What's Moving Us? - Sermon for the Third Sunday After Pentecost (June 29, 2025)

Scripture Readings: 2 Kings 2:1–2, 6–14 | Psalm 77:1–2, 11–20 | Galatians 5:1, 13–25 | ​Luke 9:51–62

“If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25).
 
The wind is a wild force in our world.   

Think about a time when you felt a strong wind blowing. It can be a pretty powerful experience. Maybe you remember the energy in the atmosphere before a big summer storm arrives. Maybe you recall something a bit more fierce… like the fury of the hurricanes we Maritimers have to face at times. Wind can be harnessed to generate electricity through giant turbines, and put to good use. And wind can also be a constant source of pressure… pushing us around, especially in places like the prairies, or out on the open waters.
 
Now, I know absolutely nothing about sailing… but I do have a bit of experience with canoes. And being out on open water while having to face heavy winds is no joke at all.
 
And sometimes, when the winds are raging, the only way to get home and not be capsized or pushed far off course, is to head straight into the headwinds… to face the storm straight on… like a plow pushing through the waves… resisting its influence, and putting our muscles to work to activate a very different kind of power.
 
Why am I talking about wind?
 
Well, the words for wind in both Hebrew and Greek, the languages of the Bible, are interconnected with the ideas of breath, and spirit… the lifeforce animating us, and also influencing us… driving us in certain directions, and empowering us to take action.
 
And this morning, our Scripture readings invite us to think about the ways that we are moved by the Spirit of God… in contrast to the influence of the ‘spirit of the age’… the ‘zeitgeist’… the ‘winds of the world’, so to speak… the cultural, political, social, and spiritual pressures that motivate and move us, as individuals and as larger groups.
 
All too often, we Christians have tried to simply harness the ‘winds of the word’, seeing in them a source of power that we want to put to good use… but in doing so, we often forget about the great power that God has already shared with us, graciously giving us all that we need to be His faithful people today.
 
Please note that this morning’s message is not meant to be a critique of this or that political party, or policy, or social movement, but rather an invitation and even a challenge to help us all reflect on what is really driving us in our daily lives… shedding light on the near constant temptation that we all face to simply be blown along in all sorts of directions by the ways of the world around us. And this message is also meant to be an encouragement for us all to seek to be faithful to our great Saviour, Jesus Christ, and to put His power into practice.
 
In our Gospel reading today, from the ninth chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel, we hear about what happened when Jesus travelled through the region of Samaria, and instead of a welcome, faced rejection.
 
Luke 9:51-53, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, [Jesus] 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.”
 
Now many of us know of Samaritans largely from the famous parable that Jesus tells about a man who was attacked by robbers, and who was saved, not by the leaders of his own community, but by a merciful stranger, a Samaritan, who goes to great lengths to care for him. It’s a powerful image of what it means to love our neighbours, but the message hits home even more when we remember that the people of Judah and Jerusalem were not on good terms with Samaritans.
 
These were two very similar, but deeply divided communities… who had little to no dealings with each other, and saw each other as backward, compromised, and spiritually corrupt. Picture the deep divides between Protestants and Catholics a few generations ago… or perhaps some of the more polarized tensions between the political parties in North America today. For Jews in Galilee and Judea, like Jesus and His disciples, Samaritans would have been seen as the despised rivals next door, and vice versa.

Which all begs the question: Why was Jesus rejected by the Samaritans? Because, unlike many of His contemporaries, Jesus chose not to avoid them. He chose to journey through their land! He made Himself vulnerable and available to a sincerely hostile community, seeking to share time and lodgings with them on His journey to Jerusalem. On its own, this is a strange step: rejecting the widespread prejudice and suspicions at work around them, Jesus steps into their world… but is turned away.
 
And two of His disciples are quick to turn against these Samaritans. Luke 9:54, “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?”
 
Now that’s a bit extreme, right? Where did this response come from? Where did they get this strange idea about calling down fire from heaven? Well… from reading the Bible.  But even though James and John certainly knew some of the stories of Scripture well, it seems that they had really misunderstood the point… both of this specific episode from the life of Elijah, and of God’s great mission as a whole.

The story that James and John are recalling is found in the Second Book of Kings… and it centres on what happened when the Prophet Elijah encountered some fierce opposition from those in power.
 
