Expository Lutheran: Let the Dead bury their own Dead

Friday, February 18, 2011

Let the Dead bury their own Dead

Matthew 8:18-22 (ESV)
Now when Jesus saw a great crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. [19] And a scribe came up and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." [20] And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." [21] Another of the disciples said to him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." [22] And Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead."

Matthew 8:18-22 (ESV)
Now when Jesus saw a great crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. [19] And a scribe came up and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." [20] And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." [21] Another of the disciples said to him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." [22] And Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead."
Leave the dead to bury their own dead. Jesus means that those without faith, those unwilling to “follow” him are to bury their own. Family cannot come in the way between Jesus and you. This is such a painful thing for so many. Today family is worshiped, nowhere more than in Utah. Actually, it is quite sickening and freakish to an outsider. And the things that pass for family values here, well, they don’t normally appeal to me as being great examples of morality. But families tend to have a hold on a person. We are after all told to honor our mother and father. Love for family is a natural thing. But love for family cannot stand in the way of a person’s faith in Christ. Christ demands to come first. He is God. He is our creator. Family is family. It can be loved but not worshiped. If they forsake you for following Christ, that is their problem not yours.
But Christ has given us a new family, the church. In the church we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. And Christ has prepared for us a heavenly home that is much better than anything we know on earth.

2 comments:

Larry said...: Bror,

This comes close, I think, to answering a struggle my wife and I have had with family members and "what to do when they die", if something between now and then doesn't change. Close immediate family members. We have, especially on my side, family members, who have fallen away from the church and I do not see anything getting them back. In perspective this is from both baptistic and wesleyan backgrounds so who knows what they heard. It's like a brick wall and nobody wants to listen no matter how nice and soft you attempt it.

Anyway to make short story long; we've fretted deeply what to do when they die, assuming nothing changes. How might we do their funeral? They have no church except the one they maybe attend umpteen years ago, I doubt they even know the pastor there (a SB church I grew up loosely in). And these are aging family members, yes my parents. It's a struggle I've pondered many a day and night.

Any thoughts? And feel free you won't hurt my feelings on this issue I know its a tough one, I understand that upfront.

Thanks,

Larry; February 21, 2011 at 10:02 AM
Larry said...: Bror,

This comes close, I think, to answering a struggle my wife and I have had with family members and "what to do when they die", if something between now and then doesn't change. Close immediate family members. We have, especially on my side, family members, who have fallen away from the church and I do not see anything getting them back. In perspective this is from both baptistic and wesleyan backgrounds so who knows what they heard. It's like a brick wall and nobody wants to listen no matter how nice and soft you attempt it.

Anyway to make short story long; we've fretted deeply what to do when they die, assuming nothing changes. How might we do their funeral? They have no church except the one they maybe attend umpteen years ago, I doubt they even know the pastor there (a SB church I grew up loosely in). And these are aging family members, yes my parents. It's a struggle I've pondered many a day and night.

Any thoughts? And feel free you won't hurt my feelings on this issue I know its a tough one, I understand that upfront.

Thanks,

Larry; February 21, 2011 at 10:02 AM

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My Morning Devotions, or Justification for a Pastor's Blog

I decided I need, maybe to post more often. My last year in seminary, I took a life saver of a class from Prof. Pless called the “Pastor’s Devotional Life.” In this class he suggested that a pastor’s devotions ought to be creative, in that something should be created out of them.I spend every morning in prayer and devotion, study. And I normally don’t look at the day to day of the office, Sermons, Bible Studies, visits, etc. until at the earliest mid morning. I find after spending time feeding myself from the green pasture of God’s word, I have a lot more with which to feed the sheep entrusted to me. These posts on this blog will be the fruits of my morning study, my breakfast from which I get my nourishment. I don’t want this to get complicated, it's breakfast not dinner. But I am willing to share my breakfast with you. Just thoughts that I have here and there as I read through the Greek New Testament, or the Book of Concord in German, or whatever else I happen to read in my morning devotions. Expect the musings to be eclectic.