Good morning…
Some scriptures feel like a slap in the face. To me, the verses in Luke 9:57-62 (CEV) are shocking, confusing, disturbing.
Along the way someone said to Jesus, “I’ll go anywhere with you!” Jesus said, “Foxes have dens, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man doesn’t have a place to call his own.” Jesus told someone else to come with him. But the man said, “Lord, let me wait until I bury my father.” Jesus answered, “Let the dead take care of the dead, while you go and tell about God’s kingdom.” Then someone said to Jesus, “I want to go with you, Lord, but first let me go back and take care of things at home.” Jesus answered, “Anyone who starts plowing and keeps looking back isn’t worth a thing to God’s kingdom!”
Wow. No place to call my own, will that be my existence if I choose to follow? In response to, “Wait. Let me bury my father,” Jesus says, “Let the dead take care of the dead, while you go and tell about God’s kingdom.” That sounds so rude, so harsh. Another possible follower says, “First let me go back and take care of things at home.” Doesn’t “taking care of things at home” seem like a noble cause, like a task God would value, like an endeavor the LORD would bless? I don’t get it. Why would Jesus say “No” to taking care of our home, our family, our friends? I hate this scripture, so I am compelled to prayerfully ponder its deeper meaning. What is Jesus really saying?
The footnote in my Bible helps, explaining the phrase “wait until I bury my father.” It says, “The Jewish people taught that giving someone a proper burial was even more important than helping the poor.” Elsewhere I remember learning that this person’s father was likely not near death at the time, it was just a traditional excuse for children to stay close to home, waiting, stagnant in an old comfort zone. I am discovering that this scripture is exposing some of our most treasured gods, subtle gods stealing our loyalty, sound-good gods that we elevate above God Almighty. When I consider “first let me go back and take care of things at home,” I think about my own tendency to get sucked down in the black hole of my own personal agenda, while time evaporates, while God’s plans for my day are never consulted, never actualized. I think God’s enemy smiles when we are pulled like a magnet to our self made to-do list, “I want to go with you, Lord, but first let me…” I am beginning to get it.
If I am to go anywhere with Jesus, my tendency to cling to lesser gods must be shocked, confused, disturbed. We all know that beginning to plow and continuing to look back will divide us, will keep us stuck, paralyzed by indecision. Heart half here, heart half there, we straddle precariously, unwilling to follow. Clarity comes. This scripture is simply asking, “Who do you love most: gods or God?”
In my Bible, the subtitle for these verses is convicting: “Three People Who Wanted to Be Followers,”
Sue
