With love...

Genesis 32:22-32

Jacob Wrestles at Peniel

The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the thigh muscle that is on the hip socket, because he struck Jacob on the hip socket at the thigh muscle.

Luke 18:1-8

The Parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’ ” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit

Along with some others from St Ninian's this week, I went to Largs on Wednesday evening to hear Brian McLaren talk about his new book.

Brian is one of the great spiritual writers of our time - able to put his finger on many Spiritual truths in which we need to hear the voice of God.

Just one of the themes he talked about was the violence we find throughout the threads of the Old Testament - and especially the stories of a violent, vengeful God.

He spoke of how we need to transform that message of violence into a message of love.

How our world is crying out for a God who is not remote and angry but intimately involved with Creation, making a difference to the everyday.

I was fortunate enough, as I was growing up to be told the stories of the Old Testament as stories of mystery and adventure, of intrigue and love.

I can remember being excited, through the week, waiting for the next episode to be revealed at Sunday School, waiting to hear how things turned out for the characters in the various stories.

Characters like Abraham and Isaac, like Joseph and David, like Samuel and Saul, like Jonah and Jeremiah. All of their stories were brought to life for me week by week by folks who knew the power of story telling.

And so, even with stories of deceit and violence, and war and intrigue, I always knew that, in the end, the love of God would weave its way in and around the drama and the justice of God would prevail

And, in the years that I've studied those texts, in depth, for myself, I'm still assured, that underlying all the many horrific stories, is a God who wants to connect in love with all people, to bring about justice.

In our Old Testament reading today, we read an episode of the Jacob- Esau drama.

Jacob, who, with the help of his mother, cheated his elder brother out of his birthright - and then went on the run.

In the text today, we find him about to be reunited with his brother.

Of course he is nervous.

He doesn't know whether his brother is out for revenge.

And so Jacob does everything he can to protect himself and his loved ones.

He sends gifts ahead.

He places distance between his family and Esau's people.

He plans his escape route, just in case it all goes badly.

And, he stays up all night, wrestling with God.

But this story makes me sad.

Because, even though Jacob has encountered God.

Even though God even changes his name, from Jacob to Israel, and gives him a blessing.

And even though Esau, his brother is not out for revenge but for reconciliation, still Jacob (or Israel)    persists in his way of deceit.

Reading on in the story, even once he receives his brothers forgiveness, Jacob lies to his brother about where he is going and takes his family and all his worldly goods off in a different direction. And yet, Jacob is the one who goes on to be known as father of the 12 tribes of Israel.

Weaving in and out of the lies and deceit and bloodshed is the slender thread of the love and patience, the forgiveness and faithfulness of God.

A God worth wrestling with in all that keeps us awake at night.

I spent the week before last, wrestling, alongside other ministers, with Spiritual Discipline. 

Ensuring that we are firmly rooted in God so that we can be equipped and sustained for all the challenges of serving God today.

One of my favourite spiritual disciplines is the examen.

A time to take some quiet and look back on the day - and see where God was at work.

A time to discern, not only where we saw God, but listen to what God was trying to tell us in the events of the day.

Often, that, for me, is a wrestling with God, looking, not just for blessing, but for signs of God who dances with us through all the rhythms of life.

As I approached our second reading this week, the parable that Jesus told of the persistent woman and the unjust judge, I approached it like the Examen - and looked to see the signs of God in the story Jesus told.

 Then Jesus told them a parable....

Jesus, as he told parables, embedded truth, embedded hard lessons in a story.

A story with layers that are ours to discover.

Where is God in this story?

And how does God speak to us through the story?

What I saw as I wrestled with the text this week, was not, perhaps, the most obvious sign of God- in the unjust Judge who is persuaded by persistence.

I simply don't see God as unjust.

God's will-  for good - for all God's children does not, thankfully, depend on our persistence.

Though we have gifted prayer partners here, whose efforts really do make a difference, the God to whom we pray doesn't need persuaded to show love - it's ours for the asking.

But where I saw God in this story that Jesus told, was in the persistent widow.

Who never gave up, who was there morning and night, crying out for justice.

I saw God in that woman who, day in, day out, confronted injustice and cried out for change.

And I thought of all the places we see that same picture of God today:

In Aleppo and Syria, in Sarajevo and Somalia, in the United States and the U.K., in Calais and in Samos.

In all the places where people cry out for justice.

God is right there, crying with them.

Crying out for change.

Crying out for peace.

Crying out for love,

Crying out to us who are complicit in withholding justice.

