Luke 9: 51-62 Devo

February 28th, 2021 Devotional “Jesus Turns to Jerusalem” Luke 9:51-62 Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com Monday: “Set His Face” - Luke 9: 51 Luke is setting the scene today for all that is going to follow along the path to Jerusalem. Jesus is nearing the time of his death - the time when he is going to hand over the work of the mission of God to his disciples. And so, he sets his face (or resolves to go) to the place where so much is going to happen during Holy Week - his last meal with his disciples instituting a new covenant, his arrest, trial, and ultimate death. And then all that is going to happen afterwards, from his resurrection to ascension. Only, Jesus isn’t there yet. Holy Week is not yet upon us. But he knows what the mission is al about, even if his disciples cannot fully grasp it, so he starts to head back to Jerusalem. This text makes me wonder what our face is set towards - what we resolve to do. I think for lots of folks, we resolve to simply make it through the day. Tend to family. Go to jobs. Pay the bills. And every moment between waking and going to sleep seems like a frantic rush. But for Jesus, the ultimate goal isn’t about just making it through, its about being about the mission and work of the Kingdom. Wherever we may find ourselves, and whatever our days may hold - as people who are committed to following Christ, this should be our ultimate goal as well. What is your face set towards? How is it helping you be involved in the mission of the Kingdom? Prayer: God, we thank you for both the teaching and example of Jesus in this passage. May you search us and know us in our truest of hearts to reveal to us what our faces are set towards. Amen. Tuesday: “Did Not Receive Him” - Luke 9: 52-56 This particular passage of scripture is one what I have wrestled with throughout the years. Every time I read it, I wonder why in the world Jesus sent his disciples to a Samaritan village to see if they would welcome them (or receive them). It is not shocking that Jesus and his disciples were not welcomed. They were Jewish and the Jews and Samaritans had tense relationship with one another throughout the years. That is part of what makes the women at the well so shocking in the fourth chapter of the Gospel of John. But regardless of why Jesus sent his disciples to this Samaritan village, the lack of welcome is an opportunity for Jesus to remind his disciples what they are and are not about. The disciples are furious that they and Jesus and were not welcomed so they ask Jesus if they should condemn the city - sending fire onto it. Now have the disciples done anything like this before that we have seen in the Gospels? By no means! So why in the world would they think that it was something in their power to do now? But Jesus rebukes them, and they continue on the journey to Jerusalem. Jesus is essentially saying that what they are talking about isn’t the mission they are sent to be about in this world. What do we try to make part of the mission and work of the Kingdom that comes from us and not from Christ? Prayer: Lord, we confess that sometimes we let our thoughts, words and actions run away from us. We try to attribute to you things that are actually from us. Forgive us, Lord, and remind us of the mission, we pray. Amen. Wednesday: “I Will Follow” - Luke 9: 57-58 Being a disciple during the times of Jesus was not an unknown thing. It was considered to be an honor to follow someone, learning from them. You ate what they ate, slept where they slept. The saying was that you, as a follower, would have the dust from your rabbi’s sandals on the front of your clothes because you were following so closely. To be a follower was an honor. So when this man comes to Jesus saying that he will follow him, he already has all of these ideas of what that is going to mean for his life. Probably about how it is going to result in comfort and security for him. And Jesus sees right through all of that and states that he doesn’t have a set place. They end up each day where they end up. Even animals have dens, but each day takes him and his disciples to a new place. That is what it means to be a follower of Christ. What are some of the things that you associate with being a disciple or follower today? Prayer: Almighty God, we thank you not just for Jesus’s words, but his reminder that being a disciple is about following him, wherever he may lead. Let us wholeheartedly follow, as those who love you. Amen. Thursday: “Follow Me” - Luke 9: 59-60 There is a second man that Jesus calls out to, telling him to come and follow. But the man immediately says let me first take care of burying my father. Scholars pretty well agree that this man’s father is not dead. That he wasn’t even near death or sick. Instead, this man, as his son, was essentially saying that he needed to wait until his father passed. Needed to wait until he was his own man of the house before he could go. Keeping that context in mind, it opens up Jesus’s words to let the dead bury their own dead. It wasn’t about being cruel or denying someone the opportunity to grieve. Instead, it was an invitation to go his own way now - apart from family expectations and obligations. What expectations and obligations can hold us back from following Christ? Prayer: God of Grace, we know that there are expectations, seen and unseen that are upon us. We can feel the weight of them upon our shoulders. Set us free from the chains of those expectations so we can more fully follow you, we pray. Amen. Friday: “But Let Me” - Luke 9: 61-62 A third man said to Jesus that he would be willing to follow him but…. Anytime that there is a “but” that we see in this passage or that we lift up in our own lives, often an excuse is going to follow. Here, the excuse, in the form of a request, is to be able to say goodbye to his family. On the surface it seems reasonable. Let me go say goodbye and then come with you. But Jesus sees all that is tied up in that request, which ultimately for this man is a lack of resolve. Think back to the beginning of this week’s scripture that we explored together on Monday. What was Jesus all about resolve. Resolve and the Kingdom mission. So Jesus tells this man that there isn’t any looking back, there isn’t any going back when it comes to the Kingdom. There is only moving forward. What are some of things that make us look backwards instead of forwards? Prayer: God, we thank you for your ever present Kingdom and call on our lives to follow you. Embolden us to shed our excuses and follow you so closely, that others cannot help but know that we are your disciples. Amen. Saturday: Preparing for the Word You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic to prepare for worship: “Good Samaritan” - Luke 10:25-42