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
Every once in a while, I ask
myself this question, “What is God doing in my life these days?” As Christians,
we believe that God works in our lives, so there must be some indication of God
doing something: what is it? If I cannot
discern God’s presence, does that mean God is not doing what was promised—that
God would be with me, even to the end?
Is God keeping, me mindful of the needs of others? We often
close our prayers with that simple petition, “keep us ever mindful of the needs
of others.” Is God doing that for
you? Or, maybe God is protecting you
from pain and hardship? Certainly that should be at the top of our list of
priorities. Who wants to experience pain and suffering when we have a
relationship with the Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth? Might God be showing you the way to eternal
life? I want to live in the assurance of everlasting life forever with God in
His heavenly kingdom and I hope that He is showing me the way. But, how can I
be sure? I know of no fail-safe road map for us human beings and God seems
remarkably quiet on this subject. Is God doing anything for you today?
In the Gospel of Luke Jesus is traveling through
Samaritan-ville and he has “set his face toward Jerusalem.” He is not to be deterred in this journey
which he has undertaken with unwavering determination. His path will not be
upset—by Samaritans or his disciples. But, his disciples are once again trying
their best to understand Jesus’ message about discipleship—so Jesus tries to make
it simple. First, be willing to let go
of the past—move on. Try new things. Visit new places—court new friends. You
cannot change the past so move on trying to eliminate the mistakes we made in
days gone by. Second, there comes a time when we must leave the comforts of
home for the uncertainties of the road. Living on the road doesn't have to be
uncomfortable—but it may be. Don’t let that dissuade you from taking on new
adventures. And finally, once you have made
the decision to strike out, keep your face toward that destination and don’t
look backward—it just puts you off course.
Never look back once your decision is set because any deviation from the
path will result in your journey not staying true and in line toward your
destination.
We use lots of pilgrim talk when we talk about Christians
and the Christian way. But, in many ways
we are nomads traveling in the uncharted waters of the Christian life. We live in a land that is foreign to us and
we work in hostile and frightening conditions.
Most of the world sees things differently than we see them and to make
matters worse, we have no home or fixed workplace. Like aliens—strangers in a strange land, we
live a spiritual life in a physical existence.
But we are also like pilgrims in that we don’t wander aimlessly. We who are true disciples and have set our
faces toward Jerusalem have a final destination—to spend eternity with God, the
one from whose love nothing can separate us. Because we have chosen to follow
Jesus, he will lead us to new ways of living and new places to be with him.
As I was growing up in northern Indiana my Grandpa loved to
take me on long rides through the country-side.
I never knew our destination, when we would arrive, or at what time we
would return. Grandpa knew the location
of every covered bridge in the county, and where the best pie could be had in
any direction from our current location. What more could a young boy what but
flowing river water, a covered bridge, and pie? Life was good. But one thing
was missing from our trips into the Indiana countryside—control. As a child I
didn’t need to have control, but as I grew older control was a commodity that
was sorely missed when it was not present.
I don’t know where the need to be in control comes from, but
I do know that most adults have that need to some degree or another. We need to be in control—to finish our
business before moving on to another task. We must bury our dead—we must hold
onto our past as we move into the future.
And we must longingly remember the details of the works we have done in
ages long ago, as we contemplate what and how we will accomplish our future
goals.
It can be very hard to interrupt our plans in order to
follow Jesus. It is hard to take our lives
calling with us during our day’s work; difficult to burn even a single hour in
the week to worship God when we have so many other more pressing thing to
tend. And while praying each day seems
like a simple request, it is hard to remember to follow through with even that
small task: or to study scripture, or be the hands and arms of God in the
world, or be in fellowship with fellow Christians, or to give God from our
first fruits—and not our excess. Our
need for control is simply too strong.
And through all this cloud of illusion Jesus knows we are
not really in control at all. Jesus demanded his mission come first, and that
our control in mere illusion. Think of all the things that can ruin our best
laid plans; poor health, natural disasters, the rulings of empires, and
death—just to name a few. Our illusion of control confuses us into believing we
have any control at all—we do not. So
why not give into the reality of the situation?
If you are tired of the unexpected ruining your plans; if you are tired
of the unexpected taking up residence in the middle of your life and
heart; if you are continually
interrupted and disappointed, and feel inadequate or insufficient, I invite you
to turn over the last small vestiges of control to God.
Ask yourself, why have I made no time in my life for the one
who could turn lack of control into something so much more beautiful and
inviting than control ever could be. Ask yourself, in your pursuit of control,
are you sacrificing a relationship with God for the illusion of control over
your life?
All Jesus wants is for us to ask him into our out-of-control
lives—and become children of God.
Control is not a choice between us in control or Jesus in
control. We have never been in control and could never be. Jesus doesn't go to
Jerusalem to place himself in control.
Jesus puts himself fully into our out-of-control lives and comes out the
other side with us. The promise of the
Gospel is not that we can be in control, or even that God is in control;
rather God in Jesus joins us in our out-of-control-ness, and holds onto us,
comforts us, advises us, and brings us to the other side.
This is the true promise of the Gospel of Christ: that
letting go and walking with Jesus allows us the freest of freedoms; to let go
of control and let Jesus be our guide through darkness into light, through the
wilderness and into fresh pastures, through sickness into health, and through
death into life.
This promise may not seem to be worth the oath upon which is
was given but think about the hope it gives us after a few days of grieving the
death of a loved one: Think of the encouragement you might receive after a few
months on chemo, or while awaiting a transplant. This may not seem like much of
a promise until you are facing—all alone—the prospect of recovery from
addiction, abuse, or abandonment.
This may not sound like much of a promise, but at least it
sounds real and trustworthy. It doesn't pin our hopes and dreams on some
magical mystery tour of medieval theology but on the reality we know and can
experience every day when we let go … and let God.
The world is a terribly chaotic and unsettling place, even
with all we do to stay in control. So why not give up the illusion, end the
games, take some risks, and throw ourselves into the work of living our lives
as best we can in this violent but beautiful world in which we live. This is the world God loves so much and made
for us to be with Him. Let’s trust that God will be with us in our adventure,
that He will hold us together through all our ups and downs, through our pain
and suffering, through our grieving and yearning. Let’s trust that God will
guide us in our disappointments and heartaches and bring us in time to the
other side where we will stand together wiping the sweat from our brows,
laughing hysterically through our tears of joy and reunion, and greeting each other;
“Alleluia, Alleluia, it was all true! Thanks be to God. Alleluia!”
Amen!
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