Sermon - September 8, 2019 - "Sign Me Up!"

Luke 14:25-33 -  INTRO

Those of you who were here a few weeks ago may remember the passage we read from Luke’s gospel where Jesus said to his followers,

“I have not come to bring peace, but rather division…

where mother will turn against daughter, and son against father.”

We talked about how the Jesus we encounter in that passage seems out of character – because his words don’t fit the image of the kind, compassionate, and peace-loving teacher that we’ve come to know.

When we encounter these difficult passages it is tempting to just skip over them and say,

 “You know Jesus seems a little stressed out this week, he must have been having a bad day, so let’s see what Jeremiah has to say and we’ll come back to Jesus next week when he’s calmed down a bit.”

Well, here we are a few weeks later, and Jesus has not calmed down.

If anything, he seems to have ramped up his stress level –

as this time as he talks to his followers about the cost of discipleship.

Here Jesus tells his disciples that they must leave all of their possessions behind and pick up the cross as he will. 

And then he again talks about families,

but this time he uses the word “hate” to describe what his disciples must do to their mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, spouses and children.

In English, the word hate has a very definitive meaning.

It means to despise, or loathe, or to dislike with a passion.

But in ancient Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic –

the meaning is not so straightforward.

In fact in Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, there is no word for “like”-

You either loved someone or you hated them,

And when you said you hated someone it didn’t always mean you despised them,

it could also mean you simply loved them to a lesser degree than others.

We do the same mixed meaning gymnastics with the word “like” –

When you think about the boy or girl who sat next to you in 8^th grade –

 did you like them or did you “LIKE” them?

There are numerous examples in our Bible where the word hate is used in this same ambiguous way – sometimes it means “to despise” and other times it’s used to describe a lesser degree of affection than love.

So which meaning was Jesus intending for us to hear when he used the word “hate” in reference to our families of origin?

In the context of describing the cost of discipleship is he saying we must walk away from all that we know and love –

and come to despise what we’ve left behind –

Or is he saying that we must elevate our love of God above all else -  and commit ourselves fully to walking the way that he set before for us?

These are challenging words either way. 

 

The Rev. Maureen R. Frescott

Congregational Church of Amherst, UCC

September 8, 2019 – Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Luke 14:25-33

“Sign Me Up!”

A few weeks ago I had the honor and the pleasure of presiding at two weddings on back-to-back weekends. 

Both were destination weddings, with the happy couples exchanging their vows outside with scenic mountain overlooks.

The settings were idyllic, but as with many weddings there was much for the bride and groom to be anxious about.

The brides were worried about slipping on the grass in their heals, one groom asked his best man continuously if he was sure he had the rings,

the location of one of the ceremonies had to be changed at the last minute due to a mix up at the wedding venue,

and one couple had the added stress of a weather forecast that called for thunderstorms, hail, and gusty winds to arrive just as they would be saying their I-do’s.

Thankfully the stormy weather held off until we were all safely inside at the reception.  

As I told both couples just before they spoke their words of commitment to one another, perfect wedding days are about as common as perfect relationships.

Ask any clergy person/JP and they’ll share stories of wedding day mishaps.

There was the couple who included their dog in the ceremony and when the priest asked if anyone present objected to the marriage, the dog started crying and howling.

There was the wedding reception where during the Father/Daughter dance the DJ mistakenly played Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On."

The Tonight Show’s Jimmy Fallon shared that at his cousin’s wedding,

the bride and groom’s arrival at the reception was announced with pulsating lights and a dramatic cloud of dry ice – and with all eyes on the entranceway out of the mist walked Fallon’s mother looking for a bathroom.

Thankfully both couples I married a few weeks ago, have known each other long enough and well enough to know what they are getting themselves into.

They were not expecting perfection – on their wedding day or in their relationship.

They both seemed to understand that commitment is about accepting the challenges and the disappointments along with the blessings and the joys.

Commitment gets a bad rap in our current culture -

Partly because people are a lot more mobile and moveable nowadays…

Changing jobs, changing locations, changing spouses and relationships much more frequently than the generations that came before.

And if you talk to any group that depends on the time, talent, and treasure of volunteers to keep it functioning and thriving,

getting folks to commit is becoming more and more of a challenge.

Our schools, our charitable organizations, our churches, talk about the difficulties of planning, scheduling, and implementing programs and events because people either won’t or can’t commit ahead of time,

or don’t show up when they say they will.

But in this alleged age of lack of commitment,

we might also say we have an issue with over-commitment.  

Think about the calendar you have at home, or have in your purse or your phone.

Many of us maintain daily, weekly, and yearly schedules that are overflowing with commitments. 

I can’t tell you how many people I’ve encountered in the last week – people of all ages – who bemoaned the fact that we’ve now turned the page from August into September.

Not just because they’re going to miss the warmer and longer days of summer.

But because they’re going to miss the slower pace and fewer commitments –

the commitments that seem to rush in and fill all the empty spaces in our day planners and in our lives when summer turns to fall.

It doesn’t matter if we have kids at home or away at school,

if we’re working or retired,

if we have aging parents or aging bodies that demand our attention.

It’s likely that many of us here spend our days running from one appointment or meeting or gathering to the next –

committing our time and energy and passion to the people and places and events that are counting on us to show up and be present in some way.

