I love the feeling of summer -- always have, always will. When I was growing up, summer was barefoot time. From my parents’ point of view, this was an economy measure, to save on shoes. For me, it was pure luxury; if I had had any money, I would have paid for the privilege of going barefoot. As Ira Gershwin put it in the musical, Porgy and Bess, “Summertime, / And the livin’ is easy.” That’s the way summer is supposed to feel.

            So if I had chosen the lectionary readings, I wouldn’t have included Luke 9:51-62 for the last Sunday in June. There’s nothing easy about this text, nothing lazy and luxuriously barefoot. This scripture lesson is all business.

            You realize it from the very first verse. You could very well divide the Gospel of Luke in two between verses 50 and 51 of Chapter 9. In verse 49, the apostle John complains that someone who doesn’t belong to the apostolic union has been casting out demons in Jesus’ name, and John wants to stop him from doing so. Jesus answers, in verse 50, “Don’t stop him. If he’s not against you, he’s for you.” It’s so permissive, you feel that all’s well in the world, and that everything is going the right way.

The plan

            Then, abruptly, Luke shifts gears. Listen: “When the days drew near for [Jesus] to be taken up, he set his face to go to

...approximately 977 words remaining. You are not logged in. Please see options at the top of this page to view complete sermon.