…But First
Luke 9:51-62
Our story today might seem a little difficult and confusing, because really, at a time while we grieve as a community “Let the dead bury the dead” seems callus and even a little cruel. For much of my life while reading this, when I’m not sad, I picture it, with zombies, or vampires.
And now you will have that image as well.
I shall leave this piece of me with you always.
We should probably move on and assume that this wasn’ the visual that Jesus was trying to present.
Our story today begins with Jesus on the other side of the Galilee and there was a change in the air, the time had come. Like in a movie, when something was kicked up in the breeze, when the bells begin to toll, when one task has been completed and it’s on the the next. We watch our protagonist turn their face, then body around and with a close up shot, their eyes focused on what comes next.
Jesus turned toward Jerusalem. The time had come, the path had been set, the die had been cast.
This was what was next.
He was so focused on what was coming next that he had lost some of his living in the present moment, his focus was off-putting to the local Gentiles. Who now is this man on his way to Jerusalem, to the people who had been their oppressors.
Along the way, Jesus meets some folks. Some ask to follow along with him. Some he asks to come with him. Let's hear again this part of the text again but this time from the Message interpretation of the Bible:
On the road someone asked if he could go along. “I’ll go with you, wherever,” he said. Jesus was curt: “Are you ready to rough it? We’re not staying in the best inns, you know.” Jesus said to another, “Follow me.” He said, “Certainly, but first excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have to make arrangements for my father’s funeral.” Jesus refused. “First things first. Your business is life, not death. And life is urgent: Announce God’s kingdom!” Then another said, “I’m ready to follow you, Master, but first excuse me while I get things straightened out at home.” Jesus said, “No procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day.”
When Jesus makes this dramatic turn toward Jerusalem, it isn’t just a physical change in direction, it’s spiritual and emotional. It is a change in the plot.
From here forward Jesus’ path is heading toward his death. He is on his way knowing that the message that he has to share with might cost him everything.
So when someone asks to follow him, he knows that it will be a difficult journey, not just from here to the city but in Jerusalem, and certainly after Jerusalem.
And then there are the 2 who were invited to join Jesus and they responded with,
“Yes!
...but first”
And look, if it wasn’t for the fact that in this story they are clearly portrayed to be in the wrong, I wouldn’t fault them anything.
Yes!… get your house in order! Tell someone you’re leaving.
Let your mom know so she doesn’t think your in some ditch somewhere because my mom taught me that ditches are dangerous. They're always out to get you!
Bury your parent! You should honor their life and honor them in death.
Sell your business, or make sure someone can work it for you.
Get your passport.
Call your credit card company so they’ll know you’re traveling and you’ll be watering your camel out of the city for a while…
There are “...but firsts” that must be done. Jesus, I’m ready to follow you ...but first I need to get my coat and tell me wife. I need to make arrangements.
'And Jesus says, “what we are doing right now has no time for ‘...but first.’ What we are doing now is urgent. We have to go, now."
I’m sure this never happens to you, so let me tell you about how it looks in my life.
I have a dog and a cat. I decided the other day that this is the day I’m going to sweep the pet hair off my floor. But first I have to pick up the floor of all the things I have left on it. But first I should do some laundry. But first I should put away the clothes
But first.
Or I sit down to write a sermon. But first I need to clean my work space and check my emails. But first I have to make some coffee and get some water. But first The dog has to go out.
Or we’re getting ready to leave the house and we’re probably already late because I know my life. But first I have to find my coat. But first throw out that piece of trash on the table. But first put away some of the dishes I washed earlier.
Maybe you know the draw of the …but first.
Your child asks to play or for help with something. But first you have to finish your phone call, your show, dinner, thdishes…
We know ...but firsts
But Jesus wasn’t talking about the calls to our attention and the sometimes annoying but firsts
This was cosmic.
This was about life and living and life abundant.
This was about everything that was to be and the time was drawing near when those who would follow Jesus would have to make a choice between what had always been done and what could be.
This is about a complete focus that could change anything. I’m not going to minimize your faith and talk about how you should choose to believe in Jesus.
You’re here at a time in the world and schedules when it would be easier to not be.
But I do think that we are often called to follow in new ways, ways that might seem risky, ways that might change the way the world has typically worked.