And then there are the days when we have competing commitments.

The dance recital is at the same time as the swim practice.

The doctors appointment is at the same time as the ladies’ luncheon.

The family party is at the same time as the church picnic.

And we can’t be in two places at once.

So when we finally have the time to make it to the PTA meeting,

or our grandson’s soccer game, or to a church service on Sunday morning, the last thing we want or need to hear is how we’re not doing enough to show our commitment – that we should be doing MORE to prove we appreciate the value these people, places, and events add to our lives.

This is another reason why we may want to take the passage we heard today from Luke’s gospel and put in our file of Biblical texts that are okay to skip over when they show up in the Sunday lectionary. 

Not just because the language is challenging and we may struggle to understand its meaning outside of its time and context,

but because Jesus is reminding us of yet another commitment that we feel grossly unprepared to take on, or don’t even remember signing up for.

He’s the teacher telling us we’re not volunteering enough in the classroom.

The soccer coach who reminds us it’s our turn to bring the orange slices for the kids at halftime.

The church member who calls us for the umpteenth time asking if we can please please please sign up to be a Deacon, or to make coffee, or help with another project that we just don’t have time or bandwidth to take on.

But Jesus is not asking us to bring snacks, or wash communion cups, or monitor a school cafeteria.

Jesus is asking us to leave everything behind and lay down our lives so that others may know that God’s love has the power to change the world.

Jesus said,

“None of you can become my disciples unless you give up all that you have.”

We’re used to Jesus saying things like this – to the twelve men who followed him.

Fisherman and tax collectors and odd-job peasants who had only the tools of their trade and maybe an extra cloak or pair of sandals to their name.

And when it came to following itinerate preachers it was more or less expected that you would be pulling up stakes and traveling to far off places for God knows how long and leaving ties to home and family behind.

The cost of discipleship in the first century was undeniable and obvious.

If you signed up to be one of the twelve you wouldn’t be headed to your 9-5 job on Monday morning or sleeping in your own bed at night.

You also wouldn’t be bringing along your fishing nets or carpentry tools, or your spouse or your children.

All of your possessions, and your family members - all ties to your old life would be left behind.

The cost of discipleship was clear.

What was not so clear was the part about the cross.

Then, just as now, people who lifted up Jesus as the way, the truth, and the light – had no conception of what it meant to follow him to the cross.

Then, it was inconceivable, that the Messiah –

the one sent by GOD to liberate the people of Israel –

would die a criminal’s death as Jesus predicted he would.

That’s not how the story was supposed to end.

And now, it seems inconceivable, that we would risk our lives in the same way  – as we seek justice, call for peace, and open our arms wide in God’s name. That’s not how we believe our story is supposed to end, either.

First of all, we are not first-century fisherman with just a few attachments to leave behind.

We have mortgages to pay, and 401Ks to contribute to,

and a calendar on our wall that is filled with people and places and events that depend on our being there.

As much as we may sometimes fantasize about cutting all ties to our hamster wheel lives and going Into the Wild – to live off the land and go off the grid……the reality is most of us have no desire to go that far in our commitment to a cause.

We love our families, and our friends, and our homes, and the work we’ve committed ourselves to, as time-consuming and as challenging as they may all be at times.

If being a disciple in the first century was about leaving everything behind to help Jesus build this amazing and wonderful Kingdom of God…

What does it mean to be a disciple in the twenty-first century?

We have numerous examples of commitment to Christ in our recent history:

Mother Teresa, who devoted her life to helping the impoverished and marginalized in India, giving up all of life’s comforts in the process. 

Dietrich Bonheoffer, who spoke out against the Nazi regime, smuggled Jews out of Germany, and died in a concentration camp as a result. 

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. who practiced and preached non-violent resistance to counteract the forces of racism and hatred, and who was killed by those forces in the end.

But is leaving all that we know and love behind and picking up the cross as Jesus did the only way that we have to live into our commitment as people of God?

When we’re baptized or confirmed or become a member of a Christian community we make promises to God and to each other to commit ourselves to a life in Christ.

What that commitment looks like is up to us.

And it doesn’t have to be life-threatening or world-changing to count.

Sometimes it looks like offering someone a kind word even when we feel they’ve wronged us in some way.

Sometimes it looks like extending a hand in generosity when our instinct is to close our hand to keep what is ours to ourselves.

Sometimes it looks like listening and learning from the story of another, instead of making assumptions based on our own experience,

which may be miles away from where we need to be. 

Commitment to Christ looks like all of the above.

It looks like compassion.

It looks like grace.

It looks like love.

And if we’ve ever spoken harshly to someone and regretted it afterward.

If we’ve ever said no to a request for help when we could have said yes.

If we’ve ever dismissed someone’s pain because it’s not something we’ve experienced ourselves….

Then we know how challenging it is to commit ourselves to the way of Christ.

We don’t have to leave our homes or love our parents or children any less to take on this commitment to walk in the way of Jesus.

We can do it at the grocery store, in the PTA meeting, at the church gathering – where people seem more than willing to give us many opportunities to practice compassion, love, and grace.

And in doing so, we leave behind our old selves –

our anger, our anxiety, and our fear.

And when we do that, we just might change the world, with God’s help.

The good news is, that’s a commitment that I know we all can live into.

Thanks be to God, and Amen.