As I drove home from a meeting yesterday, I heard a couple of snippets of the  First Minsters speech at the Party Conference.

She was talking about the rising number of displaced people being, not a crisis of migration but a humanitarian crisis.

And talking about the important I word today as being "Inclusion".

Whatever your party politics, those are the kind of passionate and compassionate words we need to be hearing from our politicians today.

But not just words - action too.

You and I are being prevailed upon by God - to stop being ruled by fear, to take a stand, to make a difference, to see justice upheld - to see love win the day.

And that brings me back to Brian McLaren.

Brian was encouraging us to challenge the injustice that is in our world today, to speak up when we see oppression and lies taking hold.

But to speak and to act in love.

Not with aggression.

Not with pride or self righteousness.

But with love.

In our daily contacts, face to face and in social media, we can join God in persistently calling out all that diminishes those whom God calls beloved.

And we can do so in love.

For the glory of God.

Amen.

Serving and changing

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Jeremiah’s Call and Commission

Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

and before you were born I consecrated you;

I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.”

But the Lord said to me,

“Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’;

for you shall go to all to whom I send you,

and you shall speak whatever I command you.

Do not be afraid of them,

for I am with you to deliver you,

says the Lord.”

Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me,

“Now I have put my words in your mouth.

See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,

to pluck up and to pull down,

to destroy and to overthrow,

to build and to plant.”

Luke 13:10-17

Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman

Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.” But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?” When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.

In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

There are two things going on in our readings this week:

A call to serve - and a call to change.

Jeremiah is a really interesting character. A reluctant prophet - as were most prophets called out by God.

Because, really, who would want to serve God as a prophet - bringing an uncomfortable message that, inevitably, is going to make folk squirm.

Who would want to serve God as a prophet when the messages God gives to share are the last things folk want to hear - or are so incredible that ridicule is bound to ensue?

Who would want to serve God as a prophet?

Jeremiah voices his reluctance by claiming "I am only a boy."

God dismisses Jeremiah's reluctance, telling him:

for you shall go to all to whom I send you,

and you shall speak whatever I command you.

Do not be afraid of them,

for I am with you to deliver you,

“Now I have put my words in your mouth.

See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,

to pluck up and to pull down,

to destroy and to overthrow,

to build and to plant.”

Jeremiah, for all,his reluctance, went on to serve God, just as he was called.

Some of the things he got up to were quite bizarre as, time and again, God used Jeremiah to reveal the truth.

But, once Jeremiah responded to the call that God had on his life, there was no looking back.

Jeremiah constantly confronted God's people with the consequences of their actions.

And, when the people refused to turn around and mend their ways, when the disaster of which Jeremiah warned, befell them, Jeremiah was there to help them pick up the pieces and find their way back to God.

When the people were forced out of their land and found themselves in exile, Jeremiah was the one who encouraged them to return to the faith of their ancestors, to find comfort in the ancient paths even in a strange land.

And so, even in dire straits, God's people were able to turn their lives around.

Jeremiah was a man living out, in obedience, a call from God.

Caring for God's people and helping them recover faith.

Rarely is God's call on our lives simple or straightforward.

There will always be obstacles to overcome, struggles with doubt and feelings of inadequacy - fears not unfounded.

But God not only calls but equips us for service.

God calls us today to faithful service, to discover for ourselves and to share with others those ancient paths that lead us home to the God who loved us before we were born, who loves us now and whose love beckons us forward in faith.

In our gospel reading today, we find Jesus demonstrating that love by healing the woman unable to stand up straight for many years.

And using that healing as a teaching opportunity.

I've always felt uncomfortable about Jesus speaking of this woman"being bound by Satan".

But people believed then that illness was due to evil spirits or to past wrong doing.

And Jesus, as he is wont to do, uses that common belief and sets the healing he has performed against that backdrop.

Just as Jesus told stories about things with which people of the day were familiar - sowers,lost sheep, the road to Jericho - so he also sets his healing in a context with which folk would be familiar:

So you think this woman has been bound by Satan all these years? Well, I choose to release her - on the Sabbath of all days.

Jesus used what people know to show how things could be different.

Against the forces of love, nothing will prevail.

Even the most unlikely situations can be changed by the power of love to set things free.

Love is no respecter of customs and traditions.

Love breaks through barriers that may have been in place a long time.

Love brings about change.

Jesus, in healing the woman on the Sabbath shows how love can turn things around, how change is possible when we allow God space to work.

