Near the end of Luke 9, we are treated to three really small stories…probably vignettes would be the proper term…that show the interaction between three different people and Jesus.  We know nothing about these three people…not a thing other than the fact that they all have short conversations with Jesus about following Him. Each of them is only about 2-3 lines long.  We don’t know why Luke has places them here in rapid succession.  But the idea here, is what following Jesus really entails.  This is found in Luke 9:57-62.

In the first story, Jesus and the twelve are walking along the road and a man comes up to Jesus and blurts out to Him that He will follow Jesus wherever He goes.  Jesus, whatever you tell me to do, I will do it.  Wherever you tell me to go, I will go there.  The man was putting no limits on what he would do for Jesus.

Do you remember that old hymn “Where He Leads Me I Will Follow?”  Have we all sung that in the past and have had those words thrill our souls?  But do we ever ask in the back of our minds whether we really meant that or not?  We want to be sincere in our faith, but are we really desiring, like this man, to follow Him anywhere?

Jesus did not sign him up on the spot.  First, he let the man know what the cost of following Him truly was.  Foxes and birds had places to call home, but He didn’t.  But the Son of Man didn’t have a nest or a home.  He tells the man that He has no where to lay His head.  What He is telling the man is that following Him is not a life of plush accommodations and glory.  This is not something that he will be respected for.  There is not a lot of worldly glamour in store for those who follow Jesus.

In the second encounter, Jesus tells a man to follow Him.  Again, we have no idea of context or the man is…just that Jesus tells him to follow Him.  His response is that he needs to go bury his father first.

The idea behind this is not that the man’s father just died and they need to have a funeral…it is that he will wait around as long as his father is around (which could be years) and only once all of his family responsibilities are done he would follow Jesus.  Once the an is done with all of his family responsibilities and when it becomes convenient, then he will come follow Jesus.

Here’s the thing.  It never becomes convenient to follow Jesus.  We are called to follow Him in the muck and mire of our everyday lives, and we know that it is not often pretty.  If we ever decided we would follow Jesus when it was convenient, we would never do so.

The third little story also has to do with a man who says he will come and follow Jesus.  But unlike the first man who put no qualifications on it, this man says he has unfinished business to attend to first.  Much like the second man, this one also says that it is not the best time…he wants to follow Jesus and has heard really good things about Jesus…but once he gets all of his affairs in order, then he will come seek out Jesus.  But not right now.

Jesus tells this third man that no one who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back is ready for God’s Kingdom.  It’s an illustration from the farming community of the time.  You don’t go out and plow a field and then look back, because if you do, who knows where the plow will end up going?  Once you start, don’t take your eyes off the goal.

At this point I am reminded of Lot’s wife.  Okay, maybe an awkward transition.  But remember her story?  Running out of Sodom with her husband and two daughters and she stopped to look back?  That’s right…she became a pillar of salt.  But what did her turning around and looking back really mean?  All traditional interpretations of Lot’s wife looking back say that she was looking back with regret.  She really didn’t want to leave Sodom.  She liked it there and all it provided.  So it is with us.  We may be committed to following Jesus, but, like Lot’s wife, are we looking back at all the worldly things that we are missing out on?

Jesus says that those who want to follow Him and are not wholly committed to Him…because we think about the things of the world we are missing or it turns out not be as glamorous as we thought or we want the time to follow Him to be convenient and according to our schedules…are not worthy of the Kingdom of God.