You do not know what manner of spirit you are of

 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  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."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

- Luke 9:51-62

On Saturday, we read that the next day, when they had come down from the mountain of Transfiguration, that a great multitude met Him.  Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.  And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him.  So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."  Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?  Bring your son here."  And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him.  Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.  And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.  But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."  But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.  Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest.  And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  For he who is least among you all will be great."  Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."  But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."

 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face.  And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.  But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?"  But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."  And they went to another village.    Cyril of Alexandria comments that Jesus sent messengers before His face, the disciples, so that they might learn about their mission for the future, as apostles who will go out to all the world.  Christ is aware that He will be rejected by these Samaritans.  Indeed the theme He has been enforcing to the disciples is that He will be rejected by the religious leadership at Jerusalem, and His face was set for the journey there.  But as we can see from the response of James and John, they need to learn the response He teaches them!  On Saturday we read that He taught them gracious and humble behavior ("Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  For he who is least among you all will be great").  Here is an extension of this teaching, to how they are to deal with rejection in their mission as apostles to peoples around the world.

 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  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."  Then He said to another, "Follow Me."  But he said, "Lord let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."  Here we have more examples of teaching about discipleship, about the mission that is ahead for His followers, after He is crucified.  The man who tells Him, "I will follow you wherever You go," is not prepared for the fullness of what it means to be a disciple or apostle.  Jesus teaches the rigors of this mission, that even He has no worldly security, and His followers will experience the same.  Loyalty to family, even conventional responsibilities like honor due to parents, will come second to this mission of faith, to the life of the Kingdom and loyalty to the service of Christ.  Finally discipleship asks us for a full-hearted response.  Delay ("looking back") is a failure to respond as needed, even for the kind of sentimental reason given here.    In a real sense, what Jesus emphasizes here is a break from the worldly, from convention, a different kind of life as the life of the Kingdom - and the rigors of mission. "Let the dead bury the dead" teaches us about a stark difference between the living Kingdom and life outside of it.

We may think of these earliest apostles and disciples as those subject to the greatest rigors possible for their mission.  They faced not just a hostile leadership of their own people, but also the rigors of mission to all the world.  Very shortly, these would lead to persecutions of various kinds.  Jesus is preparing them not just for mission but also for leadership of His Church.  They have a lot to learn about what kind of mission they're on, and the manner of spirit they are of.  Jesus' words give us a great hint here all about the Church and all about mission:  it's not merely a worldly mission; it is a spiritual mission into the world.   It is informed by what manner of spirit they are of.   They need grace and all that goes with it:  forbearance, sacrifice, responsiveness, patience, endurance, and so much more.  This is not a worldly power they go out in service of, but a gracious power from the God who is love, coming into the world and facing what is called "the prince of this world."  It is, in fact, a spiritual battle into which they enter -- but a spiritual battle is not fought on worldly terms of battle.  In that sense, a journey of faith as a follower of Christ becomes similar for each of us, the more deeply we go in this journey.  We may not all be formal apostles or evangelists, but the life of a disciple of Christ will take on characteristics we read about here in today's reading.  There may very well be times when we have to choose between what looks good to convention, what seems good in terms of family loyalty and the good things we know, like honor to father and mother, as in the example we're given above, and we have to make a choice between where our faith asks us to go and those "good" things.  Loyalty to "group" of any kind may be tested, subject to the choice between Christ's call and our world.   We clearly always have a lot to learn.  St. Paul tells us that "the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).   The precepts taught here, in my experience, will make themselves felt in our own lives, effectively asking us to choose in situations that try our souls, in some sense:  teaching us patience, forbearance, the difficulty of choosing loyalty to the Kingdom over other things we hold dear, asking us to respond wholeheartedly and without delay.  We must also learn "what manner of spirit we are are of," growing in grace and humility and the capacity to show mercy with a discerning heart.   We have help for all of these things, from the same Spirit to whom Jesus refers, the One who will guide the apostles, disciples, and pillars of the Church into their work after Pentecost.  But we each share in that overall mission, and we participate in God's grace as bearers of this Kingdom.  A truly great and precious creation is never without its discipline.  To serve Christ, to become truly a reflection of God's light in the world, isn't going to be easy or simple.  It's going to take work.  But its value is infinite, and that's the high price He puts on us, the investment of faith He makes in us.