The Journey

The Rev. Joseph Winston

July 1, 2007

Sermon

Grace and peace are gifts for you from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.1
Today with easy access to transportation of all types, we normally do not con-
cern ourselves with planning as we move from one place to another.2 Take the
common, everyday trip as an example. At the most, we might check the gas gauge
before we get in the car and drive off to our destination. However, it was not
always this easy. When automobiles were first introduced to this country, driving
required extensive preparation. Things that we take for granted such as good roads
and readily available fuel were not the norm. Drivers carefully mapped out routes
that took into account the condition of the roads and locations of gas stations. If
the trip required an overnight stay, you needed a place to sleep because motoring
1
Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians
1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3
2
The format of today’s sermon is largely based on the sermon of Rev. Ed Peterman given at
Christ the King in Houston on June 28, 1998. Pastor Peterman’s sermon in turn is based on Brian
P. Stoffregen’s comments on the Gospel.

1
hotels or motels had not been invented yet. These early cars were cantankerous
and the driver needed the ability to fix every item on them since repair shops often
had never even seen a car before.
All of this work needed before one started a trip made one focus on the journey.
Every item needed to fit into its special place. Clothes were put into their bags.
Tools were packed away. Maps were carefully folded and if at all possible, an
extra can of gas was strapped onto the car. Anything not needed for the journey
was jettisoned. Finally, the day arrived and everyone piled into the car for the trip.
The insight needed to understand today’s text is the word: “journey.” Jesus is
on a journey toward the cross. Nothing can keep Him from this journey because if
He does not arrive in Jerusalem and fulfill His Father’s will by dying on the cross,
we will not be saved. Knowing this key fact that Jesus is on a journey, we can now
turn our attention to today’s lesson.
In the first six verses of today’s Gospel lesson, the author of Luke uses the
same Greek word (poreÔomai) for journey five different times. You were not able
to hear this word that helps to explain the lesson because the translators of the En-
glish text decided not to bore you with repeating the same word over and over
again. But that is exactly what the author of Luke wanted you to hear. Verse
51 actually says, “Jesus set His face to journey to Jerusalem.” The next verse
should read, “On their journey they entered a village of the Samaritans.” Verse
53’s translation is, “they did not receive him, because his face was journeying into
Jerusalem.” The next occurrence is in verse 56 and it should be, “Then they jour-
neyed on to another village.” Finally, verse 57’s translation should read, “As they

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journeyed on the way, someone said to him.”
On His journey to Jerusalem and His death on the cross, Jesus stops in a
Samaritan village. Before we go on, we need to realize that every time an ob-
servant Jew hears the name Samaritan they become irritated and the inverse is
also true. The Samaritans do not like Jews. This can be clearly illustrated us-
ing two points. First, the name Samaritan itself comes from the Hebrew term,
which means “keepers of the law.” This name upsets the Jews because they be-
lieve they are the ones who faithfully keep the law. Second, one of the largest
differences between the two groups is the location of holy places. The Samaritans
believe the holy mountain Gerizim is where God is rightly worshiped while the
Jews of Christ’s time believe otherwise. In their minds, God must be worshiped in
the Jerusalem temple. Hearing that Jesus is on His journey to Jerusalem tells the
Samaritans that Jesus is going to the temple.
Understandably because of their differences, the Samaritans do not want Jesus
and His disciples to stay. This upsets two of Christ’s followers: James and John.
They want Jesus to wipe out the people that they disagree with. Mincing no words
Jesus tells James and John, “No!” Followers of Christ must love their enemies
(Luke 6:27.). Jesus then follows His own advice that He just gave the disciples at
the start of this chapter. “When a town does not welcome you, shake off the dust
and leave” (paraphrase of Luke 9:5.). This is what they do. They journey on to the
next town.
Their journey takes them to a person who wants to join Jesus on His trip to
the cross. Jesus tells us that anyone is welcome on the journey to the cross. The