Let me share with you a reflection on how life might have looked for that woman:

Shuffling along always looking down

unable to stand up straight

Noticing all the traffic on the street:

Feet striding past

shod in boots and shoes and sandals

Some stepping out briskly, some dragging along

skipping or tripping

disturbing the litter strewn on the ground

lifted and laid by the breeze

avoiding the cracks in the stone slabs

and the gum ground in by other feet

Observing the cigarette ends -

those with lipstick

those smoked down to the very last gasp

and those tossed down still reeking

their rancid fumes.

Looking down for eighteen long years

Looking down

but catching, in all the greyness

the vibrancy and colour

that rushes past

The reflections in the shiny surfaces

the clouds and rainbows in the puddles.

Flashes of glory in eyes cast down.

Glimpses of God in the detritus of the street.

Healing becomes possible when God stoops down

and looks into the eyes

of a woman weighed down by life.

In healing that woman on the Sabbath, Jesus demonstrated the ability of God to bring change.

To bring change into customs and practices.

To bring change into hearts hardened by sticking to the rules.

Jesus demonstrated the ability of God to turn things around, bit by bit - to raise questions, to soften attitudes, to invoke compassion, thawing closed hearts and minds enough for love to penetrate until it gets a hold and causes change.

Two things going on in our readings today - a call to serve and a call to change.

Choosing one means choosing both.

To serve God means changing the world around us, not least the church in which we serve.

Not all at once.

But bit by bit, as attitudes and customs are changed.

As love prevails.

And as all of us are freed from whatever holds us back from responding wholeheartedly to God's call on our lives - a call to love and service.

For the glory of God 

Amen.

The time is now

Genesis 18:1-10

A Son Promised to Abraham and Sarah

The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. He said, “My lord, if I find favour with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.” Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him.

Colossians 1:15-28

The Supremacy of Christ

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him— provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.

Paul’s Interest in the Colossians

I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

Luke 10:38-42

Jesus Visits Martha and Mary

Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Sometimes one of the biggest challenges in preaching is to find a link between the readings of the day. And I have to confess that, on occasion, I give up and just concentrate on one text and ignore the others. But, today, praise God, not only do these texts, speak into one another - they speak powerfully into the world in which we live, the world splashed across our TV screens and in our newspapers today  - a world of hatred and of conflict, a world of racism and white supremacy, a world of hierarchy and oppression, a world where people hanker after things that do not satisfy, taking things they do not own and denying others the status bestowed on them by the God of all creation, the status of beloved children, created in the image of God.

All of this breaks God's heart.

And we, the people of God, are called to engage with, to speak into and to live out the good news wherever God's heart is broken today.

To speak good news into violence and racism.

To speak good news into Xenophobia.

To speak good news into extremism and terrorism.

To speak good news. 

Our texts today, I believe, give us some clues as to how we might do that:

Beginning with Abraham.

Abraham who, at the age of 75 set off on a journey with God.

Becoming a stranger in the land to which God has called him.

But Abraham was open to hospitality.

A stranger himself, he welcomes three strangers who seem set to pass by. And goes all out to ensure that they are fed and watered before they continue their journey.

Abraham - on the lookout for strangers, not to detain them, but to bless them.

And, as we read, it was Abraham who was blessed - blessed with the unlikely prophecy that Sarah would bear a son. That even at their advanced age, they were going to fulfil the promise of God and become parents to a great nation.

Abraham welcomed the strangers and knew God's blessing in offering hospitality.

I love the old Celtic Rune that says:

“I saw a stranger last night. I put food in the eating place, drink in the drinking place, music in the listening place, and in the sacred name of the Triune, he blessed myself and my house and my cattle and my dear ones. And the lark said in her song, ‘Often, often, often goes the Christ in the stranger’s guise.’     

Hospitality for the stranger brings hope for our world in all its brokenness.

And then the letter to the Colossians reminds us of the Supremacy of Christ.

Reminds us that, in Christ, all things are held together.

Supremacy - a word and a status so often abused and used to oppress finds a new meaning when viewed from the perspective of Jesus.

Jesus, the true image of God, in whom all things were made, by whom all are brought back to God, showed his supremacy  - by living in service to others.

And that's why the story of Martha and Mary has always rankled  a bit with me.

Because it doesn't seem to fit with that image of Jesus who came to serve.

Why would Jesus the servant not unreservedly honour one who served.

 This story has so often been read in isolation.

And taken out of context as an admonishment not to be so caught up in doing stuff that we forget to sit at Jesus feet and listen.

How often have you heard it preached that way?

But even a cursory read through Luke's gospel tells us that Jesus does not undervalue service.

Jesus encourages hospitality and service.

So why does it seem in this passage that he is critical of Martha for wanting to be a good host?

