Weekly Sermon: Grow & Go - 06-29-25

The Holy Gospel according to Luke. Glory to you, Lord.

When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem,

and he sent messengers ahead of him.

On their way, they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him.

But they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.

When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, Lord, do you want us to

command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?

But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village.

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, I will follow you wherever you go.

And Jesus said to him, foxes have

holes and birds of the air have nests but

the son of man has nowhere to lay his head to another he say follow me but he

said lord first let me go and bury my father but jesus say to him let the dead

bury their own dead but as for you go and proclaim the kingdom of god,

Another say, I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.

Jesus say to him, no one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.

The gospel of our Lord.

You may be seated.

I'm supposed to stand here, right? Okay, I'll stay here.

Thank you, everyone. My name is Pastor Irma Bañales. I serve as a bishop assistant.

Three of the areas are on my portfolio.

Our responsibilities are helping conferences in our synod to start new ministries or new missions.

And the second one is to accompany existing congregations on their vitality or renewal.

And the third one is stewardship, how to take care of ourselves and how to provide

to others and help others with our income and finances.

Very simple, huh? Sounds simple, but it's not.

Glad to be here. It's a blessing to be here. It's been over years,

maybe three or four years that I have been here, St. Luke's.

Greetings from Bishop Erick and also Assistant to the Bishop, Pastor Kelsey.

She's been in staff for not even a year, but glad to be here.

And get going, because I've been told no more than, what, 10, 15 minutes?

And as many of you know, some of the Latino congregations, most of the Latino

congregations, 10 minutes and 15 minutes is the warm-up.

It takes like 30, 40 minutes, but I'm being conscious about our timing and all

other things that we need to do.

Okay. So we know that from the gospel, the tensions existed between Jewish and

Samaritan communities.

Jesus sent people ahead to prepare place for him, seemingly expecting a welcome,

but he doesn't receive that.

It's tempting to interpret this as the Samaritan village doing something wrong,

because our assumption is that, of course, they should have invited Jesus to stay.

The real invitation here is to observe how Jesus responds even when inconvenience

and to reflect on what it means to follow him in such moments.

Those in the village did not receive him in the way that was suspected or for

which the disciples and Jesus had prepared.

In short, the Samaritan village said no and set a boundary in that moment for

where Jesus and his group of disciples could lay their heads.

Two of the disciples get angry immediately. and

in their anger they ask lord do you

want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume

them sometimes we react that way right it's like uh so and so doesn't want to

come over for support our church and then but they want something else and then

one of the members say no but they didn't help us and so and so they should

not receive that uh privilege real quick example.

This is a wild question. First, if Jesus wanted that to happen,

I imagine he could have done it for himself, and it still would not have been the right thing to do.

Second, their immediate response to a boundary or a no was violence toward an entire town.

It would not have been the entire town's decision.

Yet, they were quick to conflate all people, including the elders,

the children, those in the margins, with whoever had the power to say no.

Finally, their response shows that they did not know that no was an option, the disciples.

Jesus' response giving us a beautiful insight here allowing others to have agency

is an act of love even though clearly the ideal would have been for Jesus to be invited.

The rest to be invited in the rest of the town. And that was what he prepared for.

Jesus does not punish their no.

He instead rebukes James and John for deeming and appropriating the car's harm

because they were inconvenienced.

Then they go to another village.

Jesus reminds us that allowing agency and choice is a crucial practice of love.

He wanted to go there, and yet their boundary was honored and respected.

What was not celebrated and seen as good choice?

The choice to punish, to harm, to destroy in the name of Jesus because the disciples

were inconvenienced, although another choice should have been made.

Jesus shows us that allowing space for others to have agency is crucial to a life of love.

As the text continues, we become privy to a series of back and forth conversations

with those naming something about how they want to or will follow Jesus.

Jesus responds to these inquiries and declarations that following him will cause them something.

Here are St. Luke's. I'm going to focus in this context.

Later, if I would have more time, I'll focus in our synod.

But what sacrifice or what cause have you done to become members,

and not only members of coming and sitting in the pew, but disciples.

Your theme is for, I think it's ending this Sunday, that's what, grow and grow and go.

I'm sure many of you or all of you have given up birthday parties to come on

Sundays because you were committed to serve in any capacity during the service.

