Luke 9:51-62

Did you have any trouble learning to ride a bike? That was a torture for my young life. Mark Wheeler had his own bike and he was great at it. I could only watch. It gave Mark a lot of satisfaction to offer me a ride, since I usually made it about 3 feet and then tipped over sideways. Since I did so much better in school with crayons and Mark ate his, it evened the score when I fell off. And I agreed. Given my choice of problems, I would rather be a crayon eater and know how to ride a bike.

 I know now why riding a bike is so difficult. It doesn’t make any sense. The truth is that when you spin any wheel, the motion creates a force perpendicular to the turning of the wheel. On a bicycle, the faster the wheel spins, the stronger is the force up and down. It keeps the wheel straighter as you go faster. Motorcycles, for example, have an incredibly strong force that makes it almost impossible for a motorcycle to fall over while its traveling.

 This all may be true, but it doesn’t feel true. When you learn to ride a bike, you try to go slowly and stay out of trouble. The curse of going slow is that you don’t get the perpendicular force to keep the wheels up. Even the best cyclist will fall over if the speed is too slow.

 Bicycles were invented in 1817, but the first bicycles assumed that you would keep your feet on the ground. They didn’t know about the perpendicular force. So bicycles were unpopular until the 1870’s. The nation finally understood the perpendicular force and trusted in for the gay 90’s. That was why the 1890’s were called the gay 90s. People trusted this new force for the first time and bought a lot of bicycles and were able to travel farther than they had ever known and have more fun. It all happened with a force that nobody believed in a hundred years previous.

 Our world is in calamity. We live in a moment when the New York Times reports today that we tortured a prisoner to the point where he begged for death. Somehow in responding to 9-11, our nation has lost its morality. After the horrific events of 2001, we had the pity of the world. Now we have created a wave of disgust by allies and a hatred of Christianity by many Muslims even though the war against Saddam Hussein was against an evil man who had killed thousands. 

 Next Sunday is Independence Day, normally a day of celebration. I feel that it is important this year to prepare ourselves spiritually to consider that day. The text today is from the lectionary or the Bible passage that the United Methodist church suggests that we read for this Sunday. Its about frustrated disciples who see that Jesus’ message isn’t getting the response they expected. They ask the Lord if they should call fire down from heaven and destroy all critics. Its almost exactly what our government did with the war in Iraq so Jesus’ answer will give you new hope of how we can change course and save our own nation for many more Independence Days to come.

 Jesus and the disciples were in northern Israel at that time of this event. It was the same area that Elijah had lived in generations before. One of the famous stories of Elijah is one of an ancient king, Ahaziah, and how he sent two sets of 50 men to arrest Elijah. Elijah had called down fire from heaven to destroy them (2 Kings 2:10,12). In the story James and John want Jesus to repeat the dose. Let’s stamp out racism! Let’s hate those who hate us! Jesus will have none of it.

 Luke reports this whole account to show us that Jesus’ answers are distinctively different. I’m not speaking about political differences as in the Democratic or Republican ways to deal with taxation for example. I am speaking about Jesus’ moral answers and that is where the United States is in grievous error that must be corrected

 We brought down fire from heaven. 54% of Americans now say that it has not worked politically, but the real issue is that Jesus says it is morally evil. Jesus does not have two sets of rules, one for Christians and one for non Christians. Jesus’ rules assume that at some point, every knee will bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And I am speechless that we are in this situation because our President is a United Methodist.

 Now I know that the Catholic bishops have been having a lot of fun casting John Kerry out of various churches and the United Methodist Church is much more open to all who want to follow Christ, but I do wish that George Bush would take a new look at this passage.

 One of the most important beliefs of all Christians is about the incarnation, God come to earth in human flesh. [John 3:16] "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Jesus gave up the protection of heaven so that you and I might get another chance to find eternal life and everlasting happiness. Jesus wants the prisoners being tortured by the US to have that same invitation. All sinners get the invitation. While human history continues, there is never a moment where we give up and destroy them. This is a key belief of our faith. It is like the perpendicular force in the bicycle, invisible but powerful.

 So the war was morally wrong because the inspections dealt with the weapons of mass destruction. And the war is more evil now, because we do not renounce torture. Even Christian organizations have lost their moral compass. I looked at various web sites of big Christian organizations such as Focus on the Family and in most cases, there is nothing on the war or the torture. How did we develop a generation of Christians who know so much about families and can’t tell right from wrong when it comes to torture?

 We need to call our nation to follow the incarnation beliefs of Christians. I think that President Bush can set a whole new tone by just apologizing that we started a war when there were no weapons and then we accepted torture as a strategy. There are few things in life that can’t get better with an apology.

 And then we need to call the millions of Christians to give generously to middle east missions as Christians did after World War II. Again, I challenge you to tithing. United Methodists are already in the Middle East with medical care, care for children, care for orphans, and education and training for women. Tithing will expand all of those ministries and encourage evangelism which is somewhat possible for a moment in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 You and I each have an unusual opportunity this summer because the Republican convention will be in this city. In a democracy, Christians have a special responsibility to be a witness and call the government to accountability to the ways of the Lord.

 And finally, we need to be in prayer for our world, our nation, and ourselves. Next Sunday will be Service of Prayer and Healing for Independence Day. It will be a service where we can simply issue the prayers of our hearts and a time to call on God for special grace. I hope you will bring someone with you.

 The incarnation is a mighty force to change the world. That is why Jesus came in this fashion. Like the bicycle, the force is invisible and has to be trusted in order to be used. [Heb 2:14] Since the world is flesh and blood, Jesus himself shared the same things, so that through his human death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil. Let us live the power of Jesus’ answer in our life. May our nation be known as a people who took on the pain of the world that others may know relief. And may the mighty power of Jesus’ incarnation triumph to bring justice, liberation, and hope to the whole world. Amen.