The Gospel for The 21st Sunday after Pentecost (October 24, 2004)
[An apology: through my error, the gospel reading for today (Luke 18:9-14) was used on October 18. You can access it either by scrolling down to the entry for St Luke's Day, below, or clicking on the 18 in the October calendar to the right. The reading for that day is used in this entry.]
Luke 9:51-62
Now it happened that as the time drew near for him to be taken up, he resolutely turned his face towards Jerusalem and sent messengers ahead of him. These set out, and they went into a Samaritan village to make preparations for him, but the people would not receive him because he was making for Jerusalem. Seeing this, the disciples James and John said, ‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up?’ But he turned and rebuked them, and they went on to another village. As they travelled along they met a man on the road who said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus answered, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.’ Another to whom he said, ‘Follow me,’ replied, ‘Let me go and bury my father first.’ But he answered, ‘Leave the dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.’ Another said, ‘I will follow you, sir, but first let me go and say good–bye to my people at home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’ -- The New Jerusalem Bible. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1995, c1985
A Study
The first snippet here goes with the second, even though they might seem unconnected.
Jesus acted out love, not retribution, and he expected that kind of unsullied, razor-sharp universal response from anyone who would follow him.
In the Jeremiah reading in the Hebrew Bible for today, the prophet Jeremiah says "their eyes grow dim for lack of pasture," talking about creatures in a drought ascribed to YHWH.
In this text, Jesus offers eternal pasture, but on God's terms, to those who respond to the call to "follow me."
A Reflection
The foxes and the birds are better off than Jesus?
As He is on His way to Jerusalem for the final days of his earthly walk, He attracts more and more followers, but seems to repel some, in words that we might think uncharacteristic of the one who says "follow me," and "come to me, all you who hunger...."
I think what Jesus is telling us is that we are called to rely on our faith to provide for us. Jesus is not distinguished by being "homeless," although he was.
He does not rely onHis family for His personhood, but on his call to witness for the Father. And who ever had better "family" on whom to rely?
And He instructs us that no one plowing ever made a straight furrow by relying on what has happened before, looking backwards.
Jesus provides the pasture and leads us into it. When we distract ourselves by unnatural attraction to comfort, personal relations, and our pasts, we may find ourselves once again outside the Place to which He leads us. If our eyes become dimmed, who, then, is responsible for that drought?
The Collect
Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
6:54:49 PM 
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