Sermon Text: Luke 9:51-62 The 6^th Sunday After Pentecost 12-7-09

Sermon Theme: Keep your eyes on the prize A. Meyer

You may or may not be familiar with a story about a plowing contest among a group of young men. The goal of the contest was to see who could plow the straightest line in a field. Now, each participant had his own method of how he was going to win the contest. The first guy said, “Well, I’m going to win by keeping an eye on the guy next to me. As long as I keep the right amount of distance between us, I’ll win for sure!” Another guy said to himself, “Well, as long as I keep checking the plowed ground behind me then there’s no way I can plow crooked!” But one of them had the winning method. “I’m going to pick out one spot way ahead in the distance. No matter how many distractions there may be, no matter how many other things may be on my mind, I’m not going to take my eyes off that spot. I’ll stay focused on it no matter what happens!” Well, you can probably guess who won that contest. The young man with his unbreakable focus easily won the day! We too, face a similar situation in our lives. We have been called by Jesus to follow him as we venture through this life. And just like that young man did we too, must stay completely focused. Jesus urges us to keep our eyes on the prize! This means we must take them off such things as 1) foolish vengeance and 2) self-centered agendas.

Keep our eyes on the prize. This is quite the task that has been set before us. After all, there are so many distractions out there that can easily cause us to lose our focus and put it on other things. So, who better to learn absolute focus from than from the master teacher himself! In our text for today, we see Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. Just like that focused young man who won the plowing contest, Jesus too, had a plan that required total focus on his part. That plan, which was in place since the Garden of Eden after the Fall of man into sin, required him to go to Jerusalem to be betrayed, to suffer, die, and rise from the dead, to redeem mankind from the curse of sin. With all of this only months away from happening, Jesus knows that the time has come to begin travelling to Jerusalem. He was following the plan and was staying completely focused on his goal.

However, Satan was not about to let this be an easy trip for Jesus. Along the way, we see that he puts a big distraction in front of Jesus to try and get him to take his eyes of his goal. That distraction that we see in our reading comes in the form of a stubborn Samaritan village. A walk to Jerusalem from Galilee was a journey that took more than one day. You couldn’t just hop into a convertible and go hundreds of miles in a few hours back then. Oh sure, they had chariots, horses, and other modes of transportation back then, but not everybody always had those things at their disposal. The average traveler by land usually had to walk to all his destinations. So it made sense that Jesus and his disciples would have to make a few stops here and there as they were travelling through Samaria. However, this group of Samaritans wasn’t going to let Jesus stay in their town when they heard where he was going. “He’s going to Jerusalem!” “He’s going to worship at that temple!” You might recall a conversation that Jesus had with the Samaritan woman in John 4 where she says “Our fathers worship on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” You might also recall that Jews and Samaritans weren’t exactly on the best of terms with one another. A typical Jew would normally not even set foot into Samaria but instead would go around the land rather than travel through it. The Samaritans, in turn, would refuse lodging to any Jew who was going to worship at the temple in Jerusalem. Keeping these things in mind, it is easy to see why the Samaritans would not welcome Jesus into their town.

But that’s not how James and John saw it. They were outraged that the Samaritans would treat Jesus, God himself, in such a disrespectful manner. So immediately the first plan of action that comes to their minds might send a chill down our spine. “Lord, let’s take them out! How dare they reject you like this! Come on Lord, just say the word, and we’ll call down fire from Heaven and burn them alive!” (It’s not too hard to see why they got the nickname “Sons of Thunder!”)

Now, we might look at this rash request and think, “How can James and John be so cruel to this village! True, the village rejects Jesus, but isn’t that a little too much?” But this section shows us how easy it is to be distracted by the ill behavior of others. How often does someone wrong us with their slanderous words or actions and all we can think about is “What a jerk that guy is! I wish I could get back at him somehow or if I can’t do anything about it, then I hope he gets what’s coming to him! I just wish he would be put in his place!” When we think like this, are we really any different from James and John? We see Jesus rebuke to them as a rebuke to us as well! Take your eyes off such pointless vengeance-seeking! It is a dangerous distraction from the focus we should have as followers of Jesus! Don’t you see that they are by nature poor, lost sinners just like we once were? Being a witness for Jesus, whether in ministry or in our daily lives is not about seeking the downfall of those who don’t agree with you. But instead, we see that they too, are people whose sins were washed away through Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection at Jerusalem! How awesome it is that Jesus would do all this to give us the hope of eternal life with him in Heaven! How much more awesome it is when the Holy Spirit brings such people into the same faith and family as us through Word and Sacrament!

But sadly, we sometimes face rejection and even persecution for our faith. It’s no real surprise. After all, we are warned many times throughout Scripture that we will face persecution and hardship for what we believe. Jesus warns his disciples in Matthew 10:23: “When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another.” We are warned in John 15:20, “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” When we are rejected because of our faith, or simply because someone doesn’t like us in general, don’t lose your focus! Follow Jesus’ example where he simply heads to another village. If you face rejection in one place, simply go somewhere else. We see the master teacher effectively demonstrate how to stay focused even with such a dangerous distraction in front of him.

