Sermon by the Rev. Bernadette M. Hartsough
June 26, 2022
This morning we have some interesting readings. In First Kings, we have the continuation of the story of Elijah. Last week we read how he fled for his life because he killed 450 prophets and God did not mention the killing of the other prophets. Elijah claimed that he was doing God’s commands. But perhaps he misunderstood because this week, God replaces Elijah with Elisha. I believe this is God’s way of dealing with the slaughter of the prophets.
This reading in First Kings is linked to the gospel reading. The writer of Luke’s Gospel had just mentioned Elijah in the scene of the transfiguration where Jesus climbed the mountain and spoke with Elijah and Moses. Jesus’ disciples would have known the stories about Elijah. He was considered a great prophet.
Elijah’s actions in the First Kings are similar to Jesus’ actions in Luke’s Gospel. Taking these two readings side by side helps us see how Jesus expands the meaning of being a follower, a disciple. Let’s look at the parallels. Elijah sets out into the wilderness to anoint a new king and a new prophet. Jesus heads to Jerusalem to become the new king.
Just as Elijah had called fire to kill the prophets, Jesus’ disciples James and John wanted to call fire to kill the Samaritans who did not welcome them.
Elisha asked to say goodbye to his mother and father. Elijah allows it. Jesus meets a man who says he will follow Jesus anywhere but anywhere. But first he must say goodbye to his family. Jesus reminds him that when you’re plowing you can’t look back.
Jesus’ reactions in this situation give us a clear picture of what Jesus expects of his disciples. First Jesus wants his disciples to take seriously the decision to follow him. It is not a hasty decision. It’s the journey of a lifetime.
Jesus doesn’t want us to postpone following Him. When we put things off, it usually means we don’t want to do them. We postpone paying bills, exercising, confronting a family member or friend who has hurt us. Jesus knows that postponing it means you are not fully engaged.
Jesus is not telling us to give up our families. He wants us to see our families in the midst of our faith in Jesus. Following Jesus means that we see everyone and everything through the lens of being Christians, through our commitment to Jesus. We interpret the events of our lives through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
We live as Jesus taught us. In today’s Gospel, when James and John want to kill the Samaritans for not welcoming them, Jesus rebukes them. The gospel does not give us the words of Jesus here, but Jesus does not allow the Samaritans to be killed. James and John were being too jealous. They were losing the point. Jesus is teaching them that violence begets violence. Jesus dies and forgives.
The teachings of Jesus and his life and death were about love and forgiveness. The violence was incompatible with Jesus’ mission and identity. Today’s Gospel reminds us of a Jesus who wants our total commitment to God, but he wants more than that. He wants us to be the commitment. Live the commitment. We read a lot about Jesus in books, on TV, on the Internet. But who is the Jesus you follow? The core of Jesus was a Jesus looking at Jerusalem. His mission was to repair our brokenness with God through love, self-sacrifice, forgiveness, and nonviolence.
As Jesus repairs our brokenness, we are transformed into his likeness. We learn to love justice, mercy, peace. We turn away from political powers and special interest groups, greed, hunger for power and control, oppression of the poor, distrust and discrimination of others who are different… etc.
We remember that Jesus was non-violent. He didn’t retaliate. This is hard but it is the standard that we are to try to live by.
This week Gerardo was killed on the front porch of Jose’s mother’s house in Honduras. We can’t say well that’s Honduras, or Mexico or El Salvador because it is happening here in this country. People are gunned down in schools, movie theatres, grocery store, night clubs, universities, churches… the list goes on. This violence is madness. Our human reaction is to get a gun, protect ourselves, retaliate. The people doing the shootings are lost. They are disconnected from God and from the body of Christ. when people feel disconnected they think of themselves.
When I think about all the violence, I pray and remember that we are called to follow a Jesus who loves peace. A Jesus who gave shalom to his apostles and his first disciples. We follow a Jesus that gives his peace to us. Today we pray for that peace in our hearts and our minds. May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge of his love.