St. Luke 9:51-62 Dearly beloved,
Have you ever wondered what the ideal Christian looks like? Sometimes we see examples of people, whom we say are the very picture and example of a Christian. We all have someone we look up to as we say to ourselves, “I need to be more like that person.” Oftentimes what happens in this situation is we look at ourselves and see our failures. If you look in the mirror and see yourself as the “ideal Christian” then you have a serious problem with pride. You also fail to see your own sins. Going from here, let’s broaden the discussion a bit. What is the character of the church? Well, we know that we have been given the word and sacraments; The gospel is to be preached; The church is to gather around the altar continually in prayer and in receipt of the gifts. Now, how does the church live out its existence having been given the gospel and sacraments? The church lives in an interesting situation. The church has been planted by Jesus Christ. Jesus established the church with His cross and bloody death. Christ’s blood and suffering has been poured into the sacraments. The Lord’s church has been planted right in the midst of the sinful world. This means that the church contends against a difficult foe. St. Paul says that “we” the church do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness....(Ephesians 6:12). This means that the world which the church encounters in mission is a difficult foe. What is tough is that it is virtually impossible in our minds to separate the sin from the sinner. We see the sinner and we are ready to smite them to the ground. The thing we cannot see is that if the sinful old Adam is stripped from the sinner, then we will find God’s creation, His creature. St. Luke’s gospel is very pointed in this respect. The words of Jesus echo the entire point of Christ’s incarnation, life, death and resurrection. To answer my earlier question concerning what the church is to look like, Jesus gives the answer in the gospel. “The Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” This falls in line with Jesus’ other statement in John’s gospel that “I am about my father’s business.” The Father’s business is creation and Jesus came to save creation, to save what the Father made. We see that the disciples in St. Luke 9, though, exhibit the opposite of what the church is to look like. Jesus sends His messengers ahead of Him in order to prepare the people for His coming into Jerusalem, for this is where Jesus was heading. The messengers disobeyed Jesus and started taking the lead for themselves. The messengers decide to stop off in Samaria to prepare for Jesus. The problem? Jesus didn’t tell them to go to Samaria. He told them to go to Jerusalem. As a result, the Samaritans did not receive Him. How do the disciples respond? “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them just as Elijah did?” The disciples want to take matters into their own hands, and as they do this they want to do things their own way, which happens to be contrary to Jesus’ way. They are ready to kill the sinner. Throughout the whole scenario it is the disciples who sinned in their godly zeal. We must be careful, as well. The disciples, in their zeal, became filled with pride. They wanted to take the lead. They exhibited characteristics that are opposed to the ways of Christ and His church. The messengers were ready to destroy God’s creation, rather than save it, thereby running contrary to Christ’s entire purpose and plan. Jesus even had to remind the Pharisees of the very same thing at another point by saying, “Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” So we see from Christ’s response that the church is not to be like the world. Again, Jesus said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” Jesus is not condoning sin as acceptable, by any means. Jesus is giving the church a perspective on how the church focuses in on the world. The perspective that every church has, will thereby shape and govern the atmosphere in that church. If the people in a church all want to lead, then they will run into the same problems that the disciples have in the gospel. If pride runs rampant, then there won’t be much room for the gospel, but the Law will govern in the church. Where people fail to see their own sins, where they fail to examine their own souls, there will be strife, anger, dissensions, selfish ambitions, heresies, outbursts of wrath, idolatry and more, as St. Paul tells the Galatians. Paul also goes on to describe how the church is to look. “...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law”(Galatians 5:22-23). This is how the church looks and there is a reason for it--the reason is that the people in the church are a baptized community. Jesus has saved those people from the corruption due to sin. In other words, Jesus has restored the Father’s creation and you are a part of this. St. Paul continues in telling the Galatians that “...those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” This is a baptismal statement. Christ poured out the blessings of salvation from His blood and suffering into the baptismal waters, which you entered. The old Adam was drowned and crucified with Jesus, and you arise as God’s new creation. This, then, characterizes and defines the church. It means that you no longer belong to the world but to Jesus. It means that your sins have been washed away, and you have been reconciled to the heavenly Father. The heavenly Father looks at you and sees you as He saw Adam and Eve before the fall into sin. Therefore, we go forth doing as Paul says, “If we live in the Spirit, let also walk in the Spirit.” Paul is not giving us an imperative. Rather, he is telling us that if we have been baptized and brought into His church, then we become partakers of life in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit leads, guides, directs, bringing us to the font of grace, where we follow Jesus and find His ways of mercy. After all, those words in the gospel were directed at you, “For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” The Son of Man, Jesus Christ, has saved your life--you are a part of Christ’s new creation, resting in the grace and mercy of Jesus’ love. Amen. -- Rev. Chad Kendall Trinity Lutheran Church Lowell, Indiana www.trinitylowell.org