I'm sure you give up football games or soccer games from your children or grandkids,

because you are committed to serve and to do something at St. Luke's.

I'm sure, because I have gone through that too, that when you go somewhere in

the airport or clinics or stores and they ask you, what church do you go?

And you say Lutheran, and they're like, what? What kind of church is that?

And even more, sometimes they push our red buttons. Is that the church where

they ordain women? Is that a church where they welcome the LGBT community?

And we say yes, proudly.

Yeah. The cost of becoming disciples,

the cost of growing among you guys in your community and your committees,

church council, is not easy.

The church council members sometimes they get blamed for making decisions from

the other members if I'll be a president I'll do this and that if I'll be the

treasurer I will not let them buy so and so and so,

and you are wonderful volunteers most of you,

I thank you for volunteering to support to help to pray in any capacity here at St. Luke's.

We are growing together. The theme in our sin for many years is making disciples

or sowing and growing disciples of Christ.

Teaching the people to become disciples, growing and going to serve.

Sometimes people are surprised when they are there from, for example,

Pentecostal and say, pray for me. And I say, OK.

And they're like, but you're Lutheran. I said, but we allowed to pray for everyone.

Right. Or when they're in the hospital and they're not members of any church

and they say, can you come and pray for my daughter?

Or can you come and bless my house?

And when I reply, yes, or, you know, I cannot make it this day,

but I can come another day.

And they're like, but we're not member of any church.

Like, you know, very like, maybe you're going to say no. I say, no, I'll do it.

I say, one of the beauties and the strengths that I like about the ELCA,

about the Lutheran church is that we are free to pray to each other.

We are free to give communion to those who are willing to come.

We are an ecumenical church. We welcome everyone.

So, the cost of everything you've been doing, God appreciates you. It's a call from God.

In an age of social media, when following takes no more than a click to see

someone and have access to all they have offered for you to follow,

we can easily forget that to follow Jesus is not a spectator sport.

To follow Jesus requires more than scrolling. and it will cause something.

Now, naturally, Jesus could let them do these things that feel so crucial and necessary.

I will also want to bury my parent or tell my people at home that I was living.

However, the reason these were

recorded was to show that this following is costly and time-sensitive.

I don't know that I will suggest we should not bury those who have lost in order

to take time to be with family and friends.

Yet, thinking that following Jesus and living in a radical and loving and worldly

inclusive way wouldn't cost us something is misguiding.

Jesus is saying, do you truly want to follow me in practice?

Or do you want to be seen following me as perception?

How do we follow jesus only on our own terms i don't like so-and-so i don't

like that committee or i don't like that activity only follow jesus or follow

saint luke's when i feel comfortable.

That's what jesus is reminding us and asking us again do you truly want to follow me in practice.

St. Luke's theme again, grow and go.

One sentence or phrase on the first reading that we hear this morning.

Paul is reminding us, we are entrusted with the commission.

And some of you or most of us remember the great commission. Go and make disciples.

To all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

People of St. Luke's, or visitors, or members, or everyone that is here,

and also the people that is in their homes or whatever they are.

We've been called by Jesus, by God, by the Holy Trinity, to be disciples. not only at St.

Luke's but everywhere we go like Pastor Linda is right now I'm sure she's discipling

and talking about God to everyone,

and I take the time to thank you for giving the blessing to go and have some time,

to get energy and come full of energy and empowerment to continue serving you

thank you for allowing her to take this time for sabbatical reflection,

and growing in her personal and spiritual life.

And now I invite you to think about what are the things that you need to continue

growing or the things that you already grow, the things that you have learned,

and go and put it into practice.

Grow and go. That was very sweet of the children here this morning.

I know they were kind of misguiding me because they wanted to talk more.

But that was nice of them to give you

the message and that's the message

that we're supposed to give to each other every day that makes

us that we really put in our thoughts our learnings our discipleship into action

may god bless you this week for the rest of the weeks and go grow and go and

say something positive something nice something lovely to someone.

God bless you, and have a wonderful rest of the day. Amen.

Go in peace, and Christ is with you.

Lift the spirit, lift you beyond fear, beyond comfort, beyond the familiar.

Catch the wind of God's grace. Let it carry you now, new places,

new people, new possibilities.

Set the world ablaze with hope, and you love, serve, and welcome all.

Thanks be to God. Be to God, and we will.