Sermon Illustrations for Proper 8 | OT 13 (2016)
Illustration
Object:
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
This passage of scripture describes the transition in prophetic leadership from Elijah to Elisha. As one reads, one can almost feel the palpitations of uncertainty and fear. Elijah is anxious because he would have preferred to have been older when called to leave his ministry. Elisha is so anxious about having to assume Elijah’s mantle of leadership that he doesn’t want to let Elijah out of his sight.
It is an ancient and familiar process. The stress of change and transition into something new and different is embedded in the human condition. In fact, it has been rumored that as Adam and Eve were leaving the Garden of Eden, one turned to the other and said, “My dear, I believe we are going through a significant change.”
The gnawing uncertainty of passing leadership is experienced every time the nation inaugurates a new president, the church calls a new minister, or the worker is assigned a new supervisor. For that matter, nearly every change in life will be accompanied by the anxiety of transition. Consequently, all change is painful. Even when change is sought, planned, and positive, it is painful because it means giving up the familiar for the unfamiliar.
The leadership transition in 2 Kings is completed when Elisha picks up the mantle of Elijah’s leadership and crosses the River Jordan.
Thanks be to God for successful leadership transitions.
R. Robert C.
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
Legacies are beautiful things. Elisha inherited Elijah’s legacy, and now that legacy belongs to us Christians. We live in a time in which globalization, the flexibility of work in American businesses, and the need to constantly reinvent ourselves for new markets or new job demands have isolated us from our pasts and from each other. Observing these dynamics, sociologist Richard Sennet has noted that the experience of sharing a legacy nurtures a sense of fidelity to oneself, which in turn enhances character and is good for society (The Corrosion of Character, pp. 145-148).
American essayist H. L. Mencken made a profound point about life which reminds us of how we and Elijah stand in a heritage, are caretakers of a legacy: “You don’t know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been.” An anonymous quote also captures what a legacy really is: “I may be here for a short while, gone tomorrow into oblivion or until the days come to take me away. But in whatever part you play, be remembered as part of a legacy... of sharing dreams and changing humanity for the better. It’s that legacy that never dies.”
You and I may die tomorrow, but not the legacy of Elijah and Jesus, and so we will continue to live and our lives will continue to have meaning as long as it lasts. Legacy also helps you live in the present, prods you into getting your priorities right. It prods us into valuing the important things in life a little more. It is like English author Aldous Huxley once wrote: “Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.” We won’t do that so much if we look back from time to time and remember the rich legacy we now represent; at least we’ll stop taking for granted the things in our lives that originated in Elijah’s and our Lord’s heritage. They deserve to be celebrated and cherished.
Mark E.
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
In 2015, Walter Palmer, a dentist from Minnesota, paid $54,000 for the opportunity to hunt a lion in Zimbabwe. His guide directed him to a lion -- but unbeknownst to Palmer, the lion was the beloved Cecil. Upon returning to Minnesota, Palmer was the target of so many protests and threats that he had to close his medical office. The authorities in Zimbabwe refused to prosecute Palmer because the guide directed him to a lion that was not in the national park. Dr. Palmer said of the incident, “I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt.”
Application: Elisha made sure he selected a competent mentor in Elijah, to ensure that he was guided properly.
Ron L.
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
When I was in Sunday school we had to memorize Galatians 5:22, the listing of the gifts of the Spirit. To this day a plaque with that verse hangs on my wall. I wanted to only think about the fruits of the spirit, the gifts that come from living a life of faith. It’s easy to focus on the fruits of the spirit and forget the humanness we all share. It’s humanness that allows us to forget the truth of God’s love, to forget to live into and through that love as we interact with others. It’s human hubris that makes us think we do not respond to the temptations of the flesh. It is humility to recognize we can all be drawn into fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. Now, I may not commit all those sins in my lifetime, but I am sure to commit some of them.
It is through the Spirit of God, the strengthening of our faith, that we can resist temptation, but none among us is perfect. None among us is without sin. Thankfully we are steadfastly loved by God, offered grace from God, and restored to righteousness through repentance and forgiveness. What a truly magnificent set of gifts we receive from God, even when we do not live in the Spirit but fall into the temptation of sin. Thankfully, God continues to bless us and we can seek those gifts of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control day after day after day.
