1. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word as we observe the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost is taken from Luke 9:51-62, it’s entitled, “Rejecting, Receiving, and Following Jesus.” Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. Today, from Luke chapter 9 we heard about Jesus’ unsuccessful attempt to visit a village in Samaria. He was rejected because he was journeying to Jerusalem, and the Samaritans worshiped on Mount Gerizim, not in Jerusalem. They refused to receive Jesus. We also listened to several conversations Jesus had with his disciples and others who expressed an interest in following him. Rejected, not received, then followed. The entire episode is shaped by the fact that Jesus is intent on reaching Jerusalem, where he will be brutally crucified to make atonement for the sins of the world.
3. In his Word, the crucified and risen Lord Jesus now visits us today. We welcome him. We receive him and the divine gifts he desires to give to us—and we will hear what it means for us to follow him. Let’s look at our text from Luke 9:51-62 and ask, “where among us today do we see rejecting, receiving, and following Jesus?
4. Looking at ourselves and those around us, we see many rejecting, receiving, and following Jesus. Many flat-out reject Jesus. The Samaritan village refused to receive Jesus because he was on the way to worship the Lord God at the temple in Jerusalem. The disciples wanted to destroy them (Luke 9:51–56). Many today find the whole idea of Jesus and Christianity offensive.
5. But, still many sincerely desire to receive Jesus. They don’t at all reject the idea of faith in Christ. They’re very glad to be Christians. But what does it mean “to receive Jesus”? Properly, it means simply being passive, just on the receiving end of Jesus’ saving work. But some misunderstand and think it requires a decision for Christ, actually a form of salvation by works.
6. Many think they want to follow Jesus. Three men considered following Jesus on his journey to Jerusalem and “anywhere else he would go.” Luke 9:57, 59, 61 says, “As they were going along the road, someone said to [Jesus], “I will follow you wherever you go.” To another (Jesus) said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Even in a society becoming more and more secular, “following Jesus” still appeals to many. It might promise help in raising our kids or a way to repair our marriages or a more successful business by honoring God’s principles. Surely it can make us feel better about how we’re living.
7. You know what, though? All these ways to see rejecting, receiving, and following Jesus are actually superficial, because they’re all looking in the wrong place—at ourselves. Yes, we see symptoms in ourselves and those around us, but if we’re really to see rejecting, receiving, and following Jesus, we must look at the face of Jesus himself. Luke 9:51 says, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.”
8. Rejecting Jesus is really rejecting his face set to go to the cross. Jesus set his face resolutely toward Jerusalem. This is why he came, why he was sent into the world by his Father (Jn 3:16). He set out with a determination and commitment that nothing could thwart. This is the scandal that offends so many. 1 Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Saved by one so weak? A religion where a Father sends his Son to die a violent death? But, because of Jesus’ cross, when pastors are rejected as Jesus was by the Samaritans, they do not respond by calling down fire from heaven, but as Jesus did. “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through him,” Jesus says in John 3:17.
9. Receiving Jesus is receiving his face set to go to the cross. No one can receive Jesus any other way, because no one can see the face of God and live unless God’s just wrath is covered by the face of grace incarnate, the face of Jesus. John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Today, we receive Jesus and his gifts when he comes to our “village” with his Word, Holy Baptism, and his Supper. At our Baptism, we received (totally passively!) Christ crucified—“buried with him by baptism into death” (Rom 6:4). In Holy Communion, the body and blood of our Lord killed on the cross strengthens and preserves us in body and soul to life everlasting.
10. Following Jesus is following where his face is set to go: the cross. Jesus demonstrates an absolute commitment to the journey that will end in his crucifixion. The three men, on the other hand, were ignorant of the degree of commitment required and attempted to accept the divine call but with conditions (Luke 9:57–62).
11. Following Jesus means crosses: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Lk 9:23–24). Do you see Jesus’ face there? Today, God’s messengers, his shepherds, his pastors, continue to be sent to you—and when they come, what face do you see? Nearly all of the primary rites for pastoral care in the Lutheran agendas end with the Aaronic Blessing: “The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you” (Num 6:25, emphasis added).
12. In the article “Pastoring by Blessing,” Lutheran Theologian John W. Kleinig explains the nature and importance of pastoral blessings, which take place in a multitude of places and situations. One place often overlooked by pastors is the Divine Service. Kleinig writes, “Often the members of the church are more aware of its significance than pastors. This came home to me rather dramatically some years ago when I led a seminar on worship. I was surprised to discover that some people valued it more than any other part of the service. In fact, one woman claimed that she did not know how she could get through each week without receiving a blessing every Sunday” (Lutheran Theological Journal, 43/1 [2009]: 28–38).
13. When you are sick and distressed, when you are homebound and receive Holy Communion, when you are near death and the pastor prays with you the comforting Commendation of the Dying, when your body has been lowered into the grave—in all these situations, the last words the pastor speaks are the Aaronic Blessing, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you” (Num 6:24–25). What makes these words so familiar is that you are blessed with them every Sunday at the conclusion of the Divine Service, and what makes these words so significant is that Christ set this very face to go to Jerusalem and the cross (Lk 9:51).
14. So once again the Lord has visited us. The risen Lord Jesus has bestowed upon us his gifts of forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. And at the end of today’s Divine Service, he will send us home with the words of that Aaronic Blessing. It’s only because Jesus set his face resolutely and unconditionally toward Jerusalem and the cross that today he can set his face resolutely toward you as a face of unconditional grace and peace. “The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace” (Num 6:25–26). In Jesus’ name. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.
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