Stumbling Blocks
Luke 9:57-62
According to the UPI news, the Metropolitan Insurance Company received some unusual explanations for accidents from its automobile policyholders. The following are just few:
“An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car, and vanished.”
“The other car collided with mine without warning me of its intention.”
“I had been driving my car for 40 years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had the accident.”
“As I reached an intersection, a hedge sprang up, obscuring my vision.”
“The pedestrian had no idea which direction to go, so I ran over him.”
“The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.”
“I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law, and headed over the embankment.”
Excuses. They can often become stumbling blocks in our lives but where they are even more dangerous is when they become stumbling blocks in our spiritual journey.
Last week, we looked at the impact of Jesus’ realization that His time here on earth and his ministry was coming to an end and He has just a few months to live. It changes everything for Him. His impending crucifixion and death cast a long shadow over every word, every act and every decision thereafter. It changed his priorities as he shifted from his public ministry with the crowds to now focusing on the disciples and preparing them for His eventual death. It also changed his teaching as Jesus moved from speaking of the Kingdom of God to speaking about his crucifixion, death and resurrection and what it means to follow him. Jesus must have realized he had much work to do with the disciples. Prior to our Scripture, the disciples reveal an inability to heal a demonic boy (9:37-42), a lack of comprehension of Jesus’ crucifixion and death (9:43-45), engage in petty arguments about who was the greatest among them (9:46-48), and then showed their prejudice and hatred of the Samaritans when they asked Jesus to call down God’s judgment and fire from heaven on them. (9:49-56) Clearly, disciples’ lack spiritual maturity and understanding of the true nature of Jesus ministry and messiahship.
Jesus’ chosen path to Jerusalem was through Samaria, a much shorter and easier 3 day journey than the alternative route which took 7 days. The Jews hated the Samaritans and so pilgrims travelling through Samaria to Jerusalem would spend the night in the last city in Jewish territory and the next day walk across Samaria to the first Jewish city of Judea. But Jesus decides to stop and minister to the Samaritans along the way. He sends an advance team to a town to prepare for his arrival but the townspeople reject the disciples. So the disciples and Jesus move onto the next town. On their way, Jesus has three encounters that become teaching opportunities on stumbling blocks to following Him and embracing the cross.
The first stumbling block is a comfortable lifestyle. Jesus is approached by a man who has obviously been impacted by Jesus’s teaching and ministry, and who wants to become a disciple. So he expresses a willingness and desire to follow Jesus “wherever you go.” Surely Jesus and the disciples should be excited about another follower willing to join them. But Jesus’ reply is, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.” What’s interesting is that Jesus would say this when he had just finished staying at Peter’s mother’s house in his home base of Capernaum. Yet now he says he has no place to lay his head. Part of this reveals Jesus intention not to travel directly to Jerusalem but instead will be taking more time to do so because he is going to minister along the way.
Second, Jesus’ words also reflect the nature of travel in Jesus’ day. Travelling was always filled with risks, dangers and hardships that included attacks by wild beasts like lions and bears. But far more likely were attacks by bandits along isolated stretches of road. The most dangerous time was at night. So where one stayed after nightfall was of critical importance. There were typically three limited options for housing. The first was a room in a home, the Greek word kataluma. A 15’ x 15’ foot home had a section walled off part just large enough for one or two people to lay down and sleep. Hospitality to strangers and travelers was mandated by God and was the responsibility of all Jews. Jesus and the disciples were too large a group for this option. The second option was a public building where a small room was rented to individuals or large caravans but that cost money, money Jesus and the disciples didn't have. It was also complicated by the fact that these places were seedy and didn’t have the best reputation. The third option would have been a stretch of ground along the side of the road that had a 4 foot tall, stone wall surrounding it for protection. These were suitable for large caravans of people and thus was the most likely option for Jesus and the disciples.
I want you to notice Jesus doesn’t reject this man or turn him away, but instead warns him of the cost and sacrifice involved in following him. It does not lead to a comfortable lifestyle or fluffy pillows, soft beds, and continental breakfasts. Following Jesus is a hard but rewarding journey. It’s joining a mission with huge stakes, massive challenges and sacrifices, but an end goal so worthwhile that whatever the cost, it is worth it. This is the meaning of Jesus’ teaching of the parable of the pearl in Matthew 13. Following Jesus is not just sitting back and soaking things up from the pew but rather to be involved in a cause so grand, a mission so critical, where not only do earthly lives hang in the balance, but all of eternity, that you’re willing to give up the most precious thing in the world to be part of it. It’ll be the hardest, most challenging and costly thing you ever do but also the most rewarding. Jesus looks at this man and says, “Are you sure?? It going to be hard…” so count the cost.
