C, Pent 5 Proper 8 - Luke 9:51&62 "GPS Navigation"

There’s no doubt many farmers have been working day and night to get crops planted. And then there are plenty others watching and waiting for the ground to dry enough for them to get out there and do the same.

After a lengthy drought, rain has now fallen, and once again many of us resolutely set our smiling faces toward the task of securing a harvest later in the year.

In the gospel reading today Jesus resolutely turns to the task of going to Jerusalem, knowing that joyful times would not be ahead, as he secured the harvest of humanity in his crucifixion on the cross.

From Luke 9:51 we hear: “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” Jesus knew his holy vocation was to suffer and die for the people – for us! So he boldly stood to fulfil his predetermined duty, obediently and faithfully following his Father’s will, giving up himself in sacrificial service, despite his innocent suffering and death, despite being God the Son — perfect and holy.

Then we hear how Jesus sent messengers out into the Samaritan countryside to prepare things for him, but the locals were too proud to welcome Jesus’ mission. Then he called others to follow him, and the response he received was half-hearted and apprehensive at best.

Jesus resolutely, boldly, unwaveringly, stood to the task and set his face towards Jerusalem, but the resolve of the Samaritans was stubborn and apathetic. Their resolution to follow only after attending to their personal duties receives this judgement from Jesus, as he replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62)

Now having sat in a tractor or two in my time, this seems a little problematic. Most of us spend our time looking back as we plough or plant. One usually watches the implement behind the tractor to make sure it’s travelling at the right depth and to keep in line with what has already been worked. So it’s fair enough for us to ask why Jesus says those who look back aren’t fit for service in the kingdom of God.

Farming for us these days involves horsepower on rubber tyres or steel tracks, but in days gone by, horsepower was on hoof; and even earlier, ox-power was yoked and harnessed to the plough. Farmers followed and guided the plough on foot; there was no need to look back. In fact if one looked back instead of forward, the beast and plough were in danger of going astray. One only looked back in pride or in fear, concerned over the work which had been done.

Things are much different today. No longer do we have to trail behind a beast yoked to the implement, as if we were also yoked to the task of keeping everything in order. We have hydraulics and diesel motors to do the work as we sit up front and listen to the radio in air-conditioned comfort, trying not to go to sleep. And for some farmers the job is made even easier these days with the use of Global Positioning Systems, or GPS, steering the machine, doing the work, releasing the yoke of concentration so the driver might do other things.

Perhaps, for those who rely on GPS, hydraulics, or diesel horsepower, Jesus’ call not to look back is still relevant. If we look back we do so to admire the straight furrows, without deviation, taking pride in our work. Ironically though, we really haven’t done much work at all. The motor pulls the plough, the hydraulics lift the plough, and the GPS keeps the tractor on the straight and narrow, farming the single track without deviation. Or maybe those who look back do so not trusting the means at their disposal to do the job, perhaps they fear the tractor, the plough, or the GPS is not working properly.

Then it occurred to me that we too were once beasts of burden – burdened under the law, under a yoke of slavery, continually looking back to see if what we had done was acceptable under the law. We were once harnessed by the Law, and if we went astray, we suffered the consequences of our master, ending in eternal death if we didn’t get the job just right — straight and perfect.

So how is it now that we who were once not fit for service in the kingdom of God, are indeed now more than cable to fearlessly look forward knowing we’re moving closer and closer to the eternal and holy harvest of heaven?

The fact of the matter is that we work with a GPS too. God has given us the means to be able to move along the single track required for entry into heaven. This track is without deviation, it is perfect, and it was worked and won by Christ who perfectly wore the yoke, never looking back but pioneered the way of the future.

The GPS we operate under is not a Global Positioning System, dependant on satellites for accuracy. But rather our GPS is a threefold GPS as — our God Providing Salvation, our Grace Perfecting Saviour, and our Gospel Positioning Spirit.

Paul speaking to the church in Galatia, and also to us travelling under this Triune GPS, says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1) Paul here is saying exactly what Christ says, “Don’t look back, look forward! Stand strong, stand firm, resolutely set your face towards the freedom found in me, rather than looking back to the slavery that once made you a beast of burden.

Yet as free people in Christ, this is not a freedom that leads to destruction and chaos, but to one of peace and holiness. Just as a GPS puts the vehicle on the right path, our freedom allows us to be led by the Holy Spirit. Our holy GPS leads us on Christ’s single track to Salvation, and in this Triune GPS we have confidence in where we’re going, because it has been perfected by Jesus himself on the cross.

You and I now ride on the power of God. As a matter of fact, he now works in us. The Triune GPS — God Providing Salvation, Grace Perfecting Saviour, and Gospel Positioning Spirit — ploughs out the ever-present weeds of the sinful nature and plants the fruits of the Spirit.

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24) So let us look back less and less to the weeds of the old sinful nature.

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. (Galatians 5:25-26)

We can trust more and more in Christ who never looked back and who continually sends the Holy Spirit to plant himself and his gifts in us. We are bold servants, looking forward to the harvest, confidently led by our threefold holy GPS – our God Providing Salvation, our Grace Perfecting Saviour, and our Gospel Positioning Spirit. Amen.