June 27, 2010 - Pentecost + 5

Jesus Keeps His Commitments
Luke 9:51-62
Pentecost + 5 – June 23/27, 2010

The Gospel story today is about making a commitment
Not always easy for me to do
Started young – piano lessons (too much practice); Brownies (need for familiar face); dance classes (didn't fit my schedule)
Making a commitment hard for lots of us
diet & exercise?
Overscheduled, overworked, too many other commitments
Come to this story in Luke & it overwhelms us when we realize how deep a commitment Jesus is asking of us
Jesus wants everything

Would be followers in this story have a hard time making a commitment too
1.I will follow you wherever you go... Do you know what you are getting into? No promise of security, no consistency of routine, etc.
2.J: “Follow me” - 1st let me bury my dad – but no; you have other work to do; family/religious/social expectations can't take priority over following me
(and we are knocked back by that! What about Honor your father & mother? What about family values?)
3.“I will follow, but let me go say goodbye 1st”; J says no to that too – you can't follow me into my future while you are holding on to the past; you can't follow my path if you're not willing to let go of the old familiar, comfortable;
Jesus asking for total commitment

*Following Jesus is not a hobby, not a part-time job, not something you can squeeze in around other activities when you have time
*Jesus asks for everything – and it's a hard story to swallow; hard to live up to, in fact, it's downright impossible

When I got a little older, I learned something else about commitment;
I did improve! I grew up.
Softball - 4th - 9th grade;
Band - 7th-12th grade
Relationships, common goals, joy made it worth the time commitment, the physical challenges (heat, cold, etc.), the sacrificing of other activities...
I got more out of it than it asked back...
Committing to following Jesus is like that
– you get back more than you are asked to give
– not necessarily what you might think you want & need –
not necessarily financial security or social status or the familiar & comfortable,

But you get Jesus! 100% of Jesus – He commits everything to us...
“His face was set toward Jerusalem”
- you know what happens in Jerusalem... the cross, death – the place where he lays it all on the line, holds nothing back, gives himself totally to save us
Even though we don't give him 100%, it doesn't stop him from giving everything for us
Someone like that is worth following & giving it everything we've got, don't you think?