Let the dead bury their dead

¹⁹ Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”
²⁰ 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.”
²¹ Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
²² But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

As I read this passage today, it occurred to me that this is a place where I often fail. When I consider Christ and the relationship I have with them I should "Worry about Nothing" and "Let go and Let God". These things are harder than they sound. For us as human beings we want to be in control but as I read this I consider where does my relationship need to be.

The selected passage starts with a guy who has seen what Jesus has done. How many times have we seen the results of Christ's miracles in the lives of those around us. This guy wants to follow Christ every where, this guy wants to be a part of this, almost, fan club that Jesus has. We don't want to sit and just wonder at the side show that is created by the hand of God, we shouldn't just happily watch as others start a new relationship with Christ. I feel in a way that this is what this man is considering, he just wants to watch the side show. I feel this way because of what he says later on but I will get to that.

Jesus warns him that the road that he is on is relentless, by saying he has no home he is saying that there isn't much opportunity to rest. Jesus in his short ministry was always on the move. He picked up followers at every stop and at times he just needed the peace. What did he do in his moments alone? He communed with his Father. This is not something that is typical for man but in his example we should remember that it is important to always be in prayer, the more we communicate with God the more that we will know his will. It is through God that Jesus drew his strength and we are promised that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.

Now I come to the guy's response. I've heard before that the guy's dad wasn't necessarily even dead but he was wanting to go home and do what his dad wanted and then he would join the "Sideshow". The reason that this seems to be an evident situation is because there is no evidence of mourning in the guy. If your dad had recently passed, don't you think you would be a little more upset than this. Here is the application though, this guy was worried about worldly things. How often do worldly things get in the way of our relationship with Christ. I look back and I realize that there have been times when ever these other things get in the way and it has nearly destroyed me as a person not just my witness.

Jesus responds with the line of ages basically saying, if you want to have a relationship with me, you have to put me before everything else. As a husband and a father I realize how hard this can be. I want to, at times, put my wife or my children ahead of my relationship with Christ. One thing I've had to learn and at times be reminded of is that when my priorities are taken care of then everything else will fall into place. If you haven't let the things of this world fall behind Christ then take the opportunity to pray that Christ forgive you for not keeping him in priority. And if you don't know how your priorities should fall then ask God to help you figure them out.

Keep your eyes focused on Jesus and you will be able to see clearly.

Planks and specks

The last few days I've been looking at the sermon on the mount. I got to Matt 7 and I started to consider how much people judge others. This is a situation that we don't seem to realize gets deeper and deeper. We also don't realize how this can not only damage our relationship with others but our relationship with Christ.
A little less than a week ago my wife quit her job. I can't blame her, the people that she was having to work around had decided to judge her early in her time working there when she was first learning the job. When she left, there was at least one of her colleagues that said that she was the one person who really got the job done right. Everyone else there had spent their time making rumors up about her because of the judgement they had pasted on her.
This is a sad state of affairs. I felt badly that I couldn't protect her from this sort of abuse. The one thing that I'm trying to be careful of is that I don't allow myself to be a hypocrite.

1	Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2	For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Mk. 4.24
3	And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4	Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5	Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
6	Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

I don't wish to be the one that passes judgment on any person. What this text says to me is that if you are spending your time being worried about someone else then you can't be worried about yourself. This affects your relationship with Christ because if you are spending your time looking at someone elses flaws then you are not focusing your eyes and your efforts on what Christ's plan is for you. We all are truly guilty of this every now and again. It is important for us to ask forgiveness and move on.
Christ didn't die on the cross because he was passing judgment on us but because we passed judgment on him. Judgment is God's place and as he sits in the mercy seat he still loves us. In fact even while we are buried in our own sin God loves us. That is the reason Christ died that horrible death on the cross. Sometimes we need to be reminded of that, sometimes we sin and move away from Christ but he will draw us back in if we let him.
Keep your eyes fixed on him and you won't have to worry about passing judgment on others. Strive to be like him and be a witness to others. People should know that you are a Christian by your love, and passing judgment isn't loving someone. Until next time keep your focus on what is really important.