Bonnie B.
Galatians 5:1 13-25
Who is my neighbor? His name is Wilner LaGuerre, and he’s a police officer in the Oklahoma City Police Department. In a time when police officers are under attack and suspicion, LaGuerre did something heart-warming, demonstrating just what it means to be a “neighbor.”
Late last December a winter snowstorm moved through the Sooner state, leaving thousands of Oklahomans without power. Before the power outages happened, Patricia Ross, an 80-year-old woman who lives alone, called the Oklahoma City Police Department. She told the officer who received the call that she was worried about what would happen if she lost power.
Sgt. Wilner LaGuerre decided to go to Ms. Ross’ home to make sure she was okay. He talked with her and tried to reassure her that she would be all right until the power returned. Ms. Ross, though, was still upset and concerned that her cordless phone would not work during the power outage and that she wouldn’t be able to call for help if the power were to go out.
Sgt. LaGuerre then went to a local store and bought the woman a landline phone she could use in case of a power outage. He even brought the woman a working flashlight, candles, and matches. He connected the phone and showed her how to use it. Sgt. LaGuerre, when asked why, recalled his mother’s teaching about doing what is right and caring for those around you.
Doing what is right and caring for others is not an easy thing. It takes time, effort, and energy. It isn’t always met with the right response, and it can be a drain. In today’s culture, it isn’t what’s expected. However, Paul notes in the passage for today that there is no law against it. What would things around us look like if we practiced loving our neighbor as ourselves? Kindness, love, mercy, caring, forgiving, sharing; all might be byproducts of loving others. As Sgt. LaGuerre’s mother once taught, “Do your best to do right.”
Bill T.
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
We have a tendency to view the past through the lens of the present. Whether we’re pulling a Bible off the shelf or out of a rack in the pew, or choosing among several designer-style Bibles at our local Christian bookstore (Bibles for children, for teens, for women, for men, for veterans, for prisoners, for environmental advocates... the list seems endless), the fact of the Bible’s existence seems so obvious that we can’t imagine believers without one. All of the holy books between two covers for reference and cross-reference. It seems so right!
But at the time Paul was writing, we can state with certainty that not only was there no New Testament (it was still being written) but also that there was no agreement among Jewish and Christian believers as to what constituted the Hebrew scriptures. The only consensus concerned the first five books of the Bible, known as the Torah -- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Is that enough? Evidently it was more than enough. In Galatians 5:14 (“For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ ”) Paul pulls off an impressive double play, quoting both Leviticus 19:18 and the teachings of Jesus! Don’t discount that thick part of the Bible you’ve got in your left hand when you’re holding the New Testament open to Galatians in your right. All of the major teachings of Jesus and the new covenant are not only implicit, but sometimes explicit in the Torah!
Frank R.
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
One thing we must remember is that God gave us free will. Love must be voluntary, or it is not love. We are free to do what we want. That can be a wonderful thing, or it can be dangerous. Freedom means that we have alternatives to choose from. If our love for God is real, then we will desire his Spirit to guide us.
How many times in our lives have we -- either men or women -- been tempted by a handsome or beautiful member of the opposite sex? If we have never been tempted, then there is something wrong with us and we should see a doctor. Didn’t it seem that Jesus had opportunities to be tempted? It seemed that some women loved him. I’m sure he loved them also, but without sin. The Bible says that he was tempted in every way such as we are, but without sin. The temptation is not sin! It is yielding to temptation that is sin. That might also mean that playing with the temptation in your mind and enjoying it is sin.
One question is: “What about when a tempting, attractive person makes us fill our minds with the thoughts and possibilities of what might happen if we weaken?” If we can look and pass on, that is fine, but if we carry those thoughts to dreams of being in bed with that person, then we have given in to lust. Who is not guilty? Even pastors are! We were told in seminary that if a woman comes to the door in a nightie that we should not go in. But if we are without sin except for lustful temptation, then we can ask for forgiveness. We can even ask forgiveness if we stumble and go beyond lust sometime. God will forgive even murder!
