What Not Looking Back Looks Like

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

June 30, 2013

Luke 9:59-62

What Not Looking Back Looks Like

In the name of Jesus.

As you listened to the holy Gospel this morning, you might have been taken aback. Shocked, even. After telling someone that He had nothing,

He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:59-62)

Jesus seems to thoughtlessly open His mouth and succeed in offending pretty much everybody. Jesus seems to be against funerals. Jesus seems to be against good-byes. He also seems to be against animals and birds.

Why does Jesus say all these things? Why does He tell believers not to look back?

Because Jesus is against loving this world. Jesus warns us against clinging to things that will take us away from Him. St. Paul puts Jesus' warning like this.

Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth. (Colossians 3:2)

We are warned that even good earthly things, like saying good-bye to our loved ones and our stuffed homes, can be used by the Devil to drag us away from God.

Ever inventoried all your stuff for your renters' or homeowners insurance? Ever helped someone pack up their stuff? You've been to yard sales—that's the stuff they don't want. We have a lot of stuff.

How much stuff does a fox or bird have? A nest. A hole. Jesus had less than that. Yet we, His followers, expect to have more than Him. When this expectation of stuffed homes takes over in our lives, we stop clinging to Jesus.

Now the first man had volunteered to follow Jesus and Jesus' reply seemed like a no. But then Jesus asked another man to follow Him. Now this man asked to do a noble thing: bury his father. And Jesus said no.

Now Jesus is not against funerals; He attended several. But He makes it clear that to follow Him means to make Him your priority. This man's request came from a heart that wanted Jesus to be on a list of priorities. But Jesus can't be on a list; He must be the list. And this is true for our funerals.

I've been to many Christian funerals. This means that the funeral service is supposed to be about Christ. Instead they are the dead burying the dead. Relatives get up to speak and go on and on about how wonderful this dead person was and how the world will never be the same without them. They tell amusing or inspiring stories to prove that this person deserved to go to heaven.

I am wretched man. When I die, I want the pastor to explain not how I'm dead, but why. Not my colon. Not my heart. Not the butler. No, my sin did it. I'm dead because I'm a filthy wretched vile sinner. My sin killed me.

But I will live on after my death because Jesus killed me a long time ago. He didn't leave me dead, but brought me back to life. If you've been baptized, this is true for you as well.

When we examine the places where we live and the place where we confront death, ask yourself where Jesus is. Let's make Him easy to find. Let your home be speak Jesus, not just your stuff, but the people who live there. Speak your daily good-byes in the hope of Jesus, which means that we see our loved ones as the precious souls that they are. They're precious because Jesus died to make them so. And for our good-byes at funerals the same hope is still there, perhaps easier to see than the hurried Byes of the morning, but still the same. Still the same Jesus.

And that's what looking ahead to Jesus is all about: seeing ourselves as we truly are and seeing Jesus who makes us good.

In the name of the Father and of the † Son

and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.