Forward Ploughing:
(making sure you don’t look back) Luke 9:57-61
TEXT:
Luke 9:57-61 (NIV) 57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58 Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." 59 He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man 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 good-by to my family."
OTHER TEXTS: Genesis 19:15-26(Lot and his wife); Numbers 13:26-33(Israel spies out the promised land); Numbers 14:1-25(God’s pronouncement of judgment on Israel)
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this sermon is to show Christians 3 results of looking back at problems, events, or things that have gone on in the past once you have put your hand to the plough in service to Christ.
CONTENT:
Read Luke 9:57-61
Pray
INTRODUCTION:
Here in this particular passage we have the story of how when Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem he is approached by three people wanting to be his follower or disciple. The first man says to Jesus, "I will follow you wherever you go" and Jesus’ reply most likely was a rhetorical question, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. - Do you still want to follow me?" Then Jesus turns to another man and asks him to follow him - this man requests that he be allowed to wait until his father is dead so he can bury him. Jesus answer shows the sacrifice that is required of his disciples - and the responsibility they have to witness to the world God’s grace. Then another man, eager to step in, tells Jesus he will follow him if he can first go back and say farewell to those at home. Jesus’ reply to this man is one that has a very important message to all of us here today. Jesus said "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." Why is what Jesus said to this man so important? Well to understand this we need to first of all have an understanding as to how the hearers of that day would have understood that statement. More specifically, we’ll first have a look at, well, "a plough".
Show overhead of plough
Back in the time of Jesus, agriculture was the main industry of the land. The main reason being of course that the ratio of crops to people was much smaller in those days than it is in today. Or in other words - one farmer’s efforts would feed a lot less people then than one farmers efforts now.One of the most important steps in preparing land for growth of a crop is to break up the land so that the soil is ready for the seed to grow. The tool that was used to do this was the plough. Ploughs were of a simple construction were known in the time of Moses, were very light, and required great attention to keep them in the ground. One type of Syrian or Palestinian plough is made up of two wooden beams which are joined together, and at the front end it is hooked to a yoke, and at the rear end it is fastened to a crosspiece, the upper part of which serves as the handle, and the lower part holds the iron ploughshare or colter. Two oxen or other beasts of burden would be attached to the yoke and would be used to assist the farmer in ploughing the field. The farmer would direct and prod the animals with the help of a goad, which was simply a pointed stick. When the first rain of the season had come on the land the ploughman would be out to plough his field.
The ploughman holds the one handle of the plough with one of his hands, while he carries the goad in the other hand, with which to prod the animals. During the process the ploughman would have to press down with all his weight on the plough (because it is so light) in order to make the furrow deep enough.
Now that we understand a little bit about the nature of a plough and how it was used and for what it was used the next question to ask is why was Jesus using it as an example?
Before we answer that question I want to read a story from the Bible that many of you may be familiar with. It’s from Numbers 13:26-33 and 14:1-25
Jesus said in Luke 9:62 that, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the service in the kingdom of God."
Why? Because… Such a person plows crooked furrows.
(LET THE FURROWS WE PLOUGH BE STRAIGHT AND TRUE)
Each successive furrow will be more crooked than the last.
For those of you who are blessed with the daily chore of mowing lawns, you would be well aware that if a Dickie-Dee Ice Cream bike was to twinkle its way behind you - you’d probably have to do the row you had just done over again! Cutting lawns is much easier than ploughing fields however. A farmer would want his furrows to be as straight as possible so as to make sure that every part of the field is ploughed. If however the ploughman was looking behind him when he’s ploughing - well the results would be crooked. One thing I’ve noticed when cutting the grass at my Dad’s house on a riding lawnmower (luxury!) is that any curve that I make in my rows keeps getting bigger and bigger in each successive row. A ploughman who’s looking behind him will have furrows that are more crooked with each one that he does. A field that is done like this has to be gone over again.God promised the Israelites the Land of Canaan. He even miraculously brought them out of Egypt. There were many signs that God gave the Israelites during their journey that were an indication of how He was with them. Yet the Israelites started looking back right in the beginning. (10 times they tested God [see Numbers 14:22])
Read Exodus 14:10-12 - the first time they looked back was when they were camped by the red sea - God provided an escape.
Read Exodus 16:2-3 - shortly after this, the second time they looked back - grumbled about lack of food - God provided manna.
Numbers 11:4-6 - complained about the lack of meat - they looked back to Egypt - God provided Quail
Numbers 13:26-33 - complained about the promised land - they looked back to Egypt
Each successive complaint that the Israelites made against the Lord was more crooked than the last until when they had reached the promised land they even refused to receive God’s promise. Because they were always looking back toward Egypt they even missed when God performed miracles in their midst. He had already proven that he was more than capable of giving the land of Canaan over to them.It is an indication of a dwindling commitment.
