Try to Remember and Follow

This sermon was delivered at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 1, 2007

2Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Luke 9:51-62

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen

The travelogue is a classic form of literature and a Missouri man named William Least Heat Moon has written two. The first is a heralded compilation of stories collected as the author traveled for three months around the circumference of the U.S. avoiding big cities and taking the road less traveled. Based on the color of these roads in the old Rand McNally atlas this route was the source of the book’s title, “Blue Highways.”[1] This journey took him to among other places Nameless, Tennessee; Selma, Alabama; Dimebox, Texas; and Moscow, Idaho.

Least Heat Moon’s second travelogue, “River Horse” is an account of his four-month coast-to-coast trip across the U.S., using a variety of boats ranging from a cabin cruiser to a canoe with a trolling motor.[2] This travelogue retraces his attempt to recreate Lewis and Clark's expedition to find the Northwest Passage through the Hudson, Ohio, Mississippi, Missouri, and Columbia rivers along with many smaller tributaries. He estimated that in the end he traveled across country with less than 100 miles out of water. While this route forces him past many major cities including New York, Pittsburgh, Saint Louis, and Portland; Least Heat Moon again spends most of his time in small towns the world seems to have left behind when rails and roads took most of the freight traffic.

This part of Luke’s gospel, from today’s reading through the first half of chapter nineteen are Luke’s travel narrative. In this part of the gospel, Luke describes Jesus’ travels through Palestine as he gradually works his way through the holy land toward Jerusalem and the triumphal entry, and ultimately his crucifixion.

On the face of this reading from Luke’s gospel, there seem to be two stories in this lesson. The first is the story of Jesus being rejected in a Samaritan village, with its little additional piece of James and John wanting to use power to show the might of the Lord. This part of the piece helps us answer the question of whether we should destroy or have compassion for people who reject the Lord. The second is Jesus on the road and the people he meets along the way. In this part of the piece, we are called to wonder what Jesus is looking for in disciples and what discipleship truly means.

We start with Jesus on the road. Even this early in Luke’s gospel Jesus knows where he is going and what is going to happen when he gets there. Whether despite this or because of this, Jesus has his face set toward Jerusalem. He is resolute; he is determined to go to Jerusalem. Of course this made the Samaritans none too happy. And since the Samaritans and Jews were related like the Hatfield’s and the McCoy’s were related, when it was clear that Jesus was destined for Jerusalem, the Samaritans would not receive him.

These peoples were on different roads, the Jews believed the Lord made Mount Zion home where the Samaritans believed Mount Gerizim was the house of the Lord. This difference is never clearer than the story of the Samaritan woman at the well from the fourth chapter of John’s gospel. But in this case, there was no woman at the well to hear the word of the Lord and the entire traveling party was left out in the cold. Here is a group of people, an entire nation of folks who were not ready to hear the word of the Lord because it was in such dire conflict with their society and its faith.

Boy, I can’t say things have changed much since antiquity? I’ve said it before and I’m about to say it again, everything that’s old is new again.

Jesus then meets three travelers along the road after leaving Samaria. The first wants to follow Jesus. I’ve said before that Jesus had two types of followers, those who wanted to follow Jesus and those who wanted to follow a great crowd. This man seems to fall into the latter group. “I will follow you wherever you go” he says. So Jesus tells the man “go” is the operative word. They have everywhere to go and nowhere to stay. Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man was just kicked out of a Samaritan village.

This time there is less than no room at the inn, now there isn’t even an inn.

The next man’s case is a little different, “Follow me” our Lord cries. But this man has plans; he needs to bury his father. But Jesus tells him in no uncertain terms this is not his job, his job is to go and proclaim the kingdom of God.

Finally, the last man who didn’t receive the second one’s invitation says he will follow, but wants to bid his family farewell first. Jesus tells him that looking back is no way to go forward into new life. Looking back makes him unfit for the kingdom of God.

You know, maybe Jesus got a lousy night’s sleep because he wasn’t welcome in the Samaritan village; but for whatever reason, he’s more than a little cranky this morning.

