Luke 9:51 - 62
My grandfather had a fourth-grade education, spent much of his early years as a ranch hand and cowboy, drank a fair amount of whiskey, and after his marriage settled down and raised a family with my grandmother. He stopped his drinking but worked odd jobs -- a salesman on commission, a bartender, a janitor. He never owned a home or a new car or even a television set. I remember him with fondness, though. He used to take my sister and I out for an excursion in his used car once in a while. There was a drive in where the waitresses came up to the car window to take your order and brought it out on a tray that attached to your car window. This was long before McDonalds and Dairy Queen. Gertie’s drive in was one of the more popular spots in town. Every time we’d go there or even drive past there, my grandfather would reminisce about how he had been invited by Gertie, who was an old cowboy friend of my grandfather and not a woman, as the name may imply, to be a partner in the business when it first got off the ground. My grandfather would always remark that he would have been rich if he had taken Gertie up on his offer.
Today we hear a gospel which seems to have two unrelated parts. There is the part about James and John offering to call down fire from heaven to consume the Samaritans who rejected Jesus’ disciples. Jesus rebukes them. Then Jesus meets three individuals who claim they want to be his disciples but want to put off making the commitment because they have other things that they feel are more important. Jesus in a sense rebukes them as well -- “Let the dead bury the dead”. “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”
James and John are on a mission. They went to the Samaritan village to prepare for Jesus’ coming. The Samaritans decided to have nothing to do with them because they were going to Jerusalem. Jerusalem, of course , was where the Jews worshiped. The Samaritans disagreed and worshiped at their own temple. And over this difference there was a lot of enmity. In another place Jesus told his disciples whom he had sent out that if they were rejected they were to shake the dust off their sandals and go on to the next village. Jesus has basically defined the situation the disciples are in, and given them instructions as to what to do. But James and John are distracted. They know in their hearts that the Samaritans, already heretics and the enemies of the Jews, clearly don’t deserve to live after this insult. And they lose sight of the mission in order to get even with their enemies.
And that’s why Jesus reinforces this message with the next three potential disciples. If you really want to be his disciple, keep yourself focused on the mission. It’s not your business to judge those to whom you preach. It’s your business to preach. And if they don’t listen, that’s not your problem. After all, response to your preaching is up to the Holy Spirit. If you are a disciple, your job is to listen to Jesus, and to proclaim his presence, his incarnation, his taking on flesh and living among us. You do that by your words and actions, knowing that God will move the hearts of those who hear you if that’s what he wants.
This was the attitude of the saints. And not everyone who heard them responded to them, Saint Francis de Sales preached to Calvinists; some returned to the Church but some did not. Saint Charles de Foucald and some followers lived among the Tuareg people in North Africa. When he was martyred he had no followers at all, but lived and preached his message right up to his death. On the other hand, Saint Louis de Montfort had a different approach; while preaching in a town square he saw some young men on the other side who were gambling. He stopped his sermon, went over to them, and ordered them to get into the crowd who had been listening. Charles was a tough guy and breaking up the gambing required a little physical force, but he got the young men over to hear his preaching. Charles wasn't worried about conversion. He just wanted everyone to be offered the opportunity.
Today as we listen to Jesus' words to his potential disciples, let’s ask if we are missing opportunities to preach to our families, friends and neighbors. I’m sure we are. But it's something we can do something about if we put our minds to it and remember that now is the time, now is where God’s grace is, now will never come again.
