and move to the Land of Canaan. You just have to have faith that God is in control and knows what He is doing. But you see, that’s the point in this instance. Jesus is not telling the man to break the fifth commandment. He is telling him to remember what comes before that. The first four commandments are all about putting God first and foremost in our lives. By doing so then we will be capable of knowing how to love our neighbors in the same way that God loves us. Jesus is not telling the man to dishonor his parents or to break any of the commandments but rather to prioritize correctly, which calls for us to love God before anything else. In essence, Jesus is saying to the man, “To follow me is to follow God because I AM God Incarnate! You can’t begin to honor your parents or your neighbors until you honor me!”

Finally, a third individual comes before Jesus and says, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” To which Jesus replies, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Another zinger! This example is reminiscent of the Old Testament lesson that we heard today. Elijah, coming fresh from his conversation with the still small voice of God, has thrown his mantle over Elisha signifying that Elisha is being called by God to be Elijah’s replacement when the proper time comes. Elisha runs after Elijah and asks for permission to return to his parents and kiss them goodbye before following in his footsteps to which Elijah, in essence, says, “Go, and return to me; for I have done something very special to you.” And Elisha goes back, slaughters his yoke of oxen, and using the tack, holds the first recorded BBQ for his family and friends, signifying the sacrifice of his old way of life in order to follow the new life that God had prepared for him.

Now why is it that Elijah could cut Elisha some slack but Jesus couldn’t do the same for a potential disciple? The answer lies in the first line of today’s Gospel. “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” Thus far in Jesus’ ministry, he has succinctly, and consistently preached his message of love and redemption, and now it is time to finish what he has started. By setting his face toward Jerusalem he is acknowledging his impending death on the Cross. And there is nothing that is going to sway him, tempt him or persuade him to do anything but to march resolutely to the Cross because to do so is to be in complete obedience to the Father. And what he is saying to this man and to anyone who would be his disciple is that this is where the rubber hits the road. From here on out if you want to be my disciples you have to follow my example and stay focused on the Cross because it is through me on the Cross where you will be redeemed and reconciled to God the Father. If you want to work in my mission fields, once you put your hand to the plow, there is no looking back because if you do, you will lose focus and will drift off course. Now for you non-farmers out there, think of mowing your lawn: if you are looking back over your shoulder as you are moving forward you will not stay in a straight line. If you are driving a car forward and only looking into your rear-view mirrors, you will drift to what ever side you are looking but you won’t be going straight. You will be creating an unsafe environment not only for you but for others, and that just won’t do in the kingdom of God.

The question for us today is this: What is there in our lives that are causing us to shift our focus from God and His call to us? What are we putting ahead of the Source of all that we have been given in this life? What thought, word or deed in our lives is preventing us from following the example of Jesus Christ in complete obedience to God? Only you and I can decide what it is and then with God’s help put it in its proper place so that it will not obstruct our view of the Cross.

You know, I don’t think it was an accident that God chose the Cross to be the instrument of death for His Son. Think about it. In the world of optics, we use cross hairs to focus our sight on the quarry that we wish to obtain. And it is no different in the world of Church architecture. We place the Cross in the front of the Church above the altar to focus on the one place where heaven and earth have met in the person of Jesus Christ. And during this time of the Church calendar, it is not an empty Cross but the Christus Rex, Christ the King who has returned to his former Glory that he willingly left behind in order to grant us our salvation, giving us a peek of and hope for the life that is to come to all who follow him.

This is what we are called to do to be disciples of Christ: Prioritize our lives and put God first, shed from our lives all that enslaves our bodies, minds, and spirits, then follow Jesus resolutely to the Cross, and stay focused, never looking back. If we do this, we will experience true freedom that can only be achieved through Jesus Christ, and we will never again have to submit to any yoke of slavery of any kind.

Gloria Patri