"MOVING FORWARD WITH OUR LIVES"

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

Readings: 1 Kings 19:16b, 19-21; Galatians 5:1, 13-18; Luke 9:51-62

Sometimes Jesus says very strange things. He leaves us wondering what he means. Those who make it their life’s work studying the Scriptures often come up with more questions than they do answers. Today’s gospel passage is one of those difficult ones. What are we to do with it? Of what benefit can the average person find in it for everyday life? We certainly don’t want to miss out on its value. We don’t want to misread it and come up with an understanding that might not be good for us. Maybe we could just forget it and pass over it. But if we do that with everything we find difficult in life we’ll miss out on a lot. So, bear with me, and let’s think about some of what Luke tells us that Jesus said and see what good we might be able to find in it.

As they (that’s the disciples and Jesus) were making their way along, someone said to him, “I will be your follower wherever you go.” Jesus said to him, “The foxes have lairs, the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

That’s easy enough to understand. Jesus and anyone who wished to tag along with him didn’t have any special place to stay each night. They were always “on the road” and wherever nightfall found them, that’s where they slept. They were more uncertain of where they were going to bed down than many of the animals — Jesus mentioned foxes and birds. What’s that got to do with us?

You’re a follower of Christ. But you have a home, don’t you? Like the foxes and birds you have your home, your lair and nest to sleep in every night. At least I hope you do. (If you don’t, see me after Mass.) Priests and nuns are followers of Christ too. And even though they get moved around a lot, most of them are sure of a place to live and sleep. So what can we get out of this?
How about our need for faith and trust and confidence? If we want to join Christ and be counted among his followers, we are going to have to believe that to listen to Christ and to live according to his teachings will provide much more warmth and security for us than the best built house in the world. We must learn to value Christ above and beyond all the material lovelies this world has to offer. We are to put our trust in him first, not in the world. He is the one who will take care of us. If we lost our homes, our money and our friends, Christ will still be with us. Make your home in him; lay your head upon his lap.

Let’s go on with our reading. This next part is more difficult. To another man, Jesus said:“Come after me.” The man replied. “Let me bury my father first.” Jesus said to him. “Let the dead bury their dead;come away and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

Now that is puzzling. Jesus certainly can’t be telling us not to bury those who are dead, can he? What about those corporal works of mercy we were always taught to carry out? We all remember at least two of them: Visit the sick and bury the dead! Is Jesus doing away with burying the dead? Of course not.

He’s telling us to move forward with our lives. In spite of the death of loved ones we are to continue living actively and fully. We are not to allow sadness and grief to paralyze us. We are never to permit discouragement to take command of our lives because our hopes and dreams get shattered and broken, whether because of someone’s death or because we’ve failed at something. We are not to give up trying to improve this world and the lives of the people in it. Never become like the living dead who still walk around but do nothing, who only watch while others work. “Don’t lie down with the dead,” Jesus says, “but get up and live!”

A part of that living, of course, requires the burying of our dead. We are to honor and remember them; we should pray for them. But we must trust them to the care of those many other people who have died and gone to heaven. They are taking care of our loved ones now - they and God. I believe Jesus also meant his remark, “Let the dead bury their dead,” to console us. He wants us to trust our loved ones into the company of the saints. They will take care of them while we get back to the business of living our lives and doing our work until we join them. We are to look forward like Jesus tells this next person who wants to follow him.

PUT YOUR HAND TO THE PLOWAnother person said to Jesus: “I will be your follower, Lord,but first let me take leave of my people at home.” Jesus answered him, “Whoever puts his hand to the plow but keeps looking back is unfit for the reign of God.”

Is Jesus telling this enthusiastic person not to say goodbye to his family, to just disappear and leave them worrying? Only leaders of non—caring religious cults would tell their followers to do that. Jesus is saying that anyone who makes the decision to live according to his ways, to follow him through life, to really be Christian must mean it and not look back with longing for any old, sinful pleasures. Those things must be left in the past; we should not even allow ourselves to play around with sinful thoughts and fantasies. Like the farmer who wants to get the entire field plowed goes forward in spite of rocks and roots, aches and pains, heat and exhaustion, and a desire to be back sitting on his porch sipping a cool drink, we must stick with our choice of living according to the teachings of Christ until we become like him no matter what tries to discourage and stop us.

That’s a little of what we might get out of today’s gospel. I’m sure you can find other things meant especially for you. Jesus is saying that to follow him is the most important thing in life. Nothing should be allowed to interfere with that. Does he mean we should drop everything, leave everybody, go into seclusion and think about him only and always? No! We are to carry out whatever our positions in life require — as parent, student, executive, laborer, or whatever. We are to be responsible and do everything well. Do everything as you believe Christ wants you to. That’s what will really put you on the road of life with Jesus Christ.