Even after doing one row crooked the ploughman still has the opportunity to correct himself and do the next one straight. But a whole field of crooked furrows indicates that the ploughman doesn’t really care. Each successive furrow indicated his dwindling commitment to the crop he was planting.for every complaint that the Israelites made God provided for them - but there was also a punishment that went along with the provision. God gave the Israelites every opportunity to start to straighten their "furrows" and stop looking back to Egypt. But the fact that they didn’t heed God’s warnings each time led to a dwindling in the Israelites commitment to God.
Such a person plows shallow furrows.
(LET THE FURROWS WE PLOUGH BE DEEP AND PENETRATING)
While plowing the ploughman must rest all his weight on the plough and this is not possible if he is looking back - in fact it is pretty dangerous as well. The result of looking back is that furrows he plows will be shallow.
RESULTS:
It affects the seeds that are sown.
One of the purposes for ploughing the field was to break up the earth but also there would usually be a person going ahead of the ploughman spreading seed. As the plough went by the seed would be covered and would be hidden from the birds that were always present at planting time. If the ploughman didn’t make the furrows deep enough then the seed would be missed and the birds would be sure to take the opportunity of gaining a quick meal.Israel, at the border of the promised land, sent some spies in to check out the land before they began their conquest. All the spies had a good report as to the quality of the land but because of their habit of "looking back" the majority of them had a different story to tell. These spies began to sow seeds of discouragement, despair, and fear.(vs 31-32; 14:1-4) But there were two men who were not looking back but were looking forward and sowed seeds of encouragement, joy, and fearlessness.(vs. 30,14:5-9)
It is an indication of half-hearted commitment.
If a ploughman was looking back while plowing it would show that he didn’t care very much about the kind of job he was doing. If this particular man happened to be working for the person who owned the field he probably wouldn’t keep his job very long!The story of the Israelites journey through the desert, as mentioned previously, is one of constant complaining and whining to God. Instead of looking forward to the "Promised Land" - a land which proved to be flowing with milk and honey - they had kept looking back to the "Dead Land" - a land where they had been in slavery for over 400 years. Oh yes, they had followed with Moses through the desert - even to the border of Canaan - but their commitment to God was halfhearted and shallow - and it showed in the report of the spies.
Such a person will bring in a poor crop or no crop at all.
(LET THE HARVEST WE REAP BE PLENTIFUL)
To put it simply, if a ploughman was looking back while ploughing his field would be full of crooked furrows and the birds would get most of the seed that he had sown. The result would be a meager if not no harvest at all. The crops from this ploughman would be worthless.
For the Israelites who complained and kept looking back to Egypt their harvest was also meager. In fact they ended up with the loss of their right to the promised land (Numbers 14:21-24) and spent the rest of their lives in the desert. But notice the reward that was bestowed on Caleb (and we may assume Joshua as well). The scripture records, "But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it." (vs 24) Caleb and Joshua alone had resolved to keep looking forward and as such the promised lands was theirs to go into. Their harvest was a plentiful and rich one.
Application: Are your furrows crooked? Are they shallow?
The Plough that the Israelites had was their journey into the promised land. We too are journeying to the promised land but the plough we put our hand on is the gospel of Christ and our commitment to being followers of Christ. When we take this plough in hand there is no looking back or like the Israelites we will miss out on the promises that God has for us because we will become in the words of Jesus, "not fit for service in the kingdom of God." If we look back the furrows we plow will be crooked, and each successive row will be more crooked than the last. The result will be a diminishing commitment to Christ. If we look back the furrows we plow will be shallow - you can tell these kind of Christians from forward looking Christians - they sow seeds of discouragement, despair and fear. Just as the Israelite spies did in reporting on the promised land. But instead let the seeds we sow be like Joshua and Caleb, encouragement, joy, and fearlessness.
God is bringing this church to the promised land and we can either look forward or look back - we can look forward to the place which God is preparing for us - look forward to the task Christ has laid out for us - we can make the resolution to put our hand to the plough and have our furrows straight and deep or we can look back to where this church has been - we can look back to our Egypt and complain - our furrows will be crooked and shallow and our harvest? What harvest?
Yes looking forward does mean that we face "homelessness" in this world "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head" - but we have a far better home in Christ! Looking forward means to proclaim the kingdom of God no matter what situation faces us, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God", - Looking forward means that our undivided and complete focus is on Jesus Christ and what his will is for our lives, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
I leave you with this question. Are you fit for service in the Kingdom of God? Is this church a forward looking church?
This sermon was preached by Darren Ethier at Hanover Pentecostal Church. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