As you may remember, Elijah was chosen by God to serve as a prophet, proclaiming God’s word in the Northern Kingdom of Israel… lands which were, in Jesus’ day, largely populated by Samaritans. And early on in Elijah’s story, he was sent to confront Israel’s unfaithful King, Ahab, who with his wife Jezebel, had steered God’s people away from faithfulness to the Covenant, and tried to seize some of the power that comes with blending in with, and cozying up to, the nations around them: worshiping their idols and gods, adopting their ways of life, and ruling over their own people as tyrants.
 
In time, King Ahab dies, and his son Ahaziah takes over the throne… and follows in his father’s unfaithful footsteps. In 1 Kings 22:52-53, we’re told that that Ahaziah “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father and mother, and in the way of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. He served Baal and worshiped him; he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger, just as his father had done.”
 
But Elijah was called as a prophet to stand out as one who resisted this spiritual, cultural, and political movement… empowered by God’s spirit to stand up against the Kings, and to perform signs and wonders… not for their own sake, but to shake up and wake up God’s people so that they would turn back to the Lord and faithfully follow His ways.
 
At some point, King Ahaziah injures himself in an accident, and then he seeks assurance from the prophets of Baal-zebub… but then Elijah steps in and sends word from the Living God that Ahaziah will never again recover, but will die of his injuries.
 
Furious, the King does what many Kings do… he tries to silence all those who oppose him. The King sends and armed escort to summon Elijah, hauling him before the King through intimidation and force.
 
But what follows is a word of warning against those who claim just to be following orders when they do what is evil.
1 Kings 1:9-10, “Then the king sent to [Elijah] a captain of fifty with his fifty men. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, ‘O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’ ’ But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, ‘If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.’ Then fire came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.”
 
Fire from heaven comes down and consumes those who came against God’s chosen prophet. But the story isn’t over yet. 1 Kings 1:11-12, “Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty. He went up and said to him, ‘O man of God, this is the king’s order: Come down quickly!’ But Elijah answered them, ‘If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.’ Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
 
Still leaning on the authority of the unfaithful King, the second group of armed guards gets burned up. But still, the story’s not done! 1 Kings 1:13-14, “Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. So the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and entreated him, ‘O man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, be precious in your sight. Look, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of fifty men with their fifties; but now let my life be precious in your sight.”
 
This third time, the guards get the message. They can see where the real power resides. Instead of trusting in their military might, or even in the authority of their own King, they humbly beg Elijah to come with them, and the LORD God tells Elijah to goes with them.
 
Of course, there’s more to this story, but it is clearly driving home the point that even in the face of strong and dangerous opposition, it’s better by far to be on God’s side. Elijah was outnumbered, and by all worldly accounts, the King’s men could easily arrest him… but God’s power is not measured like human power, and it is His faithful ones who will be vindicated in the end.
 
This is the story James and John call to mind when their Master was rejected by the Samaritans. But it’s worth asking: how did the disciples see themselves in this story? Why did this story come to mind? What connections did they see with their own circumstances?

We’re not told directly, but it seems likely that they saw Jesus their Rabbi as a prophet like Elijah… and that they saw themselves as faithful servants of the Living God… as those fully in line with God’s ways… while outnumbered by hostile, unfaithful, and dangerous people in need of being taught a lesson.
 
They seemed to see themselves as those in close contact with God’s power… not just as victims, but as those empowered to act boldly and dramatically to make God’s ways and will known in the world… by burning up all those who stand in their way. “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” (Luke 9:54).
 
Do we sometimes see ourselves in this same light? As Christians, do we sometimes feel outnumbered, and surrounded by strangers and neighbours who, for whatever reason, are turning against us?
 
And when we feel threatened, or slighted, or put upon, how are we likely to respond?
 
Sadly, some Christians still seem eager to try to call down fire… assuming that if someone oppose us, they must be God’s enemies… and that the LORD obviously would want us to win some sort of dramatic victory at their expense.
 
This is the wind behind the growing movement sometimes called Christian Nationalism… people driven to seizing as much political power as they can in the name of Jesus, enforcing their vision of the world on their neighbours, and writing off all those who oppose us as expendable enemies.
 
