Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Lk 9:62

Leroy “Satchel” Paige, the great baseball pitcher, was a legend in his time. But his fame as an athlete was almost over-shadowed by his renown for wise “sayings.” Here’s one: “Age is a case of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it don’t matter.” And another: “My pitching philosophy is simple – keep the ball away from the bat.”

But perhaps his most famous maxim is one that sounds a little like what Jesus is saying in today’s Gospel: “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.”  

Don’t look back.

In this somewhat jarring – maybe even confusing – Gospel account, Jesus is on a journey to Jerusalem, a journey that will not end in glory or honor. Quite the opposite. It’s one that will lead instead to the horrors of a crucifixion. 

Jesus has upset the leaders of the Jewish community who are enriching themselves by colluding with the Roman Empire. He has openly disparaged their treatment of the poor and the destitute. He has criticized the way they have heaped ethical burdens on the people too heavy to carry.    

Jesus has also challenged the Roman rulers by stirring up the people and insisting that Yahweh God is the Lord, not Caesar.    

This journey for Jesus is one of accepting the consequences of his own personal fidelity to that same God, who he calls Abba, the intimate term “Dad.”  

In doing so, Jesus now turns to his disciples and clearly outlines the very essence of the Christian life: discipleship, following the way of Jesus. 

Worship is important. Prayer is necessary. But the crucial issue that dominates every other “religious” concern is following Jesus by living out his value system and loving what Jesus loves. 

So, do not look back. Do not look back to the usual and the expected and the “what everyone else is doing.” 

For example, when you read today’s Gospel passage carefully, you will note that Jesus is symbolically accosted by three people with the three problems that usually keep us “looking back.” 

In themselves, those three are very worthy responsibilities that we would all assume to be common sense: 

1. The necessity of a home and its comforts. Yet Jesus informs them: “But the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 

2. The sacred duty to bury their parents. But Jesus says, “Let the dead bury the dead.” 

3. Relationships with family. But Jesus insists “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” 

Strong language! Shocking images!

What is emphasized here is that if you wish to be a follower of Jesus, if you wish to help bring about a more humane way of life in the world you live in, you cannot delay; you cannot keep using family commitments as excuses for your refusal to go forward; you cannot keep looking back.    

To be clear, Jesus is not saying you cannot have a home. What he is saying is that there are ideals more important than your house and your domestic tranquility. 

Jesus is not saying you cannot bury your parents. What he is saying is that it should be done with the understanding that there are values more urgent than this honorable duty. 

Jesus is not saying your family is not a primary issue. What he is saying is family, marriage, and children are commonly used as excuses for not walking a spiritual path. 

Keep moving ahead. Don’t waver. Hold fast to your faith. Be true to the essence of the Gospel. 

That’s what Jesus is trying to communicate to us. 

Keep in mind that Jesus emphasizes two forms of spirituality, each based on his own behavior patterns: 

The first and more obvious form is healing spirituality in which we follow Jesus’ lead in helping to heal the pains of life, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the prisoners. 

The second is often the more difficult and neglected form because we usually like our religion served warm with little fuss. Yet Jesus is calling us to more than being nice. He wants us also to accept the call to a prophetic spirituality. By that I mean following the path of the great prophets of the Old Testament: Isaiah, Jeremiah, and a host of others. Ultimately, Jesus himself. 

As Sr. Joan Chittister puts it in her remarkable book, The Time Is Now: A Call to Uncommon Courage, 

“The prophet is the person who says no to everything that is not of God. No to the abuse of women. No to crimes against immigrants. No to the rape of our planet. No to the despicable destruction of humankind for the sake of more wealth, more power, more control for a few …. The prophet is one who speaks the truth to a culture of lies.” 

What Sr. Joan is saying is remarkably similar to these powerfully strong and difficult to hear words of Jesus in today’s Gospel – words that tell us to stop looking back to what is usual and ordinary and culturally acceptable … and being afraid to step forward on behalf of those who are not able to speak.  

Instead, risk. 

Ask more of yourself than what is commonly expected. 

Stop looking back to see if you’re doing what everyone else is doing culturally. 

Or, as old Satchel put it so commonly and so “plainly,”  “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.”  

And that something might be the missed opportunity to embrace a spirituality of risk and adventure and courage and witness – the spirituality of a prophet. 

“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Ted Wolgamot, Psy.D.

6/26/19