10th Sunday after Pentecost; Luke 11:1-13

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

            I recently read on the blog of a former pastor and teacher of the church that he doesn’t have a vivid memory of many of the sermons that he preached from the pulpit or even lectures that he taught at graduate school.  What he remembers most vividly are those sermons that he preached spontaneously as he went about his daily life.  

            I agree.   I don’t have a vivid memory of many of the sermons that I’ve preached from the pulpit in my relatively short tenure, but I have a vivid memory of times I’ve preached or confessed the faith at the bedside of a dying man, the stranger who happened upon a group of us seminarians who were hanging out in a hotel room in St. Louis (the poor guy), and sitting around a table at the Ronald McDonald House in Seattle with my mom and another mother whose daughter was riddled with cancer. 

            The last example happened 20 years ago, but is I still have a vivid memory of it.  This poor woman, whose name I don’t remember, was having a breakdown because of her daughter, and in her cries of lament she exclaimed, “I just don’t know how to pray anymore.”  

            “Teach us to pray,” the disciples ask.  It’s not the natural state of humans to turn to God in prayer; it goes against our every fiber of our sinful nature.  So many things get in the way of our praying: we put them off until just before bed when we’re too tired.  In hunger, it’s all too easy to forego praying before meals.  We tell ourselves that we’ll do it later.  We fail to pray for our friends, neighbors, and enemies.  Maybe there’s doubt whether or not God actually hears our prayers.  But Jesus doesn’t say, “If you pray,” He says, “When you pray.”  Prayer is the voice of faith and it’s something that’s not extraordinary for the Christian; in fact, it’s commanded. 

            Our natural state is to turn in on ourselves for every want, need, or desire.  Since prayer isn’t something that comes naturally and the Old Adam despises, we all must learn how to pray.  We must be taught like a child learns his ABCs. 

            We must also learn not only how to pray, but what prayer is.  So often I’ve seen prayer depicted on T.V. shows, and even by T.V. preachers, as a sort of wishing well.  We throw our quarter in and if we pray hard enough, if our prayer is sincere enough God will grant our wish.  But God is no genie, nor is he a vending machine that we stick in our quarter and out pops what we want.  He’s our Father and we’re His children, He knows what we need even before we ask.

            Prayer is a two-way conversation, but one that’s started by God; He speaks and we repeat, like a child learning to speak.  The child listens and repeats and when he repeats a word of his parents, mom and dad are pleased.  “Did you just hear what Johnny said?  He said it just like us!” 

            “Lord, teach us to pray.”  And what follows is a prayer that covers everything.  A prayer that Christians have repeated for millennia.  Jesus teaches us to pray, He gives the content and the words.  And what follows is the prayer that Jesus gives to His Church from His own lips, He gives them words to pray. “Father. Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread.  And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.  And lead us not into temptation.”  You’ll recognize what we call the Lord’s Prayer, at least five of seven petitions.

            And the first thing that Jesus teaches us is who we’re praying to.  “Father.”  He’s our Father and we are His true children.  The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is also our Father.  So with these words God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father and that we are His true children.  So that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.  We dare to pray like that because Jesus teaches us to.

            As Jesus continues His prayer, He sets the agenda of what our needs are.  Jesus says to pray for these things: Pray that the Father’s Name be kept Holy among you; in your lives and on your lips.  Pray that His Kingdom come to you through the Word of the Gospel preached and Sacraments given.  Pray that His will be done among you, that the devil and our own sinful natures are thwarted and that He keeps us steadfast in His word and faith all our lives.  Pray for the bread that He gives us each day and everything else that He provides for our bodies; and to receive it with thanksgiving.  Pray for forgiveness of your sins and the faith to forgive those who sin against you.  Pray for protection against the temptation to sin from the devil, world, and our sinful nature, which want to lead us from faith.  And then after everything is said, after your petitions are made, be bold enough to say, “Amen,” which means, “Yes it shall be so!  I am sure and certain that my Father has heard my prayer just like He promised and He is pleased by my prayer.”                                      
            We dare to trouble the Lord of the universe for these things.  Like Abraham who bargained with the Lord over the destruction of Sodom.  We dare to go to God like a man who pounds on his neighbor’s door in the middle of the night wanting some bread to feed an unexpected guest.  And when you pray, know that the Lord knows what you need even before you ask.  He will see to it that you receive the things you need and some of the things you want.  What father, gives his child a snake when he asks for a fish or a scorpion when he asks for an egg?  How much more will your gracious heavenly Father give you everything that you need for this life and the next?