On Tuesday, the last night of Synod this weekend, the sermon was given by Rev. Amy Butler, of the famous Riverside Church in New York. She told a story of how the head of the Church of England, the priest, not the queen decided to make it his mission to end the predatory practices of payday lending. Maybe there is a woman, working two jobs, and sometimes sacrifices need to be made when you’re so close to making it all work, rent or electricity or food. Maybe this time she decided to take a loan for $300. At 5100% interest, her $300 loan would grow into the 10s of thousands in a months. How do you pay for that?
The church started their own credit union to counter these practices and eventually, with the help of political officials, the payday loans went out of business and such practices were banned.
As she told this story, the synod congregation cheered. She continued to tell how it was proposed that maybe the church, a multibillion-dollar organizationcould buy the loansbook from the company that closed for 400 million dollars. Imagine being the woman, with the $300 loan and the thousands and thousands in interest receiving a letter in the mail that says, “On behalf of Jesus Christ, your debt has been forgiven. Be at peace.”
And again the synod congregation cheered.
But, of course, that’s not what happened. It didn’t make financial sense, they couldn’t make the money work. It was important that they had the money that they needed to continue the church for the next 1000 years. Their foundations couldn’t absorb that cost.
And you know what?
Maybe that’s true.
But maybe they lost focus. they forgot that the world had changed, that they were facing Jerusalem, and that Jesus was calling them to participate in the world of Jubilee, of radical grace. That, honestly, might have made a declining church that isn’t seen as relevant in Europe, the people might have seen the church as vital, as generous, as engaged in the lives of the people. Qhen Jesus called them, they responded with “Yes…but first…” the pensions, the property, the longevity, the way it has been done…
Here is the good news: God never stops calling us. God never stops preparing us. God never abandons us even when our response is “Yes but first” or even when our response is “No,” as sometimes it is.
There are a million calls of God, between playing with our children and freeing the multitudes of millions of dollars of debt.
The first time that someone suggested that I consider ordained ministry I’m pretty sure I laughed and suggested that if God could talk to Moses through a flaming, talking tree that doesn’t burn to bits, I was sure God could figure out how to send me a clear message, maybe a sign in the sky, a neon light. Turns out, that’s not how my call went. Sometimes such calls come from people you care about suggest a path you hadn’t considered.
It was a risk. This hasn’t been a path for the faint of heart.
I started it 10 years ago and I could buy a house with the loans I took out. When I told my dad I was going to apply and go to seminary, he suggested that I wait, that I save some money. His response was “ok… but first.”
“But first” can be rational.
It can be about what feels safe, or comfortable, or easy to a new school and town and career path.
But everything that I had done, been a part of, learned about, changed my opinions on, had prepared me for all the learning I was about to do and prepared me to be with you, and the other congregations and communities I have been a part of.
It’s scary to jump into the great unknown, or a new mission, or a new calling as individuals, as a church.
Church, you are going to be spending some time thinking and talking about who you are today and about who you want to be.
Like Jesus, who turned his face to Jerusalem, you have a new focus and direction. You are being called into a new future. You have been equipped for it, prepared for it.
You are enough for what is to come, even if it looks completely different. You have everything you need right here to answer to what comes next.
And so, beloved community, Jesus is calling. We are turning our faces toward Jerusalem: To what is next. To a new way of doing things. To a new way of living in the world. To a new system at work.
And we are not called to the business of surviving or the way things have always been. We are not called to the business of maintaining and complacency. We are not called to the business of surviving for another 100 years, in declining membership of the church universal.
We are called by Jesus to life abundant, to radical living. To leave behind what was and to turn our faces to all that might be. And it’s not going to be easy. And it’s going to take sacrifices. And sometimes the laundry won’t get done. And sometimes the coffee will mold in the pot before you do the dishes. And sometimes it will be uncomfortable.
And scary.
And a risk.
But church, we are called to a time of Jubilation, to set free, to liberate, to cloth, to care for, to visit to declare that the kin-dom of God is at hand and that liberation is extended to all.
When we hear that call we answer: Yes! Yes! Yes! I’m ready!
This was week 4 of 4 that I preached at St. Luke's UCC in South Milwaukee in the time before their interim minister began.