In this passage, Jesus is dealing with foreigners and with his own people. He is dealing with people in a strange town and he is dealing with his entourage. He is coping with being rejected by people who don’t want him and by people who do. He also seems to be ignoring people who don’t want him and rejecting people who do. There seems to be a lot of differences between the two halves of the passage, yet there is a very important connection. Jesus is teaching all of these people what it takes to be his disciple. We learn that we must accept the Lord into our community, follow the Lord for his sake, choose life, and move forward. Through this we receive God’s grace and peace and bear the fruit of God’s Spirit.

Unlike the people in Samaria, we need to welcome Jesus into our community, into our village, our homes and our lives. Life in Jesus is completely unlike life without him, it is wholly different. All change is frightening, but we are called to change and welcome the Lord to our lives. In the Lord we go from doing things our way to doing them his way. The way Jesus shows us to be.

Unlike the first man, we aren’t to follow Jesus because of what’s in it for us; we are to respond to God because God has all ready responded to us with the offer of free grace. Often we hear of people who join organizations like Rotary or the Optimist club to make business connections. Jesus reminds us we are to follow him to glorify him. We do not follow for our profit, but for the Glory of God.

Unlike the second man, we are called to choose life over death. The way Jesus puts this is shocking, especially in a society that has such rich and deep family traditions as the Jews. But where in last week’s lesson the Gerasene was told by the Lord to stay at home and share the Gospel, here the Jewish man is told by the Lord to go and spread the Gospel. In the end, both of these men are called to respond to the Lord, not to their own needs. Our joy is that in the Lord, grief and suffering are valued and shared by the Lord and through Him is new life, not old death. Through Christ, even our grief is redeemed.

Finally, the last man wants to follow, but first he wants to say good bye to his old way of life before embarking on the new. Jesus tells him about how spreading the Good News is like plowing a field. Straight lines cannot be plowed by someone looking back over their shoulder to see where they’ve been. Looking back shows the old mistakes that can’t be changed; looking forward is the only way to prepare the field for harvest properly.

But there is one more very important thing to note about the three men Jesus speaks with, scripture does not tell us Jesus left even one of them behind. Jesus doesn’t send anyone away. Jesus doesn’t reject anyone. Jesus doesn’t say “no,” instead he says “now there is a new way.” To each of these men Jesus describes what he would have them do now. Jesus gives them each a new command.

Oh, and further, Jesus shows James and John that there is a better way to deal with people who disagree, disregard, and disrespect the Lord than to call down fire upon them. The son of Man did not come to destroy people, but to save them.[3]

Maybe, just maybe they did not change their ways immediately, but they continued with Jesus until they were fit for the kingdom of God, the old “fake it ’til you make it.” Maybe, just maybe each of these men chose the new life Jesus offered instead of the life they were living. And maybe, just maybe, each of these men repented. And hopefully, quite hopefully, the lives of each of these men began to bear the fruit of the Spirit Paul shares in Galatians. Through the love of the Lord, the free gift of his grace and peace, and their life in the Spirit, life bears the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. And against these things there is no law.

The Eureka Theater Company recently finished its six show run of Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones’ (no, not that Tom Jones) long running Off-Broadway musical “The Fantasticks.” The opening number is called, “Try to Remember.”[4] The first two verses end with this line:

Try to remember and if you remember then follow.

This is our call. We are to remember the new life of peace and love and grace which is ours through Jesus Christ. He calls us to put him first, before all things. And through the fruit of the Holy Spirit, his grace opens us to new life. It allows us to live and to love and even to mourn in a new way; a way that shows the love of God in our lives, a way that puts God first; not our priorities, but the Lord’s.

The last line in the song offers advice for remembering and putting the Lord first even in the dark and cold times:

Deep in December our hearts should remember and follow.

In the days of the harvest of joy and glory we should remember and follow. And in the coldest and darkest days of our December we should remember and follow. Be in Christ, remember, and follow.

[1] Least Heat Moon, William, Blue Highways: A Journey Into America. Fawcett, 1982.
[2] Least Heat Moon, William, River Horse: The Logbook of a Boat Across America. Houghton Mifflin, 1999.
[3] Reference to verse 9:56a which is not found in the oldest of transcripts and was probably added as a commentary by later scribes. (Metzger)
[4] “Try to Remember” from “The Fantasticks.” Music by Harvey Schmidt, lyrics and book by Tom Jones, The Fantasticks Company, 1960.