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Theology - Let's Dance!
(July 1, 2007)
Jesus Asks His Followers to Leave Everything Behind (Luke 9.51-62)
51When the days drew near for him be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; 53but they did not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. 54When 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?’ 55But he turned and rebuked them. 56Then they went on to another village. 57As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ 58And 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.’ 59To another Jesus said ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ 60But Jesus said to him ‘Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ 61Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ 62Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’
Jesus and his disciples have had a fabulous time in Galilee. He has healed the sick, raised the dead and talked to thousands about the Kingdom of God. This passage marks the end of his honeymoon period in Galilee and the beginning of the long journey to Jerusalem and the cross. Jesus goes to Jerusalem once and once only. That is his destiny.This pivotal action by Jesus of setting his face towards Jerusalem is an ‘are you for me?’ or ‘are you against me?’ moment. It is one thing sticking with him in Galilee when everything was going well but it was quite another to decide to accompany him to Jerusalem. In this story three would-be disciples either misunderstand or else underestimate the cost of taking the journey with Jesus. If you imagine Jesus’ call to discipleship as an invitation to dance then the misconceptions of each of these approaches can be understood.
Dancing is an exuberant, exciting thing to do. In the film “Shall We Dance?” Richard Gere plays John Clark, a successful Chicago attorney. He's got a beautiful, successful wife (played by Susan Sarandon) and two normal, well-adjusted children. However unknown to those closest to him, Mr. Clark is unhappy. His travels home from work every day lead him past a dance studio where he often looks up and catches a beautiful woman either standing in the window or practicing her dance moves. On impulse he leaves his train and enters the dance studio. It is through ballroom dancing he experiences joy and finds new friends. His lessons are secret but his family notices a change in him. John's wife becomes suspicious of all the time he spends away from home and hires a private investigator to find out whether or not her husband is having an affair. She finds him at a dance competition not realising that the dance may be, in fact, saving her marriage. He has re-learnt how to be happy and can help her to do the same thing – ‘let’s dance!’
Jesus’ call to dance is a summons to life but those he talks with gives different reasons as to why this might be a step too far for them. The disciples want the dance to be exclusive to them. Samaria lies between Galilee and Jerusalem. Jesus wanted to cross through Samaria. He sent messengers to a Samaritan village to make arrangements to stay over night. The Samaritans refused Jesus and when James and John heard about this they were angry. They wanted to take vengeance on the Samaritans. They wanted to destroy them. The issue here is not the behaviour of the Samaritans but the attitude of the disciples. The invitation to dance is open to the Samaritans whether or not they chose to avail themselves of it. The invitation is open to anyone and everyone – ‘let’s dance!’There is one person who wants to delay his decision. He likes the idea of the dance but first he wants to say goodbye to his family and friends. He does not realise the immediacy and the urgency of the invitation that he has been given. There is always something else to do but in this instance delay or prevarication is not an option. At this particular point in the story the priority of the Kingdom of God overshadows ties of kith and kin. There is an incident where Jesus’ family are prevented from seeing him due to the crush of the crowd. When Jesus is told about this he replies: “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act upon it” (Lk 8:20-21) – ‘let’s dance!’There is another person who wants to keep his options open. He likes the idea of the dance but is not able to work out what is most important to him. He did not want to follow Jesus until he had buried his father (sounds reasonable to me). Jesus’ reply is not exactly the model of a compassionate grief counsellor; it is downright shocking: "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." The reality was that the father was in all probability not dead and that this man's statement was an idiom, which could well have meant, "My father is getting up in years. As soon as he dies, I will join up with your disciples." Jesus' reply then means, "Let the [spiritually?] dead put me off with such excuses. You've got more urgent business with the living! Are you serious or not?" – ‘let’s dance!’There is one person who tells Jesus that he will follow him wherever he goes - "Foxes haves holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." There is a parallel use of language between this story and the crucifixion. The same word used here meaning ‘to lay his head’ reappears at Jesus’ crucifixion meaning ‘bowed his head. Jesus said “it is finished”, with that he bowed his head and gave up the spirit” (Jn 19:31). The sense intended between these two passages is that the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head…until…it is finished – ‘let’s dance! |
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