The blessing of freedom is that we are free to show our love for God by obeying all his laws. No, we do not obey to earn God’s love. We already have it!
The next question that comes up in the Ten Commandments is how we treat our neighbor. It helps to realize that God loves all people.
If our wife introduces us to a friend, one of the ways we show our love to her is to also treat her friend with love.
I was reading a story about a man who fell in love with a girl whose parents hated him partly because he was not “one of them” -- not of the same tribe or national origin or political party.
A good friend of mine had his daughter marry a Muslim. It was hard for them, but they showed love to her husband and they still loved her!
I read that the ammunition used in some of our wars is enough to kill everyone on earth -- so either some soldiers were bad shots, or they tried not to kill anyone. Even those who flew bombers and could not see the enemy sometimes dumped bombs in the ocean to keep from killing many people. Jesus said we are even to love our enemy! Does our country allow that? I suppose that means we can love an enemy as long as they are not wearing a uniform in the wrong army.
The hard one for some to resist is drinking -- that usually means to excess. Even Jesus had a glass of wine with his supper.
We should be practicing all the good traits listed in our text because we want to.
When you see that important command to love our neighbor as ourselves, check that out with every one of those last seven commandments and see if that one command does not cover everything else: robbery, greed, envy, rape, and especially murder. So all we need to do is remember that one commandment!
Bob O.
Luke 9:51-62
This week’s gospel reading goes to the heart of understanding the demands of discipleship. These would-be followers of Jesus are informed this must be the highest priority in their lives. When one fellow asks Jesus to take time off to attend his father’s funeral, the Master refuses. Proclaiming the gospel, Jesus insists, must take precedence even over tending to important family responsibilities. Unfortunately, Jesus uses harsh words to make his point: “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God” (v. 60).
This seems out of character for the gentle Christ. For one thing, as public health policy waiting for the dead to bury the dead portends disaster. Obviously this dictum should not to be taken literally. The words are, however, insensitive to a grieving prospective follower. In fact, they seen so inappropriate some scholars conclude Luke must be misquoting Jesus.
While that may be true, it may have happened exactly this way. Jesus may have made a good point in a hurtful way. Most people can identify with that. Only a few could claim never to have said or done something that was harsh or hurtful. By personal memory I can cite a plethora of times I have had to conclude “I really could have handled that a better way. I neither needed nor intended to harm that person by my words/my actions.”
Maybe the unrecorded ending of this story is that the next day Jesus had a private, clarifying conversation with the man wanting to go his father’s funeral. Our faith, after all, claims the Christ was both fully human as well as fully God. And human beings often do hurtful things for which we need to apologize later.
R. Robert C.
Luke 9:51-62
Discipleship is clearly about commitment. Our gospel makes that clear.
An anonymous quote floating on the internet captures the point our lesson tries to make: “There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstances permit. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.”
When you’re committed, then that is what your priority is. Augustine made clear that in this lesson Jesus was not denying that we are to love our fathers, just that we need to be sure it is not our ultimate commitment -- that our commitments are rightly ordered (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 6, p. 420).
Commitments give life meaning. It is like American actor Harvey Fierstein says: “If you deny yourself commitment, what can you do with your life?” Committed people also get themselves out of the way, so their lives are all about their commitments. American entrepreneur Brian Koslow says it well: “To increase your effectiveness, make your emotions subordinate to your commitments.”
Commitment is good for the church too. Bill Gates says, “Great organizations demand a high level of commitment by the people involved.” If Gates is right, as we get our priorities right like Jesus invites us to do in this story, the church can be even greater.
Mark E.
Luke 9:51-62
Pedro Martinez was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015. He was a starting pitcher, most notably for the Boston Red Sox. The last to speak at the induction ceremony, Martinez was feted by a crowd of spectators from his native Dominican Republic who waved flags for one of their own. Martinez delivered his speech partly in English and partly in Spanish. The last inductee elected from the Caribbean was in 1983. Martinez, wearing on one shoulder a patch honoring his nation’s flag and on the other shoulder a patch honoring the United States, said to his loyal home-country fans, “We waited 32 years for another Dominican.”
Application: Setting our face to Jerusalem can be a long grueling process until we see success.
