LUKE 14:25-33
25Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to
them,
26"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. 27Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down
and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all
who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30saying,
'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
31Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit
down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one
who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32If he cannot,
then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the
terms of peace.
33So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all
your possessions.
***
I think this type of message is the reason the crowds started to dwindle
as Jesus approached Jerusalem.
He began with a multitude of followers watching miracles, great debates, and
speeches, and ended with a small number of very loyal disciples Jesus’ in an
upper room. While Jesus had begun as a superstar of his time, his message was
often unwelcome. I imagine this message would likewise be as unwelcome today.
Can you imagine a politician in his campaign speech telling his supporters
that that they must hate their father, their mother, and their children, and
all loyalty must go their campaign. Can you imagine a politician telling her
constituents that they must give up all their possessions, and follow her on
the campaign trail? Both these images go so much against the, ‘family values,’
and focus on the American Dream of prosperity. This is what Jesus was asking
and the message would have been just as unwelcome in Biblical times. You can
see why the followers stopped following. Jesus was asking a very hard thing,
and I wonder, what we would be unwilling to give up, to follow Jesus.
Could you give up your family? Could you give your home, or your
hometown? Could you give up your political party ties, or your liberal or
conservative stance? Could you give up your occupation and livelihood? Could
you give up your loyalty to your country? Could you give up the value you place
on your military service? Could you give up your education and degrees? Could
you give up your favorite photograph, or a memento from a loved one? Could you
give up technology? Could you give up the outdoors, or the indoors? Could you
give up everything you knew about the world, and turn it upside down to follow
a radical man?
I doubt I could. I love my sister, and my parents, and my friends, and I
feel like those relationships are beneficial to us and to the world. Though I
have traveled and lived different places, I have never been without a home to
come back to. I love nesting, and decorating, and making a place beautiful. I
find, when away, I become scattered and miss the drawer where I always put my
keys, and the ability to pick what I want to wear that day. And while I don’t
really claim one political party or another, I would have a hard time going
back to the social beliefs of the deep south. It would be unimaginable for me
to give up my call to the church. It is who I am. Likewise, to give up any
livelihood is a scary prospect. To rely on others entirely, would be humbling,
and perhaps shaming. I love my country, its history, and its vastness. If I
were to be in a fire, the thing I would grab is my national park passport book,
which holds stamps from coast to coast
and the oddest of place in between. If I had to follow Jesus I might even try
to direct him toward Olympic National Park, or some of the remote ones in Alaska, or even Bryce Canyon
because I have not yet been to them, and gotten my book stamped. To give up my
degrees would likewise be unnerving. When I meet someone who is similarly
educated I do feel more comfortable, as if we speak a similar language. I could
most likely give up technology, but I am sure the slowness of snail mail and
large newspaper pages would frustrate me. I truly can not imagine giving up the
outdoors. It is how I find God so often, and feel perhaps the most myself. I
doubt I could give up everything I know about the world, turn it upside down
and follow Jesus. I doubt I would be around the table when he came to Jerusalem, but part of me
wants to.
I have friends who have traveled the world, and the country, with
nothing to their name but backpack, or a car. I envy them. There is a freedom
is giving up all you know, and all you have, and setting out into the unknown.
There is a freedom in being disconnected from your ties and your resources.
There is a freedom in having to rely on the kindness of strangers to help you
find you way, and I would suppose there is a humility and trust when have to
ask for your basic needs. There is freedom when you feel so centered that you
are following a purpose. I officiated a wedding yesterday, and it felt like the
couple and everyone around them was there for this one moment, this one faith
in something greater than any individual belief or purpose. I wonder if
following Jesus would feel like that. Like three hundred people walking toward
love. I wish it was easy as a wedding day, as everything you were created to
be, and everyone who was there along the way was supporting this one beautiful
thing, but I think Jesus is warning us that it is more like divorcing yourself
from all that you have known, and walking blindly into all that you will
become. I think Jesus is asking a hard thing, and perhaps an impossible thing,
but something we must try, and I see this in our church.
Recently a group of the Worship Committee, Personnel and part of the
Choir, decided not to hire another choir director. Instead the group sought to
encourage more participation from the congregation, and hoped that the former
choir would regularly be part of that participation. It was not an easy
decision, in fact for those choir members, and some of the congregation, it
felt like their world had been turned upside down. There was a meeting to
discuss and sign up for leading the anthem slot, and 5 former choir members and
even a congregant came struggling to understand why their ministry must change,
they came with questions, they came with hurt, but what I was most impressed
with, was that they came. That the church was more important to them then their
ties to praising God in song, then even their experience of fellowship as a
choir. They did not simply stop following. They did not write their pastor a
letter and say they were leaving the church. They did not make threats with
their tithes or time. They asked questions, they wanted to understand the
change, and perhaps understand how to move forward. How to follow God’s ever
changing call to the church. Last Thursday night the Roger’s Hall could have
been the Upper Room. Those were the disciples, doing what disciples do best,
asking questions, and seeking to follow Christ.
We have many disciples in our midst, we have disciples who sought God
and envisioned Open Door and Backpack, and disciples took risks to see those
programs through. We have disciples who came up with ways they serve God and
ways they want to serve God on red, orange, and yellow bunting hung all around
the sanctuary. They ask questions, and took risks and sought to see what
changes God might be bringing. We have
disciples who dreamed new ideas for space in our church during the progressive
dinner, and disciples who asked questions about what that change would mean. In
the midst of being disciples there are also times when we each doubt we can
follow Christ. Christ is warning us that it will not be easy. When everything
we know will be turned upside down. My pastor friend Marci says when things
start getting shaken up you know your following the call. I wish it were
otherwise. I wish it could all just be the same always, that it would be easy, but
freedom doesn’t lie in easy. It lies in the letting go, and the following anew.
