Sometimes it's hard to keep going

• Giving up is no option.

In Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014 a white male police officer shot to death Michael Brown, a young black man, in the middle of a street there. The fatal shooting sparked mass protests, riots and looting in this St. Louis suburb. For teachers in and around St. Louis, it has provided an opportunity to talk about race in a new, more constructive way. A man who does reporting for National Public Radio (TL) spoke to an African American man who is a teacher (VF). [1]

TL, reporter: It was early September, and VF had just wrapped up his day teaching at Ladue Middle School, in an affluent suburb about 13 miles south of where protests erupted in Ferguson.

VF, teacher: I was really in a good mood.

TL: But VF knew he could be in for a difficult night. Less than four weeks had passed since Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson fatally shot Michael Brown, sparking countless protests. And VF, who is African-American and in his early 40s, was on his way to an event for teachers at St. Louis University.

VF: To learn more about how to teach Ferguson – how to teach this whole idea of racial understanding and racial healing.

TL: On his way there, he was waiting in traffic.

VF: Car pulls up next to me, driven by this middle-aged, older white man, who then takes his hand – his right hand – and reaches it across his passenger seat in the shape of a gun.

TL: VF says the man then aimed his index finger at him and cocked his thumb like the hammer of a pistol.

VF: Does that, like, seven times to me, and I’m just looking at him, like, in complete disbelief.

TL: Frustration coursed through his body. VF thought about calling it a night, but he didn’t. He went on with the evening as planned, spending his time with teachers who want to untangle complicated issues of race and class.

Sometimes it’s hard to keep going. There is a related Gospel truth that elevates calling it quits to a much higher level. In the last part of Luke chapter 9, Jesus Christ the Lord has completed his ministry in Galilee (Lk 4:14 – 9:50) and has just begun his journey to Jerusalem (Lk 9:51 – 19:48). He was traveling with his twelve apostles (Lk 9:10) and with at least 72 other disciples (Lk 10:1). Holy Scripture tells us:

      And you, child [John the Baptist], will be called the prophet of the Most High;

            for you will go before the Lord [Jesus Christ] to prepare his ways,

      [and the ways of the Lord are] to give knowledge of salvation to his people

            in the forgiveness of their sins…  (Lk 1:76-77)

      . . . .

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  (Lk 2:11)

. . . .

⁵¹When the days drew near for him [Jesus] to be taken up [die on the cross and rise again], he set his face to go to Jerusalem [where the crucifixion and resurrection would happen]. . . .  ⁵⁷As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ⁵⁹To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” ⁶²Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Lk 9:51, 57-62 ESV)

Along this part of the Lord’s journey, three individuals have a desire to become disciples of the Savior, the only one who can bring them the forgiveness of their sins. All three want to have a part in God’s kingdom – God’s rule over human beings through Christ (the appointed king). This rule will bring us from being rebels with the guilt and pollution of sin to being friends with forgiveness and cleaning from sin. As those who are pardoned and empowered, we will participate in the foretaste of eternal life and peace now and in the fullness of eternal life and blessing after the resurrection of the living and of the dead.

But all three would-be disciples have a deficiency in their commitment to being disciples. Why? Because anything that competes with our loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ is an idol, a false god. And, in the nature of the case, there cannot be two infinite Lords and there cannot be two supreme loyalties. There is only one Supreme Being and there can be only one supreme loyalty. Listen to the words of the Lord. “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3, the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai). “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (Luke 6:13, the Lord Jesus at the level place on the mountain).

Let’s make a close examination of the facts and circumstances of these three people one at a time.

• Beware of whimsical, ill-informed commitment.

Jesus had just experienced rejection by the people of a town in the province of Samaria. Racial and religious hostility had flared up and the town folk had refused to allow Jesus to stay there. Now as Jesus walked along the road with his disciples and attracted crowds, one particular passerby perhaps perceived glamour and celebrity and this may have impelled the person to want to join the community of disciples. To this individual, the crowd of followers may even have implied a means to prosperity. In any case, the stranger announced to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Well, the man either got the benefits of discipleship wrong or else made a knee-jerk decision. He didn’t realize that to follow Jesus is to follow a man who was homeless by virtue of Jesus being a continually traveling preacher and to follow a man who had no earthly goods. To become his disciple is to become a stranger and an exile on the earth (Heb. 11:13). Jesus is honest about the Gospel and the commitment needed. So he told this individual, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man [= Jesus] has nowhere to lay his head.” And a follower is not above his master.

In other words, unforeseen circumstances will occur. Plans may fall through. Hardships may beset you. Poverty could be a reality. A debilitating illness may befall. Betrayals may happen. Opposition may arise. There can be persecution, sometimes of the severest sort. There simply is no promise of earthly health and wealth and continual comfort. Thus, the question becomes: “Knowing this, are you still willing to follow the Son of Man?” Many of us follow the lead of St. Peter:

So Jesus said to the twelve [apostles], “You do not want to go away also, do you?" Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:67-69)

Some thirty or so years later, Peter and other followers of Christ faced horribly severe times in the city of Rome. Tacitus, the Roman historian, in The Annals (c AD 116) 44.2-5 comments on the Great Fire of Rome (AD 64) during the reign of Nero:

44.2. Yet no human effort, no princely largess nor offerings to the gods could make that infamous rumor disappear that Nero had somehow ordered the fire. Therefore, in order to abolish that rumor, Nero falsely accused and executed with the most exquisite punishments those people called Christians, who were infamous for their abominations.

44.3. The originator of the name, Christ, was executed as a criminal by the procurator Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius; and though repressed, this destructive superstition erupted again, not only through Judea, which was the origin of this evil, but also through the city of Rome, to which all that is horrible and shameful floods together and is celebrated.

