FIT FOR THE KINGDOM FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

PROPER 8 - YEAR C JUNE 27, 2010

BECKY ROBBINS-PENNIMAN LAMB OF GOD CHURCH, FORT MYERS, FL

LUKE 9:51-62 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village. As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." I read a number of commentaries and sermons on this text

as they talk about what it takes to be a real Christian They hone in on the very last line:

“No one who puts a hand to the plow

and looks back is fit

for the kingdom of God.” Luke 7:63

and warn that very few are “fit” for the kingdom of God. Most people who preach on the word define “fit” as “qualified.”

So, the whole thing becomes a threat. Did you make the grade?

Did you pass the test? Did you study hard enough?

Did you prove yourself? And some of them even teach that to be a real Christian

you must prepare for a life of grim deprivation if you’re a man, to be a real Christian,

you must give up the good life of house and family and get out there and evangelize

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if you’re a woman, to be a real Christian you must give up going out there doing whatever

and stay at home and take care of a family Not sure how those two fit together, actually…

Anyway, without this grim determination to deprive yourself you are simply not fit, not qualified

to be a real follower of Jesus. I think this approach can be traced directly back to our Puritan heritage

Basically, for the Puritans, if was fun or felt good or tasted good, it was either sinful, fattening or illegal, right?

Our Puritanical approach to faith runs deep – especially in pastors Tex Sample tells a story about that in Living the Questions

When he was a new young pastor in Texas, some lay leaders in his church

guys who were all a good deal older than Tex had gone to a tent revival

They thought Tex should hear the revivalist’s message they thought maybe Tex could learn from him

At the revival, the preacher was talking that night about the Truth of the Bible

and how he believed every word of it was true “Why,” he said, “if I didn’t believe

that every word of this Bible were true just exactly as written

I’d be out havin’ me a good time.” Tex piled back in the car with his flock

and on the way home those leaders said nothing more about Tex emulating that revival preacher

You see, the implication that Bible-toting preacher was making was that those who do as the Bible teaches

should be ready for a pretty grim, deprived existence Why, according to that revival preacher

anyone actually having a good time must be doing something

sinful, fattening or illegal, yeah?

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But when Jesus, the incarnation of the Living God came to teach us about what the Reign of God is about

when did he ever talk about a grim, deprived life?

Paul says that a life lived in the Spirit of God is full of good fruit: The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,

generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and

self control. Galatians 5:22-23

These are the values of the Reign of God

and they are in contrast with our human proclivity to live another way

the way of abuse, anger, envy, drunkenness, strife and dissension.

There’s an example right in the story of the contrast between the Kingdom way

and the usual way humans live. Jesus needs some hospitality

a place for him and the boys to crash for a night Some disciples try to get someone in Samaria

to let them stay at their house But they refuse.

Whether the Samaritans were wrong isn’t the point The point is what the disciples wanted to do

those good friends of Jesus, who hang on his every word –

what do they want to do to the Samaritans? They want to rain fire down from heaven!

Nice. Now are those the kingdom values

of patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control

or are they the Roman cultural values of anger and strife?

Oy. Jesus rebukes the disciples who have once again shown they don’t get it

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There is no question that the disciples had left home and family for Jesus they were surely “qualified” for the Kingdom

but it doesn’t appear they were “fit” for it quite yet So, what does “fit” mean here?

It means to be ready - ready to proclaim God’s way by living God’s way

right here and right now. no matter what.

What does the Reign of God look like? Let me pose it to you as a set of questions;

We’ll start with the easy ones When the reign of God has been proclaimed

and is being lived by all humanity: How many people will be hungry? How many people will be thirsty? How many will be naked? How many will be sick?

You get the idea. But then we go to much harder questions

When the reign of God has been proclaimed and is being lived by all humanity:

How much of the earth will be polluted? Which gender will be more important? Which race? Which country?

Just a few more examples: When the reign of God has been proclaimed

and is being lived by all humanity: How many will be ostracized

because they are not “normal”? How many will be forced to do

something they don’t want to do?

