“I’ve Gone Too Far to Look Back”
12/29/24 a.m. Luke 9:51-62
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. I hope you had good food, good family and good fellowship.
Well, we’ve made it to the last Sunday of 2024. It’s been quite a year hasn’t it? A lot of UPS and a few DOWNS. Some GAINS and some LOSSES. TRIUMPHS and TRIALS!!!
Listen, I’m not what you’d consider old but I’m not what you’d consider young either. I’m pretty much PAST my mid life but I am still planning on having a MID-LIFE CRISIS. I’m hoping it will be a lot of FUN.
ILLUS: I wanted to tell you about a fellow who was going through a MID-LIFE CRISIS. He went to the barber shop and got his hair cut in the style of the young guys. He bought new IN STYLE clothes and shoes. He sold his Lincoln and bought a Corvette convertible. He learned the new LINGO and how to talk like the younger folks. And then he put his plan into action. He went to a restaurant where he knew a pretty young waitress worked. She came to take his order and asked what he would like and he said, “I’ll take you. Where have you been all of my life.” She looked at him and said, “Listen pops, I wasn’t even born for the first 40 years of your life.”
I’m just kidding folks. I’m not gonna have a mid-life crisis. I’m too happy with what God has blessed me with to try to change anything.
And listen, I’m to the point where I have more behind me than in front of me. And a lot of you all are in the same boat.
But this time of year we often do LOOK BACK. Look back over the YEAR, the DECADE or SEVERAL DECADES. And by looking back we RELIVE the past both GOOD and BAD. I CHERISH some of the memories I have and I CRINGE over others.
This morning I want to read out of the Book of Luke Chapter 9 and we’ll read Verses 51-62.
“And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
52 And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.
53 And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.
54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.
57 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.
58 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.
59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.
61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.
62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
When I look back over time I relive the past. And there’s really nothing wrong with that. Memories are blessings from God. But in this passage Jesus says something that gets our attention. He says, “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
What does Jesus mean by that? What was He talking about? We’ll get into what Jesus was saying to us here but before we do, let’s go to the Lord in prayer.
Brother ______, would you lead us?
In this passage Jesus gave us three, little, short, two Verse examples, to EMPHASIZE what He wanted us to get. THREE TIMES someone SAID they were ready to follow Him. And THREE TIMES Jesus answered them. And we’re going to look at His answers but before we do I want to point out a couple of things.
A. So let’s look at Verse 51,
“And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem”
This kind of goes along with what I preached on last Sunday. When the FULNESS of TIME had come.
Listen, when the TIME WAS RIGHT, Jesus STEADFASTLY set His face to go to Jerusalem. In other words, He pointed Himself toward Jerusalem, He kept His eyes on Jerusalem and He started walking toward Jerusalem. He DID NOT LOOK BACK. He was DETERMINED to do what His Father had sent Him to do and NOTHING was going to stop Him.
Isaiah 50, is a prophecy of the coming Messiah and in Verses 6 and 7 he tells us this about Jesus,
“I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
7 For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.”
Jesus showed such DETERMINATION and such RESOLVE. His face was set toward Jerusalem like a flint. Now flint is HARD. In fact that’s what a Flintlock rifle uses to throw sparks to ignite the powder. GO INTO IT ....
And that TIES IN to what YOU and I need today. Jesus SHOWED US the RESOLVE and the DETERMINATION that we need to follow Him.
Listen we CANNOT LOOK BACK and YEARN for, LONG for, WANT all of the things that Jesus has SAVED US FROM. We need to keep our eyes focused on the goal. The prize.
B. And that ties in to the second thing I want you to see. Look at Verses 52 and 53,
“And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.
53 And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.”
As Jesus set His face toward Jerusalem, there were TRIALS and TROUBLES along the way. Jesus headed in a DIRECT ROOT for Jerusalem and that took Him and His disciples right through the Land of Samaria. He could have went around but He didn’t. And so as He journeyed on, He sent His disciples ahead to find a place to stay overnight. But when they came to the nearest village, they weren’t welcome. It all went back to the feud between the Jewish people and the Samaritans. Hundreds of years earlier some of the Jewish people had married Gentiles. The Samaritans were their descendants. And so the Jewish people hated the Samaritans and the Samaritans hated the Jews. And so the Samaritans had established their own place of worship at Mt. Gerizim. But Jesus wasn’t going to Mt. Gerizim to worship, He was going to Jerusalem. And so He was NOT WELCOME in this Samaritan village. The disciples were ready to call down fire from Heaven but Jesus said NO. Verse 56 tells us that they just went on to another village.
