The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
June 30, 2013 - Pastor Adam Moline
1
Kings 19:9b-21 Galatians 5:1, 13-25 Luke
9:51-62
Grace, mercy and
peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our text today is the Gospel lesson just read, especially these words, “When
the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go
to Jerusalem.” Thus far our text.
Dear friends in
Christ. In our text today, Jesus sets
his face to go to Jerusalem. From here
on, he is very clear about why he is here in this world. To suffer upon a cross. To die for sin on a Friday we call good. And as Christ makes his was to that fate,
there is nothing that can distract him from his purpose. He has made up his mind to go to the cross to
die for sin.
As he makes his
way towards Jerusalem to die for sin, He prepares to enter a Samaritan
village. He sends some disciples to
prepare the way, but they are turned away.
“We don’t have time for a God going to the cross. We don’t have time for Jesus who will
die. We don’t want Him if he has set his
eyes on Jerusalem.” So Jesus doesn’t
enter the town, but with his face set towards Jerusalem, he continues on to
die.
Some of the
disciples don’t care for the attitude of the town! How dare they turn away Jesus? How dare they fail to welcome us, with our
Holy message, with our greatness.
They’ll regret it! “Let’s get ‘em
Jesus!”
But Jesus turns to
them, his trusted disciples, and he rebukes them. “You foolish disciples, we are going to
Jerusalem, where I must die, and nothing will pull me from my path, not
judgment, not your pride in yourself.”
So Jesus’ face is set to Jerusalem, and he continues on.
They run into a
man who shouts out, “I’ll follow you Jesus, wherever you go.” But Jesus replies curtly, “Foxes have holes,
and bird’s have nests, but I have no place to lay my head, except in a tomb in
Jerusalem, for that’s where I’m going, my face is set.”
Another man Jesus
calls out to, “Follow me.” The man
replies, “Yes, Lord, but first let me go and bury my dead family member.” But Jesus replies, “Leave the dead to bury
their dead, my eyes are on Jerusalem where I go to die for all the dead, Go and
proclaim this message.”
And finally
further down the road, another says, “I will follow you Lord, but first, I must
say good bye to my family. And Jesus
looking only ahead to his own fate, replies, “No one who puts his hand to the
plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. I’m not looking back,” Jesus said, “I go to
my fate, to make all things new.”
So what’s this all
mean pastor? It means this. Nothing is going to come between Christ and
his desire to save you. Nothing will
distract him, nothing confuse him, nothing with take his eyes off the prize –
dying for your sin. He is completely and
totally committed, no amount of taunting, or pain will stop him. Your sin will be paid for.
But Christ also
demands from you a similar dedication.
Look how he responds to those in our text today who follow him
conditionally. I’ll follow you Lord,
only if I can first do xyz. I will
follow you if I can say good bye. I’ll
follow you as long as you bless my life now and make me wealthy. And Christ does little more than walk away,
with his face set to Jerusalem.
Dear friends, does
that sound like us sometimes. I’ll
follow you Lord, if you do this for me.
I’ll be a Christian, if you heal my loved one’s cancer. I’ll come to church if the pastor is
interesting, and if I’m not fishing that week, and if I got enough sleep the
night before. I’ll follow you Lord on my
terms, and my terms alone.
At times we even
take it further than that. “I follow my
own God, one who does what I want him to.
I follow a God that says my sin is ok, that my sin isn’t wrong, and that
I should embrace it because its what makes me unique in this world.” I’ll believe my way. I’ll do it my way. After all its really all about me, Jesus.
And we say that to
Jesus, as he goes to die in our place.
His face is set. He will forgive
us by his own bloody death. He will
suffer for our guilt and our shame. He
will take our sin away as far as the east is from the west! It’s where he’s going! Repent dear friends. Trust not in your own understandings or
opinions, but trust only in Christ and in his mercy. Trust that he will accomplish your
salvation. Trust that he will set you
free from sin death and the power of the devil.
And having
repented receive his blessings in Word and Sacrament. Hear what he has done and believe it. He died for you and your wandering ways. He died for you and your sin. He went to the cross. He shed his blood. And now you have life in His name.
It’s a name given
to you in Baptism. It’s a name poured
out upon you generously as your sin is taken away. It’s a name shared with you in his word. And in his name, you have life and life to
the full.
Today Jesus sets
his mind on what he has to do, because He will save you. He sets his face to Jerusalem, and prepares
for the cross. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
