Everything in Between, Week One
Intention & Action
Luke 9:51-62
David Collins
March 2, 2025
This week we are beginning Lent, which is our yearly season of preparation, of examining our hearts and our habits, and ask not just what we believe, but what we actually do about it. To take us all the way to Holy Week and Easter, today we’re beginning a new sermon series that will follow Jesus’s final chapter of ministry in the Gospel of Luke. It’s called “Everything in Between” and every week we will be looking at the opposing values and desires that we all live in tension with every day.
And not just in the usual, “I want to get in shape” AND “I want to eat chips on the couch”, kind of way, but in the ways that are uniquely related to being a disciple of Jesus Christ. As we will see today, following Jesus is a journey.
Now, as you probably know because we are always talking about it, Megan and I love to travel, and once we started traveling, we have to do it all the time. But there was a long period of time when we really valued long term travel, we thought and dreamed about it, we made big plans, and I did so much shopping…for all the cool gear, and clothes and BAGS…and before I bought anything I did so much research about every little thing… I can get a little obsessed with things.
Where I’m going with this introduction is this….I thought of myself as a traveler long before I really became one. I could debate the strengths and weaknesses of various backpacks before I ever carried one on a plane. But none of that made me a traveler. Not really. Because at some point, you have to actually go.
Intentions
Intentions are great. They help us imagine the kind of life we want to live. But until they become actions, they’re just ideas—good ones, maybe even holy ones, but still just ideas.
At some point, we have to take the first step. We have to book the ticket, pack the bag, and walk out the door. We have to move from thinking about the journey to actually taking it. And that’s just as true in our faith as it is in travel.
Following Jesus isn’t about what we intend to do—it’s about what we actually do.
That’s what Jesus shows us in today’s passage. Luke 9:51 marks a turning point in Jesus’s ministry. Up until now, he has been teaching, healing, and calling disciples. But here, something shifts. He moves from intention to action. He knows where this road is leading—he knows the cost. That this will lead to his suffering, death and resurrection. But he goes anyway. Luke tells us:
When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. Luke 9:51
Up until this moment, Jesus has been revealing himself in pieces—teaching and healing. But here, something shifts. This is the moment where Jesus fully embraces what he was sent to do.
He Set His Face
By setting his face toward Jerusalem, he is not just choosing a random destination. He is embracing who he really is. He is seeing himself clearly in the mirror and not turning away. Not doubting or questioning. This is the moment where he embraces his identity completely, precisely because his intentions and actions are now one and the same.
In contrast to this, are his disciples, who are still trying to figure out what it really means to follow him. They feel the weight of Jesus’s mission, they sense the urgency of it, but they don’t have the confidence to carry it without anxiety yet. They are still trying this whole thing on, still testing out what it means to be a disciple. And when you’re trying something on—when you don’t fully own it yet—it’s easy to become defensive.
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 towards Jerusalem. Luke 9:52-53
Which is because of some issues behind the text…the Samaritans preferred Mount Gerizim over Jerusalem as the holy site of Israel. Which should be a simple difference to respect. But because of where they are in their journeys, James and John are just not okay with at all.
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?’ Luke 9:54
Which is a crazy response, right? Part of me wonders if they were just really hoping that was an ability that could unlock. Like late at night, did they whisper with each other while Jesus was snoozing…
”So…you know how we can heal people in Jesus’ name?”
“Yeah…it’s incredible.”
“Right? I know. So cool….but… do you think we could do… other stuff too?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know…like maybe…call fire down from heaven… to burn stuff?”
“Whoa…that would be awesome”
“I know right?…we should ask him.”
I don’t know. Maybe it happened like that the night before.
But on the day, it feels more like things I’ve said that basically boiled down to:
How DARE you not believe this truth that I just discovered five minutes ago?
It’s a little bit of an overreaction, right? But I’ve been there, and I’ll bet you have too.
When you don’t fully understand something, but you believe it’s very important, you don’t always know how to hold it with confidence. Instead of explaining it with patience, you impose it with force. Instead of being settled in it, you get aggressive about it. Instead of being non-anxious, you become reactive.
When someone is freshly committed to a cause, they can often be the most intense, the least gracious toward anyone who doesn’t see it yet. It’s not because they’re wrong—it’s because they’re still finding their footing. Their own understanding feels fragile, so they try to stabilize it by forcing others to agree.
But Jesus doesn’t operate that way. He doesn’t need validation. He doesn’t need everyone to understand for him to stay committed. When the Samaritans reject him, he doesn’t argue, doesn’t force them, doesn’t get defensive.
