Sink or Swim

It’s summertime. Break out the sun screen and head for the beach or the pool. Maybe you are one of those who dip a toe, then maybe your ankle, finally up to

your waist, and then, and only after you’ve gotten used to the water, go full in.

Or are you one of those who just dives right in. Yes…this is the season for cooling off.

And remember don’t go in right after you eat, swim where there is a life guard, always swim with a buddy.

And weather you doggie paddle, or free style, or just tread water…you have to do something…or else…blub…blub…blub. It’s either sink….or swim. And that old adage comes from Jesus himself. Sink or swim.

Look. Jesus has finished his ministry in Galilee. He has set his face, he has made up of his mind, he is going to Jerusalem. He will take his message to the capital…to the very heart of the religious authorities and the government. Jesus is determined…like a dog with a bone. That’s what set your face means….determined, unwavering. There is no two ways about it. He is going.

And Jesus begins by going through Samaritan territory. The Samaritans scoff…Jesus is going to their rival temple…no welcome for him! Unscathed Jesus just keeps going. The disciples have a hard time keeping pace. One, catching his breath, says “Jesus I will follow you wherever you go.”

To which Jesus says, “Foxes have holes, birds have nests, but I have no time to settle in, I have no time to make a home. If you are ok with that, come along!”

Jesus sees someone else tagging along…someone who is curious about Jesus, who has heard him speak and wants to join his band. Jesus sees his desire and says, “Hey. Great to have you along. Come along and follow me.” The would-be disciple says, “Thank you Jesus! I will! But first my father just died and I need to go back and bury him.”

Jesus says that snarky comment: let the dead bury the dead. But notice there is something that follows. Let the dead bury the dead…that’s not where the sentence ends: Let the dead bury the dead….but as for you, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.

Sink…by staying behind, by hanging onto the past… or come and swim, swim into sharing the Gospel, sink or proclaim the kingdom of God.

Another traveler pipes up, “Jesus I will follow you! Let me just go and say good-bye and I’ll be right with you.” And again Jesus says: sink or swim. Live or die.

And he uses an image popular back then. The necessity of looking ahead to plow a straight furrow…otherwise the whole field would be ruined. No one drives the plow straight by looking back over their shoulder. Sink or swim.”

Listen. This without a doubt is one of the hardest passages for us to hear in the Bible. Like an angry dog, these words snarl and nip at us. As a result we water them down. We make up excuses: like Jesus was cranky that day, he didn’t get enough sleep, his feet hurt.

We don’t really think these words were meant for us. How can you tell someone not to go to the funeral of their father..that their faith is more important. And besides, Jesus only had a few more weeks to get his message out…he had to get people onboard before Golgotha. No wonder there was an urgency about him.

He was training those thick headed apostles…not us. They are the ones who needed to sink or swim.

We are just fine. We are doing quite well thank you. Look at us. We come to church, we have a strong out reach. We pray, we are nice to others. We are doing pretty well.

But what if Jesus was trying to get us to have more. What if Jesus is trying to get us to know him better and to truly live. Instead of clinging to the past or being content what if Jesus is showing us how to make this moment count…to make the next minute one of experiencing God’s kingdom…of transforming not only our lives but those around us.

What if we set our face to Jerusalem…the place where resurrection occurred…the

place where God’s kingdom became accessible for everyone.

Is it possible for us to be like children on Christmas day, overcome with excitement and desiring to see what God is going to do next in our lives…

What if we were like this man.

Listen. It was his first time in a long time to darken the door of church. And it was the first time he had come to this particular church. He chose a pew and sat down.

Only he had the audacity to sit in the pew occupied by one of the longest attending members. No words were exchanged as the long-time member climbed over the visitor to take her seat.

Now, this wasn’t an Episcopal church, but one of our sister denominations who serve communion to the people in the pews. The bread is passed in a little basket and the wine in cute little cups. You take a piece of bread, wait until the whole

congregation has one, and then on cue from the ministers everyone eats it at the

same time.

Not the visitor. Upon plucking a piece of bread from the basket, the visitor ate it immediately with great haste. The member whose seat he took, looked at him with

great disdain.

The little cups of wine came next. They were on a shiny silver tray. And the visitor immediately grabbed one, put it in his mouth and swallowed it with one gulp.

As if it weren’t bad enough that the visitor was sitting her seat but now to have him

break the tradition of communion, well, she just had to say something. “Excuse me sir. We eat the bread and drink the cup together.”

The visitor said, “I am sorry lady. But I really really needed it now. I couldn’t wait any longer.”

I could not wait any longer.

And that’s the point Jesus is trying to make. That’s what Jesus is hoping we will realize. We need to taste Jesus Christ right now. In this moment.

Following Jesus means upping our game…every day. Maybe that means pulling out our smart phone and before checking facebook, we read a bible quote

for the day.

Or perhaps following Jesus more closely means looking at the ministry we are involved in and thinking about new ways to do it.

Even just going outside and seeing the wonder of the world God has made.

The truth is: We can’t wait any longer to grow our faith. Not tomorrow. Not the next day, but right now. Not when we get everything in order. Not when life is a little more certain…or little less chaotic. Not when we have more time or more money.

No!

Jesus Christ is calling you and me now and is ready to send us as witnesses today.

Jesus tells us:

To forgive now.

To love now.

To serve now.

To do justice now.

To tell the truth now.

To work for peace now.

To put others first now.

To love for God now.

To be a Christian now.

Let us set our face toward Jerusalem…for that’s where life is. For there will be no sinking for us!