Sermon for Sunday 29th June 2025, Trinity 2

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Preached at Granborough Church

By Rev Petra Elsmore

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BIBLE READING

Galatians 3:23-29

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It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. 13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

 

16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

 

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

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Gospel Reading:

Luke 89:51-62

 

51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, ‘Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?’ 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 Then he and his disciples went to another village.

 

57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’

58 Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’

 

59 He said to another man, ‘Follow me.’ But he replied, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ 60 Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ 61 Still another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.’ 62 Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.’

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SERMON

 

Most of us, I would guess, like travelling. We take different journeys in life, with the purpose to discover different parts of the world, or to learn more about other cultures and the history of their people. These journeys are inspired by our thirst for knowledge and understanding and of course pleasure, to some extent. We enjoy seeing new things and meeting new people. These kind of journeys also helps us to step out of our everyday life and in that respect, perhaps to find much needed rest or to recharge our batteries.

 

Then there are journeys that are perhaps harder, journeys through experiences, journeys through tough times in life. We can still learn and be challenged and even grow through such journeys, even though sometimes we wish we did not have to take them.

 

Which journeys do we take willingly, and which journeys do we suffer, because we have to?

 

Not that long ago I have listened to a radio programme about some kind of Surprise holidays. They were aimed at those people who wanted some adventure and holidays full of activities, but who did not have time to organise their own trip, or plan every detail of that trip. The deal was simple, the costumers told the company what were their preferences and hopes for the holiday and a package was prepared for them with a surprise destination and programme. The people would discover where they were going once they got to the airport. A bit of risk, perhaps. At the airport they would receive their Reveal Postcard, their day-by-day itinerary and their destination guide. Would you find holiday like that exciting? 

 

“Dare to let the world surprise you,” was a strap line of one of the companies organising such holiday.

 

“Dare to let the world surprise you,” perhaps Jesus might have used such a strap line when inviting us on a journey to follow him?

 

Today’s reading from Luke begins with"As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem."This is not just a change in geography; it is a change in direction for his entire ministry. Jesus is now on the road to the cross. 

 

Every step he takes, every person he meets, and every word he speaks is fore-shadowed by his ultimate sacrifice. And he is living out the very path he invites us to follow. And the challenging encounters in this passage are here to show us what it means to walk alongside him on this journey of the self-giving love and sacrifice.

 

So what do we learn about following Jesus, what do we learn about Discipleship from this passage?

 

The trip that Jesus embarked upon, started rather dramatically at one of the Samaritan villages, where Jesus was hoping to stay but was unwelcome. And his disciples, full of indignation and anger on his behalf, they wanted to retaliate, but Jesus simply rebuked them and moved on elsewhere. There has been a great inherited bitterness and tension between the Samaritans and the Jews, going back hundreds of years. Jesus, in their mind, was travelling the wrong direction, their own temple was not in Jerusalem but on the Mount Gerazim. Hundreds of years of hostility. And how easily James and John got offended by the lack of hospitality. But Jesus was not deterred from his own journey, he followed the path that was set for him, he was not drawn into that old and never ending conflict, he simply moved on, graciously.

 

And then there are the three encounters, three eager followers to be, only, Jesus did not make the following to be something very appealing at all…. The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head, there is no time to wait around, not even to burry the dead or to say goodbye to your family, no time to look back, just to focus on what is ahead…. His responses may appeal harsh and perhaps unfeeling. What they are, they are unconventional and challenging.

 

We get a taste what discipleship is about and what it requires…

 

As we learn to follow Jesus, we embody the values of the kingdom.

Jesus wasn’t drawn into an old resentment. In our world today, that’s an incredibly hard lesson to follow, as it seems; yet it is the only way by which there can be hope for a better world, hope for better communities and better relationships. And when we face challenging and hostile situations, do we respond from a place of anger and resentment, or do we seek to respond peacefully, with grace, patience, and gentleness? I am not suggesting that we should not feel anger when we witness injustice for example, rather I want us to consider, where does our response come from in the face of injustice? There is a difference, if our anger is rooted in our own resentment and hurt, or if it is rooted in compassion and love for the suffering of another. The root of our action either leads to even more destruction or it leads to hope. And I believe that if we follow Jesus, then it comes from love. A love, source of which, ultimately is the love that Jesus showed to the world through his sacrifice. When we are rooted in this love, then we share in the fruit of the Spirit as Paul reminds us, the patience and gentleness, kindness and forbearance is something that we learn to extend to others. Such response ultimately leads to hope rather than destruction.

 

The other thing that this story teaches us about discipleship is that following Jesus helps us to understand our sense of security. What is it that makes us safe? Where do we belong? What do we need to be happy? Throughout our life we make many attachments, and some of them are healthy and necessary and some of them perhaps less so. We all like comfort and security and there are things we consider necessary to our happiness. Jesus invites us to consider these attachments, do we get too busy and preoccupied with these aspects of life that we don’t realise that God is taking a second place? We each need to answer for ourselves. Reflecting on our own journey with Jesus helps us to re-set the balance from time to time. 

 

Following Jesus also helps us to reconsider our old loyalties and set new priorities. Culture and old traditions can sometimes hold us back from embracing new possibilities. God’s Spirit is continually at work in our midst and we need to be open to be taken into new directions. Not constantly looking backwards to how things were always done but asking God, how is he working among us, where is his Spirit guiding us. This can be a great challenge. 

 

Jesus’s own face is set toward Jerusalem. His gaze is fixed forward on the purpose for which he came. It is the only way to go. For Jesus, this way leads to the cross, but it does not end there. For there was Resurrection, new life and new hope and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit that equips us and strengthens us on our own journey with Jesus.

 

Following Jesus is a journey where we encounter challenges and hardships, journey where we may even encounter hostility, but it is a journey which we never travel alone. Together with our fellow travellers, when we follow in Jesus’s steps, and when we allow his Spirit to be at work within us, then the hope is that the world would see that we are his disciples. We hope that others would see the fruit of the Spirit demonstrated in our lives and hopefully many would be affected by it and drawn to Jesus as well. This is what we are meant to do and who we are meant to become, when Jesus asks will you come and follow me? Amen.