“As they were walking along, someone (a teacher of the law) said to Jesus, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ But Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.’ To another person he said, ‘Come, follow me.’ The man agreed, but he said, ‘Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.’ But Jesus told him, ‘Let dead bury their own dead. Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.’ Another said, ‘Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.’ But Jesus told him, ‘Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.’”
What’s important? And what’s so important that it’s worth your life? In my long years in the ministry I sat with many people who were dying, staying with them and with their family until they were gone. I remember many of those conversations. The dying often expressed regrets. Not once did I hear someone wish that they had spent more time at work, or that they had made more money, or that they had gained more status, or that they had been able to buy more toys. Not once.
Often they wished that they had spent more time with their children, or been a kinder, tenderer spouse; or that they had given more time to their relationship with God. Those three seemed to be the consistent wishes. Relationships, after all, are the most important thing in life.
Jesus had set aside the drive to “success” for the aim of giving himself entirely to his ministry. Entirely. So much so that he had no permanent home, no reliable income, no assurance of his next meal. He certainly could have had those things if he chose to pursue them. But he chose not to. So we read his story and are struck by the contrast: the promised Messiah, who healed thousands, enjoyed the favor of vast crowds, and demonstrated his mastery over nature and even death…Yet remained itinerant and poor, dependant on the goodwill of his followers. He had given himself totally to his mission.
The apostle Paul later wrote this about him: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.”
He was “driven” in the greatest and highest sense of that word, and he invites us to share that determination to set aside the temporary pursuits of this world in order to gain the power, beauty, and glory of heaven. So, yes, let the dead…those who chose to live without God’s promise…bury their own dead. And once you have you have set hand to the plow…the course that leads from this life to the next…don’t look back. God’s Kingdom in your heart is full-time.
Do a reality check of your life. Among all the pursuits, obligations, and relationships of your life, what is God’s place? Does he orbit your desires along with all the rest? Or have you chosen to re-order your life so that all its components orbit God and his Kingdom in your heart? Another way of asking this question is this: When you lay in bed facing death, what will you wish………
Prayer: “Great Father of Life, be at the center of my life today. I lay all my desires, relationships, aims, and skills at your feet. I take your Kingdom to be at the center of my heart and life. Take all that I am and use me as you wish. At the very core of my being I wish only to be and to do what you wish. I trust you, and I know that you will lead me home so that I might dwell with you forever. In Jesus name, Amen.”