Sunday, September 4, 2016

"The Cost of Discipleship," a Sermon from Littlefield Presbyterian Church on Luke 14:25-33


"The Cost of Discipleship"

Luke 14:25-33


            The gospel lesson we heard last Sunday was set inside the home of a Pharisee, but now we’re outside, in public.  Jesus is on the road, and large crowds are following him.  Jesus has been going through cities and villages, proclaiming and ringing the good news of the kingdom of God,[1] and healing people. 
         Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem, on the way of the cross.  He has been telling people: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”[2]  He wants people to understand this about discipleship:  “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” 
         The crowds have been growing, so Jesus wants people to understand that following him is costly.  As Joseph Fitzmyer put it, “The crowds are following Jesus because of the blessing and the wonderful things that he has associated with the kingdom.[3]” But it seems the crowds have counted the kingdom assets but overlooked the liabilities.

But what is Jesus saying?  It sounds so harsh to us.  The statement about hating your parents, spouse, children, and siblings probably wasn’t as harsh as it sounds to our ears.  The word Jesus used when he said “hate” can mean to turn away from, or to detach oneself from.  That’s saying something different from what we hear when somebody says, “I hate you.”
         Throughout the scriptures, people of faith are encouraged time after time to love--  to nurture,  to care for their families.  When Jesus talks about hating life itself, he isn’t calling for any kind of self-abuse.  He’s using strong language to get our attention.  Jesus is challenging would-be disciples to look again at their priorities and commitments.  Christ’s claim on us is to take priority over any other.
         Jesus is saying that not only is the call to discipleship the highest calling.  It also re-orders and redefines every other relationship and requires our ultimate loyalty.  
         The parables in our passage ask a related question:  “Is the price of discipleship more than you’re willing to pay?”  Whether you’re building a tower, or building or re-building a nation--  the costs of time, energy, resources, and life itself need to be considered.  Will you be able to follow through on your decision?
         Jesus was riding a wave of enthusiasm he knew wouldn’t last.  So he told his followers to look ahead to the costs and the difficulties.
         In the church today, we may be tempted to minimize the cost of living the Christian faith.  “Make it sound easy to belong,”  some may say.  “Let’s not make it too hard to join the church.  We don’t want to scare anyone off.”   We don’t want to offend anyone by any decisions we make in the church.  We want to try to keep everybody happy.
         The problem with these well-intentioned ideas is that they imply that what we’re doing isn’t very important.  They communicate that it’s okay to give less than our best in serving God. 

         In a culture that promotes immediate gratification, we may think of sacrifice as a bad thing.  But we also admire those who make sacrifices for the greater good.  Parents make sacrifices to give their children a good life.  We may forego discretionary purchases to save for a down payment on a home or to pay for education.  We may decide against spending our time or money for something self-indulgent so that we can give to help others.  There are sacrifices we make joyfully, because they lead to a greater sense of purpose, life, and fulfillment.
         Jesus isn’t inviting us to be door-mats, to say, “Oh, that’s just my cross to bear.”  No—he invites us into a life of abundance that we can only discover when we give ourselves away. 
“Take up your cross and follow me,”  says Jesus. Jesus wants us to know that our Christian calling is demanding.  We need to be honest about that--  as Jesus was--  even if it turns some people off.  When the church gets all tame and comfortable, we’ve lost sight of our true calling.  

         I’ve heard several moderators of our Presbyterian General Assembly tell the story of the Moderator’s cross, which is actually two identical crosses welded together.   As you may know, the Presbyterian Church split as a denomination over slavery before the Civil War, and it took 122 years for the reunion to take place between the Northern and Southern Presbyterian Churches.   I knew that the Moderators of the northern and southern Presbyterian churches each wore crosses and that they were then welded together at the reunion in 1983.  What’s less well known is the story behind the two crosses.

         Soon after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, fear of Japanese Americans and discrimination against them swept across our country.  In Chicago, a Christian congregation made up of Japanese Americans had been leasing a chapel in a large church building, but after Pearl Harbor their lease was revoked.  They went to church after church, trying to find a place to rent so they could worship.
         They spoke to the pastor of the Fourth Presbyterian Church, who took the request to the Session.  The elders shared all their concerns about the risks involved, and when the pastor realized the request didn’t have the numbers to pass—the motion was tabled. 
         At the next Session meeting, he raised the issue again, but the passions against the idea were still in the majority, so they tabled the motion again.   At the third Session meeting, a person who worked with the Christian education program came to the Session saying, “I can’t continue to teach the children in this congregation about Christ’s commands—if the Session of this church doesn’t allow our sisters and brothers in Christ to worship here.
         The motion passed—barely.  They knew the risk of violence and ridicule.  They knew the risk of losing members.  But they also knew the risk of having their faith become meaningless.
Throughout the war, the pastor and many members of Fourth Presbyterian gathered outside the church early every Sunday morning to escort their Japanese brothers and sisters safely through the shouts and threats, into the sanctuary of the chapel.
Finally, when the war was over, the Japanese congregation was able to build their own church.  When they left Fourth Presbyterian to move into their own building, they gave the pastor a gift of money to express their deep appreciation for the way he stood with them in their time of trial. 
The pastor didn’t feel he could keep the money, so he purchased two identical crosses, and presented them to the moderators of the Northern and Southern Presbyterian denominations.
These two crosses welded together into one are a double story of reconciliation and discipleship.  They remind us of one form of carrying the cross… of counting the cost… and then saying, “Yes!”

God calls us to be partners with Christ in mission, and the cost of discipleship is high.  God gives us the Holy Spirit to help us. “In a broken and fearful world, the Holy Spirit gives us courage”[4]… and empowers us as we strive to serve Christ in our daily lives—if only we’re open to the Spirit’s work in our lives.
In Jesus Christ, the old life is gone.  A new life has begun.  We are like clay in the hands of the potter.  God can remold, reshape, and bring about change in God’s creation.  At times when life seems to be a disaster, God is able to transform it into a creative opportunity for growth and goodness.  The new life in Christ is full of power and possibility, because it is God’s nature to transform despair into hope. 
When we work with God, we set into motion conditions that can transform things that seem hopeless into amazing opportunities of grace.  God calls us to count the cost of discipleship… and invites us to change our ways… to work with God and in harmony with one another. 
The good news is that the Holy Spirit can give us new life, transform our hearts, and sanctify us to work with God to create a more loving, just, and peaceful world.
Thanks be to God!
Amen!      
  
                        
Rev. Fran Hayes, Pastor
Dearborn, Michigan
September 4, 2016







[1] Luke 8:1
[2] Luke 9:23-24
[3] Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke: X-XXIV (vol. 28a, Anchor Bible.  (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1985), p. 1063. 
[4] “Brief Statement of Faith” of the Presbyterian Church (USA), which was ordered to be a statement of unity following the reunion of the Northern and Southern Presbyterian Churches.  It was adopted by the General Assembly and added to our Book of Confessions in 1990.

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