            He hears our prayers and gives to us all we need for one reason.  Jesus died on the cross.  Apart from Jesus and His cross, we get nothing and God’s ears are closed to us.  But Jesus did the Good Friday deed for you.  He submitted Himself to death so that God would call us His children and we call Him father.  Through Jesus, the Lord accepts our prayers like sweet incense. 

            Our Lord teaches to pray and what’s more, He prays for us.  Read through the Gospels, He’s constantly praying for you and Scriptures are clear that our Lord brings His petitions on your behalf before His Father.  When your prayers fail you, Jesus’ prayers never fail. 

            The Lord has heard your prayers and, ultimately, answers them in His Son, for Jesus has hallowed the Name of God in life and in death. He has ushered in the Kingdom of God, making you an heir and subject of His eternal reign. He gives to you the daily bread of food, house, family, and all the gifts of creation, which are sanctified for your use and enjoyment because you’re a redeemed child of God. By His cross your sins are forgiven. By His passion you’re set free from the temptations of the devil, the world, and even your sinful nature.

            “Lord, teach us to pray.”  That’s what the woman was saying that night at the Ronald McDonald House when she said  “I don’t just don’t know how to pray anymore.”  In those times of despair, when we don’t have the words, Jesus has given them to you, put them in your mouth, and you’re learned them by heart and He, Himself, prays fervently for you.  That night we prayed the prayer that our Lord taught us with boldness and confidence.  We offered up petitions on behalf of her little girl, who was hurting but didn’t understand why.  And when we were done, when we spoke to God like Abraham and the midnight neighbor, we dared to say, “Amen.”

            So, pray, seek, ask, knock.  Jesus has died for you, you’re forgiven and so the Father receives your prayers as a loving father listens to his children.  But you’re not alone in prayer.  Our brother, Jesus, is always offering prayers to our Father on your behalf.  And God has to answer, after all, you’re born again through baptism, you’re one of the family.  Amen.

            The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.  Amen

8th Sunday after Pentecost; Luke 10:25-27

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

            I don’t know about you, but I’ve been watching the George Zimmerman trial with some interest (I don’t really know why.)  Americans seem to have a fascination with high-profile trials.  Of course, the O.J. Simpson trial, which happened almost 20 years ago, but is still in the collective minds of those who followed it.  Trials in recent history include: (The late) Michael Jackson, Scott Peterson, and Casey Anthony.  You may not have heard of or followed these cases, but we have a fascination with the court system.  T.V. shows like, Law and Order, Matlock, and Perry Mason have always been popular.

            Whether it’s a real trial or Ben Matlock, in his folksy way, examining a witness; an imperative skill for a lawyer to have is to know the right questions to ask.  To ask the wrong question can throw the case on its head and be destructive to a lawyer’s case rather than helping it.  I don’t know what you think of the Zimmerman case, but both Zimmerman’s and the state’s lawyers have been criticized, at times, by the legal experts for not asking the right question, or asking it in a way that doesn’t help their case.  

            A lawyer needs to know the right question to ask, and in today’s text, there’s a lawyer who completely blows the question he asks of Jesus.  “Behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”  Did you catch that?  Did you hear what was wrong with his question?   You can tell a lot about a person’s theology by who is carrying the active verbs, that is, who’s doing the doing in their sentences.  “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?  A self-centered question.  First of all, what do you do to inherit anything?  Nothing.  If you have a rich uncle who passes away and leaves you lots of money, what did you do to earn that inheritance?  Nothing.  He has the wrong idea about the word “inherit,” it’s not something you do but receive.  Second, who is doing the work of gaining eternal life?  Himself!  It’s a bad question, but Jesus takes it at face value.

            “[Jesus] said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” 

            It’s as if Jesus says, “Fine, you asked a self-centered question, here’s the answer.  Go ahead.  If you want to gain eternal life on your own, here are the steps.  Love God and your neighbor.  Perfectly.  Not lacking in any way.  Your whole heart, mind, and body must be devoted to God and your neighbor entirely, 100% all the time.  You want salvation through your own doing then fulfill the law perfectly on your own.  That’s what you must do to inherit eternal life.” 