Ron L.
This passage of scripture describes the transition in prophetic leadership from Elijah to Elisha. As one reads, one can almost feel the palpitations of uncertainty and fear. Elijah is anxious because he would have preferred to have been older when called to leave his ministry. Elisha is so anxious about having to assume Elijah’s mantle of leadership that he doesn’t want to let Elijah out of his sight.
It is an ancient and familiar process. The stress of change and transition into something new and different is embedded in the human condition. In fact, it has been rumored that as Adam and Eve were leaving the Garden of Eden, one turned to the other and said, “My dear, I believe we are going through a significant change.”
The gnawing uncertainty of passing leadership is experienced every time the nation inaugurates a new president, the church calls a new minister, or the worker is assigned a new supervisor. For that matter, nearly every change in life will be accompanied by the anxiety of transition. Consequently, all change is painful. Even when change is sought, planned, and positive, it is painful because it means giving up the familiar for the unfamiliar.
The leadership transition in 2 Kings is completed when Elisha picks up the mantle of Elijah’s leadership and crosses the River Jordan.
Thanks be to God for successful leadership transitions.
R. Robert C.
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
Legacies are beautiful things. Elisha inherited Elijah’s legacy, and now that legacy belongs to us Christians. We live in a time in which globalization, the flexibility of work in American businesses, and the need to constantly reinvent ourselves for new markets or new job demands have isolated us from our pasts and from each other. Observing these dynamics, sociologist Richard Sennet has noted that the experience of sharing a legacy nurtures a sense of fidelity to oneself, which in turn enhances character and is good for society (The Corrosion of Character, pp. 145-148).
American essayist H. L. Mencken made a profound point about life which reminds us of how we and Elijah stand in a heritage, are caretakers of a legacy: “You don’t know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been.” An anonymous quote also captures what a legacy really is: “I may be here for a short while, gone tomorrow into oblivion or until the days come to take me away. But in whatever part you play, be remembered as part of a legacy... of sharing dreams and changing humanity for the better. It’s that legacy that never dies.”
You and I may die tomorrow, but not the legacy of Elijah and Jesus, and so we will continue to live and our lives will continue to have meaning as long as it lasts. Legacy also helps you live in the present, prods you into getting your priorities right. It prods us into valuing the important things in life a little more. It is like English author Aldous Huxley once wrote: “Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.” We won’t do that so much if we look back from time to time and remember the rich legacy we now represent; at least we’ll stop taking for granted the things in our lives that originated in Elijah’s and our Lord’s heritage. They deserve to be celebrated and cherished.
Mark E.
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
In 2015, Walter Palmer, a dentist from Minnesota, paid $54,000 for the opportunity to hunt a lion in Zimbabwe. His guide directed him to a lion -- but unbeknownst to Palmer, the lion was the beloved Cecil. Upon returning to Minnesota, Palmer was the target of so many protests and threats that he had to close his medical office. The authorities in Zimbabwe refused to prosecute Palmer because the guide directed him to a lion that was not in the national park. Dr. Palmer said of the incident, “I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt.”
Application: Elisha made sure he selected a competent mentor in Elijah, to ensure that he was guided properly.
Ron L.
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
When I was in Sunday school we had to memorize Galatians 5:22, the listing of the gifts of the Spirit. To this day a plaque with that verse hangs on my wall. I wanted to only think about the fruits of the spirit, the gifts that come from living a life of faith. It’s easy to focus on the fruits of the spirit and forget the humanness we all share. It’s humanness that allows us to forget the truth of God’s love, to forget to live into and through that love as we interact with others. It’s human hubris that makes us think we do not respond to the temptations of the flesh. It is humility to recognize we can all be drawn into fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. Now, I may not commit all those sins in my lifetime, but I am sure to commit some of them.
It is through the Spirit of God, the strengthening of our faith, that we can resist temptation, but none among us is perfect. None among us is without sin. Thankfully we are steadfastly loved by God, offered grace from God, and restored to righteousness through repentance and forgiveness. What a truly magnificent set of gifts we receive from God, even when we do not live in the Spirit but fall into the temptation of sin. Thankfully, God continues to bless us and we can seek those gifts of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control day after day after day.
