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 towards 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 plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’
As kids, we all invariably got roped into playing a game of “Follow the Leader.” Ya know, that game where one kid was designated a “leader” who would stand at the front of the line of kids. The leader would then walk around the room doing all sorts of funny things: kicking in the air, hopping on one leg, somersaulting, cartwheeling, jump-jacking…you name it. And unless you mimicked the leader, you were kicked out of the game. Hence, the name of the game, “follow the leader.”
I can’t help but recall that game when reflecting on passages like the one in today’s reading. Jesus and his disciples had come down from the mountain where he transfigured himself before three of his most trusted disciples. Jesus was determined to head to Jerusalem where he would be arrested and crucified. Jesus knew what awaited him in Jerusalem, but his disciples didn’t. Heck, no one knew what awaited Jesus, only Jesus himself. And yet he pressed on to his unfortunate fate. Along the way, strangers came up to him and wanted to join his disciples in following him. “I will follow you wherever you go,” they said. And Jesus invited others, “Follow me.” But they didn’t really know where they were following him to. And they didn’t understand that following Jesus involves sacrifice. They came up with all sorts of excuses for not following him when and how he called them to follow. In essence, they weren’t very good at the playing the game, “follow the leader.” “Let me first go and bury my father”…”let me first say farewell to those at my home.” But that wasn’t what Jesus told them to do! No, he said follow me with the implication, “follow me now!” Jesus disciples knew the game. They knew to follow Jesus when and how he called them to follow. And they knew the price for following him too. They knew they had to sacrifice their careers, their family relations, their personal hopes and dreams…their time!
Following Jesus is a lot like playing that game. It expects us to do exactly as Jesus does, exactly when he does it. Believe it or not, Jesus is doing a lot in our world today. Jesus is hard at work building his kingdom in our world and it’s our duty and responsibility to discern his work. We have to listen and figure out how he’s behaving in our world so that we can mimic him. Friends, that’s the name of the game…”follow the leader!” The church gives us this brief 6 weeks to help us slow down our lives and discern his work and presence. Once we hear him and see what he’s doing, then we have to mimic him. He is the greatest leader our world has ever known and it behooves us to follow his lead. We mustn’t worry about where he’s leading us, only about how he’s leading us. When we know how, then we can play the game. And oh, what a joyous game it is! Let us give thanks for this time to plug into the game. Thanks be to God!
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
