Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Matthew8:18-22
When Jesus saw the great crowds all about him he gave orders to leave for the other side.
One of the scribes then came up and said to him, 'Master, I will follow you wherever you go'.
Jesus replied, 'Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head'.
Another man, one of his disciples, said to him, 'Sir, let me go and bury my father first'.
But Jesus replied, 'Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their dead'.
Jesus speaks about the hardships of the apostolic calling. He says foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.
What Jesus is trying to speak about is our comfort zones. He is not asking for our materialistic comforts. He does not demand for us to give up our possessions. If we wish to be apostles, we must come out of our comfort zones. He speaks about poverty. We must be poor of the securities of ourselves and walk with the riches of God, being totally dependant on him. That is the true apostolic calling. Going out of our zones.
Next he calls for commitment. Jesus did not accept quickly the scribe. Jesus wants full commitment. Not just stepping in because of emotions. He asks this of us. "Are we ready to take up that challenge? Are we ready to let go of the securities of the world for Christ?"
One of Jesus' disciples then requested to first allow sometime to bury the dead. Jesus did not say yes. Was Jesus being very selfish? No. Jesus was trying to portray that the apostolic calling is NOW! Not last time, not next time. Discipleship is now.
Jesus then replied, Leave the dead to bury the dead. Dead here refers to the spiritually dead. What Jesus meant was. Let them(those who have no desire) wait... as for you who received the calling, follow now. Those spiritually alive, your calling starts now. For those spiritually dead, let them follow later. Don't procrastinate.
Some of us are trying to follow Jesus. In the apostolic calling we face challenges. One scenario is forgiveness. We would always procrastinate and 'say': "forgive later... or it can wait!" But Jesus calls for immediate actions. We must forgive immediately.
God love you.
Amen.
Feel Lonely @Wednesday, December 21, 2005
