I have good news and I have bad news. If you’re like most people you’d rather hear the bad news first. That way you aren’t worrying while you’re hearing the good news. So let’s start with the bad.
The bad news is that Jesus doesn’t care one bit about social obligations and conventions. In the second part of our gospel reading we meet three would-be followers of Jesus. Let’s keep in mind the context, which is that Jesus is on his journey to Jerusalem. Until now all his public ministry has been in and around Galilee. He traveled from place to place. He appears to have made Capernaum his home base. He would travel out from there and then return. You might encounter Jesus this week and again next week.
But now if you want to follow Jesus you have to truly be ready to be on the road. This is his big journey, his final journey, the journey to Jerusalem. If you want to be a follower it’s got to be now. If you put it off he will be long gone.
First we meet a prospective disciple. Our NRSV translations are to be commended for not making an assumption. Most translations automatically assume the person is a man. Commentator Joel Green points out that there is nothing in the text to require this. Given the way Luke raises the role of women it is entirely possible this was a female. Anyway, this prospective follower says, “I will follow you wherever you go.” That sounds sincere enough. Jesus replies, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
That’s a very interesting reply. Jesus could have said, “Everyone else has a home but I don’t.” But he goes for something deeper. He says that even many in the animal kingdom have greater permanence, comfort, and safety than he does. He, the Son of Man, God-with-us, has no place on this earth that he will call home – at least not now that he’s heading to Jerusalem.
He warns this would be disciple that following him is not a life of ease and comfort. It is to not only be on the move, but it is to not even be staying in cheap flee-bag motels. Jesus did not go to Google maps and plan out his journeys with stops at points of interest and nice lodgings along the way.
Many people mistakenly assume this person was a man, but not necessarily. Similarly most people assume this would-be disciple turned away and didn’t follow. But the text does not say that. It just gives Jesus’ response. We do not know if the person followed or not.
There is an important lesson to learn from this two-sentence exchange. It is one that makes Christianity a pretty tough pill to swallow as a faith.
Many people believe that God will protect and reward those who are faithful followers. Indeed you find some of that in the Old Testament. And the New Testament does have many places where people’s lives are improved because of their faith. You know well that Jesus said many times when he was healing people, “Your faith has made you well.”
Yet let’s not overlook texts like these. And the many texts which show that following Christ is not a path to an easy life. Remember that according to church tradition only one of the disciples lives to an old age and dies a natural death. St. Paul frequently wrote about his hardships for following Christ.
I say none of this to be depressing. In fact, remember that I promised beforehand that there is both good news and bad news. The good news is yet to come. The point is, one does not decide to follow Jesus because doing so will give one a demonstrably better life.
The next person Jesus actually invites. 9:59 says, “To another [Jesus] said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” But he said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
That sounds very harsh of Jesus. At first we may believe this person’s father has just died and that Jesus is being demanding in the midst of this person’s grief. But that is not necessarily so. A couple things are possible. The person may be following traditional Jewish mourning practices. If so, then those social obligations would keep him at home. Or possibly the person is waiting for the final burial of his father. Remember in those days that when you died you were put into a tomb. But you were only put there temporarily. When you were reduced to your skeleton your bones would be removed and buried elsewhere. Then the tomb would be reused. Possibly this person is in the in-between time for his father.
Whatever the case, Jesus’ words show that social expectations do not overrule one’s calling by God. Jesus is certainly not saying that people should disregard their family’s needs, but their family’s needs do not dictate their calling from God.
The third person says to Jesus, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus replies, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
This would indeed seem to be a cruel demand of Jesus if we did not have his reply. After all, if a person just ups and leaves his family without saying where he’s going they’re sure to worry. But that is not the kind of farewell this person is intending. He seems to be intending that he will go back to his family and talk it over. He seems unsure of whether he wants to follow Jesus or not. That may seem simple for us in our day. But in those days being a follower of Jesus often meant a major life shift. Sometimes it even meant breaking with one’s family. If you became a half-hearted follower of Jesus who was always reconsidering whether it was worth it you weren’t much of a follower at all.
So, if following Jesus isn’t going to make your life easier and you can’t be guaranteed tangible benefits, then where can there possibly be good news in this at all?
The good news is not that if you suffer now God will reward you in eternal life. Unfortunately many people live horrible lives with that hope and assumption. The truly good news is that following Jesus can and will bring you immense peace and wholeness to your life here and now. It just may not be in the terms the world expects. But then again, any success in the world’s eyes is transitory at best.
Luke gives us this same answer, but I think John’s gospel gives it more concisely. In John 14:27 Jesus is speaking to his disciples at the Last Supper when he says to them, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.”
Many people define peace as a lack of conflict. That’s technically accurate. But it is not the peace that Jesus means. It is not the peace that Jesus gives. Elisabeth Johnson, a professor at the Lutheran Institute of Theology at Meiganga, Cameroon, has this profound thought:
“Peace signifies more than the absence of conflict; it is a profound and holistic sense of well-being. It is the kind of peace which the world cannot give, but can only come from God.” (Working Preacher.org, May 2016).
You see, it would actually be bad news if following Jesus made life easy, comfortable, and convenient. While that may be what we want on the surface, it like all other things wouldn’t really bring us peace. It would just be an easy life. Peace like Jesus gives is this profound and holistic sense of well-being. When Jesus brings you peace he gives you an enduring completeness. Does that mean every day will be easy? Will you have no questions? Will you have no doubts? Will you feel that way each and every moment?
The answer is “No” to all of those questions. But it does mean overall that you are anchored in God’s reality.
I cannot give you an illustration or a story or a teaching that will give you this peace. Good news of that sort comes only from God. But I can encourage you to make opportunities for it. Life is so frantic. It is so easy to ask God for help in the franticness. But quite often the peace will come by stepping away from the franticness. That is what Jesus tells those who would follow him.
Take time to pray. Meditate. Read scripture. Go for walks on the many trails around here that go along the canal or to waterfalls or in the woods.
Take time to feel the body that God has given you. Take time to pay attention to your breathing. Let the miracle of you be a miracle to you.
That is truly good news. That you are a miracle of God’s creativity. Let that bring you peace and joy.
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