"Watching and Listening for God's Call" V

Luke 9:46-62

Jesus never soft-pedalled what it would cost people to follow him. In fact, when I hear the way churches appeal to people today to follow Christ, I wonder if they are talking about the same Jesus. In this call story, we see three costs in following Jesus that few talk about. The first is the call to set aside your own ego and competitive spirit. The disciples are arguing over who is the greatest. Will it be those who were first to follow Jesus (seniority)? If so, that would be Peter, Andrew, James and John. The gospels differ about who was first among those four. Will it be those who are the designated leaders (Peter, Judas), and we know what happened to them (personality and strength)? Will it be the smartest or the one that gathered the most followers Phillip or Andrew)? Will we ever get over ourselves and our desire to compare and compete with each other for status? The gospels even put James and John's mother in the conversation! Jesus settles the issue by placing a vulnerable and lowly child - the least in the society of that day - and says that the greatest of them must be willing to be the least. Jesus would make the point even more vividly in John 13 with the washing of the disciples' feet. We all yearn for greatness and signficance. We want to be like Michael Jordan and be able to say "I am the greatest at what I do, no thanks to all those who didn't see it." Jesus says that the way to satisfy that yearning is to become the least. Is he right or is it just an empty ideal? Your honest answer to that question will make a difference in whether you see or hear God's call...or not.

The second kind of competition is one we know all to well in American Christianity. How do we handle it when others do what we do and get credit for it? Is the success of others a witness against us? John wants to stop them, because they are not the right ones to do it. In our day, we would fight about who is doing it right. Either way, we need to hear Jesus' words: "...for whoever is not against you is for you." In the words of a friend of mine, it's time to quit competing and start completing. Not everyone will respond to the ways of the people of St. Luke's Lubbock, but some will never respond to the gospel at all, unless we do share it the way we do. The disciples had to learn that the gospel of Jesus Christ was bigger than they were; 21st century USAmerican disciplies all the more so.

The second cost in following Jesus was being controversial. The ministry of Jesus was not near as tame and sweet as the church has made it over the years. The Jesus we present to the world most of the time would never have been crucified. The Jesus of the gospels challenged the religious and political world around him and created a movement to perpetuate it. He also crossed economic, class and racial barriers. The opposition in this passage is from the Samaritans who see he is headed to Jerusalem. In the very next chapter, Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaraitan to people who didn't believe there was such a thing as a "good" Samaritan. The equal opportunity offender is at it again. Jesus does not call us to be merely nice and kind people. We are called to be loving and bold revolutionaries who speak and live a confrontation with the way the world is. If we really do that, we will experience rejection, misunderstanding and personal pain. Which Jesus will you follow, the revolutionary or the Jesus who holds lambs a lot?

The third cost is the sacrifice of our own personal agendas and plans. The man says, "Jesus, I will follow you anywhere, but first...." On the face of it, the man's request seems more than reasonable. But the biblical language hear betrays that this man is the oldest son in his family and has responsibility for his father and his estate. The father is not likely to be dead yet and may not be even near to that. The man has but Jesus on hold and Jesus will have none of it. We say, "I will do more for Christ when I get more time...when work eases up...when I retire." I have observed that most of the time, those who say that never come through. To see and hear God's call and follow Christ is to make Christ and his mission the first priority.

The image of plowing here is one we understand in West Texas. Looking back means crooked lines and sloppy production. So how does your spiritual/moral/action ministry field look? What are the fruits of your planting and labor? Perhaps all of us need to examine our focus and see if the gospel of Christ and demonstrating and promoting God's kingdom is the first priority of our lives. The promise of Christ is that if we make that priority number one then everything else falls into place in some rather amazing ways. Do we dare trust that? Will you and I pay the price Christ asks in following His call? Have a great day in God's field.