When I was in my adolescent years, our family moved over several state lines to a new place. I remember as I began in a new school how I longed to belong there. It was obvious that there were different groups of friends there and who belonged to each group. But I was a stranger and because I had grown up in a different culture, I was not like any of them. So the only group that would allow me to be part of them was the one made up of those no other groups wanted – the outcasts. But that was school. When I went home, I knew I belonged there. We had a strong family where love and care abounded. Because I knew I had a place where I belonged, I could go out day after day into the school environment where I struggled with relationships and longed to belong.
As I read this section of Scripture, I thought it seemed disjointed and consisted of things that just didn’t fit anywhere else. And I prayed, “Lord, please show me what you have here for me.” And this idea of belonging came to me. And when you look at the idea of belonging, it really ties these verses together.
John approaches Jesus saying, “We saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.” Luke 9:49 This man did not belong to the group who followed Jesus from town to town as his disciples did. Yet, he was casting out demons in Jesus’ name. And John and the other disciples didn’t like outsiders pushing in on their territory – belonging with Jesus.
“’Do not stop him,’ Jesus said, ‘for whoever is not against you is for you.’” Luke 9:50 Jesus didn’t seem so interested in whether or not the man had signed the ‘Jesus’ Disciples Membership Role’. He was more interested in the fact that the man was not opposing him, but rather following his teachings.
“As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” Luke 9:51 I wonder about the word “resolutely” and as I look it up in other translations, I find words like “steadfast”, “determined”, and “fixed his face toward”. So I wonder why it took so much courage to go to Jerusalem. Jesus spent a lot of time talking with his Father and I’m guessing that while he did not know the minute-by-minute countdown of what was to come, he knew he was heading toward death on a cross and he knew he had come to do that. Yet, his flesh was not as willing and needed to be prodded into action. “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.” John 13:3-5 Jesus knew to whom he belonged and so was able to serve his disciples and to go to the cross for us. But I don’t think for a minute that it was easy. So he resolved to head toward Jerusalem.
Jesus sent the disciples ahead into Samaria to get things ready for him but found that they were not welcome there. The disciples’ first response was to ask Jesus if he wanted them to “call fire down from heaven to destroy them.” Luke 9:54 After all, they not only were not one of them, they were not being hospitable to them. They didn’t belong. But Jesus rebuked them. Jesus knew something the disciples did not yet understand – that he would become a total outcast even to them, betrayed by his friend, and denied by those he loved and who loved him. Jesus knew that he was dying so that everyone could belong with him in heaven. He was dying for the Samaritans too.
Jesus and his disciples continue on and find several others along the way who contemplate following Jesus. The first says, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Luke 9:57 The second one says, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Luke 9:59 And the third says, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-bye to my family.” Luke 9:61
Jesus’ response to each was different – but the same. They had set their sights way too low. They were wanting to belong to the group of men who went with Jesus from town to town and even got to take part in some of the miracles. Jesus wanted them to belong to something so much bigger and better than a group of people who were popular because of the healings and free food. He wanted them to understand that this is more of a spiritual journey rather than physical. And he wanted them to understand that they couldn’t keep one foot in their physical world and the other in the spiritual world. They needed to trust the physical to God and come into the spiritual kingdom of God with both feet and without looking back.
Belonging to the kingdom of God is not without cost. Some things need to be left behind. But those of us who have decided to follow Jesus find so much more when we let go of the things that hold us back. We find freedom and peace and satisfaction that no amount of belonging in this world can give us. And love… well, you haven’t been loved until you understand how much you are loved by God. I don’t worry so much anymore about whether I belong in this world or not. I know I belong to God and look forward to being home with him.
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