SERMON Time after Pentecost Lectionary 23 September 5, 2010

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1 SERMON Time after Pentecost Lectionary 23 September 5, 2010 Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Psalm 1 Philemon 1-21 Luke 14:25-33 Brothers and sisters in Christ, grace to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus, who is the Christ. Amen. For the first four weeks in August, instead of following the Lectionary readings for the day, I did a sermon series on the different parts of the Liturgy. Then last week, we heard Pastor George Haynes speak to us about going ahead, and putting God to the test. So I was rather anxious this week to get back in the groove and return to following the Lectionary. Then I read the Gospel reading for today and said; Oh great! I think I ll go back to my sermon series. What is all this talk about hating families, carrying crosses, and selling possessions? Well, let me begin by saying that it seems that Christians are obsessed with counting sheep. After all, how often do you hear Christians of all denominations asking each other about the size of each other s congregations? Often we hear folks asking, How many people do you have on a Sunday morning? We marvel at so-called mega-churches. We feel good when we see a large crowd in church on Christmas or Easter, and wish that it was like that every Sunday. A large crowd at a worship service is considered a success. In our Gospel story today, we hear that, large crowds were traveling with Jesus. Now if Jesus were a good pastor or church programmer, he would have dispatched some of the apostles to get everyone s name, phone number, and home address. He would have made sure everyone felt welcome.

2 Perhaps he would have fretted over his sermons, making sure that each one was practical, uplifting, and non-offensive, therefore ensuring that the crowd would come back again and again. If they were singing Psalms, he would have made sure that the tunes were easy to catch on to, and appealed to the largest group possible. Perhaps he would have offered toys or gifts to the children just for coming. But we know that Jesus wasn t a very good church programmer. For Jesus kept shrinking the size of his congregation. First there were immense crowds following him, then smaller groups, then just a few. By the end, just about everyone had abandoned him except for several women who were weeping at the foot of the cross from which he hung. You see, Jesus wasn t calling crowds; he was calling disciples. Jesus wasn t concerned with being popular or well liked. Rather he was concerned with transforming lives that would usher in the Kingdom of God. When Jesus sees the crowds, his purpose is not to wow them, although that s what most of them wanted. His purpose was to make each person know what it will cost to be his disciple. And it is this awareness of the journey that brings about transformation. So let s take a closer look at what he has to say. But first of all, we might ask, what were these large crowds following Jesus looking for? Perhaps they were looking for some sort of new teaching. Maybe they were sick and were hoping Jesus could perform some kind of miracle. Perhaps they were hoping that he might be the one to lead an insurrection that would overthrow the Roman occupation of their land. Or maybe they had heard rumors that he might be the long awaited Messiah that had been foretold of long ago. Indeed large crowds followed Jesus then, and large crowds continue to follow today. Some of them we might label as church shoppers. Maybe they are looking for an engaging youth program for their teenager. Perhaps they are seeking a place where they can feel a sense of belonging.

3 Maybe they are looking for a place with a dynamic, charismatic pastor that will help them with their struggles in life. Or perhaps they are looking for a place that offers the best donuts in town (I think we would win that contest). Now all of these things aren t bad, just like what the crowds following Jesus were looking for that day. But to the crowds then, and to the crowds today, Jesus turns and gives us some very hard words. He says, Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions. Now I may not be an expert in Church Growth, but I think it is pretty clear that Jesus was not interested in growing his flock here. These words are so hard to those listening that they are almost incomprehensible. Many said, Yeah right! See you later Jesus. I think that one of the hardest things Jesus says is when he talks about hating one s family. Now here, the word hate translated from the Greek miseo, must be understood in the context of the first-century middle-eastern world. It is not so much an emotional position, but rather a matter of honor and shame. You see, in the ancient world, hating one s family meant doing something that injured them, particularly by disgracing them. Life was family centered, and the honor of the family was very highly valued. Every family member was expected to protect the honor of the family. If some family member joined a suspect religious movement and abandoned their home, this brought disgrace on the family. So in other words, when Jesus is calling on would-be disciples to hate their family, it is more like telling them to divorce themselves from their family in order to be his follower.

4 Jesus then goes on to say that if you want to be my disciple, you must first measure the costs. For discipleship will have consequences. And one of those costs might be your relationship with your family. Next Jesus says that if one does not carry the cross and follow him, they cannot be his disciple. Now the language of cross bearing has been corrupted by overuse. Actually, bearing a cross has nothing to do with chronic illness, painful physical conditions, difficult family relationships, or a tough boss at work. It is instead what we do voluntarily as a consequence of our commitment to Jesus Christ. Cross bearing requires deliberate sacrifice and exposure to risk and ridicule in order to follow Jesus. Finally, Jesus tells would be disciples that they must give up all of their possessions. But this is not new advice. We hear it time and time again in the teachings of Jesus. It was practiced by the early church as recorded in the Book of Acts. And it also imitated the way Jesus describes the nature of God. So, how we doing so far? Have you heard any good news here? Now, I could have watered down these words of Jesus to make them more palatable to our way of life here today in 21 st century America. But I just couldn t do it. And believe me, I would have liked to. For I personally struggle with this more than you would ever know. These words of Jesus strike me right in the heart just as much, if not more, than they do all of you. To be honest with you, I can t get them out of my mind. I just can t dismiss them. Because you see, if Jesus didn t really mean what he was saying, then why did the crowds desert him? Evidently, they must have thought he was serious. So perhaps we just need to be ready for the time when Jesus singles us out of the crowd and confronts us to make a decision. What is it going to be?

5 For not too long after Jesus spoke those words, he too was confronted with a decision in the Garden of Gethsemane. He had to decide whether or not he was going to the cross. And who knows when that moment or those moments will come for us? But be rest assured, they will come. In a world where racism pervades almost every corner of life, those moments will come. In a world where violence has become an acceptable response to conflict, whether in our family, or on the streets, or between nations, or even in the church, those moments of decision will come. In a world where prejudice, bigotry and homophobia are pervasive throughout our society, those moments will come. In a world where greed has a hold on all of us, where indifference to the poor is sanctioned in the boardrooms and legislative halls at the highest levels, those moments will come. In a world where betrayal of those we love for the sake of advancement or pleasure is rampant, those moments will come. In a world where fear mongering, hate filled s are forwarded throughout the World Wide Web, those moments will come. In a world where the exercise of imperial power by our own nation is sanctioned by many in the church for the sake of their own security regardless of the insecurity it rains down on others in such a world, those moments will come. In a world that carelessly neglects and indeed destroys God s beautiful creation for the sake of personal comfort and pleasure, those moments will come. So where is the good news in all of this? Where is the hope? Where is the joy? Perhaps we can turn to some examples of those who have accepted the call to discipleship.

6 Jean, a Palestinian woman, a Quaker, living in the walled city of Ramallah on the West bank, risks her life and her family s freedom of movement by condemning the brutal and futile Israeli occupation, as well as the violence of terrorism by her own people. Because of this, she makes more enemies than friends, yet blesses every encounter with joy. Ricardo, a Mennonite in Bogota, Columbia risks his life protecting vulnerable, rural pastors against the violence of guerillas, paramilitaries, and government soldiers alike. He is willing to negotiate with leaders whose violence he despises, for the sake of peace, even at the risk of his own reputation. Yet he still clings to an exuberant and joyful hope even in the face of disaster. Or Ruth, an elderly United Church of Christ woman who regularly pickets against corporations in New Hampshire corporations that help construct nuclear weapons, our own weapons of mass destruction. She frequently gets arrested in the process, yet she wins over judges with her winsome joy even when they find themselves obliged to sentence her. Probably the most famous book written on the meaning of discipleship was written in the 1930 s by Dietrich Bonheoffer, a German Lutheran pastor and theologian who tried to lead his church in resistance to the Nazis. He was ultimately martyred in 1945 for his part in a conspiracy against Adolf Hitler. A few years before being hanged in a prison yard in the closing days of the war, Bonheoffer wrote: Where will the call to discipleship lead those who follow it? What decisions and painful separations will it entail? We must take this question to him who alone knows the answer. Only Jesus Christ, who bids us follow him, knows where the path will lead. But we know that it will be a path full of mercy beyond measure. Discipleship is joy. There is the good news my friends. Indeed, we do not know when the moment will come for us. Undoubtedly, there will be many moments. And as Bonheoffer also wrote, we will always be tempted to try to extricate ourselves from the affair.

7 But his then leads to half-hearted living. For when we cling to the comfort and security of family, safety, and possessions, we may be able to avoid the cost of discipleship. But in the end, we will miss the joy that only comes in surrendering to a life of discipleship. Amen. May the peace that passes all understanding be with you now and for life everlasting. Amen.