(Audio)
I will follow you wherever you go.
We sometimes overestimate our own commitment to follow Jesus. We sing all of these songs about how we will follow him with our whole minds and hearts. But then we discover that the accommodations and other aspects of our lives as disciples are not always as pleasing as is the case for those who remain in the world. We might otherwise choose to pursue wealth and power and thus dwell in palaces. Or at lest we might have a stable resting place like the den of a fox or the nest of a bird. But as disciples of Jesus we must realize that even the comforts of home are not absolute. Following Jesus must take precedence. We tend to tell Jesus we will follow him anywhere. But we actually seem to mean anywhere within a narrow range of distance from our driveways, during specific hours of our day. He isn't always calling us to take drastic action like moving or going on mission. But he is asking to be the criterion we use to decide where and when we will stay or go. This, rightly, makes our flesh nervous. However, following Jesus always proves out to be better in the end than insisting on our own path.
And to another he said, "Follow me."
But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father."
But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead.
But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God."
It is possible that this individual was using his obligation to his father as an excuse. He may have heard the response of Jesus to the first individual and had second thoughts about whether he really wanted to accept the invitation. This initial hesitation might have eventually become an outright refusal as he recognized all the good he could do for his family by remaining at home. Even if he were sincere, and meant to do his duty quickly, and then follow immediately, he didn't understand how the Gospel was meant to be a still more urgent priority for the followers of Jesus. Burial of the dead was a corporal work of mercy. But giving life to those who were spiritually dead was the work of the Kingdom. Respect for the body of the dead had meaning only if there was hope for the spirit. A world in which burial was truly the last and most necessary thing would be a sad world indeed. Hence the urgent importance of the call of Jesus was greater even than one's duty to bury the dead.
And another said, "I will follow you, Lord,
but first let me say farewell to my family at home."
How many times have we said, "I will follow you Lord, but first"? What are the other priorities we put first before following him? Do we realize how easy it is to multiply such reasons endlessly and never actually move? They may all individually be good and noble goals, but if they keep us from the Kingdom they have become harmful distractions and ultimately mere excuses. They can become snares just as surely as those few good aspects of life in Egypt were distractions for those journeying toward the promised land. Looking back to our life before Jesus can be as destructive as looking back to Sodom was for the wife of Lot. Instead, the example we want to follow is that of Paul.
But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (see Philippians 3:13-14).
What about the good aspects of the excuses these potential disciples made? If they decided to cling to them as absolutes they would learn that they couldn't cling to them forever, whether homes or families. But if they put the Kingdom first they would eventually find that they also received all else besides. They could, so to speak, have them back again, but in a new way, with Jesus now at the center on the throne. It was better to be tended in his green pastures than any den, nest, or even mansion. Burying the dead was a different experience when there was the hope of the resurrection. Saying a farewell to the family was less dire and overwhelming when there was the promise of an eventual reunion at the resurrection. Jesus was a game changer for every potential excuse, but only if they decided to put him first in their lives. So too with us. Is there an invitation from Jesus we have been recently doing our best to ignore? What excuses do we use to do so? How might we turn those things over to him, until his is truly the Lord of our lives?
We sometimes overestimate our own commitment to follow Jesus. We sing all of these songs about how we will follow him with our whole minds and hearts. But then we discover that the accommodations and other aspects of our lives as disciples are not always as pleasing as is the case for those who remain in the world. We might otherwise choose to pursue wealth and power and thus dwell in palaces. Or at lest we might have a stable resting place like the den of a fox or the nest of a bird. But as disciples of Jesus we must realize that even the comforts of home are not absolute. Following Jesus must take precedence. We tend to tell Jesus we will follow him anywhere. But we actually seem to mean anywhere within a narrow range of distance from our driveways, during specific hours of our day. He isn't always calling us to take drastic action like moving or going on mission. But he is asking to be the criterion we use to decide where and when we will stay or go. This, rightly, makes our flesh nervous. However, following Jesus always proves out to be better in the end than insisting on our own path.
And to another he said, "Follow me."
But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father."
But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead.
But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God."
It is possible that this individual was using his obligation to his father as an excuse. He may have heard the response of Jesus to the first individual and had second thoughts about whether he really wanted to accept the invitation. This initial hesitation might have eventually become an outright refusal as he recognized all the good he could do for his family by remaining at home. Even if he were sincere, and meant to do his duty quickly, and then follow immediately, he didn't understand how the Gospel was meant to be a still more urgent priority for the followers of Jesus. Burial of the dead was a corporal work of mercy. But giving life to those who were spiritually dead was the work of the Kingdom. Respect for the body of the dead had meaning only if there was hope for the spirit. A world in which burial was truly the last and most necessary thing would be a sad world indeed. Hence the urgent importance of the call of Jesus was greater even than one's duty to bury the dead.
And another said, "I will follow you, Lord,
but first let me say farewell to my family at home."
How many times have we said, "I will follow you Lord, but first"? What are the other priorities we put first before following him? Do we realize how easy it is to multiply such reasons endlessly and never actually move? They may all individually be good and noble goals, but if they keep us from the Kingdom they have become harmful distractions and ultimately mere excuses. They can become snares just as surely as those few good aspects of life in Egypt were distractions for those journeying toward the promised land. Looking back to our life before Jesus can be as destructive as looking back to Sodom was for the wife of Lot. Instead, the example we want to follow is that of Paul.
But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (see Philippians 3:13-14).
What about the good aspects of the excuses these potential disciples made? If they decided to cling to them as absolutes they would learn that they couldn't cling to them forever, whether homes or families. But if they put the Kingdom first they would eventually find that they also received all else besides. They could, so to speak, have them back again, but in a new way, with Jesus now at the center on the throne. It was better to be tended in his green pastures than any den, nest, or even mansion. Burying the dead was a different experience when there was the hope of the resurrection. Saying a farewell to the family was less dire and overwhelming when there was the promise of an eventual reunion at the resurrection. Jesus was a game changer for every potential excuse, but only if they decided to put him first in their lives. So too with us. Is there an invitation from Jesus we have been recently doing our best to ignore? What excuses do we use to do so? How might we turn those things over to him, until his is truly the Lord of our lives?
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