Bonnie B.
Galatians 5:1 13-25
Who is my neighbor? His name is Wilner LaGuerre, and he’s a police officer in the Oklahoma City Police Department. In a time when police officers are under attack and suspicion, LaGuerre did something heart-warming, demonstrating just what it means to be a “neighbor.”
Late last December a winter snowstorm moved through the Sooner state, leaving thousands of Oklahomans without power. Before the power outages happened, Patricia Ross, an 80-year-old woman who lives alone, called the Oklahoma City Police Department. She told the officer who received the call that she was worried about what would happen if she lost power.
Sgt. Wilner LaGuerre decided to go to Ms. Ross’ home to make sure she was okay. He talked with her and tried to reassure her that she would be all right until the power returned. Ms. Ross, though, was still upset and concerned that her cordless phone would not work during the power outage and that she wouldn’t be able to call for help if the power were to go out.
Sgt. LaGuerre then went to a local store and bought the woman a landline phone she could use in case of a power outage. He even brought the woman a working flashlight, candles, and matches. He connected the phone and showed her how to use it. Sgt. LaGuerre, when asked why, recalled his mother’s teaching about doing what is right and caring for those around you.
Doing what is right and caring for others is not an easy thing. It takes time, effort, and energy. It isn’t always met with the right response, and it can be a drain. In today’s culture, it isn’t what’s expected. However, Paul notes in the passage for today that there is no law against it. What would things around us look like if we practiced loving our neighbor as ourselves? Kindness, love, mercy, caring, forgiving, sharing; all might be byproducts of loving others. As Sgt. LaGuerre’s mother once taught, “Do your best to do right.”
Bill T.
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
We have a tendency to view the past through the lens of the present. Whether we’re pulling a Bible off the shelf or out of a rack in the pew, or choosing among several designer-style Bibles at our local Christian bookstore (Bibles for children, for teens, for women, for men, for veterans, for prisoners, for environmental advocates... the list seems endless), the fact of the Bible’s existence seems so obvious that we can’t imagine believers without one. All of the holy books between two covers for reference and cross-reference. It seems so right!
But at the time Paul was writing, we can state with certainty that not only was there no New Testament (it was still being written) but also that there was no agreement among Jewish and Christian believers as to what constituted the Hebrew scriptures. The only consensus concerned the first five books of the Bible, known as the Torah -- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Is that enough? Evidently it was more than enough. In Galatians 5:14 (“For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ ”) Paul pulls off an impressive double play, quoting both Leviticus 19:18 and the teachings of Jesus! Don’t discount that thick part of the Bible you’ve got in your left hand when you’re holding the New Testament open to Galatians in your right. All of the major teachings of Jesus and the new covenant are not only implicit, but sometimes explicit in the Torah!
Frank R.
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
One thing we must remember is that God gave us free will. Love must be voluntary, or it is not love. We are free to do what we want. That can be a wonderful thing, or it can be dangerous. Freedom means that we have alternatives to choose from. If our love for God is real, then we will desire his Spirit to guide us.
How many times in our lives have we -- either men or women -- been tempted by a handsome or beautiful member of the opposite sex? If we have never been tempted, then there is something wrong with us and we should see a doctor. Didn’t it seem that Jesus had opportunities to be tempted? It seemed that some women loved him. I’m sure he loved them also, but without sin. The Bible says that he was tempted in every way such as we are, but without sin. The temptation is not sin! It is yielding to temptation that is sin. That might also mean that playing with the temptation in your mind and enjoying it is sin.
One question is: “What about when a tempting, attractive person makes us fill our minds with the thoughts and possibilities of what might happen if we weaken?” If we can look and pass on, that is fine, but if we carry those thoughts to dreams of being in bed with that person, then we have given in to lust. Who is not guilty? Even pastors are! We were told in seminary that if a woman comes to the door in a nightie that we should not go in. But if we are without sin except for lustful temptation, then we can ask for forgiveness. We can even ask forgiveness if we stumble and go beyond lust sometime. God will forgive even murder!
