No, I'm Not...

For some reason it always happens on a Thursday, which is a little odd. You would expect that Monday would be the hardest day to deal with, but for me my worst days occur on Thursday. It hasn't been that often, especially in 2014, but there have been a couple of pretty scary Thursdays' over the past year and a half.

The most memorable one was almost a year ago. I look back at that time and I'm not sure what was happening in my life that caused it. It was the week following the Federal Election (many people may have experienced a similar time depending on who they voted for) but that meant very little to me, perhaps it was the fact my two children had been staying with me for a few days in a row and their mum had recently picked them up. Maybe it was loneliness as I woke up without them for the first time in a week. Maybe I was missing family living interstate. Maybe I was tired from a long work year. Maybe it was all of the above. Whatever it was, I awoke on this Thursday at the normal time to get ready for a 10am speaking engagement but I was flat. I felt sad and lonely and in need of a boost. 'Nothing a coffee and a muffin couldn't fix' I told myself. I guess I put too much faith in the ability of caffeine and chocolate to fix my life that day because I still felt the same after I had consumed them. So I decided to reach out - I called Dad. No answer. I called my brother. No answer. I called my mentor, twice. No answer. I called my boss. No answer. As each call went through to message bank I grew more and more exasperated. I was driving on my way to work (using handsfree) and each recorded message made me feel more disconnected and alone. The emotions overtook as I navigated the roads whilst attempting to make sure none of the other drivers could see the tears streaming down my cheeks. I didn't know where else to turn. So many people had said to me 'if you ever need anyone to talk to, just give me a call anytime', but in this moment I couldn't think of any of them. My brain wouldn't work and there seemed no way to break out of my isolation to reach another person. The only thing I could think was 'How can I face today like this?' which led to 'What if it is the same tomorrow? And the next day?'. I have since learned that these emotions pass and tomorrow is normally always better, but in the heat of the moment that perspective is elusive and hidden. I reached the end of myself. I was scared.

The importance of this story is more than just 'a bad day I once had', you see this day coincided with 'R U OK?' day. You can see the irony. I had spent the entire morning reading about it online and witnessed dozen's of my friends posts about it on social media, some asking the question, others highlighting the importance of asking the question to your friends and loved ones. It was great that so much fuss was being made about this day and the issues around depression and isolation, but there was a small problem. Amongst the generic 'R U OK?' posts and the encouragement to ask those around us, no one actually stopped and asked me. Because I wasn't ok. I wanted to tell people that, but there was no way I was going to put that as a comment underneath someone's status or initiate a conversation around that. The shame and embarrassment I felt was overwhelming. So I sat in my car doing my best to hide the tears.

My point is this. I love 'R U OK?' day and the whole concept. Most of my healing and restoration has happened because I have learned how to connect with people and build quality relationships. But the question, 'R U OK?' is so much more than a throw away status or tweet. You can't just generically suggest to the your faceless friends on the internet that if they are struggling they should talk to someone and think that you have fixed the world. The question needs to be asked to individuals, face to face, and then the question needs to be followed with silence and patience. The hardest words that I have ever had to say have been 'no, I am not'. They took years to figure out, months to form and weeks to eventually verbalise. But it's not a conversation to be afraid of - you don't even need to do anything, just sit there and listen. The 'R U OK' website has some great suggestions around this too.

My Dad ended up calling me back before I got to work. He rescued me that day. I cried with him on the phone, he felt helpless being so far away, we talked, we laughed and I felt so much better just because I connected with someone, who cared enough to ask and then to listen. It was through that conversation that I knew that tomorrow would be better.

I now also have a list of people saved in my phone who I know that I can call if I ever found myself in a similar situation - I asked some people and they were honoured to be put on it. Most I have never used and probably never will, but at least I won't feel so isolated when I know that I need to speak to someone in that very moment.

I have never suffered from depression. The best way to describe my experience with it is that I have skirted around the edges of grief-related depression. I travelled through it with people, and my doctor but my story is an uneventful one. Some of my closest friends have and do suffer from depression and they are some of the bravest people I have met.

R U OK day is the 11th of September by the way, but you don't have to wait until then... www.ruok.org.au

What's a KOG?

