Reality Check

Folks encounter Jesus with one idea of what following him means. He wastes no time setting them straight – because following is only part of the picture.

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Gospel: Luke 9:51-62

⁵¹When the days drew near for [Jesus] to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. ⁵²And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; ⁵³but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. ⁵⁴When 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?” ⁵⁵But he turned and rebuked them. ⁵⁶Then they went on to another village.
 ⁵⁷As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸And 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.” ⁵⁹To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” ⁶²Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

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Dear people of God, grace to you and peace this day from God through Christ who calls us to a life of apostleship as well as discipleship.  Amen.

On first read, we might call this story “that day when Jesus DIDN’T get a nap.”  He comes off as rather impatient with his disciples.  Though admittedly they sometimes don’t look so good themselves.

As I step back from this story, what I would entitle it is “Reality Check.”

I’m reminded of so many situations, in my life and others, where what we think we’re getting into is so not the reality of that thing at all.

I think the first real experience of this I ever had was entering freshman year at UC San Diego – confident as all get-out, since I had had ALL the great drama roles in high school, don’t you know.  So I figured I was there to get the training that would ensure my smooth transition to a storied career on Broadway.

Oh honey.

It didn’t take long for my lofty dreams to fall on hard ground.  There were people in that program who were WAY better than me.  I did find a niche in stage management, and certainly my theatre training serves me well to this day.

But I needed a reality check.

In our gospel story, it seems that everyone interacting with Jesus needs a reality check.  I can sort of understand how Jesus gets a little terse with folks; he must be frustrated having tried to clearly preach the kingdom of God but nobody really seems to get it.

And this start of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem – to his ultimate destiny – begins with James and John asking if Jesus wants them to call down fire from heaven to get back at these rude Samaritans.

Small wonder they’re called “the Sons of Thunder.”

And here’s the first reality check: yes, there’s tension between Jews and Samaritans, but Jesus gives the Samaritans the benefit of the doubt.  Getting mad at them for lack of welcome isn’t going to change anything, so move on.

It’s not even “don’t get mad, get even.”

It’s just as Jesus says elsewhere: shake the dust off your feet and move on.

But James and John want those Samaritans to know JUST EXACTLY WHO IT IS they’ve snubbed.

Jesus doesn’t care.  Because his face is set to Jerusalem.

And James and John need to remember: this journey with Jesus is about love.  Nothing more AND nothing less.

Have you ever wanted to call down fire from heaven to destroy someone?  Someone who hurt you, or irritated you?  Maybe some pundit on TV that made your blood boil?

Sounds tempting, to be sure.  But Jesus reminds us that such is not the way of God’s peaceable realm.

As Jesus continues along, though, it’s hard to comprehend the boundaries of that realm.  He seems to be insisting that people do things that make no sense to us.

And I think the reason it makes no sense is because we are thinking in terms of being strictly a disciple.

#disciplelife sounds pretty good.  Follow Jesus.  Come to church.  Give to charitable organizations.

And I want to underscore, strongly: there’s nothing wrong with that.

But what Jesus calls these folks – and us – to is BOTH discipleship and apostleship.  And that’s where the discomfort shows up.

#apostlelife doesn’t sound quite as comfortable as #disciplelife.  Apostle Life means we are sent out, into the world, to tell people about Jesus.  For those of us who are introverts, this is our worst nightmare.  It might sound like we’ve unknowingly signed up for some kind of direct sales program.

But that’s not what “tell people about Jesus” means.

Recall the Gerasene man from last week who was possessed by demons.  Jesus didn’t tell him to “go tell people about me and get them to come to church next week.”

Rather, he said “tell what God has done for you.”  No coercion, no sales pitch.

And even in what Jesus says to each person who approaches him in this lesson, we see this interdependent rhythm of discipleship AND apostleship.  It’s the sort of reality check that urges people into a way of living life fully in the light and love of God.

My master’s thesis project in seminary looked at how our pattern and rhythm of worship – a form of discipleship – prepares us for apostleship.

I looked at each element of our worship.  Each element had two parts: discover and develop.  In Holy Communion, for example, we discover the concept of living in peace with folks with whom we share other tables…and we develop skills of sharing across economic barriers.

The discover part is the discipleship.  The develop part prepares us to be sent out into the world – as apostles.

It begins the process of pulling us out of our comfort zones, helping us to see the places in the world where we are called to bring the message of Jesus so that people might be freed.

As Paul says in our second lesson today: for freedom Christ has set us free.

And then we are drawn back into the center by the Holy Spirit.  Back to the center that is the gathered community, where we are again disciples learning at Jesus’ feet.  Where we are again discovering and developing.  Where we are again being formed and empowered to go and tell.

It is best symbolized by the mathematical symbol for infinity.  A figure 8 on its side – we are drawn into the center by the Spirit, as disciples of the living Christ; then sent out by the Spirit into the world, as apostles of the word and love of God.

Following Jesus is not a side hustle.  It’s a way of life.  While Jesus’ words to the two men with preexisting situations seem rather harsh, it is likely a use of hyperbole to make a point: following Jesus is an all-in venture.  We are not commanded to follow Jesus – we are invited.  And when we accept the invitation, when our faith and the Holy Spirit have led us to the place of stepping into the life of a disciple, the transformation begins – and we find ourselves hearing Jesus’ words “but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God” directed to us.

Going and proclaiming the kingdom of God is not a matter of memorizing a paragraph-long sales pitch.  It’s not about trying to entice people to come over to your way of worship or being church.

Rather, it’s about living faithfully in this world.  Recognizing the challenges before us in this world, and – as the late theologian Karl Barth recommended to preachers – “holding the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.”

God does not mean for us to exist in some kind of alternate reality.  God wants us to be fully present in this world, proclaiming God’s love for all of creation.  Encountering the questions and issues of our day from a place of faith – not a place that runs off of pre-determined scripts, but a place that discovers how God intends us to live in the world and a place that develops the skills to make that happen, fully engaging with the world in the process.

This has been a turbulent week in many ways.  As a country, as a human family, as a planet – the stumbling blocks have been present.  Some devastatingly so.

But God does not mean for us to disengage from life.  God means for us to have life, and have it abundantly.  That is both gift – and challenge.  The gift of abundant life for us individually is a life of discipleship, of discovery.  Abundant life for all is the character of the peaceable reign of God, and we are called through developing apostleship to proclaim thatreign.

It’s not an either-or.  It’s a both-and.

For in that #disciplelife and #apostlelife, drawn together in the center that is community – we are transformed by Christ and set on the path of #abundantlife.

Maybe it’s not so scary after all.  And that’s a reality check I can get behind.

Amen.