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This past week I had the wonderful gift of spending time with my family down in Florida. And with 39 of us in one house, I was reminded, many times, how creative kids are when it comes to stalling for time and creating excuses. When there is a difficult task to be done or it is time for the fun to end, children get to work on trying how to figure out how to gain more time for fun, games, and snacks. They convincingly make their case for just one more story, one more show, or one last handful of snacks. When they are enjoying themselves and it is time to go home, kids suddenly forget where they put their shoes or temporarily lose their hearing. Kids will also give a passionate list of reasons of why they should be allowed to continue doing what they are doing.
We see this process of “stalling” in the word of God today. In our readings, God is beckoning others to service and discipleship. God moves Elijah to invite Elisha to the honor of becoming the next prophet who will spend his life sharing God’s truth. In our Gospel, Jesus invites others to follow him. In both readings, people stall for time; they say ‘yes’ but not quite yet. They look back to what they must leave behind. And they give some pretty good reasons. Elisha tells Elijah to let him first go home and tell his parents good-bye. An unnamed man in the gospel responds to the invitation of the Lord by saying “Let me first bury my father.” But the Lord is persistent and even unimpressed with the excuses given. Jesus says in our gospel: “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.” The reason for this uncompromising demand is that God is doing the calling. This is no ordinary invite.
Pausing before going, finding excuses to delay our unconditional “yes”, especially as adults, indicates that we don’t really understand or we don’t really care who it is that is calling us. It means we have something better to do or more important to hold us back. If we don’t care about who is calling us, we might end up failing to answer his call. It is undeniably easier to stay at home in the midst of what is small and familiar than to take the risks that come with answering a great call.
So here is the point of our readings today: there isn’t room for hanging back when the Lord calls us. If we hesitate, if we think of an excuse to postpone answering him, we aren’t really hearing the Lord calling; and so we aren’t really going to follow him either, not now, not later. That is why in the Gospel Jesus says that no one who sets his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of heaven. Each human person was made to follow the Lord, to live a life of love and holiness. Answering that call can’t wait for later; there is nothing more important that needs to happen first. The Lord’s call has to be answered now. This is what I love about Elisha’s response. After he asks Elijah for some more time and is rebuked, the fire of God is kindled in Elisha. He sacrifices his family’s oxen and uses their yokes for firewood to roast them as a meal for his servants. Elisha is making sure that he can’t go home again, that there is no turning back from following the Lord. His commitment is total and there will be no looking back. How could he, after what he did to the family oxen and their yokes?
One last thing about the call; most of what we are asked to leave behind are not things that are good and holy. Most often, it is primarily our sins and unhealthy attachments, our addictions and self-reliance. When God calls each of us, he first begs us to turn our back on the things that hurt us and others, the things that drain us and take away true happiness. And for anything we are asked to leave behind, God never leaves the void unfilled, he always rushes in with gifts and consolations that are even bigger and better.
It’s like he says, “let go of that good thing so I can give something even better”. My own experience has absolutely proven this true and I know you can find many others that would say the same. God is generous beyond our imagination and we would do well to accept his invitation as quickly and completely as possible. Always!
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the monumental ruling of the Supreme Court on Friday, which takes a first step in reversing our nation’s 49-year-old tragedy of considering abortion as an inalienable constitutional right. First of all, we should thank God and realize the power of prayer, sacrifice, and witness on the part of generations of people. Secondly, this is not the end of the struggle; abortion is still legal, to some degree, in each state, so there are still many innocent lives at risk. Third, this ruling has set off a wave of anger, despair, and hatred that will unleash it’s fury against God, the Church, and anyone who believes abortion is the killing of an innocent human person. We shouldn’t be surprised or frightened. Satan has always hated children and innocence and the bible is full of examples where evil takes out its rage against the most defenseless. But this wave of spite and malice must be met with compassion, mercy, prayer, and truth. Our readings advocate for a certain spiritual decisiveness, to choose a path and stick with it and so it is here. We must keep our hands to the plow and continue the work of protecting all human life and reaching out to those affected by abortion. We must continue the wonderful work of helping parents who feel they have no options as they contemplate an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy. They should never feel alone or unsupported and there are many ways each of us can help in that effort.
Last of all, take some time this week to read the majority ruling along with the consensus opinions and dissent. We have an obligation to be informed about this issue. I was struck by the rational, orderly, and calm argument of Justice Alito’s writing. It was not ideological or political and simply built the case from the law itself. In his writing, you will notice a term that is used many times, something called ordered liberty. It is the concept of freedom that serves a greater purpose, the type of freedom St. Paul referenced in the second reading. Jesus set us free from sin and death, not so we could use that freedom to do whatever we want to others and ourselves. We do not have the freedom to do whatever we want to our bodies or the bodies of unborn children. We do not have the freedom to redefine right and wrong. We do not have the freedom to make ourselves God or declare ourselves lord of life and death. But, we are free to live in the goodness and love Jesus offers. We are free to love God and love others in ways that help all of us get to heaven. Our readings and this monumental decision call us to reflect on how we use our freedom, as a country, as a church, and as individuals. Are we using that gift to serve and help all those in need, the unborn, the poor, the sick, the elderly, the forgotten, the immigrant, the prisoner, and the many other marginalized people who are the face of Christ.
And so, moving forward, let us live by these words of St. Paul, that are just as true today as they were when he wrote them nearly two millennia ago, Brothers and sisters: For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. For you were called for freedom.
But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love. For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you go on biting and devouring one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another.
