1 Kings 19:15-16,19-21
Listen to Sermon
Pastor Tom Johnson, June 30, 2019
Some of you may remember the bumper sticker, “God is my copilot.” The idea is that we are in the driver’s seat, God is our companion and helper along our life’s journey. Our Scripture today reminds us that God is not our copilot. He calls us to follow him not the other way around. Or the country song, “Jesus, take the wheel Take it from my hands ‘Cause I can’t do this on my own I’m letting go So give me one more chance And save me from this road I’m on Jesus, take the wheel.” Today, Jesus calls us to stop putting our hands on the wheel and deluding ourselves that we are doing the driving.
In our first reading, Elijah passes Elisha plowing a field. He calls him to follow and be his successor as a prophet. Elisha asks to go back to say goodbye to his parents first. He takes wooden plow to barbecue his oxen in order to leave his old vocation as a farmer behind and to celebrate his call to become the Lord’s prophet. This story of Elisha having his whole life, work, and family reordered around his relationship with God would be very familiar to God’s people in Israel when Jesus called them. In fact, those Jesus’ calls to follow him first reference the call of Elisha—the prophet passing by in the country and desire to say goodbye to family.
Jesus’ challenge may come out of their arrogant presumption that they are like the great prophet Elisha who takes the mantle of the great prophet Elijah. Jesus reminds them that Elisha’s call is a divine call. God calls the humble. So when Jesus passes someone on the road and he says he will follow wherever he leads, Jesus tells him that he may not truly know what he is signing up for. When Jesus says, “Follow me” to another he wants them to know that it will reorder their whole lives—work, family, and worldly concerns will all be transformed. That is what the Kingdom of God does. The reign of God extends into every facet of our lives. Following Jesus puts all earthly relationships and concerns into a whole new perspective. And we get to become ambassadors of a whole new reality that transcends this life and human understanding. Jesus reminds us in this Scripture to not look back as we move forward to follow him. If we look back, our path will be crooked and chaotic. Jesus also refers to Lot’s wife who with her family leaves Sodom behind. She looks longingly to the past and turns into a pillar of salt. Jesus references this again in Luke 17 (vv. 31-32).
We have all received this divine call to follow Jesus—not just pastors and prophets. To follow Jesus has a real impact on all our other calls—our call to be parents, children, spouses, friends, bosses, employees—whatever our vocations may be. When Jesus challenges those who want to follow him to change their thinking about family, he challenges us all to put our relationship with God before our relationship with others. It will not complicate but enhance our other relationships. Just as Jesus connects the great commandment to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind with the commandment to love our neighbor which includes honoring our parents. In other words, Jesus does not want to be our copilot. He wants us to get out of the drivers seat. He doesn’t want us to back seat drive either. He does not want to just take the wheel. He wants us to take our whole lives and lead us down a better path. The problem comes when we do not want to let go of our control. We do not want to surrender all our responsibilities, possessions, and relationships to the Creator who is responsible for all the good things we enjoy in the first place. He made all things. He is the provider of every good gift. He makes us stewards not owners. Like those who were called to follow Jesus that day, we too can underestimate how full of an impact he will have on our individual lives. He puts all our relationships and worldly concerns into a whole new perspective.
Our priorities line up as we put our hands to the plow, look straight ahead, fixing our eyes upon Jesus, and sow the seeds of the Kingdom by his wisdom and strength. Like those who were called to follow Jesus that day, we too can underestimate just how much of a blessing it will be. It’s what we pray in the Lord’s Prayer when we pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” “Follow me,” Jesus says. “You will discover the deeper truth of life. Follow me and all your earthly relationships and possessions will come into the bright light of my heavenly Kingdom. Follow me and you will find absolute forgiveness as I go to the Cross. Follow me and you will inherit eternal life as I rise from the dead.” Jesus says, “Follow me. Trust me to lead you safely through the complexities of life. Follow me and surrender your lives to me. I will lead you to eternal life.”
“Come, follow Me,” the Savior spake,
“All in My way abiding;
Deny yourselves, the world forsake;
Obey my call and guiding.
O bear the cross, whate’er betide,
Take My example for your guide.
“I teach you how to shun and flee
What harms your soul’s salvation,
Your heart from ev’ry guile to free,
From sin and its temptation.
I am the refuge of the soul
And lead you to your heav’nly goal” (LSB 688 “Come, Follow Me, the Savior Spake” vv. 1 & 4)
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