I was fortunate enough to take a class on the kingdom of God a number of years ago when I was at Bible College. As usual, I don't remember a great amount of detail about what we discussed or learned but I do remember that the concept of the kingdom of God was illusive and at times intangible. I also picked up that the answer to every question was Jesus. On one hand the kingdom cannot be summed up so simply, but I also think that at times, it can. Confused? You see? Illusive and intangible.

We are told to seek the kingdom of God as a first priority. If that is so important, then we probably should have thought about or at least have an idea of what the KOG is.

Luke 12:31
Seek the kingdom of God above all else...NLT
But seek His kingdom...NIV
Instead, go after the holy nation of God...NLV
Instead, strive for His kingdom...NRSV
But rather, seek ye the kingdom of God...KJV
But seek the Malchut Hashem...OJV

...and He will give you everything you need. NLT

I think of the random bunch of followers that Jesus had at that time. Most were not 'rich and powerful' and they had very little influence over the powers of the day. As a group, they were about to embark on a world changing mission, fail, lose their leader, get him back again a couple of days later, watch Him leave in the most extraordinary fashion and receive His Spirit to empower them for the task ahead. They were fully committed to Jesus and His new kingdom (although they didn't quite understand it), they had no idea what lay ahead but they knew if they went after the KOG then God would take care of the rest.

So, when I think of the KOG I think of Jesus, His life, death and resurrection. I think about how He spent time with the poor, the sick, the outcast and the lonely and gave them something to eat, healed them, restored them to community and connected with them. His mission was not just about physical, or spiritual, or social needs, but it was about the whole person. He initiated a brand new kingdom right in front of people as he challenged the powerful by caring for the least of these. He undermined authority structures through showing people what God saw as important in life. He stated this mission early on in his 'ministry career' when He read the Scripture from Isaiah (Luke 4:17-21), He was here to rescue the poor, captives, blind and oppressed.

One thing that I notice in this, is that whilst Jesus did spend time with the poor and oppressed, His view of a person did not change depending on whether they were rich or poor, Jewish or Roman. He saw people as His Father saw people, and how He still sees them today. As His created beings, in need of rescue. That is the transformational aspect of the KOG - all people, no matter where they were born, what colour skin they have, how much they are worth, what kind of lineage they have, are of equal value and are equally helpless to rescue themselves from their own sinfulness. So, for us to have a KOG or 'Jesus' response to the poor is to respond to their equal significance, to see ourselves in them. The problem that we have with this, according to Dallas Willard is not "...with how we see the poor, but with how we see ourselves. If we still think and convey by our behaviour that in some way we are fundamentally different and better as persons from a man sleeping in the discarded boxes in the alley, we have not been brought with clear eyes to the foot of the cross, seeing our own neediness in the light of it" (The Spirit of the Disciplines p211).

So, Jesus came to rescue the poor, captives, blind and oppressed. It turns out that is me. And you by the way. And the guy sitting next to you, that weird couple down the road, the homeless guy you might walk past on occasion and every single one of the hundreds of millions of people living in extreme poverty across the world. (Plus everyone else).

As people, if we are all equal, then we are all of equal value and importance and we each deserve the opportunity to reach our capacity, which, I believe, has a great deal to do with being connected with our Creator. How do we do that? Well, we seek the KOG above all else, which looks a lot like what Jesus did. Meeting the needs of the whole person. Giving them a hand up, not a hand out. But it is not striving for the sake of trying to do something good. You can't force it to happen, you can't force yourself to seek the kingdom, it is a response. We can only seek the kingdom as a response to the work of God in us, because he sought us first. How we choose to respond is up to us, but it's as simple as asking God what He would have us do. Careful though, it is a dangerous question to ask because God always has something ready for us and usually I find that it is something that He has put on our heart before or even prompted us to do which we haven't done yet. Whatever it is, it is important to remember that Jesus never sent money, or other forms of delegated help...He was the help. He got His hands dirty when He came down to us. Filthy, in fact. It cost Him dearly.

I like the way that Jesus reminds His followers about the fact that they are not in it alone in this and that God is for them...

"So don't be afraid little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom." Luke 12:32.

What About the Children?

I have often found great encouragement from Jesus' words in Luke 12 - "If God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, He will certainly care for you...don't be concerned about what to eat and what to drink...your Father already knows your needs. Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and He will give you everything you need" (v28-31 NLT).

