Learning the Plow By Rev. James McManus
Luke 9:62, “Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow was a younger man and Christian, this passage was confusing, and, at some times, off-putting because of it’s agricultural and agrarian nature. Unlike our moderator, and maybe some of you reading this, I wasn’t raised on a farm or anywhere near a farm! My life began a couple of blocks from the beach in Myrtle Beach, SC, and then a couple of years living around the campus of the University of South Carolina while my father attended engi- neering school at Carolina. However, the majority of my life was spent on Shaw Air Force Base and then in town in Sumter, SC. The closest we came to anything agricultural or agrarian was mowing the yard and looking wist- fully over the Wateree River as we drove from Sumter to Columbia and back again. So, as a young Christian, I couldn’t fully understand this teach- ing of farming and plowing. I had a general idea of what a plow looked like and was supposed to do, but nothing much more beyond that! Thankfully, over the years, the Spirit depended my understanding of Scrip-
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ture and put me in situations where I came to better understand what Jesus was teaching in this Luke passage. Two churches that I’ve had the privilege of serv- ing have been rural churches - one was a PCA church in rural York County in South Carolina and the other in rural Georgia at the White Oak ARP church in Moreland/Senoia. Each of those congregations had gentlemen who were farm- ers who were happy to talk to me about their life and work and even invite me out to see what it was all about. It was then that I got a good idea of what a plow was and what it was meant to do. They showed me what a plow was, what it was meant to do, and even how to best use it. These men were faithful in helping me get a better grasp on Jesus’ illustration, and the Spirit of Christ was faithful in helping me to better understand what Jesus was teaching me and all of His people.
When I now think of this passage, like many of you, my mind goes to disciple- ship and the seriousness of following after Christ - that we are called to put our hand to the plow of the Christian life and to keep our eyes on Christ. That is a serious and all consuming call for each of us who have been called and chosen by Christ. But, also from my experience, my mind also goes to thankfulness for
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those who were willing to take time to teach me what Jesus meant by this call of putting my hand to the plow and keeping my eyes front and center. Without these faithful teachers that God has placed in my life, I shudder to think where I would be now. In God’s gracious providence, I was given a taste of that discipleship- less life when I was younger. One of the churches I attended when I was a youth was one that was very focused on calling a person to a saving knowl- edge of Christ … but, past that point, there wasn’t much teaching. There was nothing about putting our hand to the plow, of glorifying God in all that we do, that if we love Christ then we will keep His commandments. It was all focused on salvation and not - istry of this church that God brought me to a saving knowledge of Him and His grace, and for that I am eter- nally grateful! But, past that moment of surrendering to Christ as a 15 year old, I didn’t know what else to do. I hadn’t been taught what it meant to study the Bible. There was no group of men for me to spend time in the word and prayer. The whole aim of the church was to get you to Christ, but, once there, there wasn’t much di- rection or guidance. I was saved into a discipleship-less life and it showed for the next several years! In God’s further gracious provi- dence, once I got to college, He placed folks in my life who took time to teach me the whole counsel of God. Men such as the RUF minister at Winthrop, a friend who led a Bible study on Ne- at a PCA church … God used each of - These men were faithful in taking me to God’s word and showing me how it taught what we are called to believe about God and the life He has called us to live in Him and for His glory. So, when I think about this passage, I am led to thank God for these farmers of Scripture who taught me what Jesus meant in all of His word, including this passage. There are more people like me in
The Associate Reformed Presbyterian
Synod Emphasis
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