He said to another man, “Follow me.”

But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

• Luke 9:59-60

 

If you know about Jewish culture, they bury the same day whenever possible.  This guy isn’t asking a lot of Jesus to wait, but Jesus isn’t talking as much about family as He is time.

 

I remember the funerals of my father’s parents.  You’d think that every one of the children would be there.  My grandparents had four sons and a foster daughter.  But when my Granddaddy died, one of the four brothers was in a gold mine.  He was preparing for his retirement as a geologist by buying old mines.  Cell phones didn’t exist then.  The problem was that no one knew how to get in touch with him.  So, the funeral went ahead without him.  A couple of years later, Mammy passed away.  Now this was going to be another chance to see all of the uncles, but the same brother had his family on vacation in Hawaii.  The brothers talked over the phone.  It was decided that he should stay on vacation.  He missed the other one.

 

You can’t schedule around the death of a loved one.  Life, and death, simply happen.

 

Even births are hard to schedule around.  Our first son was about three weeks early.  My mother-in-law was in Holland visiting relatives.  You could get upset, but why?  These things happen when they happen.

 

When happens when God calls, and we are busy?  Remember from a post a few days ago, in Luke 12:20, Jesus says, “But God said to him, ‘You fool!  This very night your life will be demanded from you.’”

 

You may be like this, but if not, you know someone who procrastinates.  The song, “Mañana,” is a song about a man who continuously puts tomorrow itself off until next day.  Nothing gets done, because there is always tomorrow.  C. S. Lewis wrote in The Screwtape Letters, “The more often he feels without acting, the less he will be able to ever act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel.”  Yes, our demon may not be named Wormwood who has an uncle Screwtape, but our demons are real.  The clarion call of the couch beckons, even for the person suffering from OCD.

I wrote this in another post not long ago.  If God held the gates of heaven open for just a few seconds, would you drop everything and run?  Oh, but my family, my obligations, my things…  Sorry, a moment’s hesitation and the gates will close.

Quick!  Hurry!  The phone is ringing.  You must not reject the call.