He does shoot down the idea of destroying a whole city because no one offered him a cup of water, though.
But he turned and rebuked them. Luke 9:55
And then, he simply moves on:
Then they went on to another village. Luke 9:56
That’s it. No fight. No anxiety. No need to prove anything.
Jesus is so rooted in his mission that rejection doesn’t shake him. He doesn’t need everyone to get it for him to do it.
And that is the first difference between intention and action we’ll see today. When you are still in the space of pure intention—when you’re still figuring out what something means to you—you tend to need external reinforcement. You need people to agree with you, to affirm you.
But when intention becomes action—when it becomes part of you—you don’t need to argue about it anymore. You just do it. That’s what we see in Jesus here. His face is set. When people don’t understand, he simply keeps going.
Jesus doesn’t get flustered. He doesn’t get thrown off course, or try to justify himself. He simply moves forward. His mission is clear. His face is set.
His response to the disciples’ overreaction comes from that place, and shows us something we need to know.
Jesus is not looking for defenders. He is looking for followers.
Jesus doesn’t force anyone to follow him. He doesn’t argue with the Samaritans, and he doesn’t beg people to come along.
But when someone says they do want to follow, he tells them the truth. It’s not gonna be easy.
The section heading in my Bible calls this next part “Would-Be Followers of Jesus” and that describes us all, doesn’t it?
Lets see where we find ourselves here. Because when Jesus’ face is set towards his mission, what does that mean for us as his followers?
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ Luke 9:57
And Jesus said to him, “GREAT! What kind of ministry do you feel called to? Let’s do that!”
Nope. That’s not what he said at all. Instead…
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.’ Luke 9:58
Which was a poetic way to say that following Jesus isn’t easy or fun. It means letting go of security and comfort, of the need to be in control.
Jesus knows that big bold words, promises made when you’re caught up in a moment, don’t always translate into real commitment. It’s easy to say, "Wherever you go, I’ll go,” when you assume that means miracles and crowds and the excitement of being part of something big. But what happens when Jesus leads you to rejection and hardship? To the unknown?
Jesus is forcing this person to count the cost. Do you really want to follow? Even if it means giving up the things that make you feel safe?
You see, lots of people have been told, and people really like to hear it, that following Jesus is the way to get everything you ever wanted. That Jesus wants what you want, and is going to help you get it if you’ll just follow these ten steps and give us ten percent.
It’s a great business model, don’t get me wrong. But it’s led directly to the situation the Church finds itself in today, where the first consideration is always more about “what will work?” before it is “what is right?”
Following Jesus becomes less about surrender and more about strategy. Less about obedience and more about optics. But Jesus never calls us to do what works, he calls us to do what's right, no matter the cost.
Following Jesus will lead to sacrifices that most people are unwilling to make.
In the next encounter, we meet someone who is willing but they just need a little time. A little space. A little room to take care of something important before they jump in. And Jesus’ response is ….unsettling.
To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ Luke 9:59
The first person in this passage volunteered to follow Jesus, but here Jesus extends the call himself. That’s a big deal.
And this person wants to follow. But first…there’s something they need to take care of. “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
Which is such a reasonable request that this person must not have even thought twice about making it. In every culture, especially the Jewish culture, honoring your parents—especially in death—is one of the highest obligations. Burying a parent is not just a personal duty; it’s a sacred one. And beyond that, in practical terms, burying a father could mean securing an inheritance, ensuring financial stability for the future. This wasn’t about avoiding discipleship. This was about responsibility.
Which makes Jesus’ response so shocking:
But Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ Luke 9:60
Wait, what?
Doesn’t Jesus care about family? About grief? About honoring parents?
Yes, he does. But what Jesus is saying here is not about rejecting family or ignoring grief—it’s about urgency. The man says, “First, let me go…” And Jesus says, “No. First, follow me.”
Because there is no ‘first’ before Jesus.
But if we’re honest, we all have really good reasons to put him off. We tell ourselves, I’ll follow Jesus more fully when things settle down. When life is less chaotic. When I’ve handled my responsibilities. When the timing makes more sense.
But the timing will never make sense. There will always be something. And if you wait for the perfect conditions, you will wait forever.
Jesus is saying, “The kingdom of God won’t wait for you to get everything in order. If you want to follow me, you have to do it now.”
So the first person in the passage was eager but naïve. They needed to learn that following Jesus meant embracing uncertainty. The second person was willing, but not ready. And this last person shows us what happens when we try to follow Jesus while still clinging to the life we are leaving behind.
Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ Luke 9:61
At first, this sounds completely reasonable. This person isn’t refusing Jesus—they just need a moment. A little bit of closure. One last goodbye before stepping forward into something new.
Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’ Luke 9:62
It’s a farming metaphor—one his listeners would have understood instantly. When you plow a field, you have to keep your eyes forward. The moment you start looking back, your rows get crooked, your work suffers, and the field turns into a mess. You cannot move forward while constantly glancing behind you.
And that’s the point Jesus is making here. Following him isn’t something you can do halfway. It’s not something you can commit to while keeping your options open.
But we want to follow Jesus, yet we also want to hold on to the life we had before. We want discipleship, but we also want control.
Jesus is saying that’s not how this works.
When you say yes, it’s yes. When you put your hand to the plow, you move forward. No second-guessing. No endless reconsidering. No wondering if you made the right choice.
This last person didn’t have an excuse like the second one did. They did want to follow. But they wanted to follow on their own terms.
Jesus makes it clear—there are no conditions. No negotiations. No halfway commitments.
You Don't Have to Follow Jesus
Now, if you don’t want to follow Jesus, that’s fine. Seriously. That’s one of the points of the passage today. Not everyone wants to, and not everyone can.
You are the one who decides if you’re going to follow Jesus or not. If your answer is no, fine. And if your answer is yes, awesome! But that’s where your input stops.
You can’t just call doing whatever you were going to do anyway, but praying and asking God to bless it, “Following Jesus”.
If you don’t want to follow Jesus, don’t. But if you do decide to follow him, let him lead.
You don’t get to tell him where to go. He is the leader. He doesn’t need consultants, or defenders. He doesn’t even need followers. But he does invite you to follow him.
And the difference between following him now, and following him then, is that we already know where he’s going. You can read everything he ever said before you decide to follow him. And if you find the things he says too troubling, or too hard, or too unfair, that’s fine. Don’t follow him.
Keep following whoever you’re already following.
But I’ll bet whoever you are following isn’t as good as Jesus.
The life you’ll end up with will probably be fine, and I hope it is, and I wish you well, but it will be better, and holier, and more significant, if you follow Jesus instead.
And if you do follow him—really follow him—it will change everything.
Not just what you believe. Not just what you do on Sundays. Not just the way you pray or the way you talk about faith.
Everything.
Because following Jesus means reorienting your entire life around him. It means trusting his way over your way. It means surrendering control, surrendering certainty, surrendering the idea that you get to pick and choose which parts of his teaching you’ll take seriously.
It means that when he calls you to love your enemies, you don’t get to say, “Well, not that one.”
When he calls you to forgive, you don’t get to say, “But not this time.”
When he calls you to serve the least, the lost, and the overlooked, you don’t get to pick which ones.
When he calls you to take up your cross, you don’t get to say, “Not today”
This is why Jesus tells people to count the cost. Because this isn’t just about believing in him. It’s about walking the road with him.
Some people won’t. Some people can’t. Some people already did their part. Some people will decide the cost is too high and the commitment is too much.
And Jesus doesn’t chase them down. He doesn’t beg them to stay.
He lets them go.
But for those who do follow, there is something more. More than just certainty. More than just purpose. More than just a sense of doing the right thing.
There is life.
We begin Lent this Wednesday with the reminder that we are dust, and to dust we shall return. Our time is not unlimited. This life—this one, fleeting life—is the only one we get.
And I don’t know about you, but I don’t want a life that is easy, or comfortable. I want a life that means something. A life that is full. A life that is shaped not by fear, but by love.
And that’s the kind of life that Jesus offers us.
Not because Jesus is trying to make things harder for us. Or take away the things we love or make us prove ourselves. But because following him—truly following him—means living a better life we would have chosen for ourselves.
We cling to comfort because it’s familiar. We hold on to control because it makes us feel safe. We hesitate because we are afraid. But Jesus is asking us to trust that what he has for us is better. That the life he leads us into is more whole, more meaningful, more real than anything we could come upon with on our own.
So if you’re looking for a faith that never asks anything hard of you, a Jesus who never challenges you, a path that never costs you anything—then no, don’t follow him.
But if you want something more. If you want truth, if you want to love, if you want the kind of life that matters in this world and the next—then come.
Because Jesus is still walking.
And the road is still open.
And the choice, just like it was for them, is entirely yours.
So what’s your answer?
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