Listen, you may have your face set on the goal. I HOPE YOU DO. You’re determined to make it to Heaven. You’re not gonna let anything stop you.
But I want you to get this, there is still gonna be trials. There’s still gonna be ROADBLOCKS in your way. Those that will OPPOSE you. Those that will even try to STOP you. Try to get you to look BACK. It may be FRIENDS. It may be FAMILY. It may be some STRANGER. But just keep on going. Jesus went on to the next village and you can too.
Ok, I know it took me a while to get down to my points but let’s take just a few minutes and look at the THREE EXAMPLES of the people who came along and wanted to follow Jesus.
I. And so, first of all, in Verse 57, we see a fellow ready to follow Jesus and this is what he said,
“Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.”
It sounds like he is determined. It sounds like he might really mean it. “Wherever you go Jesus I WILL BE THERE!!!”
Now when you think about this there was probably a lot of people who came along and wanted to follow Jesus. They saw His miracles. They heard His teaching. They probably believed He really was the Messiah but were they WILLING to follow Jesus to the CROSS? Jesus knew where all of this ended. He had set His face toward Jerusalem and He was going to FULFILL the MISSION God had sent Him to do. But the others didn’t know what LIE AHEAD.
And so Jesus tells it to him straight. He didn’t pull any punches. He told him in Verse 58 that there was NO HOME to go to. There was NO BED to sleep on. Now the foxes had HOLES and the birds had a NEST but Jesus, AND HIS DISCIPLES, had NOTHING. It was NOT going to be an EASY LIFE.
Listen, we have to SET OUR FACE toward Heaven and KEEP ON SERVING HIM.
I TOLD YOU MY STORY last Sunday about the night that JESUS came into my life and BECAME REAL to me. He was NO LONGER just my mama and daddy’s SAVIOR, He was now MY SAVIOR. My WALK was NO LONGER just something I did because I was supposed to. NO, IT BECAME REAL. And I SEY MY FACE toward Heaven.
And through the years there have been times of temptation. Times when I was tempted to LOOK BACK. When I left my job to become a pastor some people thought I was STUPID. People made FUN of me. They LAUGHED at me. And you know what, God was blessing so I didn’t look back. I kept my eyes looking straight ahead.
But discouragement comes, hard times come, trials come and I’ve LOOKED BACK. I’m doing a little confessing here.
No, I’ve never turned my back on God. I’ve never denied the FAITH. I was still trusting in Him for my salvation, but I looked back. And as I read this passage God spoke to my heart.
Listen, God never promised us an easy life. He never promised that we would be wealthy with worldly goods. He didn’t promise us that we wouldn’t deal with stress and anxiety. He never promised us that we wouldn’t get discouraged. And actually He told us we would have Discouragement, Stress and Cares. But when we do we give it all to Him. 1 Peter 5:6 and 7,
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
I don’t know all of the things you face. I don’t know what cares you have. But I do know that you can give them to the Lord. That doesn’t mean He’ll take them away. But it does mean He will help you get through those trials. How do I know? Because I’ve been there myself and I know He is faithful.
II. Secondly, we see there in Verse 59, Jesus calls another fellow there in Verse 59. He just simply says “Follow Me.” That’s not too hard to understand is it? “Follow Me.”
But then we see there’s a problem. This fellow turns to Jesus and He says,
“Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.”
I read several Bible Scholars on these Verses and they all agree that this man wasn’t asking Jesus permission to go and dig a grave for his father. They all agreed that this man’s father was probably getting old and this fellow was taking care of him.
He probably had plans to follow Jesus AFTER his father had died and who knows how long that would be. “Sure Jesus, I would be honored to be one of your disciples and I’ll do that just as soon as my daddy dies.”
And so we see this man had a conflict NOT between Right and Wrong but between two Rights. It was the RIGHT THING to do to take care of his father. And it was the right thing to do to follow Jesus. And so Jesus answers the man in Verse 60.
“Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.”
In other words, let those who are not able to be a follower take care of your dad but YOU need to go out and PREACH the GOSPEL. This might seem kind of harsh but I think Jesus is just telling this man to get his priorities straight. Yes, it was important to take care of daddy but it was even more important to ANSWER the CALL of JESUS. You see, Jesus knew the situation. He knew all about this man and his father. He knew there was others who could take care of his daddy. You see Jesus was on a mission. He had his eyes set on Jerusalem. On fulfilling God’s plan. And He wasn’t going to let anyone stop Him. And He expected the same from His disciples.
Can I say this? Things haven’t changed. God still expects the same thing from you and I today. He still expects TOTAL Commitment. And very few “Christians” today give it to Him.