The blessing of freedom is that we are free to show our love for God by obeying all his laws. No, we do not obey to earn God’s love. We already have it!
The next question that comes up in the Ten Commandments is how we treat our neighbor. It helps to realize that God loves all people.
If our wife introduces us to a friend, one of the ways we show our love to her is to also treat her friend with love.
I was reading a story about a man who fell in love with a girl whose parents hated him partly because he was not “one of them” -- not of the same tribe or national origin or political party.
A good friend of mine had his daughter marry a Muslim. It was hard for them, but they showed love to her husband and they still loved her!
I read that the ammunition used in some of our wars is enough to kill everyone on earth -- so either some soldiers were bad shots, or they tried not to kill anyone. Even those who flew bombers and could not see the enemy sometimes dumped bombs in the ocean to keep from killing many people. Jesus said we are even to love our enemy! Does our country allow that? I suppose that means we can love an enemy as long as they are not wearing a uniform in the wrong army.
The hard one for some to resist is drinking -- that usually means to excess. Even Jesus had a glass of wine with his supper.
We should be practicing all the good traits listed in our text because we want to.
When you see that important command to love our neighbor as ourselves, check that out with every one of those last seven commandments and see if that one command does not cover everything else: robbery, greed, envy, rape, and especially murder. So all we need to do is remember that one commandment!
Bob O.
Luke 9:51-62
This week’s gospel reading goes to the heart of understanding the demands of discipleship. These would-be followers of Jesus are informed this must be the highest priority in their lives. When one fellow asks Jesus to take time off to attend his father’s funeral, the Master refuses. Proclaiming the gospel, Jesus insists, must take precedence even over tending to important family responsibilities. Unfortunately, Jesus uses harsh words to make his point: “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God” (v. 60).
This seems out of character for the gentle Christ. For one thing, as public health policy waiting for the dead to bury the dead portends disaster. Obviously this dictum should not to be taken literally. The words are, however, insensitive to a grieving prospective follower. In fact, they seen so inappropriate some scholars conclude Luke must be misquoting Jesus.
While that may be true, it may have happened exactly this way. Jesus may have made a good point in a hurtful way. Most people can identify with that. Only a few could claim never to have said or done something that was harsh or hurtful. By personal memory I can cite a plethora of times I have had to conclude “I really could have handled that a better way. I neither needed nor intended to harm that person by my words/my actions.”
Maybe the unrecorded ending of this story is that the next day Jesus had a private, clarifying conversation with the man wanting to go his father’s funeral. Our faith, after all, claims the Christ was both fully human as well as fully God. And human beings often do hurtful things for which we need to apologize later.
R. Robert C.
Luke 9:51-62
Discipleship is clearly about commitment. Our gospel makes that clear.
An anonymous quote floating on the internet captures the point our lesson tries to make: “There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstances permit. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.”
When you’re committed, then that is what your priority is. Augustine made clear that in this lesson Jesus was not denying that we are to love our fathers, just that we need to be sure it is not our ultimate commitment -- that our commitments are rightly ordered (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 6, p. 420).
Commitments give life meaning. It is like American actor Harvey Fierstein says: “If you deny yourself commitment, what can you do with your life?” Committed people also get themselves out of the way, so their lives are all about their commitments. American entrepreneur Brian Koslow says it well: “To increase your effectiveness, make your emotions subordinate to your commitments.”
Commitment is good for the church too. Bill Gates says, “Great organizations demand a high level of commitment by the people involved.” If Gates is right, as we get our priorities right like Jesus invites us to do in this story, the church can be even greater.
Mark E.
Luke 9:51-62
Pedro Martinez was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015. He was a starting pitcher, most notably for the Boston Red Sox. The last to speak at the induction ceremony, Martinez was feted by a crowd of spectators from his native Dominican Republic who waved flags for one of their own. Martinez delivered his speech partly in English and partly in Spanish. The last inductee elected from the Caribbean was in 1983. Martinez, wearing on one shoulder a patch honoring his nation’s flag and on the other shoulder a patch honoring the United States, said to his loyal home-country fans, “We waited 32 years for another Dominican.”
Application: Setting our face to Jerusalem can be a long grueling process until we see success.
Ron L.
