Community United Methodist Church
"Going to
Luke 9:51-62
July 1, 2007
He’s a tall, blue-eyed actor. A 25-year-old single guy who makes terrific calamari, enjoys chick flicks, and always remembers birthdays. Sounds like a great catch if you’re a single gal looking for a pal. Yet, according to eHarmony.com, the online dating service, when this eligible young man finished the matchmaker’s required 40-minute personality test, he was rejected. “I was stunned,” said the actor to The Wall Street Journal. “Is that even possible?” Never in his wildest dreams did he think that he would be rejected. So, when you go online in search of a date, be prepared for the fact that you might not be the right type, even if you are tall, blue-eyed and a sucker for sentimental movies.
But here’s an even bigger question, one that is at the heart of today’s passage of Scripture: Are you Jesus’ type?
”I’m going to take the moment to contemplate most of the Western religions. I’m looking for something soft on morality, generous with holidays, and with a very short initiation period.”
—TV character David Addison, in the show Moonlighting.
As Jesus completes his ministry in the Galilee region, and begins his long journey toward
First, he enters a Samaritan village, and the Samaritans refuse to receive him because he is heading toward
Then, Jesus encounters a man along the road, an Idealist, who says to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” But Jesus answers, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9:58). Jesus seems to be saying, “You want a life of luxury? You’re looking in the wrong place.”
A short time later, Jesus sees another potential disciple, a Pragmatist, responsible, reasonable and rational, and so he extends the invitation, “Follow me.” But the fellow says, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father” (v. 59). Is this an unreasonable demand? The duty to bury the dead was taken very seriously by devout Jews, and it was considered good form to care for one’s deceased relatives. This man is trying to be a solid citizen, but Jesus isn’t impressed. “Let the dead bury their own dead,” insists Jesus; “but as for you, go and proclaim the
Finally, a Procrastinator, approaches Jesus and says, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus answers with the words, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the
As it turns out, none of these people is Jesus’ type. Not the Idealist, the Pragmatist or the Procrastinator. So, where does this leave us?
“Follow Christ and be part of a dynamic church!” proclaims a religious leader in the comic strip Pontius’ Puddle. A crowd quickly gathers. “Er, by the way,” he continues, “organized religion may lead to inter-faith wars, unresponsive bureaucracies and doctrinal debates that divide and drive away members.” The crowd vanishes. Sigh. “Evangelism was much easier before they made us add a disclaimer,” he concludes.
In Ann Tyler’s novel Saint Maybe, the central character, Ian Bedloe, becomes involved in a small congregation, the Church of the Second Chance. Under the guidance of his pastor there, Ian takes on the task of raising his deceased brother’s children. It is a form of repentance, for Ian had suggested to his brother that his wife had been unfaithful to him. Following that conversation, Ian’s brother drove his car into a brick wall, committing suicide. Now, his parents, Doug and Bee, are perplexed by the change in Ian’s life, and especially by 19-year-old Ian’s intention to raise three small children with the help of people from his church.
The following exchange occurs between Ian and his parents:
“Ian, have you fallen into the hands of some kind of sect?” his father asked.
“No, I haven’t, I have merely discovered a religion that makes sense to me, the way Dober Street Presbyterian makes sense to you and Mom.”
“Dober Street didn’t ask us to abandon our educations,” his mother told him. “Of course, we have nothing against religion; we raised all of you children to be Christians. But our church never asked us to abandon our entire way of life.”
“Well, maybe it should have,” Ian said.
His parents looked at each other.
His mother said, “I don’t believe this. No matter how long I’ve been a mother, it seems my children can still come up with something new and unexpected to do to me.” (Anne Tyler, Saint Maybe [New York: Ballantine Books, 1991], p. 127.)
It seems that Ian had found his way into a congregation that was willing to speak the hard sayings of Jesus, and to call people to leave their way of life behind. This is disturbing, unsettling. Maybe, too, it is the gospel. Amen.
Source: Spencer, Jane. “Online dating gets exclusive.” The Wall Street Journal, July 30, 2003, D1.
Hebrews 6 (The Message)
10God doesn't miss anything. He knows perfectly well all the love you've shown him by helping needy Christians, and that you keep at it. 11And now I want each of you to extend that same intensity toward a full-bodied hope, and keep at it till the finish. 12Don't drag your feet. Be like those who stay the course with committed faith and then get everything promised to them. 13When God made his promise to Abraham, he backed it to the hilt, putting his own reputation on the line. 14He said, "I promise that I'll bless you with everything I have--bless and bless and bless!" 15Abraham stuck it out and got everything that had been promised to him. 16When people make promises, they guarantee them by appeal to some authority above them so that if there is any question that they'll make good on the promise, the authority will back them up. 17When God wanted to guarantee his promises, he gave his word, a rock-solid guarantee-- 18God can't break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable. We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. 19It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God 20where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us, in the order of Melchizedek.