So, Jesus and his disciples continue the journey towards Jerusalem. Since this journey takes some time, it is only natural that there was time for Jesus and some of his followers to talk along the way. It would also end up serving as an opportunity for Jesus to teach some potential followers about overcoming another type of distraction, self-centered agendas. They are a more subtle distraction that just like vengeance can all too often can strip us of our Heavenward focus.

The first man makes a bold declaration “I will follow you wherever you go.” Now, at first glance, we probably think, “Now that’s the spirit! This man has got the right idea!” But does he really have the right motivation? It seems that from Jesus’ response that perhaps the man doesn’t see Jesus in the same way that we see him. One thing to keep in mind that this account takes place not too long after the feeding of the 5,000. With such an astounding miracle which demonstrated God’s power to sustain mankind’s physical needs, who wouldn’t want to follow Jesus around at this time? Perhaps this man was thinking, “As long as I follow him, I’m set for life, right? I don’t have to worry about ever going hungry again!” But that’s not what Jesus was or is about.

Following Jesus is not about having a cushy, comfortable life here and now. How often do we get complacent in our faith when things are going well for us and all is right with the world! How often does personal success distract us from our focus on Jesus and others around us! Again, using himself as the example, Jesus teaches this man and us that the nice things of this life are not to be the objects of our focus. After all, look at Jesus! He didn’t have a permanent home or worldly riches during his life on earth. Even the foxes and birds had it better than he did in this respect! Material things and pleasures are only temporary and will one day pass away. Then, with a simple two-word command, “Follow me,” he reminds us where our focus should always be, on Jesus and the crown of eternal life in Heaven that he won for us.

However, even though we claim to be followers of Jesus, all too often we still don’t put him at the top of our priority list. All too often we think, “Well, maybe when my schedule clears up or when the time is right, then I’ll witness to others about my Savior and what he has done for us. Perhaps when our finances are just right and all is going just the way I want it to, then I’ll be ready to tell others about Jesus.” Here we see two men, with a similar desire to follow Jesus, but do not have the necessary focus to keep their eyes on Jesus. The first man says, “I want to wait until after my father has been buried, then I’ll follow you Jesus.” The other man says, “I want to say good-by to my family first, then I’ll follow you Jesus.” In his responses to these men, Jesus makes it clear to them and to us. Absolutely nothing should take that front and center place that Jesus should take in our lives. This doesn’t mean that having “to do” lists or caring about the well-being of one’s family is wrong, but when they start becoming the most important things in our lives, when our worrying about these things starts to disrupt our focus on Jesus, then we have a problem.

Look at it another way. Let’s ask ourselves this, what if Jesus acted that way? What if he ended up getting distracted by the temptations that Satan and the world continually placed before him? Would he have been able to stay focused on getting to Jerusalem to finish the work of our redemption? Thank Jesus that his focus was not always turning his focus towards other things not only in this account but also throughout his 33 years on this earth. We learn from such passages as John 1:14 that he is God himself, the Word who became flesh. Since he is God, we also know from such passages like Numbers 23:19 that “God is not… a son of man, that he should change his mind.” Despite all the obstacles, despite all the temptations such as seeking vengeance against opponents or becoming an earthly bread king that everyone wanted, Jesus still stayed completely focused on getting to Jerusalem and obtaining the grand prize of our redemption. Even up to the point when he was suffering the ultimate agony of being abandoned by God the Father, his focus was always on saving us from damnation so that we could have eternal life with him in Heaven. With his perfect life, innocent death, and triumphant resurrection, he accomplished just that.

There are indeed so many distractions in our lives. Family, friends, enemies, work, money, etc. that seek to put themselves in Jesus’ place, just as there were with the followers of Jesus 2,000 years ago. This might make us worried and intimidated. “How can I possibly avoid all these pitfalls and traps which would seek to rob me of my focus on Jesus? How can I stay focused even with all the things going on in the world and in my own life?” We know that we have no chance of doing it alone. But thanks be to Jesus all the more! Even after completing the work of our salvation, he promises that he will still be there for us to guide us through this life. We can see that come through so clearly for us in those two simple words, “Follow me.” These words, while they serve as a command, can also be such a great comfort to us. It is a promise from Jesus himself that he will always be before us and will help us to stay focused on the Heavenly goal that awaits us and all believers. Though we may follow a path that takes us through many worldly miseries and disappointments, Jesus still gives us the confidence we need to keep our eyes focused on him. Like that focused young man in the plowing contest, we can always keep our absolute focus on what is straight ahead of us, which is the eternal life with our God that is waiting for us after we pass through death’s door. With this confidence, pray also that the man’s words always be in our hearts as well as on our lips when we say, “Jesus, I will follow you wherever you go.” Amen