We hear this week in Luke’s Gospel that Jesus is calling people to follow him. As he is inviting people to be his followers, one person requests that he first be allowed to bury his father.
“Let the dead bury their dead.”
It’s not the most sympathetic portrait of Jesus. Even when we add the last part of the conversation, “..but you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God,” it doesn’t really get better. There is no bereavement leave where Jesus is concerned.
Why?
Because nothing is more important that proclaiming the Kingdom. Nothing. Not family, not rituals, not taking the time to pack, nothing.
This is tough stuff. We like our comforts. We enjoy our rituals. We depend on our down time to get recharged and rejuvenated.
But not so, when it comes to Jesus.
Scholars tell us that the man’s father was probably not actually dead yet. His request was to spend time with him until he died, to stay with him, make him comfortable, and hold his hand as his dad passed from this world to the next. That was important to the son – and I think we can all probably relate.
Here’s the problem: the man assumes that tomorrow – or whenever he was free from his duties as a son – he could come back and follow Jesus. The response of Jesus shows that He understood full well that if the man did not respond immediately, he might never respond all.
Jesus asks us to follow, to be compassionate, to feed the poor and forgive one another. He asks that we love one another in a way that is both counter-cultural and, for some, counter-intuitive. He asks us to be merciful and just, open-minded and even keeled. He tells us to welcome the stranger, give sight to the blind, and heal the broken-hearted. He asks us to witness our faith to others and live as an example of sacrificial love that can change the world.
And nowhere does he say that any of this will be convenient or that the invitation will arrive only when we are ready to heed it.
Invitations come in all shapes and sizes – at all times of day and night. From children and parents and brothers and sisters. Through friends and strangers and people stuck in traffic.
I cannot help but wonder how many invitations I missed today because I let my own desires get in the way.