            But, as lawyers are wont to do, he goes for the loophole, “Desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’ ”  Another bad question.  By asking who his neighbor is, he implies that there are those who aren’t his neighbor.  He’s asking Jesus who can he exclude from his love.  Which is a bit ironic, because he’s asking the man who excludes no one from his love.  To illustrate this, Jesus tells a parable that we’re all familiar with.  “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ ” 

            Who would you expect to help the poor man?  The priest and the Levite should have been the first to render aid.  After all, not only are they holy men, but they’re the man’s countrymen.  But Jesus’ parables always have a twist, a little piece that makes you go, “Huh?”  The twist here is that it’s the Samaritan who renders help and aid, who proves to be the neighbor to the man, and he’s the very last person you’d expect. 

            The part of the text that’s often over looked is that Samaritans and Jews did not get along, they’re enemies, you might say.  These half Jew, half pagan Samaritans are rejected by the full blood Jews.  In fact, just a couple of weeks ago, the disciples protested as Jesus led them through Samaria.  But this Samaritan is Jesus’ example of love and compassion for the neighbor.  He’s the one whom Jesus holds up before this Lawyer who’s trying to get off on a technicality.  The Samaritan dressed the man’s wounds, set the man on his animal, paid for his stay at the inn, along with any expenses that the man would incur. 

            How about you?  Who’s your neighbor?  Is it just those people who you like?  When someone you don’t like needs to be shown mercy do you mutter under your breath, “He had it coming.”   It’s easy to love and serve the neighbors that you like, your friends and relatives, but even unbelievers do that.  But would you love, help, and show compassion and mercy to the person that you don’t like all that much?  If a Muslim terrorist were lying on the side of the road, dying, what would you do?  Would you be the priest and Levite and pass by on the other side?

            That’s the flaw in the Lawyer’s question, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life.”  You want to inherit eternal life on your own, that this is what you have to do perfectly, each and every time.  Sound like an impossible task?  You bet it is.  If you look into your heart, what do you see?  A heart beaming with love and compassion for everyone, even those who might be your enemies?  Or do you see a heart full of sin that’s constantly curved in on itself, desiring what’s best only for you and those closest to you?

There’s a great exhortation in Jesus’ parable.  We’re to help and serve the neighbor, give of our time, talents, treasures, and yes, even our own lives in service to him.  That’s the Law and it’s good.  But when we examine ourselves, we see plainly that our efforts of loving God and serving the neighbor fall far short.  The Law always accuses because we can never keep it perfectly.  The Christian life is a life lived, not for the self, but for the neighbor, even the neighbors who you don’t like all that much.

The Lawyer’s question is a bad question, so here’s the right question, “How has eternal life been accomplished for me?”  Now there’s a question that doesn’t have the self at its center.  There’s a question that has eternal life something that is done for you instead of by you.

            You see, there’s another little twist in Jesus’ parable.  After being beaten, stripped, and left for dead on the side of the road by the devil, the world, and our own sinful nature; having been ignored by all manner of things we make into idols, that promise much but deliver nothing, Jesus, the man who should be our enemy, walks by and is moved with gut-wrenching compassion for you.  For all that we’ve done and said against Jesus: for our self-centered ways, for our lack of love for God and our neighbor, we deserve to be left there on the side of the road dead.  But Jesus’ love for you won’t allow Him to leave you there.  He picks you up upon His back like a beast of burden and bears you as His cross to carry.  He clothes you in His very own righteousness.  He binds your wounds with His forgiveness.  He pays for it all with His blood, shed on the cross for you, and calls you His most dear treasure. 

Since Jesus beheld you on the side of the road and had compassion and mercy on you, now we’re free.  Free to stop living for ourselves, but for others.  God doesn’t need our good works, but our neighbors do.  We merit nothing by our good works when it comes to our salvation; Jesus has already taken care of that.  We do good to our neighbors because faith looks outside of itself and sees the neighbor in need and has compassion.  Good works flow from faith.  Looking at the lawyer’s question, there is no hope in it, but your hope is in Christ.

