The Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

I’ve always found the last line of this particular Gospel to be quite interesting: “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.” You see, if I had lived out that philosophy on the farm, I would have certainly incurred some anger, particularly from my dad! The problem is that you HAVE to be watching the back! You cannot just go about it without any attention to detail, but you must rather be watchful and vigilant of all of the equipment, listening to the sound of the engine and the mower, watching that the rake was where it was supposed to be, amongst many others. We had to turn around quite frequently, actually, but it wasn’t necessarily to see what we left behind, but to rather see where we were going.

In our common experience, often we likely have those moments of introspection- the moments where we look back, we look forward, and we consider where we are, and where we are going. We may have to assess our general direction in life, and maybe make some changes. Imagine for a moment, however, that Jesus Christ Himself was coming to you and asking you to make those changes. Or, perhaps Jesus invites you to a whole new way of thinking or a whole new way of life. What would your response to that invitation be? As we embark back into the ritual of ordinary time, this is the first consideration that we are going to have- how difficult it could be to become a follower of Christ.

If we go back to the Old Testament in the first reading, we are given the account of Elijah being sent out to call Elisha- who was going to be his successor. The Lord gave Elijah the command to go forth and to anoint Elisha as his successor- and so Elijah set out and found Elisha in the field, plowing with his oxen. Elijah goes over to him and throws his cloak over him- which was a symbol of selection- showing that Elisha had been chosen- and he knew what that meant.

Yet, whenever it comes down to leaving to go about the work that the Lord was preparing for Him, Elisha seems to falter, at least for a second. He asks of Elijah- “Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, and I will follow you.” The response that Elijah gives is a couple of different things mixed together in the same statement- it gives him freedom to go and do as he would like, but it also gives him a moment of challenge- letting him know that he should follow Elijah very soon! He should be able to respond to that call! That is what makes the next part so beautiful- Elisha takes everything that he had- the yoke of oxen, the plowing equipment, and he sacrifices everything. He moves from a place of being insecure in his calling, to a place of security- in showing that he is so willing to follow God, that he will give up everything- and even go all the way back to nothing to show just how willing he is to follow God. He trusts in the Lord utterly and completely- and so he goes all in.

The second reading is taken from Saint Paul and his letter to the Galatians. He starts off this very letter telling us “For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” In short, what is Saint Paul telling the Galatians to do? Remove themselves from the yoke of sin and death, and to move towards the freedom that Christ offers.

Yet, this isn’t just freedom unencumbered, is it? Rather, what has been given to us is a freedom to love our neighbor in an unencumbered way. What this means is that we are not to live to satisfy the comforts and the desires of the flesh- but we are meant to only seek to live in freedom. Spirit and flesh are diametrically opposed so often- and Saint Paul wants to remind us that we are to live in the Spirit- and living in the Spirit is freedom.

Then, we move to the Gospel- and Jesus is beginning a journey to Jerusalem. We are told that he was “resolutely determined.” As they go along, he enters a Samaritan village- and we are told that they were less than hospitable to Jesus and His followers- and the disciples asked if they could call down fire from heaven to consume them- if they could have some sort of revenge. Rather than allow this, Jesus has them turn to another village. This is where they encounter the first person who approaches- and says “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus gives this response that might make us stop and pause: “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” Jesus sees something in this person that we may not- that this person is looking for something that is misplaced. There is not a level of preparedness that there should be!

Yet, in that seeming denial of that individual, Jesus turns to another, and then says “follow me.” The person, rather than answering says “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” It is not clear if his father is dead yet or not, and we wouldn’t necessarily fault him at that time if he was. Yet, it was a sort of reservation towards the future- that he wants to be a disciple when the time is more convenient. Jesus responds- “You! Go and proclaim the kingdom of God!” And there is another- “Let me say farewell.” Yet, Jesus presses on into the reality- the work to be done is now- no reservation to the contrary! There needs to be this solemn and solid approach to the mission that Jesus has at hand! No looking back- and no turning around to see what was left.

Now, at the beginning, I spoke of my time spent on a tractor. I can tell you I have to spend a massive amount of time looking backwards- but at that moment- it is not a distraction- but rather it is the edge of having an awareness of what is going on! On that tractor at that moment- I have to be fully invested, otherwise I tend to start to make all sorts of mistakes or even start to cause damage, which I had not intended to do.

That, my brothers and sisters, is the reality of the Gospel call. It requires us to be fully invested- no matter where life takes us. We have to be paying attention of our Lord and to our God at every moment, without excuse and without compromise. When Elijah calls Elisha- for a moment, it looks as if Elisha is going to falter and may simply stay out. Perhaps he had some sort of anxiety or fear of what that future ministry would hold! Yet, he, in the end, shows that he is willing to risk it all for the sake of God and being his mouthpiece as a prophet- and Elijah’s successor. Jesus in each of his encounters reminds us that being a disciple may not always be easy! Perhaps there will be moments of sorrow, and moments of pain. Perhaps there will be moments of difficulty when we feel the spirit prompting us to say or do something, and yet, within our hearts, we may have that response: not just yet. Let me get to it when I am ready. Yet, the challenge with this response is that, as is often the case in our daily lives, if we put it off, we risk never getting to it. Jesus is calling each of us in a unique and powerful way now. He wants our response- and he gives us that freedom to respond.

Further, Saint Paul reminds us- even in the midst of the difficulty that may seem to be a part of being a disciple- it is all in the interest of being truly free to live in the Spirit. It may make us uneasy- and it may make us feel tremendously vulnerable- and yet that is what Christ calls each of us to do!

So, the question for each of us to consider this week: where is God calling us to be more bold and to respond courageously to him? Are we following him with all of our hearts, or are we still holding on to some fear or some reservation that we have- and we feel that we cannot take that risk? Jesus Christ calls us- and he calls us into that beautiful place of freedom. Let us have the boldness, the courage, and the fortitude, to respond without reservation to that call of Jesus: follow me!

The question for all of us to pray about: where is Jesus calling you right here, and right now?

“Follow me!”