I wonder what sorts of things are distractions for you? It could be Facebook, or talkback radio, or shopping. A distraction is neither good nor bad in itself. It is simply something – or a person or a situation – that prevents us from concentrating on something else. Often we enjoy such distractions since they may keep us from attending to more important but difficult issues. Other times distractions are just plain annoying – like a constantly dripping tap.

In this week’s reading from the Gospel, Jesus makes a deliberate choice to set off for Jerusalem despite knowing that rejection, suffering and probably death await him there. The text states that he set his face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51). No distractions for Jesus. Just a narrow and single-minded focus on following the path that God seems to have laid before him.

This is hard teaching that we may try to ignore or wish had never been spoken. That’s because distractions – while neither good nor bad in themselves – take us way from other priorities. And as Jesus makes clear, those who wish to follow him must be prepared to walk the same path as he takes, which includes making God’s kingdom our number one priority. Lent is a good opportunity to review our priorities and how we are spending our time, and to check whether distractions are diverting us from following Jesus.

Several would-be disciples encounter Jesus and offer various excuses as to why they can’t follow him right now. One must organise a funeral for their father, one needs to go and say goodbye to their family and one is apparently unsure about basic requirements such as where they will sleep each night if they follow this itinerant preacher. Each of these excuses seems entirely reasonable. Yet the clear implication is that they are distractions from following Jesus and embracing his mission of bringing God’s kingdom into reality.