            That’s the beating heart of the parable – Jesus – who beholds you, His neighbor, and shows compassion and love for you by being placed on a cross, His life for yours.  Jesus loves the lawyer, the Samaritan, loves even you by giving all of Himself, even His life, for you. 

Jesus justifies you, His neighbor, by dying for you on the cross.  He does the ultimate good work.  Let us go and do likewise.  Let us ever behold our neighbor who’s suffering and, as the redeemed of God, be a neighbor to him.  Not that we gain salvation for it, but because we love him as Jesus has loved us. Amen

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.  Amen.

7th Sunday after Pentecost; Luke 10:1-20

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

            How was your 4^th of July celebration?  Did you BBQ?  Did you go watch some fireworks or even shoot a few off yourself?  Independence Day, the day the Declaration of Independence was signed by 56 men, declaring America to be a free and sovereign country and no longer under British rule.  The keywords of the day, and still rings out today, were freedom and liberty.  “No longer would men live under an oppressive monarchy, “ they said, “Men were created to be free.”  They boldly signed the document and published it.

            I did a bit of looking into it.  Do you know how King George III got the news that his subjects over in America had just renounced their English citizenship and him as their king?  I don’t either.  He never kept a journal, so the exact moment and way he received the news is unrecorded, at least as far as I can tell.  But can you imagine it, though?  Several of the King George’s men talking in the back room, “You tell him.”  “No, you tell him.”  “I’m not going to tell him.”  Finally, one man loses in a game of paper-rock-scissors, and meekly approaches the king and delivers the news. 

            In today’s Gospel text, Jesus sends out 72 men to deliver some news and news that didn’t always go over so well.  They’re not sent of their own authority, but with the very authority of Jesus.  Jesus sends them out as sheep among wolves.  They don’t go out with their own message but only with the message Jesus had given them dripping from their lips.

 And what’s the message the Jesus sends them out with?  Well, it’s all over today’s propers.  It’s in all the readings.  It’s in the collect and Gradual.  Peace. And in the Bible, when Jesus or others speak of peace, it’s synonymous with the forgiveness of sins.  “Behold, I extend peace to her like a river…” God says in our Old Testament text.  “Peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God…” Paul writes in the Epistle.  We prayed in the Collect, “Continue to send Your messengers to preserve Your people in true peace…” We responded in the Gradual, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news, who publish peace and bring good news of salvation.”  As these 72 go about their calls they’re to proclaim the message they’ve been sent to give, “Peace be to this house.”  “Peace, you’re been set free.  The Messiah has come.” 

            Sounds like great news, doesn’t it?  But not to all.  The signing of the Declaration of Independence was heralded as great news in some parts of the world but not in England.  Neither is the message of God’s peace and forgiveness always received with joy.

            “I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” Jesus tells them,  “Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.  Whatever house you ender, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him.  But if not, it will return to you.”

            Why wasn’t this message of peace and forgiveness not always received?  Well, because it means that they need it.  It means that they’re sinners in need of forgiveness and peace from God.  There’s no need of forgiveness if the person doesn’t think that they’re a sinner.  Who wants to be told that they’re sinners?   It’s like telling someone, “Your breath smells.  Here, have a Tic-Tac.  It’s yours, I’m giving it to you.” 

            To first tell someone of the Good News of peace and forgiveness through Jesus Christ on the cross, they first have to be shown that they need it; that they can’t accomplish the salvation job on their own.  In other words, preach the Law. But people don’t always like to have their sins pointed out.  But it’s what these 72 are sent to do: preach Law and Gospel.

            So, why do you need forgiveness?  What sins have you committed in your thoughts, with your mouths, or with your hands?  What sin is it that you’d rather keep back in the deepest recesses of your conscience that you don’t want anyone to know about?  Have you been “hot tempered, rude, or quarrelsome?” As Luther writes in the Small Catechism?  Have your thoughts been pure or have they been the source of much evil?  Have you spoken well of and defended others, or have you told lies about them, betrayed him, or slandered others?  And believe me, I’m preaching to my self here, too.  We wall have need to repent. 

