61Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” 62Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Luke 9: 61-62
Certainly, the Colorado Massacre which resulted to the tragic loss of 12 lives continues to haunt many of us today. Known as the worst massacre in US modern history, the tragedy took place during a movie premier of a Hollywood commercial film.
The suspect, James Holmes, a 24-year old neuroscience graduate student, reportedly walked into the theater in full battle gear, threw tear gas, and started to fire indiscriminately. Aside from the 12 who died, 58 more others were injured, some critically. The alleged gunman was reported to be under psychiatric care at the time of the incident. He had been purchasing ammunition over a period of time. The most recent was after he had failed a major oral examination.
Reacting to this recent tragedy, respected Christian leader Billy Graham wrote an open letter which was read publicly in many churches and religious organizations recently. Part of the letter reads, “I wonder what Ruth (his late wife) would think of America if she were alive today. …millions of babies have been aborted, and our nation seems largely unconcerned. Self-centered indulgence, pride, and a lack of shame over sin are now emblems of the American lifestyle… My heart aches for America and its deceived people.”
There are no words to describe these kinds of tragedies. One of the 12 who perished was Gordon Cowden, a 51-year-old father who had watched the film with his teenage daughters whom he shielded with his own body when the gunman open fired. He lost his life so that his daughters may live.
Many are saying that we should brace ourselves for more of these kinds of tragic events in our times. As one situated in a university community dealing with many students who are in the crossroads of their lives, I wonder if there are people like James Holmes roaming inside our campuses today — troubled, anguishing in mind and heart, and seriously sick in spirit.
If graduate student James Holmes was part of my community, would people even notice his pain? Would people even reach out to him and care for him before it’s too late?
My answer would be yes. Christian academic communities today, like Silliman University, have chosen the road less-travelled by most institutions of higher learning in our time.
While many learning institutions would rather just focus on the obvious — academic training, skills development, and preparing their students to be globally competitive — Silliman has held on to faith in Jesus Christ as a fundamental, essential, and non-negotiable ingredient in its educational paradigm.
Since I joined Silliman in 2009, I had been sent to minister and lead spiritual devotions to graduates preparing for their board examinations. People often ask, “Why? They are already graduates…we are done with them…we have already cared enough…they are on their own….
But why not? For more than 100 years, Silliman has put a premium on faith as a core value in its institutional life, recognizing the ever-important role of God in the shaping of life and human history.
It’s not easy walking the extra mile when it comes to these things, but such is the distinction that Christian institutions choose to tread these days — counting the cost and endeavoring to pay the price, equipping, inspiring and transforming generations to come with the most important message this world will ever hear: the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ who is the Way, Truth and Life.
Certainly, Christian institutions are far from perfection, but perfection is never the goal. One just needs to sincerely exert effort in pursuing that which is meaningful, purposeful, and eternally significant.
While all these human tragedies are happening around us more and more, Christ’s followers today are called to brace themselves for the greater work at hand.
In our scripture passage today, Jesus talks about a man who said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go…” Jesus tells him matter of factly, “That’s great! But you must know that foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head…..” The man walked away.
Jesus invites a second man to follow, but he excused himself for family obligations.
Jesus invites a third person to follow, but he also excused himself to say goodbye to those he loved. In conclusion Jesus said, “No one who puts his hand on the plow and looks back is fit for the service of the Kingdom of God.”
In the classic book, The Cost of Discipleship
by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, we are warned about our human tendency to trivialize the grace of God. The author writes, “…cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline…communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.”
Just as in the time of Christ, we today must also understand that following the Lord is truly costly, not only to our time, our talents, nor to our treasures, but also costly to our reputation, to our loyalties, our allegiances, our institutional image, and even our political and economic choices.
In the same open letter of Billy Graham, he speaks about the recent experience of Christian chaplains in a prominent city in the South of US. These chaplains were serving in a police department and were ordered no longer to mention the Name of Jesus in prayer. It was reported that in a recent police-sponsored event, the only person allowed to pray was someone who addressed “the being in the room”.
Commenting on this, Billy Graham said, “Our society strives to avoid any possibility of offending anyone–except God… Yet, the farther we get from God, the more the world spirals out of control.”
We can never impose faith on anyone. We simply proclaim Christ passionately and faithfully, endeavoring to embody our faith in word and deed.
At the end of the day, each one must make a personal choice about God, but for those of us who have made that choice, we only need to understand that our decision will be put to a crucial test, someway, somehow, that in God’s appointed season, the rubber will meet the road, the talk will have to be walked.
What a tall order! God help us! For now, life goes on for us all. We hold fast, we stay focused, and we do what we need to do, hoping and praying fervently in our hearts that when that defining moment comes, when we hear God’s invitation to do His will, we will offer no excuse, and never look back.
Instead, by God’s sufficient grace, may we grip the plow like never before, following Christ courageously, serving others faithfully, and living joyously, compassionately, and authentically until the very end.
