Sunday 06/26/22 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “Do You Trust Him?”
Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20
New Testament Scripture: Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Gospel Lesson: Luke 9:51-62
So, I remember a few times when I was
young asking my late Grandpa Winkelman what he wanted for Christmas. A few
times he told me that he wanted “a good team of horses”. As I got older, I
found out that my grandpa who born in 1922, and lived on a farm, for a period time,
plowed fields with horses. I don’t know if he himself did the plowing at such a
young age, as eventually my great grand parents bought a used tractor.
My late grandfather however, was old
enough to remember on his farm and on other farms seeing people plowing fields with
horses. The cover picture that I chose for this morning’s power point really
brings home the reality of how challenging and how much harder some aspects of
life must have been up until recent years.
I remember, in Melissa and I having
lived in Moravia, NY, that in 1819 the first cast iron plow was made in Moravia
(https://nyhistoric.com/2012/08/first-cast-iron-plow/). From my limited
research I have learned that plows and other methods to till and prepare the
soil for planting have been around all the way back to the time of the ancient
Egyptians, and maybe even further.
I tell you all of this about plowing, as
it is now something that is often done by massive tractors. When Melissa and I visit
the North Country though, we sometimes still see Amish men plowing with horses
and a steel plow. Plowing a field turns over the soil and brings up the fresh
soil and fresh nutrients. This is good soil to plant and grow in, along with
fertilizer and other things.
Many of us in the era that we live in,
know some people that are involved in farming or agriculture, but we still might
not stop to think about what farmers do, or how our food is produced. Melissa
has told me that she has learned through being a 4-H educator that there are
even unmanned tractors and combines now.
To be sure though, the Bible is full
of agricultural and farming references, and most of the world at that time was
involved in farming or agriculture. If memory serves, I believe that when President
Thomas Jefferson was in office, about eighty-percent of this country was
involved in farming or agriculture. From a couple of statistics that I have
read recently there is less than two-percent of Americans involved in farming
today. In fact, I read one statistic as low as 1.3% of Americans are involved
in farming today (https://www.fb.org/newsroom/fast-facts).
Given all of this, when we read farming
or agricultural references in the Bible, if we are not involved in farming or
agriculture, we might need to educate ourselves on what the scriptures are saying.
The main verse that I am focused on this morning, from our gospel of Luke
reading is Luke 9:62, that says:
Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God" (Lk. 9:62, NRSV).
In
this scripture, Jesus is saying that someone who is plowing a field or land,
who loses focus on the plow and the direction it is going in with the horses, is
unfit for the kingdom of God. Basically, Jesus is saying that if you take your
eyes off of him, the way you take your eyes off of a plow, then you are beneath
the kingdom of God. Or to put it another way, we must be fully focused, fully
surrendered, and fully following Jesus. Are we all going to lose our focus at
some point? Of course, but Jesus was making a point here of our need to trust
him. Trust him fully, and don’t look back. This can be hard to do in our lives
sometimes, however.
I
do not know about you, but I want to trust God fully. I want to be fully
surrendered to Jesus Christ, but we all have moments that we struggle. We all
have moments that we look back from the plows in our lives. Our journey in
faith is to daily become more like Jesus. Our journey daily is to be made more
into the perfect image of God’s love, even when we look back from the plow. As
we become more like Jesus every day, we look back less and less.
We
know that times of distress and hardship come and go, as we hear the Psalmist
say once this morning in Psalm 77:1-2:
I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, that he may hear me. In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted (Ps. 77:1-2, NRSV).
Again, this morning we hear in Luke 9:62:
Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God" (Lk. 9:62, NRSV).
We
are not supposed to look away, to sin, to falter, but we all do at times. So,
we repent, and keep looking to Jesus, to our plows. Jesus encourages us to stay
focused on him, on the plow, even though we have times like I just read in
Psalm 77:1-2 where we are praying for God to fill us and to comfort us.
In
our reading from Galatians 5:1, 13-25 for this morning, once again, the Apostle
Paul tells us in 5:13-16:
For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh (Gal. 5:13-16, NRSV).
The Apostle Paul tells us that we are to
seek God and the Holy Spirit, not self-indulgences or earthly pleasures. There
are many things than compete for our attention and run the risk of removing our
gaze towards the plows in our lives. There are many things in this world that
can compete for our time, our energy, and our resources. Do we focus on Christ,
or do we focus only on ourselves and pleasing ourselves?
Again, this morning we hear in Luke 9:62:
Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God" (Lk. 9:62, NRSV).
This
is a tough scripture, but Jesus is telling us that if we want to be like him, we
need to focus on him, and to be in his kingdom we must follow him
unconditionally. Our life long challenge once we come to Christ then, is to continue
every day to stay focused on our plows. Stay focused on God, do not turn away,
for he is leading our lives and guiding us.
In
looking more closely at our gospel of Luke 9:51-62 lesson for this morning. It
says once again starting in Luke 9:51:
When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" But he turned and rebuked them (Lk. 9:51-55, NRSV).
At this point, Jesus is beginning to
focus on his upcoming trial, torture, and crucifixion in Jerusalem on Good
Friday. In fact, in the Luke 9:51 it says once again:
he set his face to go to Jerusalem (Lk. 9:51b, NRSV).
Jesus was hoping in this scripture to
be received by a village of Samaritans, but they did not receive him because he
was already focus on Jerusalem. Jesus was focused on his trial, death, and execution.
For this reason, the village of Samaritans did not want to see Jesus. In
response James and John asked Jesus if he wanted them to command that fire come
down from heaven and consume the village of Samaritans. Jesus rebuked them, as
this would be insane.
Jesus did not do anything wrong, as
his focus has shifted to Good Friday and his death on a cross. His shift in
focus however, made this village of Samaritans not want to receive him. Jesus’
focus is ever on God, but when we turn away from God, when we turn away from
our plows and we look back, then we lose God.
The gospel then
continues on saying in Luke 9:56:
Then they went on to another village. As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And 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." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God" (Lk. 9:56-62, NRSV).
Someone tells Jesus that they will
follow him where ever he goes, and Jesus explains with examples that the person
does not really know what they are telling Jesus that they want. Jesus said to
another person “Follow Me,” but this person said that they first had to bury their
father that just died. Jesus said, no waiting, come now, declare the kingdom of
God. Another person told Jesus that they want to follow him, but first wanted
to say goodbye to his family at home. Jesus then said, where I got my sermon title
in Luke 9:62:
Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God" (Lk. 9:62, NRSV).
At
times we will all falter, all look back from our plows, but what Jesus is
saying this morning to us is no half-hearted requests or promises. Jesus is
saying either we follow and focus on him, or we do not. There is no partial
following of Jesus, no partial following of God. We focus or we do not.
Jesus
is telling us then to be the real deal. Do not pretend to follow him, be all in,
or not all in. For Jesus said:
"No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God" (Lk. 9:62, NRSV).
We
all will fail at times, we all will still make mistakes, we all will at times
turn and look away from our plows. The journey of our lives with Christ is to
grow more and more to stay focused on Christ, focused on the plow. Jesus is
like the plow, he is our focus, our salvation, and we must keep following him, and
keep focusing on him. Even when we fall or falter, we can continue to repent,
and turn follow him, for:
Jesus said to him, "No one who
puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God"
(Lk. 9:62, NRSV). Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment