Single Minded Focus

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday June 27, 2010, the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

2Kings 2:1-14
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

I was looking for a focus in our readings this morning about Elijah, Elisha, Jesus, and then one of my bible commentaries[1] showed me one way these readings could be examined. One of the ways to look at these two passages is to look at the focus of the people in these stories.

The story of Elijah and Elisha begins to end in Gilgal where Elijah tells Elisha to stay put. The Lord has sent Elijah to the Jordan, and that’s where his focus is. Elijah and Elisha have been together quite a while. There is a mentor/protégé relationship between the two of them. Elijah lets Elisha know that while the fruit of their association had been glorious, it is now time for a new chapter. Where Elijah is going Elisha can’t follow, but for the time being that’s not going to stop Elisha.

Everyone seemed to know what was going to happen. Our reading begins as the writer of Kings tells those with eyes to read that Elijah is on his way to the whirlwind so he could be taken to heaven. So what’s going to happen next isn’t a secret. Listen to the other people in this passage. Twice we hear Elisha asked, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” and twice we hear Elisha answer, “Yes, I know; be silent.” Again, let those with ears to hear know that what’s going to happen next isn’t a secret.

Elijah knows that the Lord has sent him to the Jordan. Elisha won’t be deterred, he’s going to follow. Each of them has a focus. Elijah follows the Lord, Elisha follows Elijah. They have a holy purpose in their lives and they won’t turn from them.

Everyone knew what was going to happen to Elijah. Still, preparing for the whirlwind offered more than ample opportunity for the people along the way to worry about what was going to happen next. They highlighted this uncertainty, and the anxious feelings that came with it. They shared this holy focus.

In one of George Moore’s novels, he tells of Irish peasants in the Depression who were set to work building roads. For a time everything went wonderfully. The men were glad to have jobs, and sang songs as they worked. But after a while they discovered that the roads they were building led nowhere, expired in peat bogs or simply ended. As that truth gradually dawned upon them, they grew listless and stopped singing. In the words of the novelist: “The roads to nowhere are difficult to build. For a man to work well and to sing as he works, there must be an end in view.”[2]

This is the important difference between Moore’s novel and our Old Testament reading. In Kings everyone knew that they were being led by the Lord. They weren’t building roads to nowhere.

Everyone knew Elijah and Elisha were being led to the Jordan. Everyone knew that Elijah was about to be taken. Everyone knew that Elisha was going to return alone. Elisha knew his return would be a lonely road. Still, everyone knew that they were being led by the Lord.

As for the request that Elisha might receive a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, Elijah knew that this wasn’t his call to make.

What was happening and what was going to happen wasn’t their idea; they were doing what they were called to do. They were fulfilling their vocation.

Jesus had a slightly different focus. Where the focus of Elijah and Elisha was on what they were doing, the focus of the Jesus was more on who he was than on what he was doing.

This part of Luke’s gospel, beginning with today’s reading and extending to the first half of chapter nineteen, is Luke’s travel narrative. In this section Luke describes Jesus’ travels through Palestine as he gradually works his way through the Holy Land toward Jerusalem and the triumphant entry; ultimately his crucifixion. One of two things can be said about this travelogue; either the writer of Luke had no idea of the geography of Palestine or Jesus took the least direct route ever considered to get to Jerusalem. More on that in a few.

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; not unlike Elijah, Elisha, and the cast of thousands. Whether despite this or because of this, Jesus has his face set toward Jerusalem.

He is resolute; he is determined to go. 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 and the entire traveling party was left out in the cold.

So what do James and John do? They ask Jesus if they can rein fire down from heaven upon their heads. As Jesus rebukes the Sons of Thunder and in a sentence that is missing from many translations Jesus says, “You do not know what spirit you are of, for the Son of Man has not come to destroy the lives of human beings but to save them.”[3]

James and John are focused on the purpose, on the mission, on the goal, and perhaps on their new found power and authority. They have a goal in mind and are willing to do what they see fit to those who stand in their way.

Jesus though has another purpose in mind. He tells them that this vengeance, this act of fury and rage against those who do not see their purpose is not who they are. It’s not their spirit, for the Son of Man has not come to destroy the lives of human beings but to save them. They’re different. Jesus has set his face toward Jerusalem.

As I mentioned earlier, one of two things can be said about Luke’s travelogue; either Luke had no idea of the geography of Palestine or Jesus took the least direct route ever considered to get to Jerusalem. But this analysis has a problem. Whenever we try to concretely describe and label the historical truth of the life of Jesus, we tend to lose some of the greater theological truth of the life of Jesus.

In my opinion it really doesn’t matter which is right. The underlying question is not “was the author of Luke’s gospel a Greek who had never been to Palestine, had no idea about the geography, and only knew city and regional names?” The underlying question of Jesus’ travels is not “why did he take this route or that route?” Both are good questions but the answers just aren’t important. The important question is “What is the purpose of this journey?”