What is the church? Two Sundays ago I talked about the church as a gathering of people who have enough faith to answer God’s call to set forth on the journey even if we don’t know where we are going, and that it’s a good idea to keep our eyes open for God’s grace along the way.
Last Sunday I described the church as a gathering of saints and strangers and angels and everyone in between. It is a gathering of folks who have chosen to participate in each other’s profit and loss—in God’s mutual funds. So let mutual love continue…in the church.
Today I want to talk about the church as the people of hope.
A while back I read a fascinating article by James Ludema of
More than just the power of positive thinking, a full bodied hope is based on the promises of God which are unbreakable. Hope is based on faith in the resurrection power of God as we have experienced it in the story of Jesus, and as we have seen it in the stories of people we know.
Ludema describes four enduring qualities of hope:
1. born in mutual relationship
2. inspired by conviction that the future is open and can be influenced
3. sustained by dialogue about high human ideals
4. generates positive affect and action
I. Born in Mutual Relationship
A. Lynch—“Hope is the interior sense that there is help on the outside of us…when we are especially aware that our purely inward resources are not enough.”
B. Binding force of community—feel taken care of, freed from fear of attack, slander and harm, invested in health and vitality of others. Victor Frankl survived by imagining reunion with family.
II. Inspired by conviction that the future is open and can be influenced.
A. Kast—“By hoping, we walk toward a light that we do not see but sense somewhere in the darkness of the future.”
B. Story of me and Nelson and “damaged goods.”
III. Sustained by dialogue about high human ideals
A. Talk about the holy, about standards which seem to belong to a different world, Christ’s resurrection
B. Frankl—the hopeless did not survive
C. Story of church—Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies (p. 63-65), tells story of miracle she saw in church. One of newest members, Ken, dying of AIDS. When his partner died, he said Jesus slipped into the hole his partner left. Woman in the choir named Ranola, large beautiful jovial devout African American, stand-offish toward Ken. Raised to believe his way of life, he, was an abomination. Hard for her to break through this. Ken came every Sunday for a year, won almost everyone over. Missed a couple, too weak. Came back weighing almost nothing, face lopsided as if he had had a stroke. Still, during joys and concerns he talked joyously of his life and decline, of grace and redemption, of how safe and happy he feels these days. Sang opening hymn “Climbing Jacob’s Ladder, every round goes higher, higher.” Kenny couldn't even stand up. But he sang away sitting down, with the hymnal in his lap. And then when it came time for the second hymn, we sang "His Eye Is on the Sparrow." The pianist was playing and the whole congregation had risen—only Ken remained seated, holding the hymnal in his lap—and we began to sing, "Why should I feel discouraged? Why do the shadows fall?" And Ranola watched Ken rather skeptically for a moment, and then her face began to melt and contort like his, and she went to his side and bent down to lift him up—lifted up this white rag doll, this scarecrow. She held him next to her, draped over and against her like a child while they sang. I was pierced.
IV. Generates positive affect and action
A. Bloch- Hope is the source of all human history and culture.
B. A bold proclamation and announcement of a desired future.
1. Mogopa, a village to the west of
V. What is the Church?
A. Kathleen Norris, Amazing Grace, p. 261—“In the rural area where I live, churches are still the only institutions capable of sustaining community ministries such as a food pantry and a domestic violence hot line. But they provide something more, that even the most well-intentioned "social services" cannot replace. It is called salvation, but it begins small, at the local level, in a church that provides a time and space for people to gather to meet a God who has promised to be there. People are encouraged to sing, whether they can or not. And they receive a blessing, just for showing up.”
On a recent trip to
EVENINGS AT 7 IN THE PARISH HALL
Mon. Alcoholics Anonymous
Tues. Abused Spouses
Wed. Eating Disorders
Thur. Say No To Drugs
Fri. Teen Suicide Watch
Sat. Soup Kitchen
Sunday Sermon 9 a.m.
"America's Joyous Future"
As I left the museum I wondered what all its visitors thought as they considered Rothenberg's work of art. Did they see "
-James P. Wind, "Places of Healing," Congregations, November-December 1997, 2-3.
Hope means to keep living amid desperation and to keep humming in the darkness. Hoping is knowing that there is love; it is trust in tomorrow; it is falling asleep and waking again when the sun rises. In the midst of a gale at sea, it is to discover land. In the eyes of another, it is to see that he understands you. As long as there is still hope, there will also be prayer. And God will be holding you in God’s hands.
--Henri Nouwen, With Open Hand, 85.