            And so that the people wouldn’t die in their sin, Jesus sends the 72, like He sends pastors today.  He sends them to preach the good news, to proclaim God’s Word, to forgive sins.  Isn’t that great!  We don’t have to wait like a child on the street curb, hoping the ice cream man would happen by man to happen by, but God sends a man right into your midst so that His gifts would be given to you!  If I need to hear God’s Word, in whatever situation that I find myself, I can go to my pastor, and receive God’s gifts.  God has sent him to me, with orders to preach His Word, the entire counsel of God.  And that’s why I’m here, and why every other pastor has been here.  They’ve been sent, by God, that the Word of God would be proclaimed in this place.

            So, here it is.  You’ve heard the Law.  You’ve been shown your sin, so here’s the answer to every rotten thought you’ve had, every vi

le utterance you’ve said, every sinful thing you’ve ever done: You’re forgiven.  Jesus loves you.  He died for you on the cross, so that your sins are forgiven.  Do you feel guilt because of your sin?  Jesus has taken that too.  He does the salvation job on the cross for you; so you’re free.  Free to live in the forgiveness and salvation that Christ has won and delivers to you.  It’s yours.  The sins of thought, word, and deed that you commit each and every day are done away with.  The evil thoughts of your mind, the sinful things that you’ve said (or didn’t say), and the sins that you’ve committed.  Fear not, God is pleased with you for Jesus’ sake.  He sends to you, through the mouth of a fellow sinner, His balm and peace of forgiveness that He gives to you through His Son.

            What’s more, God sends you too.  He doesn’t make everyone pastors, but He sends you into your own vocations, your own stations in life, where you can proclaim God’s Word and serve your neighbor.  The mechanic, the teacher, and the carpenter.  The farmer, the store clerk, and the retired.  The sister, brother, son, or daughter.  The grandmother and grandfather, wife and husband, mother and father.   God has placed you into vocations, or roles, in life that you can proclaim God’s Word as you go about your life and to serve those around you.  You receive God’s salvation gifts for yourself, and go out into the place where Jesus has called you and work in his kingdom.  And when you fulfill the vocation into which God has placed you, this is a God-pleasing thing. 

            Will everyone be receptive to the God’s Word?  No.  That’s the parable of the sower.  We just sow God’s Word, and let Him worry about the results.  Jesus just sends and promises that He will be with us.

            We go with a message of peace and forgiveness.  We’re sent with Christ on on our hearts and lips, and let the Word fall where it may and do what God intends for it to do.  We’re sent to our stations in life to help and serve our neighbors and give glory to God each day.  You’re baptized into Christ to do the works that He has prepared for you to do right here and now, in fact, that’s the theme for the synodical convention coming up in a couple of weeks: “Baptized for this Moment.” 

            If you take nothing else from this sermon, take this: the Lord who sends the 72 as sheep amongst wolves, continues to send laborers into His harvest.  The Lord who sends is the Jesus who has died for you.  His blood was shed for you, for your forgiveness.  You’re at peace with Him.  This message is received by the sinner as the best news that could ever be spoken, and this news is for you, dear sinner.  Jesus sends the messenger to proclaim.  May the Lord continue to send these labors and may we continue to receive this news with the utmost joy and thanksgiving.  Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.  Amen.

6th Sunday after Pentecost; Luke 9:51-62

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

            Following isn’t always an easy thing to do.   Sure, it’s easy to follow someone to the ice cream parlor, the toy store, or the lake but I’m talking about those times the leader has called you to follow him into places that you don’t want to go.  Independence Day is in a few days, think of all the men and women who followed their leaders into war.  As the mortars are dropping, the guns are blazing, canons booming, and rockets streaking through the sky, I doubt many of them wanted to be there.  But in spite of all these things, they followed and bravely did their duty. 

            Jesus bids us to follow Him, but He leads us to places that we don’t, necessarily want to go.  Earlier, He called His disciples, “Come, follow me,” they dropped their nets, left their tax booths and followed but they’re, now in a place where they don’t want to be- Samaritan country. 