There have been a number of times when things have been very tight financially, when we didn't know how we were going to make it through. Whether it was a number of bills stacking up, rent coming due, car problems, medical situations, car problems, the cost of living in general or a problem with the car (we have some interesting car stories). There were some scary times but I'm so thankful to God because every time, every time He provided exactly what was needed in the moment. I can attest to the powerful promise that Jesus gives in Luke 12.

But, there has been a thought that sits in the back of my mind like a small stone in my shoe or a single grain of sand in my eye - just irritating and uncomfortable. After working with a couple of aid agencies over the last few years and raising money to help the poorest of the poor this thought has only grown...what about the children? We live in a world where hundreds of millions of people, many of them children, go to bed hungry every single night. Does God not care for them as much as He cares for me? Does God care about flowers more than He cares about them?

Living in Australia we have everything we need...more than that, we not only have everything we need but we have so much more that could never be considered necessities. We are number 2 on the United Nations Human Development Index and have been for a number of years, behind Norway and in front of about 190 other countries. Now life cannot be measured in numbers, even so number 2 is still pretty darn good. I don't remember exactly what I did to earn my spot in this country, but it must have been amazing. Compare that to places like Rwanda or East Timor (much further down the UNHDI list) where malnutrition is at extreme levels in about 50% of children in certain areas. Kids eat roots the find in the ground, frogs, bugs and even tree bark. Boy, they must have done something wrong somewhere along the line to end up there. If that happened in Australia there would be an outcry. The government would send in numerous departments or church based charities or at the very least, Kochie. That should be the response (well, probably not Kochie), there should be an outcry because every child should have enough to eat. That much we can all agree on, can't we? It is not right for kids to go hungry, whoever they are, wherever they are.

That's the real world though, which causes me a problem. It is in this issue where my theology does not match my reality. This type of scenario can cause you to question your reality, or God, or both. After avoiding that confronting situation for a long time God brought me back to Luke 12:31...

"Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and He will give you everything you need".

I love the second part of that verse and have agreed with the first. I have read through this verse in a number of different translations and each one points to the imperative of first, God's kingdom is sought after and second, He gives what is needed. The question remains then, are the hundreds of millions of people going to bed hungry every night not seeking God's kingdom above all else? Is that why they don't have enough to eat? Am I seeking God's kingdom above all else, is that why I have everything I need? Is that true for my next door neighbour? It doesn't take long to figure out that this logical thought process does not actually make sense. Then it struck me, God is the God of the whole world, not just me. I have been thinking about this verse in a personal way, reading it as an individual through a selfish mindset. The 'you' in the second part of the verse is a plural you. This is not a promise to just me, but to you and everyone. So why do we not have everything we need? Well, we actually do. But the reason that some are not getting access to what they need is that the first part of the verse is not happening. We are not seeking God's kingdom above all else. I am not saying that nobody is doing anything, that is simply not true. In 1970 there were 60,000 children under the age of 5 dying every day from hunger and curable diseases, today that figure is closer to 19,000. Still too many to even contemplate and truly understand, but we are getting somewhere and making a huge difference because there are those who are seeking God's kingdom above all else. We are all called to do that. We all need to seek God's kingdom first and then He will give us (all 7.3 billion of us) everything we need. It is because we are not doing that we find ourselves in the situation. We are to blame for this. Poverty is a man made issue. We created it. To fix it, we need to seek the kingdom of God above everything else. But what is the kingdom of God? Well, that is too much to try and figure out here, but in short it is Jesus...

I Didn't See That Coming...

There have been so many things that have surprised me in life and I am sure there are more to come. I have noticed that the way we think about those surprises directly impacts how we approach life in general. You see, we can get so caught up in thinking about what might happen and attempt to plan and prepare for every scenario, or always be on the lookout for the next terrible thing that may take place. This is never more evident than in the way that we approach finances and possessions. We work harder and longer hours to get a better job, a promotion, a pay rise which in turn fuels the desire/need to work harder and longer hours to keep the job/current pay packet as the 'market is in a downturn' and 'nothing is guaranteed anymore'...true. Times are tough for many people and this will always be the case for in the game of economics there are always winners and losers.
Jesus had just finished talking about an economic winner who died before he had a chance to take life easy and enjoy himself and he drops some counter-cultural wisdom...

"Life is more than food and your body more than clothing" Luke 12:23

He then went on to talk about birds and flowers, so amazing in their beauty and intricacies whilst so vulnerable and fleeting. Only through a great power can they survive and even thrive; only through the great care of a loving God could this happen. "And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers...he will certainly care for you" v28.