I want to suggest that it's to do with timing.

That there are times, however well brought up we are, however programmed to serve we are - there are times, when we should let go of our notion of how we should behave.

Times when we have to reassess priorities and demands.

Some of my clergy colleagues in the states are caught up just now in speaking good news into complex race struggles.

Black Lives Matter has become a slogan for a cause in the face of overt discrimination, intimidation and murder of people of colour.

But it's more than a slogan or a hash tag.

It's a call to bring about the justice of God.

And there are always folk who take exception to justice - especially when it threatens a livelihood and a way of life built on injustice.

Some people have tried to dilute Black Lives Matter by proclaiming that all lives matter.

Of course all lives matter.

But, at this time in history, more than ever before, God demands justice for those oppressed by centuries of injustice.

Black Lives Matter - is not saying that all lives don't matter, but, for this season, at this time in history, in order to address years of systemic racial violence, it is important to affirm that Yes, black lives matter.

And it is possible to affirm one thing without denigrating everything else.

Without in any way reducing the importance of the Black Lives Matter campaign, I think that over the years, this gospel passage has undergone the same divisive treatment.

People have interpreted Jesus words as saying that sitting at Jesus feet takes precedence over practising good hospitality.

Jesus is commending Mary's listening, not condemning Martha's service.

Even a cursory reading of Luke's gospel demonstrates how Jesus values service.

But Jesus always spoke, uncompromisingly into whatever he saw, whatever was right for the season.

Seeing the poor, Jesus said: Blessed are the poor - not to condemn the rich per se but to highlight the plight of the poor and encourage a response of giving and serving.

So it is here.

Jesus does not condemn Martha for wanting things to be perfect, for wanting to practice exemplary hospitality but speaks into the moment and the reality of time.

Jesus has already set his face to go to Jerusalem.

Time is running out.

The opportunity to sit at his feet is limited.

For that moment, Jesus' company was a rare gift to be cherished.

Mary recognised that while Martha didn't.

Jesus' words spoke into that moment.

As he speaks into our every moment today.

Is it time to serve?

Is it time to listen?

How does Jesus speak into our lives today?

To what does Jesus call us?

I believe we are still called to hospitality, to welcome the stranger in our midst.

We are still called to justice, to act for those being oppressed.

In the UK

In the USA

In Nice

In Istanbul

In Israel

In Palestine

In the Sudan and in all the places not even on our radar.

We are called to compassion.

We are called to speak and we are called to listen.

And, informed by that listening, we are called to serve.

Amidst all the change - global, national and local, we are called to bring good news into all that breaks God's heart today.

Martha and Mary

Sisters who welcomed Jesus

Martha by offering hospitality

Working tirelessly to ensure he had everything he needed

Martha - Distracted by all her tasks, the text tells us.

Yet wasn't it Mary who was the distracted one?

Distracted from all that she'd been brought up to do

by what the hour demanded.

Mary distracted by seeing before her

a man with angst and passion written all over him

A man whose course was steering him inexorably

into the hands of the authorities

who were already out to get him

Authorities, violent and corrupt

who couldn't risk Jesus

being let loose any longer.

Martha did what she knew.

Mary did what she saw

and took the opportunity

to cherish him

and be cherished by him

while there was still time.

And perhaps today

we are called

from what we know

from what is socially acceptable

to do what is right for this time -

To fly in the face of convention

To welcome the stranger

To speak up for the oppressed 

To act irrationally in our compassion 

And to bring about

the justice of God.

Mentoring, Commitment and Fruits of the Spirit

1 Kings 19:15,16,19-21
Then the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. So he set out from there, and found Elisha son of Shaphat, who was plowing. There were twelve yoke of oxen ahead of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle over him. He left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” Then Elijah said to him, “Go back again; for what have I done to you?” He returned from following him, took the yoke of oxen, and slaughtered them; using the equipment from the oxen, he boiled their flesh, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out and followed Elijah, and became his servant.

Galatians 5:1,13-25
For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
The Works of the Flesh
Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
The Fruit of the Spirit
By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.

Luke 9:51-62
A Samaritan Village Refuses to Receive Jesus
When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village.
Would-Be Followers of Jesus
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

“No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
These seem like harsh words from Jesus:
“No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Most days, we are not fit for the kingdom.
Because most days, our commitment to the cause of the Kingdom of God wavers.
We look back.
We wonder: what if?
It is human to put our hand to the plough - and look back.
What are we to make of these words of Jesus that condemn our often half hearted commitment?

Let's look, first of all at the other readings in our Lectionary this morning.

