Fit for the Kingdom!

In today's Gospel, Luke 9: 57-63, three different persons indicate a desire to follow Jesus. When invited to do so, each has an excuse before making a commitment.  Jesus points out that following Him is not easy. Sacrifice is required. What seems more important than an immediate, direct and complete response needs to be relinquished.  How often, when the Spirit calls, do we not say:  "I've gotta do this or that first." That to which the Spirit called us to give time and attention is then left undone, forgotten.

Jesus uses strong words at the close of this passage when speaking to the person who asked to first say farewell to his/her family at home and then follow Him. Jesus says: "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God." Experiencing and building the Kingdom of God right here, right now, often depends on our obedience to the Spirit's invitations to do the right thing, the loving thing NOW, not later when whatever we chose to do instead crowds out the opportunity to grow in self-sacrificing love!

Lord, I ask forgiveness for the times that I have excitedly said that I want to follow you but when the rubber hits the road, so to speak, I have chosen my will, not yours!

Jesus: the brilliance of God's Glory

In Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, 1: 1-6, Paul states that Jesus “is the refulgence [the brilliance, the splendor] of …[God’s] glory, the very imprint of his being, and [is the one] who sustains all things by his mighty word. [Once] he had accomplished purification from sins [through his obedience to His Father until death] he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high, as far superior to the angels….”     It is this Jesus, who, in today’s Gospel,  Mark 1: 14-20, entered Galilee “proclaiming the Gospel of God: ‘This  is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.’”  Jesus comes upon Simon and Andrew casting their nets into the sea and calls them. He walks a little further and sees James and John, sons of Zebedee, mending their nets. He calls them as well. They immediately leave their work, their coworkers, and their families to follow Jesus and don’t ever turn back.

What was it about Jesus that Peter, James, John and Andrew and so many others simply leave everything to follow Him, to stay by Him, to proclaim the Gospel of God, to work for  Him, with Him, and through Him at a great price?  This past weekend I read the book “Face to Face with Jesus: A Former Muslim’s Extraordinary Journey to Heaven and Encounter with the God of Love.”  This is the story of a young Muslim woman, Mariam, coming to know Christ.  A Muslim who becomes a Christian risks death.  Miriam, known as Samaa following her conversion,  is beaten by her brothers, strangled by her own father and left for dead. She is the victim of a bomb attacked upon the Church where she worshiped and prayed. She fasted for long periods of time for the conversion of other members of her family. Nothing stopped her from following Jesus and proclaiming that Jesus is more than a prophet, that is, that He is the Son of God, to any of her fellow Muslims. And nothing stopped Peter, James, John and Andrew, three of whom were put to death for their faith in Jesus and John was exiled.

What about you and me? What am I willing to sacrifice for Jesus? Will I even follow Him when He asks that I do difficult things in His name?