Nuts and bolts are one thing, but we should never become over enamored with the question of how to build a car when the better question is why we are taking the trip.

Our reading helps us see the purpose like this: Jesus is showing the world what it takes to be his disciple. He is telling people to follow and showing them that there is a price, there are responsibilities to being his disciple. He is also showing the world that he himself is focused on being a disciple of the Father and nothing will deter him from that.

He will not be deterred by people who do not care for his mission because their worship is different. He will not be deterred by people who don’t know how to follow. He will not be deterred by people who don’t know how to love him.

For us, one of the best places to find what it means to love God is found in Exodus. The first commandment of the Lord our God is “I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other Gods before me.” This is what Jesus tells the world in his travels. “I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other Gods before me.” Everything we do has to flow from this before anything we do will give glory to God. If we fail to begin here, what we do might begin to work toward purity and social justice; but they are our works, not God’s.

We have to single mindedly wrap ourselves in the mantle of the Lord like Elisha wrapped himself in Elijah’s mantle. We have to put on God’s cloak and go into the world sharing the Good News of Christ. We have to do this confidently and humbly.

We do this first and foremost by acknowledging God to be the only true God and our God. We may not acknowledge “other gods” like the ancient Middle Eastern Baals or the Greek and Roman pantheons of gods anymore, but that doesn’t mean other gods still don’t exist. BP seemed to worship cash on the wellhead and on the barrelhead over stewardship over God’s good creation, and we see where that is getting all of us.

We are called to worship and glorify God accordingly. We are to pray and work. We are to consider and meditate. We are to remember; honoring and adoring the Lord who chose us before we could ever even think of choosing anything. We are to love and desire the Lord as we love and desire the partners we want for our children.

We are to believe in God even, especially when it is most difficult to believe in God, and these are difficult times indeed. Our belief is to be more than our words; it is to be in our hearts and in our hands. We are to trust and hope, calling on the Lord in times of joy and in times of pain.

It is easy to love God in delight when things are looking up; it is tougher when circumstances cause us to question God’s love.

And it’s easy to forget God when things are going well and we don’t remember because things are so good. It’s easier to remember God when God is the only hope we have left.

And even as these statements contradict one another, that doesn’t make either one any less true than the other. This is the just one of the mysteries of our sinful nature and God’s steadfast love.

In this contradiction, in this irony, we are also called to fear God and rejoice in God. In the freedom God gives each and every one of us we are to yield to God with all obedience and submission. On one hand we are to rejoice when God is pleased and on the other be grieved and confess our sin when we do not live up to our call as disciples of the Lord.

We are called to respond to the work of God in our lives with zeal, praising and thanking God for all of our lives. This is how we are to respond to God. This is to be our single minded focus as we walking humbly with God.

This is how we are to be disciples of the Lord, putting nothing before God. This is what we are called to do as disciples of the Lord. This is how we are to share the Good News with our whole beings and our actions.[4]

In “Letters to Rulers of People,” Francis of Assisi wrote these words: “Keep a clear eye toward life’s end. Do not forget your purpose and destiny as God’s creature. What you are in his sight is what you are and nothing more. Remember, that when you leave this earth, you can take nothing that you have received—fading symbols of honor, trappings of power—but only what you have given: a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage.”[5]

In the strife of the present, it is by our memory of God’s saving deeds in the past that we can by faith alone have hope for the future. We are saved by grace through faith, but it is in remembering all of the mighty and merciful acts of God that we can begin to have an idea of how God provides.

Remember the focus of Elijah and Elisha; and remember the grace of God as Elisha received a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. Focus knowing that the Lord is God, and go in peace remembering the focus of the Lord as he reconciled us to himself. Focus like Elijah and Elisha and Jesus and go in the name of our Lord. Respond to God as St. Francis calls us to respond and give a full heart. And yes, in this way, and in this way alone, we will share the fruit of the Spirit.

[1] Lose, David J. “Feasting on the Word. Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary.” Year C, Volume 3. David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, Editors. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010, pages 191-195.
[2] Haughey, John, S.J. “The Conspiracy of God.” Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1973, 35. as found at HomileticsOnline.com, http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/illustration_search.asp?item_topic_id=1314, retrieved June 26, 2010.
[3] This section of verses 55 and 56 is found in the New American Standard Bible, but not in the New International Version and only in a footnote in the New Revised Standard Version.
[4] This section on the First Commandment is based on the 103rd and 104th questions and answers from the Larger Catechism of the Westminster Confession of Faith. This adaptation is based on the version of the Catechism found in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Book of Confessions sections 7.213 and 7.214.
[5] Ibid, HomileticsOnline.com.