Pentecost Week Twenty-Two- Day Three - Don’t Look Back

Day Four Three – Don’t Look Back
Luke 17:31–33

Jesus continues painting a picture of urgency — but now He goes personal. This isn’t just about the world being unaware of the kingdom. It’s about what happens when people who do know the truth hesitate to act.

Let me pause and ask – how many people do you know like that? One of my instructors at college Dean Inserra wrote a book about them – The Unsaved Christians!  Haunting.

In our text today, Jesus says: “On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away… Remember Lot’s wife.”

Three words. That’s all He gives us.

But they carry a massive weight.
Lot’s wife had one foot in safety and one foot in her old life — and when she looked back, it cost her everything.  So – two thousand years of judging – and I still think it is a natural instinct – but that is the point we are moving towards!

This is about more than fleeing a city. It’s about the grip of the past. It’s about the temptation to stay in what God is calling us to leave behind.  

Sorry long intro this morning... 

Historical Context
When Lot’s wife turns around. She looks back at the city she’s leaving, the life she’s known, the comfort she’s losing — and in that moment, she is stopped in her tracks.

Here is the surprising part and why many of us do not get this text – AND why Jesus mentions it…. In ancient Jewish thought, this wasn’t just a moment of disobedience — it was a revelation of divided loyalty.

She didn’t just glance over her shoulder. She longed for what she was walking away from.

Jesus brings this up to say: the kingdom requires urgency. Not panic. But decisiveness.

For His first-century listeners (Luke 17), this was more than metaphor. The destruction of Jerusalem was coming. The temple would fall. Their entire religious and political world would be overturned.

And when that moment came, Jesus wanted them to remember this: Don’t go back for your stuff.
Don’t return to what I’ve called you out of. Don’t tether your soul to what I’ve already set you free from.

Modern Reflection
We may not live in Sodom, or first-century Jerusalem — but we all know what it feels like to look back.  Some of us (my hand is up) too often.

We try to follow Jesus, but part of our heart stays in Egypt.
We walk toward freedom, but we glance longingly at the chains. Many say we want the kingdom — but (now – not me) we still crave the comfort of the old life.  Anybody?

And Jesus says: “Remember Lot’s wife.”

I’m learning to love this expression… This isn’t a threat. It’s a warning. A loving one.
(Ok – it does sound like Becky when she says – “remember last time you tried that?”  Lol)

Here is the point - You can’t follow Jesus while clinging to your former self.

You can’t walk toward the kingdom while wishing you still lived in the shadows.  Read that again!

Something always gets left behind.

The question is what — or who — you’re willing to leave it for.

The kingdom is worth more than what you're afraid to lose. And sometimes the greatest act of worship is simply not turning back.

Prayer
Jesus,
I want to follow You fully — but You know how often I look over my shoulder.
I carry old habits, old loves, old fears.
I say I trust You, but I still hold tightly to things You’ve asked me to let go.
Give me courage to move forward.
Give me faith to stop looking back.
Let my life say, in every step, that You are worth it.
Amen.