3
problem for many people is that Jesus constantly moves from one place to another.
In Christ’s day and age, God’s temple was in Jerusalem and that is where God was
worshiped. Jesus is changing all of that. After His death, the church springs up all
over the world. God now can be worshipped in any home. Just as importantly,
when Jesus sends out the twelve to preach the Good News, He tells them not to
take anything extra on the trip. Leave behind anything that keeps you from telling
others about God’s love. This message also applies to us. You might be even asked
to leave everything on your journey with Jesus.
A little while later, Jesus asks a second person to follow Him to His cross. This
person pleads for a bit more time, “Let me go bury my father.” Jesus replies, “No!
Preach the Good News that God has come to bring the sight to the blind and to free
the slaves” (See Luke 4:18-19.). At first glance, this response from Jesus seems to
be both harsh and an outright violation of God’s command to love your parents.
But remember, the first and the greatest commandment is to love God with your
entire existence. Following this commandment many mean that you must break
the other commandments. This is exactly what Jesus is asking the other person to
do. Christ’s appointment with the cross will not wait. When Jesus calls you on His
journey, you do not have any time to say goodbye to your dead father. This call
still comes today. On the journey with Jesus to Jerusalem, you could be asked to
break a commandment.
Finally, a third person tells Jesus that they will follow Him after they say their
goodbyes to their family. Just like with the second individual, Jesus tells us that the
trip to Jerusalem cannot be delayed. Also imagine how crooked a furrow would be

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if the farmer only looked at the plow and not where the tractor should be headed.
By telling this individual to look forward, Jesus reminds us that He is journeying
to the cross and He cannot look back.
Please understand that Jesus is not telling us that Christians always break
God’s commandments. Instead, Jesus is informing us about the requirements of
discipleship. In order to follow Jesus, some people might be forced to leave be-
hind friends and family and they may even be required to break God’s Law. In
our own country, this generally has not happened since Christianity is tolerated
by the state. However, in other countries this is not true. In many Muslim and
Communist Countries, Christians are actively persecuted. In Malaysia, Lina Joy
has been fighting a seven year court battle to become a Christian. On May 30, a
Malaysian Federal Court ruled that she cannot become a Christian and it appears
that if she does not revert back to being a Muslim she will be imprisoned. In a let-
ter released this Saturday and directed toward the Chinese Roman Catholics, the
Pope acknowledged the strict restrictions on the practice of free Christianity in
China. He also acknowledged that the Chinese Government had killed Christians.
It is here in situations like this that many Christians break local laws and often are
forced to turn their backs on the people that they love.
Jesus has called us to follow Him and on this journey to the cross, we must
follow His rules. The problem is that we all have imposed our own agenda on
the call that Christ has given us. Some of us are like the Samaritans and want to
impose our own sensibilities. We might not like the way that worship is done in
this place so we leave our calling and go elsewhere. Others of us might be like

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that first person that Christ met on the trip who wanted to pin Jesus down to a
single place. Jesus is not our personal savior, a god that we can take out of our
back pocket to do our bidding. Instead, He has come to save the entire world. We
could also be like the second and third individuals who needed a bit more time
before following Jesus. This causes all sorts of problems for us because God will
not juggle God’s schedule to meet our needs.
Despite our constant desire to interfere with Christ’s journey, Jesus stays with
us the entire way. Our trip with Him started at our baptism where we were called
with water and the Word to join Jesus at the cross. Throughout this journey to our
eventual death and resurrection, God sustains us with God’s Word. This happens
through the spoken and the visible Word. These are God’s gifts to us, which show
us that God is indeed taking this journey with us.
Finally, when we close our eyes in death our journey will be complete. There,
at the end of the road, we will finally see Jesus face to face. Then we will know
with certainty what we only know believe to be true. Jesus has been with us every
step of the way.
“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.”3

3
Philippians 4:7.