ILLUS: This made me think of the Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19. He SAID he had kept all of the commandments. He was ready to be a FOLLOWER of Jesus until Jesus said,
“Sell everything you have, give it to the poor, take up your cross and follow me.”
I dare say that most “Christians” today would have done the same thing this fellow did. He turned around and walked away because he wasn’t willing to give it his all. Listen, we have to be willing to set our eyes on the goal and be willing to give it ALL to follow Jesus. Our JOBS are important. Our FAMILIES are important. Our LOVED ONES are important. But NOTHING is more important than following Jesus.
ILLUS: When I was a little boy going to church here we had a pastor by the name of Jimmy Haas. He was a great man of God. Him, his wife Sister Retha, Brother Cliff and Sister Emma Leigh Goines started this church in the 60’s. Their pictures are out there on the wall. But Brother Jimmy and Sister Retha had a daughter named Norma Jean. She was married to a fellow by the name of Doc. And God called Doc and Norma Jean to the Mission Field. They went to Spain for many years and I still remember the JOY of Brother Jimmy when they would come home on furlow every five years. Oh how he loved them grandkids he hardly ever got to see.
But you see, Doc and Norma Jean had to follow Jesus. They had to answer the CALL. And Brother Jimmy knew that. And he was so thankful that his children answered the call.
III. And lastly, Verse 61 tell us about the third fellow. He wanted to go home just for a minute. Look at what he says,
“Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.”
Once again, this doesn’t seem to UNREASONABLE RIGHT? If he just disappeared his family is gonna wonder what happened to him. But digging a little deeper into it we see why Jesus answered him the way he did. Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher of the 1800’s said this,
“O young man, when you are thinking of leaving the world, be afraid of these farewells! They have been the ruin of hundreds of hopeful people. They have been almost persuaded; but they have gone to their old companions just to give them the last kiss, and the last shake of the hand, and we have not seen anything more of them.”
Do you see what Spurgeon is saying here? There’s a danger in delay. There’s a danger in putting off following Jesus. There’s a danger in waiting to make Heaven your home. Look what Jesus told him in Verse 62.
“No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
I’m sure this fellow didn’t think it was a BIG DEAL to wait a short while to follow Jesus. BUT JESUS DID!!!
Following Jesus is something that should NEVER BE PUT OFF. To follow Jesus or NOT follow Jesus is the most important decision a person will ever make.
In Acts 17 the Apostle Paul was preaching in Athens Greece and when he gets done it tells us that some mocked him, some believed and others put off the decision for another day. Wow, things haven’t changed.
We see in Acts 26 where King Agrippa was ALMOST PERSUADED to accept Jesus. As far as we know, he never did.
It’s interesting to me because Jesus never tells us what these guys did. After the first fellow heard how tough it was gonna be, did he turn around and go home or did he follow Jesus?
What about the second guy? You know, the guy that wanted to go home and take care of his father. What did he do when Jesus told him to let the dead bury the dead? Did he say, “You’re right Jesus, I’m gonna follow you” or did he say “That’s a little bit too much to ask Jesus. Just forget it. Find somebody else”
And the third guy was just planning on being gone for a short time. Just long enough to say his goodbyes. So did he follow Jesus right then or did he go home and then try to catch up later? I don’t know this but if I was a betting man, I’d say he went home and never caught up with Jesus. Never became a follower.
That’s why Jesus told us in Verse 62, “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
2024 is over and we look back at the year. The things that we ENJOYED and the things we ENDURED. But don’t look back and long for the things that God has delivered you from. Don’t look back and SECOND GUESS your decision to follow Jesus. Don’t LOOK BACK and let go of the PLOUGH. Keep your eyes on the GOAL.
I’m afraid in this day and age that we’ve lost the IMPORTANCE and URGENCY of following Jesus.
ILLUS: I have done some plowing. Not a whole lot but I enjoy watching the ground get turned over by a plow that’s been scoured really good. But the key to plowing is to get your first furrow straight and then follow that furrow with the next pass and so on. So how do you get that first furrow straight? Well, I guarantee you it’s not by looking behind you. It’s by looking straight ahead at a fixed point. Don’t look behind you or you’ll plow a crooked row.
And the same goes for us in our walk with Jesus. We need to keep our eyes on the goal. Don’t look behind us and long for the things of the PAST. Keep your eyes on the goal.
I think the Apostle Paul really understood this. He really grasped what Jesus was saying here. In Philippians 3:12-14 he said,
“Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
13 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,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Listen, I’ve been serving the Lord now for over 45 years. And I’ve gone too far to look back. I’m gonna keep my eyes on the goal, Heaven. And I’m gonna keep my eyes on Jesus, the One who gave His life for me.
Let’s Pray
