Pentecost 5

I’ve been thinking quite a lot lately about being on a journey. Chris left a couple of weeks ago to journey across country with her husband and the girls. Once in Seattle the plan was to meet up with other family members for a cruise to Alaska.

This is truly a journey that Chris is on and not just a trip. Chris planned long in advance, checking prices for different modes of travel, planning an itinerary, researching interesting places to explore, making reservations, and packing.

I’m sure that Chris’s involvement didn’t stop when John started the car either. With all that Chris did in planning the trip, I can’t imagine that she just settled back in her seat and became a disinterested passenger.

There is an important distinction that needs to be made here between a journey and a trip. With a journey the traveler is fully involved, whereas, a trip may only require a willingness to be passively taken somewhere.

Jesus was on a journey. Though the translators used different English words or phrases, the Greek word for journey, "poreuomai", is used five times in the first seven verses of our Gospel lesson.

Jesus has "turned his face" to go to Jerusalem. The time has come to complete His mission. Jesus will not turn back now to the relative ease of a carpenter’s life in Nazareth. He is determined to end His life on a cross on a hill outside Jerusalem, dying for you and for me.

There will be an urgency in what Jesus says and does now. He knows the time is short and there is much that his disciples don’t yet understand. Much must be done in preparation. This definitely will not be a joy ride or a quicky run to town.

Equally, there is a need for a definite commitment from Jesus’ disciples. The road will not be easy for them either. They are called to follow Jesus to the cross. Even though their deaths are far off, their lives will be full of fear, confusion, grief and hardship.

It is made clear in the exchange between Jesus and the would-be disciples that the commitment to follow Jesus must take first priority or it is no use talking about embarking on the journey.

Neither security nor human relationship can come between the disciple and following Jesus. It seems as though even the Fourth Commandment doesn’t take precedence.

While we have expanded the meaning of honoring our parents to include how we relate to them in life, the original requirement of the Commandment was to see that they received a proper burial.

Jesus lays it on the line when he tells the disciple who wants to bury his father before leaving home that the dead must bury the dead.

There’s no cheap grace here. Those called to discipleship are called to sacrifice anything that would interfere or delay their mission. We are saved by grace, but Jesus’ expectation is that whoever is saved will so cherish the privilege of the relationship gained, that they will commit themselves to that relationship.

If we want to enjoy the benefits of being a Christian - a follower of Christ - we must face the same issues the disciples had to deal with. Is security more important than following Jesus? Are there relationships or activities more important than following Jesus? Will anything cause us to turn back?

The blessings of the relationship with Christ were and are so much more fulfilling and wonderful that it hardly seems like there should be any hesitation in answering those questions.

The disciples will directly experience the love of God, will learn life-changing lessons, will see Jesus in the glory of the Transfiguration and again after the Resurrection. Then, they will be gifted with the Holy Spirit and commissioned to continue Jesus work. How could they do anything other than join the journey?

Likewise, we who are called to discipleship today (and that means all of us) need to weigh negative answers to those questions against the extraordinary blessings of discipleship. Oh, it’s true that the journey will be difficult, taxing, and maybe even painful at times. But, the benefits more than make up for what we may sacrifice.

In the end, nothing, absolutely nothing, can out-shine journeying with Jesus. Nothing can be more rewarding than being a part of God’s plan of salvation of humanity. Nothing can provide greater pleasure and joy than doing God’s will.

This journey is a day to day decision we must make. We can always turn back, but we do well to follow Jesus’ example.

We don’t usually think about it, but being completely human, Jesus could have turned back. He could have returned to Nazareth, married some nice Jewish girl, worked as a carpenter and died an old man.

It’s almost unimaginable, isn’t it. Jesus turn back, withdraw from His mission, choose to live?.... Yes! He could have. If this hadn’t been possible His decision to do God’s will and die for our sins would have had no meaning.

It was His freely made choice to turn His face toward Jerusalem and make the journey to the cross that made His act meaningful. Also being the sinless Son of God did not exempt Him from making the choice to complete the journey. It only made it possible for Him to choose without the influence of original sin effecting His decision.

Of course, we are not Christ. We are influenced by original sin and a lot of other factors of living in this world. And even when we do choose to follow Jesus, we falter and fail at times. That’s where grace comes in. God does forgive us for Jesus’ sake, because Jesus did fully commit to His journey.

But we cannot use our sinfulness, human limitations or obligations, the promise of forgiveness, grace or anything else as an excuse. We are called to take up our crosses each day and follow Jesus to our places of work or study, to social affairs, to every relationship we have. We are called to be disciples, not just on Sunday, but 24/7. We are called to take up the journey, new each day.
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Go home today and consider what you would do to plan for a major journey and then pray that Jesus will guide you in living out your discipleship journey with the deep commitment He made in His journey. Amen