44.4. Therefore, first those were seized who admitted their faith, and then, using the information they provided, a vast multitude were convicted, not so much for the crime of burning the city, but for hatred of the human race. And perishing they were additionally made into sports: they were killed by dogs by having the hides of beasts attached to them, or they were nailed to crosses or set aflame, and, when the daylight passed away, they were used as nighttime lamps.

44.5. Nero gave his own gardens for this spectacle and performed a Circus game, in the habit of a charioteer mixing with the plebs or driving about the race-course. Even though they were clearly guilty and merited being made the most recent example of the consequences of crime, people began to pity these sufferers, because they were consumed not for the public good but on account of the fierceness of one man. [2]

Christ had declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Peter and the Christians in Rome in AD 64 were firmly convinced that following Christ is well worth the cost. And for them it was not a whimsical, ill-informed commitment. They knew that giving up is no option. So they persevered to the end and received the crown of life. 

My friend, are you prepared to deal with uncertainty and adverse circumstances? Have you given up being driven by glamour, pleasure, or money? Are you ready to walk by faith in the crucified and risen Savior? Whimsical, ill-informed commitment is not an option. Commit now with heart and mind and persevere to the end.

• Beware of substituting higher priorities.

Further along the way, Jesus gave the Gospel call to a particular man and said, “Follow me.” The man really wanted to answer “Yes,” but then he hesitated. He felt he had a something more important. So he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” In Judaism, as in many cultures, burying family members is a priority (Sirach 38:16; Tobit 4:3-4; 12:12). Though the request seems reasonable at first thought, this potential disciple’s premise is that family comes before the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word become flesh, very God of very God. Jesus had to inform him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God [that is, proclaim the good news that the rule of God has come to earth through the Messiah, Jesus].”

New Testament scholar William Barclay sees a fatal delay on the part of this potential disciple:

An English official in the East tells of a very brilliant young Arab who was offered a scholarship to Oxford or Cambridge. His answer was, “I will take it after I have buried my father.” At the time his father was not much more than forty years of age. The point Jesus was making is that in everything there is a crucial moment; if that moment is missed the thing most likely will never be done at all. The man in the story had stirrings in his heart to get out of his spiritually dead surroundings; if he missed that moment he would never get out. [3]

My friend, what are your priorities? There can be no higher priority than the living God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Are you living your life with the living God as your highest priority? Or, for someone else reading these words, let me ask: Are you moved to become a committed follower of Jesus Christ? My friend, seek the Lord while he may be found. A higher commitment or a delayed commitment is not an option. Come now with undivided commitment and persevere to the end.

• A half-hearted commitment is no commitment at all.

When the critics of Jesus grumbled, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus replied, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32) Repentance from sin and one’s old lifestyle is essential to the Gospel. Now let’s go forward to Luke chapter 9. A third person came along and said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.”

Again, we may be tempted to say that the man has presented a reasonable request. But Jesus sees the spiritual reality behind the seeming politeness. This man has a desire to hang onto to his old lifestyle.[4] So Jesus told him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Back in Roman Palestine, the word picture would make perfect sense. Farmers had crude wooden plows pulled by an animal or animals. The soil is rocky. If you looked back while plowing, you would not furrow a straight row for crops. In other words, discipleship takes focus. Following Jesus requires the whole of one’s being. Half-hearted commitment is not an option. Make a total commitment and persevere to the end.

Author Kent Crockett talks about adverse circumstances and half-hearted spiritual commitments that wear us down and make us want to give up in defeat. Then, in our mind’s eye, he takes us back to April 2, 1801 [5]:

When Lord Horatio Nelson was fighting the Battle of Copenhagen, his senior officer, Sir Hyde Parker, also known as “Old Vinegar,” hoisted the flag signaling retreat. Nelson deliberately put his telescope to his blind eye and said, “I do not see it.”

If he had surrendered when it looked like defeat, he would not have captured twelve Danish ships.

I don’t see defeat. Do you? [asks Crockett]

When you’re fighting the Battle of Perspective, Satan will hoist his flag, trying to discourage you. Remember to put a blind eye to the telescope. Refuse to see the retreat flag. Keep going forward.

Sometimes it’s very hard to keep going. You feel so weary and beaten down. But giving up is not an option. Answer the call of the Gospel with informed, complete, and whole-hearted commitment. Persevere to the end and receive the crown of life evermore.

[1] Tim Lloyd, “Some St. Louis Teachers Address Ferguson with Lessons on Race,” NPR All Things Considered, October 28, 2014. http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/10/28/359323899/some-st-louis-teachers-address-ferguson-with-lessons-on-race

[2] http://www.westmont.edu/~fisk/articles/TacitusAndPlinyOnTheEarlyChristians.html

[3] William Barclay, Luke (Daily Study Bible), Edinburgh: St. Andrew Press, 1975.

http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dsb/view.cgi?bk=lu&ch=9&vs=62

[4] “The Blessing of Decision” Luke 9:51-10:24, IVP New Testament Commentary Series.

https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/ivp-nt/Blessing-Decision-Privilege

[5] Kent Crockett, I Once Was Blind But Now I Squint (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2004), p 139.

Art work: (broken blue tile) Donna Webb, “Embedded”; (figure with wheel) Diana J. Bjel, “Gracie II”; and (head with arms) J. Derek O’Brien “Consumers” - all part of the exhibit “CLAY . . . Not the Usual Suspects,” the Gallery, Lakeland Community College, Kirtland, Ohio, September 25 to November 7, 2014.