Foxes Have Holes
the radical cost to following Jesus
Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 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.” Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.” (Mt 8:18–22)
Today’s Gospel reading was a truth I hung my hat on when the going got tough for me in my transition away from RUF and into the Catholic world. I knew what I needed to do, and I knew the path in front of me was uncomfortable and terrifying, but I also knew the seriousness of the call to discipleship. Jesus’ commands are not something to contemplate. We must not tarry or we will not come at all (says the famous hymn, Come Ye Sinners). I began to see clearly: Delayed obedience was disobedience, yet often times guised as discernment and wisdom.
The ordering of Matthew’s Gospel adds weight to this teaching. Jesus’ longest discourse - the Sermon on the Mount - is covered in chapters 5-7, which ends in the amazement of the crowds, who noticed “he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.” He then goes on to demonstrate this divine authority - healing a leper, a paralyzed servant, and Peter’s sick mother-in-law. He will soon calm a storm, cast out demons, and tell the paralytic man, “rise, pick up your mat and go home.”
But between these episodes of divine authority, He has this curious encounter with a scribe. Now, scribes had real authority and influence (hence the crowds amazement that Jesus’ authority outweighed theirs). They were threatened by Jesus and most of the times, a skeptical group, often challenging Jesus’ teachings and questioning His authority… And one scribe comes to Jesus, legitimately wanting to follow Him. And how does Jesus respond?
“Bring it on! Glad to have you on the team!”
Nope.
“Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
In other words: Count the cost. Where I go comes with rejection, humiliation, poverty, and discomfort. I AM despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; I AM as one from whom men hide their faces, despised, and esteemed not. (Is 53:3)
We don’t know how this scribe’s story ends, as is true for most biblical stories. It’s an invitation to hear Jesus’ words and respond.
Here’s what we know: Jesus loves us too much to let us be double-minded. He leads us to places of death - places so low, you’ll covet the foxes and birds - out to dry wondering if He’ll come through. And He tells us in advance. He wants us to have realistic expectations. So that in those dark places, we know He is there.
This is where I’m at today.
Life has been hard. And in that challenge, my tendency is to doubt - “God must not have led me here.” My tendency is to grasp at the comfortable high grounds, where God makes sense. In my unrest, I’m drawn to what appears to be easy. But Jesus leads me lower. At many points throughout our lives He calls us - those with power, smarts, and status - to abandon it.
He loves us that much.
What unknown place is He calling you to follow Him into?
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In the past few months I’ve been drawn to this prayer (called a litany) of humility. It reads:
O Jesus! Meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being loved...(Deliver me, Jesus.) From the desire of being extolled... From the desire of being honored ... From the desire of being praised ... From the desire of being preferred to others... From the desire of being consulted ... From the desire of being approved ...
From the fear of being humiliated...(Deliver me, Jesus.) From the fear of being despised... From the fear of suffering rebukes... From the fear of being calumniated... From the fear of being forgotten... From the fear of being ridiculed... From the fear of being wronged...
That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may be esteemed more than I... (Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.) That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease... That others may be chosen and I set aside... That others may be praised and I unnoticed... That others may be preferred to me in everything... That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…
Come to find out, one of my favorite hymns over the past 10 years was written from this prayer, by a (former, now deconstructed) Catholic, Audrey Assad.