            Most Jews in the first century made a point of traveling the long way around Samaria because they considered its inhabitants unclean and they didn’t want to have anything to do with them.  They worshipped on a different mountain, Mount Gerizim, instead of the temple in Jerusalem.  They were the “black sheep”  the McCoy to Judea’s Hatfield. The disciples surely didn’t want to go through there, but when Jesus says, “Come, follow Me,” the disciples follow Him to places where they don’t want to go

            But a little trip through Samaria is like a trip to Disney Land compared to the place where they will eventually follow Jesus; this is where following gets hard, going to a place where that would make the want to spend an eternity in Samaria.  In our text, Jesus “Set His face toward Jerusalem.”  “So big deal,” they may have thought, “Jerusalem is the Holy City, the city of kings, the city of the temple.  Jerusalem is the perfect place to kick those Romans out and free us Judeans.”  But Jesus doesn’t set His face toward Jerusalem for Him and His disciples to go on vacation, nor does He set His face toward Jerusalem to usher in a new government and kick out those Romans.  He sets His face toward Jerusalem for a purpose beyond the disciples’ understanding.  He sets His face toward Jerusalem, bidding His disciples to follow Him to a hill that they don’t want to go so much so that most will scatter.  He sets His face toward Jerusalem to die.  He sets His face toward Jerusalem to ascend Calvary’s hill with His cross for your salvation.   But after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, the disciples continue to follow Jesus even to their own deaths.  Several went the way of their Lord and were crucified.  James was killed by the sword.  Paul had his head removed from him.  So, will you follow Him even when it gets hard, even when it’s inconvenient?

  In our text, we have two other examples of people Jesus calls to follow Him, who want to do seemingly reasonable things.    “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, let me first go and bury my father.’  And Jesus said to him, ‘Leave the dead to bury their own dead.  But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’   That’s harsh.  And if it sounds offensive to you, to the original hearers, it would have been even more shocking.  In that day the social customs that were considered a person’s bare minimum duty to a deceased parent were far more involved than the sorts of things we do today.  There would have been weeks of formal mourning that included wearing special clothes, fasting, and so on.   And if you failed to do these things, it would have been interpreted as the height of disrespect.  But here Jesus is saying, “Forget all that.  Following me is more important.”

“Yet 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 his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’”

            More tough words.  What’s wrong with a little good bye, a going away party, perhaps?  Jesus has set His face toward Jerusalem and to follow Him is to jump off the bandwagon of all things that get in the way of faith, go even follow where you may not want to go.  The cares of this world are often a stumbling block to following Jesus.  What gets in the way of your faith?  What causes you to say to Jesus, “Go on ahead, Jesus, I’ll catch up sometime later?”  Will you follow Jesus when you’re called a bigot for not embracing homosexual sin?  Will you follow Jesus when you’re called every name in the book?  Will you follow Jesus even when it’s difficult? 

            Friends, today is the day of salvation.  We follow Jesus to the cross, where His eyes are fixed.  He goes to Jerusalem with His disciples, who scatter like roaches in the light.  He goes for them.  He goes for you.  The lesson of this text is that the things of this life all come second to Jesus’ work of salvation for you.  What good is it to gain the whole world and lose Jesus?  The world offers many things but it can’t forgive your sins or give eternal life, that only comes through Christ and His Jerusalem work.  And when the world turns its on you, Jesus has your back.  It hated Him too.

            Does that mean that you shouldn’t bury your loved ones or enjoy your family?  Well, if it’s not a hindrance to following Jesus, of course not.  This text isn’t about Jesus prohibiting burying loved ones or saying good-bye to your family; it’s about following Jesus who sets His face toward Jerusalem, where we follow no matter the cost, because He goes for you, for your forgiveness, for your salvation.  He and His cross are the center of your life as a Christian that leads to eternal life.  The things of this world will pass, but what Jesus gives to you through His cross and resurrection, is for eternity.

            We follow Jesus to His cross, and abide in His Word.  And where we fail to follow, where we do go off on tangents, where we follow so many of the distractions of this world, we confess our sins, and because Jesus set His face toward Jerusalem and went to His cross, you are forgiven free and clear.  Where we are so often faithless, Christ is ever faithful. 

            So, let us fix your eyes on Jesus.  Jesus does His forgiving and salvation work at Jerusalem so that you would have your Jesus, a focal point.  Life presents you with a whole bunch of rabbit trails, all sorts of things to worry about, all kinds of things to distract you from the one thing needful– and that is to die and rise with Jesus.  Like a sailor setting a course in the storm, or like a runner pushing toward the finish line, fix your eyes on Jesus.  His cross, His resurrection. His life. His Baptism, Body and Blood. That’s where He leads us.  That’s where your life is.  That’s where forgiveness is. That’s where He is for you.   Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.  Amen.