This was a huge promise to a people who lived hand to mouth - if a crop failed or someone got sick then there was no back up plan, they would not eat. These people were so focussed on just trying to survive that it consumed their every thought. I guess that is part of human nature though, because no matter what situation people find themselves in, whether in plenty or famine we still find a way to become totally consumed by our own survival. Jesus urged his disciples and those listening to trust in the Creator God to look after their needs and to not worry, for 'your Father already knows your needs' v30.

He already knows. Nothing takes Him by surprise. This is what has struck me over and over again. Through the toughest of times when everything seems to have fallen apart, not once has God ever turned to me and say, 'Well, I didn't see that coming. What should we do now?'

I take great comfort in that. The fact that He is across every detail of our lives and actively seeks to provide what we need, even before we know we need it. It is more than food and clothes too - though they are the basic necessities but it is the people around us that He provides, the roof over our head, the divine purpose that He has for each and every one of us. It is the dozens of things that we take for granted that He has purposed for us in our life. These are the gifts that the great and loving God provides as He calls us into a life of active faith in Him.

Extraordinary words from Jesus. An amazing promise. But there have been some unsettling thoughts about these words and this promise that I have wrestled with for years...

We Make Plans...

"This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain." Luke 12:18

My kids know when I am thinking up a plan of action for the day. Without realising it I would often say "So, here's my plan..." and it wasn't long before I couldn't get past "So..." without them immediately chiming in with "What's the plan?". Perhaps that means that I am too predictable but we love making plans, and writing out a list of things that we want to achieve throughout the day so we can cross them off as we go. I don't think that planning came naturally to me, instead it was a learned behaviour as I discovered that without some sort of plan or direction I would not achieve a great deal during any given time. So, I now like to plan and I don't think I'm the only one. There is security and comfort in planning, in knowing what is to come and what needs to be done to achieve the plan. But, like anything in life, it is a balance. In reality we don't know what today will bring and there are many times when things pan out very differently than we had expected. Sometimes the best laid plans get thrown out the window because something derails them, and that's ok.

Jesus told a story about a wealthy man who had a once in a lifetime harvest one year. It was bigger than a bumper crop; it was simply huge and with it he could retire and never work another day again. The possibilities were endless, he could probably picture what life could be like...holidays, late nights, sleep ins, travel, dining on different delicacies, a great deal of wine and even property investments. Life was going to be amazing from this point. He only had one problem, one stumbling block to this life of luxury and that was his storage issues. There was nowhere to put the grain safely. His barns were too small and the grain would become worthless if it wasn't used or packed nicely into Tupperware containers. So, he made a plan.

I often consider the language we use when we think and work through life's challenges. It is a true indication as to what is going on in our heart. So it is with this man. "This is what I will do..." It was his plan and his plan alone. He was going to tear down his barns, build bigger ones and store his surplus grain for himself. There are no other characters mentioned in this story because it was about one guy who was the centre of his own world. He did not consider any other person, or give any thought to the God who blessed him with the wealth he already had, not to mention an abundant crop. His plan was made by himself and for himself. Life was good and getting better, and up to this point many people who were listening to this story as Jesus spoke would have been congratulating this man on his wise decisions. Many people today would agree. We dream of the time when we can have enough to retire early, travel, buy more property and enjoy the life of luxury. We make plans...but often we can forget that there is a God who is the Master Planner with an eternal perspective.

Luke 12:20-21

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 

“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

v23

For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.

Life is like a vapor and it consists of more important things than stuff.

Jesus goes on the explain more about this and it has to do with birds and flowers...

Pornography is not a sometimes food...

I am convinced that pornography is the junk food of sex and sexuality. It provides a quick fix, a cheap rip off of the original, giving a sense of fulfillment and short term pleasure which is followed by a feeling of deep regret and guilt. But it exists along the spectrum of sexuality just like junk food exists in the spectrum of food, even though many wish it didn't because it is so bad for you. We know that wishing does not make it so and the demand exists so strongly for both junk food and pornography that they are sustained, even thriving as a result and sometimes drawing the prohibitionists in to participate in a moment of weakness.

In the face of overwhelming fast food demand, the strength of the healthy food lobbying has allowed for a happy medium in which we see fast food given the title of a 'sometimes' food. Eating it once in a while, whilst not the greatest thing in the world for you, will most likely not be the cause of your death today (although the same cannot be said for the random cow or chicken which makes the meal, but we can live with that).  No one seems to question that even with healthy options, fast food is not good for you.

Pornography is not as simple. There are pockets of society that allow, enable and even encourage regular use, sometimes from a very young age. Although there is still an aspect of taboo which pervades the general population and many keep their habits of consumption a secret. Either way, the use of pornography, especially via the internet appears to have no boundaries anywhere within Western society. But, unlike fast food, many suggest that there is nothing wrong with it and anyone who speaks out against it speaks out not only against porn but also against freedom.

The reality is that the use of pornography diminishes the act of sex, which was designed to be the most intimate experience for a couple in a lifelong relationship, into a cheap transaction by a consumer only concerned with fulfilling selfish desires. The problems with it are many...

Firstly, from a fundamental perspective, it is a basic requirement of God to 'not lust after your neighbour's wife' (Exodus 20:17 The Message) which is every other women on the planet except for your wife. Jesus spoke about this too as He taught the people on a mountainside, 'anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart' (Matthew 5:28 NLT). It is there heart in which sinful behaviour starts.

Secondly, the Apostle Paul talks about 'all other sins a person commits' being outside of the body, 'but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body' (1 Cor 6:18 NIV). There is something that happens to us, some damage that is done when we engage in a form of sexual activity outside of its design which we cannot repair. It is thought that sex is so intimate that we share part of our soul with the person we engage in the act with, be they real or only an image. The more people that we have sex with (real or images), the more pieces of ourselves we have given out and the less we have left to give to someone whom we could share our life with. Add that to the broken relationship with the Creator that comes as a result of sin and you have some serious individual consequences.

Thirdly, not only a broken relationship with God but a broken relationship with the significant other in our life, be it present or future. You cannot be totally intimate with an individual if you are also intimate with others in the same way.

Fourthly, and probably the last thought of, the impact on women that pornography has is detrimental. It starts with women in general as they get reduced to a product for consumption by anyone and everyone who wishes, and ends up with the teenager who gets lured our of her village with a promise of a job and gets forced to work as a prostitute because of increasing demand for the product. There are literally thousands of stories like this.

It is all connected. Supply and demand impacts on a global scale and we are responsible for that impact. We get so caught up in claiming our freedoms and we don't pay attention to who's freedom we are stealing in the process.

I am not calling for pornography to be made illegal, but I am calling for men to make a stand against behaviour that has negative effects on everyone around them, including themselves. If demand slows then so will supply. But until then, not matter how you look at it, pornography is not a sometimes food.

Greater Men Than You...Luke 10:24

It says more about the message than the receivers, but it has a pretty distinct message to those He spoke to.

Vs 24. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

He has just finished telling the disciples about the depth of His relationship with the Father and, to stress the importance of the message, He tells them that greater men than them, important national leaders and those that spoke the very words of God, waited for this time and did not see it. It was an important message, brought to every-day people who weren't important in the eyes of the world. It was also a good reminder that they weren't as awesome as they may have thought...

The Same Message...Luke 10:8-11

The reactions were poles apart, but Jesus knew this is the way it would be. Some would welcome with humility and hospitality, whilst others would be arrogant and hostile. So He laid out a plan for His followers to follow when confronted by these two extremes...

Firstly, from verse 8, “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. ⁹ Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’". It was a simple method of operation but it contained a combination of cultural sensitivity and the expectation that people would be miraculously healed. For all intensive purposes, this was the best case scenario and I am sure that those who were about to embark on this adventure were very much looking forward to this response being the norm. Eating with the people, perhaps some that they would not normally eat with in any other context, and then healing their sick. What better foundation could you lay for the Good News abou the kingdom of God being close. I am sure many would have become followers of Jesus from that town.

The second option was not as friendly. "But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you.' " (vs. 10-11a). Probably a fair response to an icey reception. Whilst the disciples would not be keen to receive that kind of response, I am sure they were content to wiping the dust off their feet in protest - although probably they would like to do more. The previous chapter in Luke had some of the disciples offering to call down fire from heaven when a town refused Jesus' entry, to which Jesus declined; perhaps this could be their chance to initiate devine retribution. Maybe there was some other levitical curse they call call down on those that rejected His people. But wiping the dust off was it.

