Buts and Excuses
This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, 6/30 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The text was Luke 9:51-62. We have come to a turning point in Luke’s gospel. Jesus is on his last trip to Jerusalem, where he will be “taken up” (v. 51). This refers not only to his crucifixion, but also to the entire event of being arrested, crucified, risen and ascended. Jesus was determined to follow the way of obedience to his Father. He “set his face,” (v. 51), meaning he kept his eye on the prize and nothing would dissuade him from following that path to Jerusalem and all that would happen because of that. I don’t know how many of you were ever in sales. I have been. But…I have to say, Jesus is anything but a good salesman. He doesn’t wrap his product in slick packaging. He doesn’t minimize costs to attract more customers. He doesn’t hide the hard stuff in fine print. He never rushes his pitch to close a deal. Jesus does the opposite. He takes pains to push potential buyers away. “I’ll follo...