Plough Sunday Sermon 2016

I’d like to end by looking at one of the times Jesus specifically refers to the plough

We read in Luke 9 that :

59 He said to another man, “Follow me.”

But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”

62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Jesus is urging those who are

willing to hear what he is teaching and

put it into effect in their lives

to find their path with Him and then to follow it as faithfully as someone endeavouring to plough a straight furrow.

Personally I find it hard to keep a straight furrow in my Christian life.

But then, as in real life, ploughing is very costly in time and preparation.

But if we sow and plough successfully in our spiritual lives we can expect the results that the apostle Paul waited for when he said

“whoever ploughs and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.” (1 Cor 9:10)

May I leave you with this thought – on Plough Sunday.

What sort of world are you hoping to leave behind from your ploughing in life?

Let us close with the famous prayer of Richard of Chichester

Thanks be to you, our Lord Jesus Christ,

for all the benefits which you have given us,

for all the pains and insults which you have borne for us.

Most merciful Redeemer, Friend and Brother,

may we know you more clearly, love you more dearly,

and follow you more nearly, day by day. Amen.

(My thanks to Sarah Brush for her excellent article that has given me ideas for this sermon. The article can be seen at http://easyasfallingoffablog.blogspot.co.uk/2009/01/plough-sunday.html)