Putting God First

Luke 9:57-61

A young man wrote a letter describing his love for her to his girlfriend. While I don’t remember the exact details, essentially he described how he’d swim the mightiest river or climb the highest mountain and sail the biggest ocean for her. He concluded with a post script, “P.S. I’ll be there to see you Sunday if it doesn’t rain.”

Talk is cheap and as the saying goes, “When all is said and done, more is said than done.” Over the years, I have heard a great many preachers use impassioned pleas to get people to commit to a mission field or the pastorate. Thousands of young people have surrendered to such things, but only a very few have even started to the goal. This is troubling to me because

I am troubled by the number who have made such a commitment then make no effort to fulfill it. Ecclesiastes 5:4 warns, “When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.” In the eagerness to show great results, how often have we caused people to sin by getting them to commit to something God never asked and they didn’t want to do? Most are not like Jephthah in Judges 11, who refused to break his vow regardless what it cost him.

Jesus made no such impassioned pleas, yet people came and volunteered to serve him. The first one, described here is like a great many today, wanting the prestige of serving the Lord with no concept of sacrifice.

“And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” (Luke 9:57-58)

A family came to work with my parents at Navajo. We were building our house at the time, and moved in before work was completed. Even at that point, it was the nicest house we’d ever had. The lady told Mom that she wouldn’t stay on the mission field if the missions office couldn’t provide something better than that. Later they took over another man’s work, but she refused to go until the house he had lived in was remodeled to satisfy her.

Jesus warned the young man that if he followed the Lord, he might not even have a place to stay. How many missionaries or pastors have refused to go until they were guaranteed some specific level of support, using that amount as an indicator that God had called them. Such an attitude is an indicator that God has not called them.

Jesus called a second young man, but he felt that it was more important to take care of other business first. I’ve watched a number that God called, who decided that since they were only a few years from retirement at their job, they’d wait until they retired to go. This young man only wanted to wait until after a funeral to go, but Jesus told him to let others take care of that business and go do as he was asked.

“And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:59-60)

In the parable of the sower, Jesus spoke of those who fell among thorns as being the people who allowed the cares and business of the world prevent them from producing what God wanted. It is amazing how easy it is to push God’s work back so we can accomplish our own goals. It is clear where our priorities lie. We do what is most important to us first.

Family is another area that often interferes with serving the lord. People tend to go to one extreme or the other. Some have taken the attitude of several college professors, “you came here to serve the Lord, and your family will just have to live with it.” Others believe there is nothing more important than the family, and will not do anything unless their family is on board. This third man seems to have been of the last type.

“And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:61-62)

I have only used a horse drawn plow a couple of times, but that is enough to understand what Jesus meant. The horse supplies the power, but the plowman controls the plow. If it leans to one side it moves in that direction. If the handles tip back the plow comes to the surface, and if they tip forward it goes deeper. Since it happens almost instantly, the plowman must devote all his attention to the job. The time required to look is enough to pull the plow completely out of the ground, or it till the horse can’t pull it, or veer away from where one intends to be.

Looking back and depending on the family’s approval will prevent one from doing the job he has been given. For that matter, spending time dwelling on past successes or failures will do the same thing. In Philippians 3:13-14, Paul describes his practice. “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” We need to get focused on the job God has given us, rather than all the things around us.

In his warnings and commands, Jesus is establishing the standard that is defined in Luke 14:26-27. “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” As long as anything is more important than Christ, we are not his disciples.

Family, home, and aspirations must be sacrificed if we are to please God. Unfortunately some have sacrificed these things to build a church rather than to please God. Families have been sacrificed on the altar of personal aspirations rather than given to the Lord, and many preacher‘s kids are very resentful toward God. This is not what Christ is teaching. The family is given by God and is a part of the ministry, but it must never be allowed to take God’s place. Neither must our own aspirations or goals. Luke 14;33 warns, “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”