1 Kings 19:9b-21; Galatians 5:1, 13-25; Luke 9:51-62

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

How many things do we do simply because they’re convenient? Think about how many things are marketed in our society today. Fast food, online shopping, curbside pick-up, and so on. Just about every story, restaurant, and business is trying to cater to the convenience of the shopper. For making something easier for someone to do makes it more likely that people will do it.

While convenience isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s also commonly said that “Nothing worth doing was ever easy”. It’s inevitable that difficult tasks will have fewer people actually follow through. In many ways, we give up way too easily because we want everything to be convenient and easy. Though, happiness and success always take hard work.

Much is true with faith also. Faith isn’t easy. Jesus shows us again the struggles and challenges that faith brings this week. “But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem,” Luke 9:53. Jesus was traveling through Samaria on his way to Jerusalem, but the people rejected him. Though Jesus faced rejection in many different places where he went. Because people reject Jesus, they will do the same for his followers. Following Jesus isn’t always convenient and easy.

Jesus doesn’t serve us with convenience. Following Jesus means giving up a home, as Jesus tells to the first man (Luke 9:58). Following Jesus means family ties no longer take precedence on your life (Luke 9:60). Following Jesus means nothing in all of creation can distract us from the work he puts before us (Luke 9:62). Everything we count on in life is upended by faith. Our priorities must be rearranged lest we become distracted from our Savior and be unfit for the kingdom of God.

Nothing worth doing was ever easy. Jesus knew this well. He looked at all he had to do and remain fixed upon it. “When the days drew near for [Jesus] to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem,” Luke 9:51. Jesus turned his face towards Jerusalem, that is his suffering and death that awaited him there. Here is where Jesus looks straight at all the “work” he has to do and commits to doing it no matter how hard and challenging it may be. For the reward was worth it to him. Thus, Jesus would go to Jerusalem. He would go and be arrested by the Romans. He would be condemned by Pilate, bear forty lashes across his back. He would carry his own cross all the way through the city only for the soldiers to nail him to it. Jesus would suffer upon the cross for three hours, bearing the weight of all of our sins. At last, he would die for us, giving up his final breath on our behalf. No matter how difficult a work it was, he remained fixed on it because it was the very salvation of the world! Thus, we must remain fixed on the cross of Christ, evermore looking to this mighty work of God which is our salvation and eternal life!

Pastor Sorenson

Prayer:

Lord of all power and might, author and giver of all good things, graft into our hearts the love of Your name and nourish us with all goodness that we may love and serve our neighbor; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen!