Grace and peace to you from God our Creator and Sustainer, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit that abides in each of us.
 
One of the things I love about this time of year is summer vacations.  Everyone is talking about where they have been recently or where they are about to go.  It is so much fun to hear about some of the incredible destinations that so many people go to on their vacations these days.  But vacation time has changed so much over the years.  When I was a kid, most people drove to wherever they were going on vacation, while today, most of us fly.  In my childhood neighborhood, the only people that I knew that flew on airplanes were Mr. and Mrs. Lord (yes, that was their name!).  They were an older couple, and everyone was just sure they were rich.  They owned a Cadillac and they traveled on airplanes.  Today, most people I know get on an airplane to get to their destinations as quickly as possible.  But as I look back on all the road trips I have ever been on, to be honest, most of my memories have to do with journey we experienced while driving to wherever we were going.
 
When I was a freshman in high school, my folks decided, because of my dad’s job, to move to California.  Instead of my mom and dad flying out to California to find a place to live, they piled all four kids in the car, and we went on a three-week house-hunting trip.  Now, I am not going to kid you, visiting California and seeing the sights there was awesome, but some of the most memorable experiences I have from that trip have nothing to do with California.  I had never really been west of Chicago, so it was an incredible experience for me when we drove through the state of Nebraska.  Until that day, I did not know that you could drive 70 miles an hour all day long and still be in the same state.  I will never forget seeing the Great Salt Lake for the very first time.  For five days, the six of us journeyed across the great West in our old Dodge wagon.  The journey was half the fun of the trip!

Today, in our Gospel text, Luke begins with the phrase, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem” (9:51).   The Greek word we translate as “set his face toward” is poreuomai, and it literally means “to move” or “to journey.”  It is here that Luke begins to tell us about Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem.  In fact, for the next 19 weeks, we will read about this journey.  Jesus knew he had to get to Jerusalem and, as we know, he does eventually get there, but he also knew that the journey itself that he was now embarking on was just as critical as the destination to Jerusalem.  In many ways, it was like my family’s trip to California; my folks knew we had to get there to find a house to live in, but we had much to see and learn along the way as we visited places like Lincoln, Cheyenne, Salt Lake City, Reno, and many more places.

As we heard in our lesson this morning, as Jesus and his disciples set out on this journey, Jesus immediately began teaching them.  When Jesus was rejected by the Samaritans, which was no big surprise, by the way, James and John wanted revenge, but Jesus taught that his way was not to return evil for evil.  Instead of rebuking the people who had rejected him, Jesus rebuked his own disciples and instructed them to just move on whenever they faced rejection.
 
And his disciples were not the only ones Jesus rebuked as he began this journey.  Luke tells us of three different people who received what appeared to be pretty harsh words from Jesus about what it meant to be a follower of his.  Jesus’ words about not taking the time to bury one’s parents or to say good bye to one’s family at first appear to be downright mean.  But I don’t think Jesus meant these statements to be taken literally.  If we were to take these literally, based on the law of Scripture which Jesus himself had already said he did not come to change, then Jesus would have been saying that to be a follower meant one would have to break the Fifth Commandment, “Honor your father and mother.”  Jesus was not telling his followers or us today, that we should break God’s law; rather, I believe Jesus was using these statements as hyperboles, that is, exaggerations to drive home a very important point.  I believe it is a point that this congregation has learned well on its journey over the past 125 years.  When we say we want to follow Jesus, then we better be ready to make a long, hard journey.  When we say we want to follow Jesus, we need to know that that means we must willing to give up some of things we like.  In today’s language, Jesus is telling us that to be a follower of his means that one does not let any other obligations get in the way, even if they seem to be mandatory or “really important.”  What Jesus was saying then and what Jesus is saying now is, Don’t give me excuses, have no other obligations that take priority over my ways.  That means there can be no family, religious, social, business, or even sports obligations that can take priority over God’s work.  Not even patriotism on the Fourth of July weekend should stand in the way of following him.  To follow Jesus means that you must be committed to the path that he is on.
  
About four years ago, this congregation struggled over whether to stay here at the corner of Haskins and 91st Street or to move into a bigger facility not too far away.  Through much discussion, debate, and prayer, this congregation decided that we would stay here and commit ourselves to Christ’s work in this place.  But that decision meant we would have to make sacrifices and changes.  Since making that commitment, we have not only committed our time and our talents to God’s mission here in Old Lenexa, we have also committed over $1,000,000 to insure that this facility is what it needs to be so that all who gather here may be welcomed, refreshed, and nourished to stay on the journey that Jesus has called us to be on.  And today, as we dedicate our new facilities, I think we all know that even though we have been on this journey for 125 years, our journey is only just beginning.

In just a few minutes, we will dedicate our two new facilities, and as we do, we will pray that these facilities may always be used in service to the Glory of God.  And when we pray that, what we will be saying is, Lord, we want to stay committed to your path.  We will stay on this journey that you have had us on for the past 125 years and we will continue to follow you.  As much as we want to rest, we must stay on the path and keep walking with our faces set toward Jesus.  Oh, we can rest today, but the journey must continue tomorrow. 
 
There is an old Japanese proverb that says “When you have completed 95 percent of your journey, you are only halfway there.”  When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, he was crucified, and just when it appeared his journey was over, we learned that the journey was only half over.  He rose from the dead, and now we live and journey on the other half of that path on which he set out on that day in Samaria.  Today, you and I are on that path, and we are called to be the hands, the feet, the mouth, and the face of Christ to this broken world.   

Today, as we celebrate the completion of this work, may we know our journey continues.  May we know that our work has only begun.  Just like that trip across the country with my family years ago was a blessing filled with many memories and joys, may our journey together continue to bless others as we continue the work of Christ.  May we once again, today, commit ourselves to the path less traveled, the path that Christ has called us to take.  Amen. 

Lessons:
1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21
Galatians 5:1,13-25
Luke 9:51-62