June 27, 2010

Imagine yourself as a 1^st century Palestinian Jew unencumbered with family or career.  You seek a life of purpose with a reasonable guarantee of security.  You hear an articulate, intense young man speak of a new way of life and you decide to follow his plan.  You tell him your intention and he responds, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”  Imagine your reaction.  Imagine you are another 1^st century Palestinian Jew, devout in your faith, devoted to your traditions and this impressive new rabbi calls you to join him in his mission.  Recalling the story of Joseph telling the Pharaoh of Egypt that he must be released from service to the court to go bury his father Jacob, you tell the rabbi that of course, of course, you will become his disciple, but first you must return home to make funeral arrangements for your father.  The religious leader answers, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you – you come now and proclaim the Kingdom of God.”  Imagine your reaction.  Imagine you are yet another 1^st century Palestinian Jew who is mesmerized by the message and personal power of the itinerant preacher.  You announce you will join his movement, but before enlisting you need to let your family know where you are going so they won’t worry.  The pastor replies, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God.”  Imagine your reaction.

Now imagine you are a 21^st century Christian with a heart condition, sitting in these pews and you hear to be a true follower of Jesus Christ, your son may not show up at your funeral.  Imagine you are a 21^st century Christian, 44 years old with a mortgage and two daughters and you hear to be a faithful disciple you may be called to walk away from those you’ve dedicated yourself to loving and supporting.  Imagine you are a 21^st century Christian charged with preaching this “good news” message.  We see the difficulty.  These responses are harsh.  They are at odds with both our logic and our deeply held heart values.  How do we reconcile this message with what we have experienced as important and valuable in our lives?  A good place to start is to consider the source.  Who is this man who has compelled earthy, course, no nonsense fishermen to put down their nets and follow him?  Who is this man schooled in the Holy Scriptures and skilled in their interpretation?  Who is this priest and pastor, this shepherd and companion?  Who is this voice, this presence, which inspires country folk and threatens sophisticated imperial overlords? 

The person who makes these pointed pronouncements is the person who also extends grace to the immigrant woman married seven times.  He is the same man who protects the adulteress at the well and defends the man blind from birth.  The one the disciples call “Lord,” who says leave the funeral arrangements to others is the one who says “let the little children come to me” and “go wash your eyes, your faith has made you well.”  The man who says follow now and leave your family goodbyes to later is the man who at the end of long, tiring days allows strangers free access to his healing presence and lets them pull energy from him to restore them to wholeness and health.  He is consistently compassionate and forgiving.  He is gracious, accepting, encouraging and kind to the widest variety of people in all manner of circumstances.  When we consider the source, the mind and mouth of Jesus, we see that he may call us to places of challenge, but he never calls us to places of cruelty. 

So, what is his meaning in these responses?  What does he want his would-be followers to understand?  To the person eager to take up the Christian life, Jesus says wait, understand what this entails.  I will not let you make a rash uninformed decision.  The life dedicated to God comes with expectations and consequences.  See, we are different creatures, unlike all others God called into being.  Foxes, God made to live a life dedicated to Foxiness.  They make a fox home.  They find a fox spouse and have fox babies.  They eat fox food, run fox-like through the woods and consider themselves sufficiently fox-blessed.  Birds, God made to live a life of birdness.  They settle down with attractive bird wives.  They build bird nests and raise bird families and, at night, they sleep well and dream bird dreams – maybe dreams of soaring flights, maybe dreams of fat worms. 

But Jesus, and all humans, all sons and daughters of the first man were created to live a life not dedicated to their species-specific instincts, but to divine relationship with their creator.  We are the only, the only species created with intellect and cognitive appreciation of God Almighty.  We were not made to live in warm burrows or feathered nests.  We weren’t made to build a comfortable life focused on human attributes.  We were made to raise our eyes to heaven and say, “Praise God from whom these blessings flow.”  Praise God for the beauty and bounty of his creation.  Praise God for all he has done in this world.  Praise, honor, and follow God to those places he leads us for our own good.

God set us down in human families to learn about love and sacrifice, commitment and devotion, passion and forbearance, but these relationships were always, always meant to be humankind’s secondary allegiance.  Our primary relationship, our central focus, our created purpose for being was to, is to, align ourselves with God and seek fervently, tirelessly, to do his bidding.  Foxes were made to hunt rabbits.  Birds were made to fly.  We were made to worship God.  It is our mighty and unique destiny.

When Jesus says “Let the dead bury the dead,” when he says looking back to say goodbye to family before committing to God is unacceptable, he wants us to understand that putting God first is not a disservice to our loved ones.  Putting God first is our reason for being.  It is our natural orientation and when we are true to our created destiny, all other relationships and aspects of our life align in better healthier order.  When we seek God first, when our heart’s desire is first and foremost to please God, we become the best versions of ourselves.  When we say God first and everyone and everything on earth and in heaven comes after that priority, God responds lavishly.  After our alignment and proclamation to the Father and to the life his Son lays out for us, God answers our common species needs.  Folk dedicated to God first become empowered and equipped.  They become better spouses, better parents, better friends, better professionals, and better citizens.

Therefore, attendance at a father’s funeral is of little consequence because over the course of the parent’s life, the son, the daughter, makes their devotion and their respect fully manifest.  Their deep love is guided and flows out of their primary relationship.  God honors their commitment to him by blessing all other connections.  Stopping by the house to say “I’m off to serve God” becomes unnecessary because those so solidly set on God have already demonstrated their fidelity and good intent to their human family.  The loved ones know where and why the absent member is focused elsewhere.  They do not feel abandoned.  They feel encompassed in a greater love and a surer security. 

Jesus, the Lord we know, does not call us to cruelty.  He is the Good Shepherd.  He calls us to greener pastures.  He calls us to our true destiny.  Love God first.  Love God best.  Everything good in our lives falls out of that primary orientation. 

Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the sons and daughters of Man have no such poor place to lay their heads.  They hold their heads upright and look to the heavens and say, God I am your creation.  I was made to worship you.  I proclaim your kingdom.  Smile on me and bless me.  I am wholly yours.  You are my first and greatest love.  Alleluia.  Amen.