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2Kings 2:1-2,6-14, Galatians 5:1, 13-25, Luke 9:51-62
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, West Valley City, UT
The Rev'd W. Lee Shaw
For the last three days I have been at the diocese in a class for EFM mentors. Each 18 months we must be recertified in order to continue in the program of Education for Ministry, from the University of the South, Sewanee, TN. I always dread the time commitment and always come away refreshed and renewed in this part of my ministry. I am a big believer in EFM and how it can prepare people for ministry; ministry in any area.
Friday morning we met in the cathedral. We sat in front of the altar in the chancel. We had light mostly from the three large stained glass windows: two of the Resurrection and the Annunciation window; all by the Tiffany studios. We were alone, it was quiet and the space was beautiful. This is the space I had served as a lay person. It was where I was ordained as a deacon.
Our theological reflection, our opening up of the Scriptures was the Gospel reading for today. I had read it in advance, but had not really thought about it or read on it. As Lyn and Beth opened it up for us, we were opened up to hear it again for the first time. What does it mean to "set" one's face to a destination, fate? What did James and John really hope to accomplish by calling down fire from heaven? How did the Samaritans reject them, even given the historical antipathy between Jews and Samaritans, Jesus was not a stranger to them. Who were the three people who interrupted the journey to seek to follow Jesus, yet on their own terms?
As we discussed this passage my mind went back to the why: Why did the early church remember this incident? Why did Luke record it this way? What did it mean to that community of early believers?
For me this is a story about how a community remembers its faithfulness to Jesus, it is not about three individuals. It is about a community of faith.
The first "person" is reminded that there is no certainty in following Jesus. There is not home base, no cathedral, no church, no home to go to for rest. As Luke was writing his Gospel the church was very much a pilgrim church, a group of men, women and children who were transient meeting in one place and then another. They did not go to the local "parish." They met in one home and then another or in a field. It was not safe to be in one place all of the time. They knew persecution and had to work that reality into their worship pattern.
To be told to let the "dead bury their own dead" is hard to hear if the dead is your father. Jews have a mandate to bury the dead within 24 hours. This is a reasonable request of a follower.
But this is not about a dead person; it is about a dead practice. The Jewish converts were still attending synagogue and temple (before it was destroyed) and then going to the gathering on the first day of the week, the day of the resurrection. This is about putting aside the past, burying it. It is time to leave the former behind with grace and intention, and move forward.
The third "person" is about being intentional about your faith. To plow a field you must keep your eye on where you are going to guide the donkey or ox in the right path. You cannot look back to where you have been, you must look forward or you will mess up. The new converts must look to the future in Christ. They cannot dwell on the past, on the old traditions they have left. If you do not keep your eye on the present, you will lose your way.
In each of these incidents, the individual was not turned away by Jesus. Rather, the person was clearly reminded of the cost of discipleship.
I believe the church, the community, remembered these stories because it was about them, not about three people. And it is about us. We are this story.
In our culture, we are strangers in a strange land. Yes, we have a beautiful building in which to meet, but we are not at "home" in a culture that holds values and imperatives we do not share. In our culture we really do not have a place to rest our head as it were.
We, the church, too often cling to the past out of habit and not in reverence. We need to uphold the traditions and faith of the past and yet not be stuck in the practice and path of the past. Our traditions inform our present, they do not command our future. God is always opening up a new way for us to hear God within the context of our past. "Tradition is the living faith of the dead. Traditionalism is the dead faith of the living." (Jaroslav Pelikan)
Finally, we cannot keep going back to the "what if" question. We cannot go back to the "if only" proposition. You have been baptized in Christ's name. You have been sealed by the Holy Spirit. Your verbal response has always been, "I will with God's help." That means looking forward. That means looking outward. That means moving into the reign of God here and now.
"Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?" I will with God's help.