I love the stories of the prophets Elijah and Elisha.
Their stories in 1 and 2 Kings are very visual and very dramatic.
Most of us can probably recall lots of the things that happened to Elijah and Elisha, perhaps from stories told to us in Sunday School.
Like the story of the widow, whose jar of oil and flour never ran out.
Or whose son died and Elijah brought back to life.
We recall stories of Elijah calling down fire, taunting the prophets of Baal.
Or fleeing God and being fed by Ravens.
Meeting God, not in the earthquake,wind or fire, but in the still, small, voice.
Being caught up in a cloud of fire and passing on the mantle to Elisha.
The stories of Elijah and of Elisha have often spoken to me at significant times in life, when God was prompting me, nudging me into something new.
So I'm always pleased but also a little bit wary, when Elijah or Elisha pop up in daily devotions or in the Sunday readings.

In our reading in 1Kings this morning,  we see Elijah preparing for the time when he must pass on the mantle of Prophet - a role he has held reluctantly, a role he has often felt unprepared for and overwhelmed by.
Elijah does as God asks - he casts his mantle on Elisha.
But he expects Elisha to carry on with his life until the time comes for him to take over.
As we read in the text, Elisha was having none of that.
If he has to take on the role of a prophet, he is going to make sure that he learns all he can before the mantle is his.
So he quickly wraps up his affairs and goes after Elijah so that he can walk alongside the prophet and learn firsthand, the tasks that one day will be his.
How much sense does that make.
How much easier is it to do something if we have watched someone else do it.
We can read up on things.
We can listen to instructions.
But, when we get to actually see someone do something, even do it with them, we learn so much more.
That's what Jesus did with his disciples.
He called them to follow him and then he journeyed with them.
Sure he taught them.
He told them stories.
He challenged them.
But, for the most part, he simply showed them how to be disciples.
He invited them to be part of his life.
He journeyed with them.
And they learned to initiate him.
I think that's a really important model for Jesus' followers to use today.
Before we teach people about faith.
Before we give them all the information we think they might need.
Why don't we invite them to journey with us.
To learn about faith from us?
Not by what we say - but by what we do.
That's quite a scary thought, isn't it?
That we might mentor others into faith.
That others might learn by seeing what we do, how to follow Jesus.

The apostle Paul, writing to the Galatians encourages them to live by the Spirit.
He reminds them that the whole law is summed up in the command: love your neighbour as yourself and that if we live by the Spirit, others will be able to see the love that we have.
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Those are the things that will convince others to walk as we do, to embrace the faith that we have - because they see the fruits of the Spirit in our lives - the love, the joy, the peace, the patience, the kindness, the generosity, the faithfulness, the gentleness and the self control.

Aren't those the very things that we long to see more of in the world today.
When everything around us is shifting.
When we can't see a way forward or a way out of the mess we're in, locally or globally.
When nothing seems to make any sense.
What if, instead of focussing on uncertainty, we concentrated on showing love, on being patient and kind, on bringing joy and peace, on being generous and faithful and gentle.
What if, as followers of Jesus, these were the tasks to which we turned our attention - cultivating the fruits of the Spirit.
It may sound idealistic but growing these fruits cannot help but change the world.
In the light of that, Jesus harsh words perhaps make more sense.
Of course Jesus knows we will waver.
Of course he knows that, even when we are fully committed, we will look back.
But it is the focus of our commitment that Jesus wants us to be clear about.
To what are we committed?
Doing good?
Making a difference?
Showing compassion?
Loving others?
All good and commendable.
But what about love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?
Commitment to these, fruits of the Spirit, is a goal worth pursuing, a goal that, even in our wavering, will bring lasting change in us and in our world

Our texts today, Elisha preparing to take on the mantle of Elijah, Jesus confronting folk with the commitment discipleship requires and Paul listing the fruits of the Spirit are texts that challenge us to think about our commitment, to think about the example we set and to think about how we can grow in the fruits of the Spirit.

Maybe we have come to church today looking for comfort?
Looking for respite or escape from all that the world has thrown at us this week?
But here we find that the gospel throws these hard texts our way and forces us to confront  all that ails the world, all that ails our weary spirits  - with the gospel of love?
Today, we find in these texts, not comfort - but a call.
A call to be prophets.
A call to be bearers of hope.
A call to lay aside our tiredness and step up to the challenges God lays before us - to bring healing and reconciliation, to bring love and restore peace - to share the fruits of the Spirt, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in every corner of the world.
Let us put our hand to the plough. And not look back. 

For the glory of God. 

Amen.