But when James and John start moving in this direction, Jesus does not support it… He turns and rebukes them! He takes the wind out of their sails, and shows that they were deeply mistaken about what the Living God is like, and what God wants, and what God is up to in our world. James and John may have been moved by stories from Scripture, but they were just being blown about by the winds of the world… the violent and vengeful spirit of the age… and in this, they were not being motivated or empowered by the Spirit of God.
 
And rather than calling down fire from heaven to consume those who oppose and threaten Him, Jesus allows Himself to be rejected, misunderstood, and simply continues on His way. He puts Himself out there… offering Himself to these Samaritans, but He was not received. And so, He goes on, continuing to Jerusalem… and ultimately to the cross.
 
After all, what Jesus experienced among these Samaritan strangers was not all that different from His reception by His own people. Though some would believe in Him, and receive the gift of the Kingdom He came to bring them… many completely rejected Him too. And these were moved by the spiritual, cultural, and political leaders of the day, who saw Jesus as a threat… and were especially afraid that He would rock the boat and upset the Romans… the seemingly all powerful pagan Gentile Empire who really seemed to run the show. They were worried that Jesus would upset their precious but fragile stability and so-called peace, and so to save themselves, they were convinced that they needed to get rid of this dangerous wandering preacher who would not go along with the flow.
 
And so they sent armed guards to arrest Jesus… just like with Elijah… but this time, He goes without a fight! With no fire called down from heaven. With no legion of angels at His side to stop it from happening. With all His friends scattering in the night, Jesus is left alone, and He lets Himself be arrested… falsely accused, beaten, publicly humiliated, and executed on a cross.
 
What drove Him to do this? What motivation was at work behind His actions? It was of course the Spirit of God that led Jesus to the cross.
 
The same Spirit that has been at work all throughout the story of the Bible… bringing new life to birth, leading broken people back to the LORD, and empowering them to stand against the winds of the world… to live faithfully in times of great danger and uncertainty, as living signs anchored firmly in God’s own character, and will… walking in His holy ways… even when it’s really hard.
 
The Spirit led Jesus to the cross to embody God’s true power in the face of the world’s complete rejection of Him. To reveal what God’s saving might really looks like: not violent and vengeful outbursts, but patient endurance… and humility, and love… offering up His life as a gift to set free and save even His enemies… forgiving them and reconciling those who turned against Him back to God.
 
This is what Jesus did for us all: He let the fire from heaven fall down on Himself to bring God’s new life to a sinful world. He suffered and died as the faithful one, while we all were being blown about by the winds of the world… motivated by our sin: our greed, our fear, our selfish desires, our prejudice, and pride.
 
Rather than turning against us, Jesus died to save us, and to save our world. And He was raised again to fill us with this same life-giving Spirit Who was always at work in Him. To empower us to be made like Him, and like Him, to do God’s good will in all we do.
 
We can claim to be Christians all we want, but what is it that’s actually moving us, personally, and as a community?
 
Like James and John, and many others… we can be trying to follow our Lord, but be totally mistaken about the character of His mission, and the direction it calls us to move in.
 
Like the leaders in Jerusalem, and so many today, we can be caught up in our concerns about how the world around us will react… allowing ourselves to be blown off course by outside influences, and also by internal temptations.
 
What’s really moving us? As we prepare to approach the Lord’s Table together, humbly receiving the new life Christ Jesus offers us all in His name, we’re going to wrap up this time by returning to our passage from St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians… not simply as a list of dos and don’ts… or virtues and vices we achieve or resist on our own. But as a humble invitation for the Holy Spirit to be at work in us… to guide us in His holy ways… and to understand the Good News of Jesus, and what it looks like in our lives… to be filled by His love for one another, and all those around us… and to be empowered to resist the winds of our world that would push us away from the side of our Saviour.
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Galatians 5:13-25, “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
 
Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.
 
Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
 
By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.”
 
May we be filled and moved by this Spirit. May we, with God’s help, turn away from the powerful and tempting voices all around and inside us that would blow us off course.
 
May we follow Jesus our Lord, and with Him embody God’s life and saving love in our day to day lives… even if our neighbours, strangers, and loved ones turn their backs on us for doing so… trusting that the Spirit’s saving love can still work through us to bring our world His new life. Amen.