Preached by Rev. Ed Brouwer at The Gathering Place, Osoyoos
Pulpit Series Volume 21, Issue 07 June 26, 2011
Luke 9:62 “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Three verses before, we read in Luke 9:59-61 “And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.”
Three verses following, we read in Luke 10:1-3 “After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.”
Jesus said in Luke 9:62 (NIV) that, “No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the service in the kingdom of God.” It is not a long stretch to associate Preaching the Gospel with ploughing.
Consider:
In the Gospels we find 6 references to “the sower”; 39 references to “fruit”; 7 references to “the harvest” and 16 references to “gather”.
Why out of all the examples Christ could have used, did He use “the plough”?
One of the most important steps in preparing land for growth of a crop is to break up the land so that the soil is ready for the seed to grow. The tool that was used to do this was the plough. The ploughman holds the one handle of the plough with one of his hands, while he carries a stick in the other hand, with which to prod the animals. During the process, the ploughman would have to press down with all his weight on the plough (because it was so light) in order to make the furrow deep enough.
“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the service in the kingdom of God.” Why? Because…such a person will plow crooked furrows. And if the first furrow is crooked, each successive furrow will be more crooked than the last.
A farmer would want his furrows to be as straight as possible so as to make sure that every part of the field is ploughed. If however the ploughman was looking behind him when he’s ploughing - well the results would be crooked. A field done like that would have to be gone over again.
God promised the Israelites the Land of Canaan.
He even miraculously brought them out of Egypt,
yet the Israelites started looking back right in the beginning.
God provided an escape
Exodus 14:10-12 - the first time they looked back was when they were camped by the Red Sea
God provided manna
Exodus 16:2-3 - shortly after this, they looked back a second time - grumbled about lack of food
God provided quail
Numbers 11:4-6 - complained about the lack of meat - they looked back to Egypt
Numbers 13:26-33 - complained about the promised land - they wanted to go back to Egypt
Each successive complaint that the Israelites made against the Lord was more crooked than the last until when they had reached the promised land they even refused to receive God’s promise. Because they were always looking back toward Egypt, they even missed when God performed miracles in their midst. He had already proven that He was more than capable of giving the land of Canaan over to them.
Looking back is an indication of a dwindling commitment.
Even after doing one row crooked, the ploughman still has the opportunity to correct himself and do the next one straight. But a whole field of crooked furrows indicates that the ploughman doesn’t really care. Each successive furrow indicated his dwindling commitment to the crop he was planting.
God gave the Israelites every opportunity to start to straighten their “furrows” and stop looking back to Egypt. But the fact that they didn’t heed God’s warnings each time, led to a dwindling in the Israelites commitment to God.
A person who looks back ploughs shallow furrows.
While ploughing, the ploughman must rest all his weight on the plough and this is not possible if he is looking back - in fact it is pretty dangerous as well. You may not think this too important but crooked and shallow furrows affects the seeds that are sown.
One of the purposes for ploughing the field was to break up the earth but also there would usually be a person going ahead of the ploughman spreading seed.
No one puts his hand to the plough without the thought of having to plough! No one ploughs without the thought of having to plant!
As the plough went by, the seed would be covered and would be hidden from the birds that were always present at planting time. If the ploughman didn’t make the furrows deep enough, then the seed would be missed and the birds would be sure to take the opportunity of gaining a quick meal.
If a ploughman was looking back while ploughing, it would show that he didn’t care very much about the kind of job he was doing. If this particular man happened to be working for the person who owned the field, he probably wouldn’t keep his job very long!
Such a person will bring in a poor crop or no crop at all.
To put it simply, if a ploughman was looking back while ploughing, his field would be full of crooked furrows and the birds would get most of the seed that he had sown. The result would be a meager if not, no harvest at all. The crops from this ploughman would be worthless.
John 15:8 “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”
When we take this plough in hand, there is no looking back
or we will miss out on the promises that God has for us
because we will become in the words of Jesus,
“not fit for service in the kingdom of God”.
We can either look forward or look back!
- we can look forward to the place which God is preparing for us
- we can look forward to the task Christ has laid out for us
- we can make the resolution to put our hand to the plough and have our furrows straight and deep or
- we can look back to our Egypt and complain - our furrows will be crooked and shallow and our harvest? What harvest?
This is without a doubt a searching test to those who profess to be Christians! It is our solemn duty to renounce all earthly objects, and to be not “partly” but “completely” followers of the Son of God!
Are you prepared always to give up all your property, health, friends, body and soul to God, when He demands it?
Following Christ is everything or nothing. He that is not willing to sacrifice “everything” for the cause of God, is really willing to sacrifice nothing.
We must resolve to go on with God!
- Looking back leads to…..drawing back.
- And drawing back…..leads to utter ruin.
Looking forward means that our undivided and complete focus is on Jesus Christ and what His will is for our lives. “No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
I leave you with this soul searching question….
“Are you fit for service in the Kingdom of God?”
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