Is the kingdom filled only with those who are not worthy? Maybe -- the wavering, the weak, the salt of the earth.
a reading by Russell Rathbun
Luke 9:51-62
Theologians Peter Tosh and Mick Jagger in, what I assume is a commentary on this text, exhort their listeners to “walk and don’t look back,” on Tosh’s 1978 record, Bush Doctor. Perhaps they were also noting the clear allusion to Genesis 19:26, in which the angels counsel Lot and his family not to look back at the evil city they are fleeing as God rains down fire to destroy it. But Lot’s wife for some reason can’t help herself, she turns her head, looks back and is turned into a pillar of salt, from which, I assume, we get the common term, Salt of the Earth, referring to someones work-a-day, unassuming goodness (there is also a slight undertone of maybe the person is not that smart, good, kind, but not that smart). Well, that might not be exactly right and it was Smokey Robinson wrote the song for the Temptations in 1965, although I have only heard Peter and Mick’s version.
Much is made in the history of interpretation of the first verse of this week's Gospel text, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” Jesus sets his face, he turns toward Jerusalem. This for a lot of exegetes is a key turning point in Luke’s Gospel. Jesus has accepted his fate, knowing his destiny (which for him is his death -- well, I guess that is all of our destinies) awaits him in Jerusalem. So, he steels himself and sets his face toward Jerusalem, focuses like a laser beam, has his eyes on the prize, has the eye of the tiger. That kind of unwavering resolve, I think, is highly valued in our culture (to wit: check out how I was just able to toss in a cliché from George Bush Sr., the Civil Rights Movement and a Rocky sequel). It is the kind of resolve (steely and fiery, not salty) that makes up the kind of strong individuals that build great nations. Like when that young man (on the advice of another) set his face for the west and went there. And that is how the west was won.
The importance of the direction of one's face is reinforced throughout this Gospel reading with examples of not turning back. The lesson is concluded with Jesus’ words, ““No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Strong words, clear thesis from the open to the close -- except, there is this one small waver: Jesus sends folks ahead to the Samaritan village in there path, to find a place, maybe to stay for the night or get a bite to eat. But the Samaritans will not receive him, because of the direction his face is set.
James and John, being the great men of the Western tradition that I was always told they were, are not about to let these unreceiveing, unbelieving villagers cause them to alter their iron resolve, so they ask Jesus for permission to call on God to rain down fire on them, destroying them and clearing the path. But he does not give them permission. Jesus does not seem to want to leave a path of firey destuction behind him on the road to destiny. Instead, Jesus turns his head. Right smack in the middle of this reading, that begins with Jesus setting his face toward and no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom—Jesus looks back, turns his head, and rebukes them.
The Hardest Question
Why does Jesus look back, turn his head, and make himself unfit for the Kingdom? Is there some other lesson, more important than that of unwavering determination and commitment that Jesus wants to teach them? Is the kingdom filled only with those who are not worthy?
Russell Rathbun is a preacher at House of Mercy in St. Paul, Minnesota and the curator of The Hardest Question.