The second stumbling block is earthly priorities which lead to procrastination. “He said to another man, follow me, but he replied, ‘Lord, first let me go bury my father.’ Jesus replied, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead but you go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.’” Jesus’ response can sound cold and insensitive until you understand Jewish burial rights and what this man was really asking. In Jewish funerals, an initial burial took place shortly after a person’s death due to the heat and climate. This was followed by an intense 7-day period of mourning followed by another less intense 30-day period. But the mourning was not complete until one year later when the oldest son would return to gather the remaining bones and place them in a stone box called an ossuary. Most scholars believe that this man was asking Jesus for up to a year’s delay before following! Realizing that he has less than six months to live, you can understand Jesus’ response because this man would have missed his opportunity to follow Jesus. So Jesus says, “Others can take care of that. The demands of the Kingdom are more urgent - MY call cannot wait!”
Jesus is challenging our tendency to postpone or put off until tomorrow what God is calling us to do today. Let’s face it: we’re procrastinators, especially when it comes to our relationship with Christ. I’ll join a Bible study, I’ll start praying daily, I’ll fast, I’ll attend worship more frequently next week, next month or next year. Excuses. “God, I’ll follow you and serve you more when…the babies get into school, when the kids get into college, when I get settled in my career, when I get more free time, when I retire and the list goes on and on. And when we do, we miss out on the opportunity that Jesus has set before us.
Third is our attachments in life. Another person agrees to follow, but offers up a different stumbling block when he says, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” This man makes a reasonable request. Who could blame him if he wants to say goodbye to his loved ones? Once again, Jesus’ response is difficult to hear: “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” Jesus is saying that our duty to the Kingdom of God is more important than family and other relationships and that in fact these can sometimes interfere with following Him and doing the work of the kingdom. On a day when Jesus had healed a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute and taught a large crowd, “someone told him, ‘Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.’” We don’t know what they wanted but we do know that according to Jewish custom, it was the responsibility of the son to respond immediately to the request or needs of his mother (Honor thy father and thy mother). They were no doubt expecting Jesus to drop everything and come to them. But instead, Jesus replied, “’Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ Pointing to his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.’” Matt. 12:46-50
We can’t hear the words of this man without remembering the disciples response to Jesus’ call to follow Him: “’Come, follow me….and I will send you out to fish for people.’ At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John… Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” We see two differences between this man and the disciples. First, he asks for more time but the disciples drop their nets and follow Jesus immediately! Second, Jesus approached the disciples and called them to follow him but this man is the one who approached Jesus and asked to follow him. If he was willing to follow Jesus, you would think that he would have thought through the commitment before he spoke to Jesus. There’s a lesson of faith for us: the willingness to sacrifice must precede the commitment or opportunity. Too often we want to choose the commitment or opportunity based on what it is asking of us. You have to weigh the cost of following Jesus before you embrace the opportunity before you and not the other way around. So are you willing to pay the price of the cross, even if it means sacrificing everything?
Jesus’ responds, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Ralph Wilson writes, “My father-in-law plowed Illinois farmland…(and) whether your plow is pulled by a mule or work horses or a diesel tractor there is one no-no: You never try to plow while looking over your shoulder. If you do, your rows are crooked and your field is difficult to work. If you try to plow while looking back, you're not fit to be in the field. You'd be fired in a hurry by the farmer. Rather, plowmen fix their eyes on a point at the far end of the field and move steadily toward it, not veering to the right side or to the left.” And that fixed point is Jesus. Remember, Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem but he’s taking his time and stopping to minister along the way. So he’s leading the group. If they want to know where the unpredictable Jesus is going, then they need to focus on him and follow him. We too need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Hebrews 12:2 says, “Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end.” Rick Warren writes, “You need to keep your eyes on your master or you’ll get distracted. Get your mind off your circumstances and your problems and focus on God’s goodness to you in your past, his closeness to you in your present and his power to help you in your future. Do what Jonah did as he sat in the belly of the great fish: ‘When I had lost all hope, I turned my thoughts once more to the Lord.’” (Jonah 2:7 LB) Beware the attachments in your life which can become stumbling blocks to following Jesus.
Robert Jamieson tells the story of converts from Hinduism, whose parents, when [discovering] their children’s intention to be baptized, travel to (them) the mission-house, and plead, with tears and (then) threats, that they will not take a step so fatal. Failing by this means to shake their resolution, they at length submit to their hard fate; only requesting that before they undergo the rite [of baptism] which is to sever them forever from home, they will pay them one parting visit - to "bid them farewell which are at home at their house." It seems reasonable…" Well, I will go; but my heart is with you, my spiritual fathers, and I will soon return to you." He goes - but never returns. And then he writes, “How many promising converts have thus been lost to Christianity…!” all because they turned and looked back. What are the things or who are the people who are stumbling blocks that keep you from truly following Jesus? What or who do you need to let go of? Are you willing to pay the price to follow Jesus? Amen