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But right now, our culture – not our government, which is supposed to stay out of the religion business

but our culture, which is a reflection of our collective spiritual values does not seem at all concerned

with incarnating the Reign of God but with controlling us by making us afraid

afraid of strangers afraid of our neighbors afraid of losing our money afraid of losing our privileges afraid of losing our middle class life style

This fear is causing us to treat aliens the same way the Samaritans treated Jesus and the disciples.

So if I want to be a disciple I’ve got to question my culture’s emphasis on fear, anger and hatred

and be ready to live a different way. To be fit,

to be ready for the Kingdom is to proclaim in and with our lives

the love and healing and reconciliation

of the Reign of God so that by the way we live,

it’s true both for us

and for everyone we meet. It doesn’t matter whether the people we meet

deserve to be treated that way Do any of you remember what I said two weeks ago

FORGIVENESS means to do to my neighbor as I would have him

do to me even if

he doesn’t deserve it. The same goes for living Reign of God values towards everyone

So, in the midst of our culture of fear and anger and envy if I would be fit, would be ready, to live the values of the Kingdom

I need to choose to be free to break through the values my culture has taught

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Paul says that

For freedom Christ has set us free … to love our neighbors

as ourselves Galatians 5:1, 14

The only way to become free is to increase our awareness

of the presence of the Spirit of God within and around us What spirituality means in this context

is seeking the Spirit that lets us break down the barriers our culture uses to keep us controlled and compliant

But, just as Jesus wasn’t going to coerce the Samaritans by zapping them The Divine Spirit will not coerce us, either

being “fit,” being ready means choosing to pay attention

to the spiritual issues involved It means asking the Spirit to guide, help and strengthen us

in breaking down the barriers on our spiritual path.

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What is our path like? Matthew Fox, a contemporary theologian1

did a lot of work with the writings of Meister Eckhart a famous mystical monk who lived some 700 years ago

Fox said that in the course of life we travel four spiritual paths The Positive Path:

this way leads to awe and wonder and an appreciation of creation. This path is grounded in the Incarnation of Christ,

God’s ultimate affirmation of creation. The Creative Path:

this way helps us discover that God has given us unique and wonderful gifts

to create beauty, restore life, and bring hope, joy and peace to others.

This path is grounded in the Resurrection of Christ, God’s ultimate act of creating life out of death and despair.

The Transforming Path:

This way is how we learn to change our hearts to have the loving compassion of the heart of God.

This path is grounded in the Holy Spirit, God’s ultimate act of brining humanity

into the middle of the divine.

1 Edward A. White, “Conclusion: Learning to Live with Risk and Uncertainty,” in Saying Goodbye. Herndon, VA: The Alban Institute, 2002, p. 108.

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The Negative Path:

this way teaches us to let go of the possessions, loved ones, even life in order to lose our fear, illusions, idols,

we break out of our enslavement to cultural expectations on how to be a man, or a woman

This path is grounded in the Crucifixion of Christ, which is God’s ultimate act of letting go.

In the Gospel lesson for today, Jesus teaches mostly about The Negative Way

a most formidable path, which is about what we must let go of

to be ready for the freedom of Kingdom living

It’s hard to believe that letting go makes you more free, more fit more ready to experience the joys of the Reign of God

but I know it’s true, from personal experience. When I began to believe that God was calling me to be a priest

I had to go through a huge process of letting go as did my family

I let go of my identity as an attorney I let go of my autonomy and independence

when I said I’d obey the bishop and comply with church rules.

Obeying and complying are not two things I do easily

BUT through the letting go I have the joy of a whole new purpose in life

The particular Negative path I took is unique for me each person’s experience on each of the paths is different

just as each person’s vocation is different

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On any given day, we may walk down one, two, three or all four of the spiritual paths

Some days the barriers in our way seem to be insurmountable others, we find that we easily break through them

And just because I walked the Negative Path once doesn’t mean I won’t be doing it again

Whichever spiritual path we are on, and however it goes we are grounded and surrounded by the Divine Spirit present in

the Incarnation, Crucifixion, the Resurrection and the Life of our God. REFLECTION For our reflection, I would like us to hear again

Thomas Merton’s prayer about the road of discipleship.

My Lord God I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that my desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.