The Kingdom of LOVE

SCRIPTURE

Luke 9:51-62 (NRSV)
Jesus says, Follow me

When the days drew near for him 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."


SERMON (preached at Atonement Lutheran Church, MN)

I am enchanted by this portion of scripture precisely because it seems so absurd. For a long time Biblical readers and commentators have struggled with Jesus’ injunctions to “leave everything and follow him.”

Now, I’m honest enough to admit that I would have a hard time being a disciple of Jesus if he meant this totally literally. After all, I am very attached to my loving husband, beautiful children, and my orange house on 27th Avenue North. I think that if I was really expected to leave all behind in order to be a Christian, I’d be in big trouble…

So, what did Jesus mean? Well, I’m not going to pretend that I have all of the answers. But, I have been meditating on the scripture this week and have some thoughts I’d like to share with you.

First of all, I notice that Luke 9 says that Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem. I imagine that being a follower of Jesus means that we too must set our faces to the New Jerusalem and toward the Kingdom of God. As children sojourning to the Kingdom of Love, we are called to love God with all of our hearts, minds, souls, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. As citizens of the Kingdom of Love, we are to set our faces and our determination on love—to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.

One of the reasons I feel most called to pastor here at Atonement Lutheran Church is our commitment to mission and ministry! One of my first memories of Atonement is walking through your M&M (Mission and Ministry) Fair as a visitor, long before I ever sat before your call committee. As I walked through the Fellowship Hall, I remember thinking, “These folks must really love Jesus!” Booth after booth invited little-ole-me to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, house the homeless, visit the sick, and/or care for the orphan.

I am so very impressed with our congregation’s commitment to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Watching this congregation at work reminds me of Jesus’ words, “When you’ve done it unto the least of these, you’ve done it unto me!”

I am so glad that we are offering loving and compassionate care to people in need. It is the right thing to do and I believe that God is smiling down on us!

The second thing I notice in today’s Gospel lesson is that when a village of Samaritans rejected the love and compassion of Jesus, his disciples reacted hostilely and violently. When I read the words, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" I was shocked and appalled--that is until Spirit convicted me of my own sin…

In that moment, I remembered all of the times that I have rained down judgment and condemnation on people who are different from me and who may or may not have a love relationship with Jesus. I may not have asked whether or not I should call forth fire, but I know that I have looked with scorn on people because of their race, ethnicity, national origin, class, color, sex, age, sexual orientation, and/or disability.

As human beings it is our nature to discriminate against people who are different from us—because we are fearful, ignorant, and/or hateful. It is our sinful nature that causes us to see each other as different, rather than seeing each other as the same—made in the image and likeness of God and created very good!

In Jesus’ day, the Jewish disciples hated the Samaritans because they were a multiethnic people who chose to worship differently than they did. In our day, right here in St. Cloud we know that people face discrimination because they are African-American, Somali, Iraqi, Muslim, newly immigrated to the U.S., and/or learning English as a second language.

Whilst we are willing to serve these folks at Catholic Charities, Church of the Week, or the local food shelf, we tend to hold them at a distance in our personal relationships—failing to invite them to worship in our churches, play with our children, or have coffee in our homes.

In response to the racism of Jesus’ followers, scripture says that Jesus rebuked his disciples and continued to set his face toward Jerusalem.

See, part of being a follower of Jesus, is keeping first things first. And what did Jesus say is the first and greatest commandment? Thou shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbors as yourselves.

In Central Minnesota, our neighbors are changing. The neighborhood around Atonement Lutheran Church is changing. Our congregation, if you look with the eyes of faith, is changing…

Now, it seems to me that we have two options. We can follow Jesus with our faces set toward the New Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Love, or we can look back to the good old days when things were the way we remember and feel that they should ever be.

In response to the strong desire within humanity to look back, rather than going forward with God, Jesus says, “No who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

See, there are lots of reasons that we might look back. In Jesus’ day, someone said they needed to attend to the needs of their homes, family, and finances first! But, Jesus said, in essence, No, you must first be concerned about the proclamation of the good news! You must first be concerned with turning your face toward the Kingdom of Love…

As we love God and neighbor, we will necessarily love our homes and families and be good stewards over our finances. As we love God and neighbor we will live in ways that assure that all of God’s children have everything that they need to be healthy, happy, holy and whole. And as we love God and neighbor, we will make up our minds to boldly worship red, yellow, black, and white—rich, poor, and in between, American, African, Asian, and Other.

It is a sad fact that in America Sunday morning is the most segregated day of the week. It is a sad fact that only 2% of American churches worship across race and ethnicity. It is a sad fact that even here at Atonement Lutheran Church, the greatest, most loving and compassionate church in St. Cloud (if we do say so ourselves--smile), we are still working together to learn how to most effectively share the good news with all of our new neighbors.

But, let us not despair, my friends! We will have plenty of time to practice multiethnic worship; for as I like to remind people, “If you don’t like multiethnic worship, you’re gonna hate heaven!”

Listen to the words of Revelation 7 which states, “After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

I am so glad that scripture promises us that there won’t be a Norwegian heaven and a German heaven. There won’t be an African-American heaven and an European-American heaven. There will only be one heaven, where all of God’s children will be united in love and worship of Jesus who lived and died and lived again all in order to forgive our sin and gift us with eternal life.

When Jesus humbled himself to the cross, dying and then rising on the third day, he did all of the work necessary to ensure our salvation and eternal life. And by choosing to live, die, and live again, Jesus gave us the ultimate example of how to live in love toward one another.

May all of us make up our hearts and minds to set our faces to the New Jerusalem in Love. May all of us make up our minds to teach our children that God loves all human beings. And may all of us determine to work together to ensure that as we reach up and reach out here at Atonement Lutheran Church, we will be known as a congregation that is warm, welcoming, and safe for all of God's children.

In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.


Let us pray:

God, please teach me to love all of your children. Help me to lift up Jesus in ways that draw all people to you. And please forgive me for those times I have discriminated against those whom you love. Please help me to do better by walking by your spirit and with my face toward the Kingdom of Love. I pray this in Jesus' Name, Amen.

INVITATION

If you have questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, “Come to Jesus” @ http://bit.ly/JVhaLta