“Kiss Your Ox Goodbye”
Text: I Kings 19:19-21
I. Introduction
Elijah has been whining to God. He has claimed to be the only true prophet left. But God responds by telling Elijah that not only is he not the only one left there are 7000 men who have not bowed their knee to Baal. Then God instructs Elijah to go back the way he had come and to find a young man by the name of Elisha and anoint him as his successor (youth pastors how many of us pass young people who God has called us to call without noticing them?). That is where we pick up the story. Elijah is walking by a farm when he sees Elisha and quietly walks by the young man and slaps him with his mantle. Elisha immediately stops what he is doing and runs to Elijah and tells him he will follow him after he tells his parents goodbye. Elijah almost seems to rebuke Elisha. He seems to resists him. So, Elisha quickly runs home and kills two of his oxen and destroys the plowing equipment to build a fire. He tells his family goodbye and follows Elijah for the next 7 or 8 years as his servant. From this story, I would like to tell you it is time to “Kiss Your Ox Goodbye!”
II. Prayer
III. Quick Observations
a. Aren’t you glad he wasn’t plowing with a donkey?
b. Elisha must have been somewhat well off because he was using 12 yoke of oxen. He must have had a good bit of land. Notice there was no argument over the slaying of 2 of the ox.
IV. Application for Us
Most of us can relate to Elisha. We are minding our own business, locked in surviving from one day to the next. We are simply fulfilling our own plans, agendas, and dreams. We are simply plowing from one day to the next, get up, go to school, go to practice, go to work, do homework, go to sleep, and then start all over. Then out of nowhere at a retreat, a service, a camp, or an encounter with a person we suddenly receive a call from God to follow Him and to give our life to Him. And like Elisha most of us run after that call. But where the similarities end is that most of us will only follow to the end of our field and then we turn around and go home. We are willing to follow to the edge of our comfort zone, but when it comes time to kill our ox and leave behind our loves, our lives, and our livelihood we balk. When we experience any resistance or discomfort we give up or quit. We don’t seem to realize that resistance is part of answering the call. For if a seed doesn’t fall into the ground and die it can not bear fruit.
Elisha went all the way. He had an encounter with God and made a decisive decision to kill everything that would hold him back. He left his wealth. His job. His inheritance. His family. His dreams. His plans. He left no doubt that he would follow all the way. He killed the animals and destroyed the tools that had been used to obtain his income. He left no room for return. He didn’t approach this walk with Elijah as a trial run. I will keep my farming equipment and ox just in case this doesn’t work out. I will keep something to fall back on in case this isn’t what I thought it was going to be.
Most of us experience a move of God and we are moved by our emotions to walk to the front with everyone else. We make a verbal commitment to follow at all cost. We promise to obey and to sacrifice. But the truth is that most of us only stick to this until we return home. When we get home instead of killing our ox we just go back to plowing. Instead of ridding ourselves of the habit, the relationship, the desire we return home with good intentions only to feed our ox rather than kill it.
There are numerous examples of people in the Bible who kissed their ox goodbye. Moses chose to go to the wilderness rather than to remain in the palace. It would have been more comfortable to stay in the plush confines of the palace field, but he left it behind when the call came. David received a call to become a king. He could have ignored it and remained a simple shepard but instead he chose a life of running and dodging a mad king. Jesus could have stayed in heaven and refused to come to earth and suffer and die, but he killed his ox. Most of us believe that we can leave services like this and follow these examples. But the truth is that most of us are more like Demas. In fact, the story of Demas is the perfect picture of this generation.
Demas receives the call from Paul. He chooses to follow Paul on a missions trip, but after only a short time returns home early. Paul reports that Demas forsook him because he loved this present world. Demas was willing to go to the end of his field, but he wasn’t willing to kiss his ox goodbye. He wasn’t willing to kill everything that would entice him to turn back.
Jesus had several young men approach him. He had walked by them and they felt the slap of the mantel and the desire to follow him, but like most of us they weren’t willing to kiss their ox goodbye. The rich young ruler wouldn’t give up his ox. He wouldn’t give away his wealth. In Luke 9:57-62, Jesus responds to them as he is responding to us today. It isn’t enough to walk to the end of the field. It isn’t enough to stay inside our comfort zone. This is an all or nothing proposition. We must decide, like Elisha, that we will destroy anything and everything that will cause us to look back or turn back. We can’t keep our ox alive. We must kill them and get rid of them so we won’t be tempted to return to them.
Until we kill our ox there is no chance of fulfilling His will or call. We cannot change our world and remain attached to our ox. No bull! We can not walk on water while staying in the safety of the boat. WHAT WE KILL AND DESTROY IN OUR LIFE BECOMES THE FUEL FOR THE FIRE! Plus what we get rid of will serve as a testimony that will feed others and make them stronger. Elisha decision had an impact on those who observed what he did. If you would kiss your ox goodbye it would cause others to take notice and witness to them. When you go home and turn down the full-ride scholarship to pursue His will, when you breakup with the dream girl or guy, when you give up opportunities to make money or a name of yourself to follow the call of God others will be strengthened and encouraged to follow suit.
IV. Close
What is your ox? Who is your ox? What is the thing that keeps holding you back every time you try to answer the call of God on your life? What keeps you from leaving the comfort of your field? What makes you look back? The call is coming again and it is time to Kiss Your Ox Goodbye! You can stay in your field for the rest of your life and accomplish no great exploits, no great feats, no history will be changed. Or you can kill, destroy, and do away with anything that would keep you from fulfilling your call!
I close with this:
Hernando Cortes landed at Vera Cruz in 1519 to begin his conquest of Mexico with small force of 500. Many of his men wanted to steal or trade for as much gold and return to Cuba as quickly as possible. The soldiers were divided between their desire for fame and wealth and their fear of defeat and death. "We’re only 500," they told Cortés. Cortes answered, "Then our hearts must be doubly courageous." "We are dying of fevers and Indian attacks," others complained. Cortes responded, "Then let us bury our dead at night so that our enemies will think that we are immortal."
"Let us go back to Cuba, let us sail back," others said in frank mutiny. "But there are no ships," Cortés answered, "I have sunk the ships, right here. There is no way but up, there is no retreat. We must go forward to Mexico and see if this great Montezuma is as great as he proclaims himself to be." Cortes purposely set fire to his fleet of 11 ships. He sunk his own ships. His men on the shore watched their only means of retreat sinking to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. With no means of retreat, there was only one direction to move, forward into the Mexican interior to meet whatever might come their way. So, the soldiers cheered and acclaimed Cortés as their leader, and all cried "Forward, to Mexico, to Mexico!"
All the ships must be burned. Every ox must be kissed goodbye. There must be no retreat and no returns! Remove every distraction. Every temptation must be destroyed. I am here to hit you with the mantle. Will you receive it and follow to the end of the field and then go home or will you cut all ties?
