Pastor Craig Carter’sessage today at LHUMC- Crucifying Excuses…..
When Christ said “Follow me!” , few realized the destination ahead…. but Jesus never hid the truth. Luke 9:22-23
It will require PERSONAL SACRIFICE- are you ready to “rough it”? It’s not an easy life and there are no 5 star hotels. Luke 9:57-58
It will require PRESSING URGENCY- Nothing else can come before Jesus’ call. First things first. Announce God’s kingdom. Our business is life! Luke 9:59-60
It will require PRIORITIZED LIVING- not when everything else is done…. NOW! 1 Kings 19… Elijah invites Elisha. “Plow a straight furrow…. no looking back.”
Choose the BEST to give to the Master…Now. No halfheartedness. Crucify ALL excuses.
Are you so attached to anyone or anything that it is in the way of you following God heart, soul, mind, and strength?
Whenever, wherever, and whatever God asks of us, go and do…
“No excuse, Lord.”
it occurred to me that all of the 12 disciples Jesus
called dropped what they were doing and followed him promptly. Jesus referred to them later in prayer in John 17 as “the ones God had given to him.” Did their prompt response indicate that God had prepared their hearts to recognize and respond to Christ? Wouldn’t anyone who is prepared and called by God to fulfill God’s will do the same?
Additionally, Pastor Carter invited consideration of a comparison between Elijah’s call to Elisha in 1 Kings19:Jesus’ call to the individual in Luke 9:57-62 to determine whether a cultural precedent might be observed in how Jesus responded versus Elijah.
1 Kings 19:13-21
“Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left,(AA) and now they are trying to kill me too.”
15 The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16 Also, anoint(AC)Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet.17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. 18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”
19 So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him.20 Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,” he said, “and then I will come with you.”
“Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?”
21 So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.”
Luke 9:57-62
“57 As they were walking along the road,(BJ) a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man(BK) has no place to lay his head.”
59 He said to another man, “Follow me.”(BL)
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.”(BM)
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 plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Craig observed that someone plowing a field cannot plow a straight furrow by looking backward. Jesus is seeking people committed to going forward in kingdom building, not hanging back and waiting until everything else is completed to consider it.
The preceding events before the exchange between Elijah and Elisha are significantly different. Elijah had a fearful and disheartening experience following a great ministry victory over the prophets of Baal and Asherah that caused him to be threatened with death by Jezebel. He showed signs of burnout and depression. Moving forward in ministry appeared questionable for him, yet God still had work for Elijah to do and have him instructions that indicated that God was assigning and anointing a helper to Elijah whom Elijah would train to follow him in prophetic leadership….. much as Moses had been given Joshua to be trained for assuming leadership after him…… both relationships being a provision for continuity of leadership according to God’s will and plan for the benefit of his people.
When Elijah, following God’s directions sought out Elisha who was finishing up plowing a field where there were clearly 11 others sharing in that duty. When Elijah placed his cloak on Elisha, a symbol of the call and anointing on his life, Elisha ran after Rlijsh, apparently willing to join him. What Elisha did next, in asking to say goodbye to his family, caused Elijah to respond in a way that made it clear this was not Elijah’s idea, or even Elisha’s, but that it was God who had commanded this action. Elisha then did what appears to be the equivalent of “burning the ship”….. he slaughtered his two oxen, cooked them by burning his plow and fed the people…. He knew he would not be coming back. He was all in. There would be no temptation to return to his work there. He made a personal sacrifice of his earthly goods, his means of support, and obeyed God’s call. He said goodbye for good, in no uncertain way, and followed Elijah, in obedience to God, and he served Elijah and became his apprentice and heir on prophetic ministry, as well.
The distinction seems to be that when the master….. Elijah or Jesus go to the individuals whom God has already identified and tapped for service, they go. When an individual comes to Jesus and offers to follow, it requires a test of their understanding all of what they’re signing up for…… like this individual in Luke 9:61, or even similarly, as the rich young ruler asked when he came to Jesus in Matthew 19:16–30,, Mark 10:17–31 and Luke 18:18–30.
Some seem eager until they hear the full requirement for following Jesus.