Although, what those towns wouldn't realise is that by rejecting the disciples they missed out on the opportunity to see God move in miraculous ways through the healing of their sick. Sometimes we don't realise that either. When we reject Him or His Word in areas of our life, we don't know what we miss out on...we think we might get off easy, perhaps a warning like the wiping of dust, but missing out on the work of His Spirit is the greatest punishment of all.

It does not end there though. Jesus continues by tellings His disciples that they should say to those who do not welcome them, "Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near."

The message was the same. Regardless of if people welcomed them or not, they were instructed to tell them that the Kingdom of God has come near. Simple. It doesn't matter what people say think, the Gospel message does not change.

The 3 Men...Part 3 - Luke 9:61-61

Family Business

⁶¹Then someone said to Jesus, "I want to go with you, Lord, but first let me go back and take care of things at home."

Sometimes we say the right thing, but our true meaning is hidden from others and sometimes ourselves. We attempt to please people and often have the right intention although it comes to nothing later. The third man wanted to be part of the action with Jesus, he had good intentions to follow Him and told Him as much. One has to ask some questions, though, when a statement of commitment is made which has a 'but' in the middle of it. By reading of the first two men that Jesus encounters we can see a familiar trend beginning and it is clear where this interaction is headed. This man provides a reasonable 'excuse' as to why he is unable to go now, and it may be a matter of hours or days before he returned but Jesus saw through the words and straight to the meaning.

Response Number 3...

⁶²Jesus answered, "Anyone who starts plowing and keeps looking back isn't worth a thing to God's kingdom!"

The harshness is unmistakable and it seems that the other two conversations were building to this crescendo as Jesus puts no weight on niceties. It becomes clear through this section of Scripture that Jesus is not interested in people offering to do the right thing, or talking about the good things that they will do once they are in the best position to do so, He is interested in people sacrificially following Him with everything they got, acknowledging that it will cost them something. God's kingdom is not difficult to hear about, anyone can be told of it, but only those who are truly sold out to Jesus will become part of it.

The 3 Men...Part 2...Luke 9:59-60

Burial...

⁵⁹Jesus told someone else to come with him. But the man said, "Lord, let me wait until I bury my father."

Jesus specifically targeted this man, the second He spoke to in this section, and asked him to follow His lead. The man really wanted to, he was keen to do the right thing, but first he had to bury his father. Now this sounds like a fair enough request, Jesus surely would understand the importance of family and especially the importance of Jewish burial process. The Jews believed in the principle of k'vod hamet, honouring the dead, which, among other things, saw the body watched or guarded from the moment of death until after burial, and burial occur as quickly as possible. The only way that burial could be postponed for one day was if immediate family were in transit or there was not enough time before the Sabbath or a holiday, but if it was delayed for any other reason it was considered to be 'humiliation of the dead'  (http://www.jewishfederations.org/page.aspx?id=937). As an orthodox Jew, Jesus would have fully understood the necessity to honour the dead and therefore the importance for this man to return to his family before he could become one of His followers. Surely this was just one of those times when family takes priority.

Response Number 2...

⁶⁰Jesus answered, "Let the dead take care of the dead, while you go and tell about God's kingdom."

The Orthodox Jewish Bible uses the word 'mesim' for dead in this verse, meaning those who are spiritually unregenerate, or without renewal, perhaps making use of this situation to make another statement against the religious ones who were caught up in traditions that had grown over time at the cost of what the Torah and the Prophets were calling the people to. This calling was what Jesus was referring to, 'go and tell about God's kingdom' to the living which was much more important than taking care of those who were already dead. This was another harsh reality check for those who were thinking about dabbling in the teachings of this Jesus guy, it was going to be harder than just being nice to people. It would involve sacrifice.

There is an argument (and perhaps a common assumption) that this man's father was not already dead when Jesus called him. Going on the above understanding of death and burial, If his father had recently died then why was he following Jesus around and not assisting with the process of burial, or why was he not in mourning? It is possible that his hesitation was not about honouring the dead at all but he was actually waiting for his inheritance so he could look after his needs on the road. This was not what Jesus was looking for at all, especially as He knew what lay ahead for His followers (Luke 10:4).

So, this second man was stopped short by Jesus with what initially seemed like a heartless response, but in actual fact it was really another part of His litmus test for those that wanted to follow Him.