Proper 18C / Ordinary 23C / Pentecost +13
September 8, 2019

“Cross Talk or Cross Walk?”

St. Luke 14:25-33

‘Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”  St. Luke 14:27

Wow!  Jesus is certainly not mincing words.  His statements offend.  I can imagine the crowds whispering among each other as they walked away:

“This prophet has gone off the deep end….’hate my family, hate my life…all to follow him…take up the cross?’”

This is certainly an off-putting and offensive passage.  And if we take it out of context and too literally we can walk down the wrong path.

Jesus is using hyperbole here.  What is hyperbole?  Hyperbole is an intentionally exaggerated statement to get your attention.  It is used to evoke strong feelings, but not meant to be taken literally.

Does Jesus get the attention of the crowd by his call to discipleship?  You bet he does!

Jesus uses the word ‘hate.’  We need to look at that word in the context of Luke and Scripture.  It just may reflect a Hebrew idiom or expression.  If you look back to Luke chapter 12 Jesus says something similar:

“Do you think I have come to bring peace to earth?  No, I tell you, but rather division.  From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three, they will be divided…”  St. Luke 12:51ff

Such ‘hate’ is a Semitic term which means ‘to turn away from.’  It is not an emotional response, but rather a turning away from one person or thing.  The story of Jacob in Genesis uses the same ‘hate’ language when it tells us that Jacob loved Rachel but ‘hated’ turned away from Leah.  The First Reading from Deuteronomy reflects the ‘choice’ language and loyalty to God. 

Christ is not calling followers to hate their families in terms of an emotional response but rather is calling his followers to turn away from everything else and turn toward him.  In other words single-minded allegiance to Christ, in other words there is a cost to discipleship – the setting aside of all other loyalties.  Jesus comes first!

Professor Kenda Creasy Dean, led a study out of Princeton Theological Seminary, on teens and their faith.  In-depth interviews were held with 3,300 American teenagers between ages 13-17.  What the study discovered is that the vast majority were either indifferent or unable to articulate their faith. This includes Christians of all stripes – Catholics to Protestants – both conservative and liberal. 

In addition she found out that many teenagers think that God simply wants them to feel good and do good what the research group calls “moralistic therapeutic deism.”

God simply wants us to feel good and do good!

And where did teens get that message?  From adults – from church leaders and preachers.  We live in a market driven society.  The Christian faith is often reduced to a market jingle that will sell it.  ‘Feel good – do good’ is easily marketable and offends or challenges no one! 

Source:  http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/08/27/almost.christian/index.html?hpt=C1

People ‘church shop’ for just the right church to meet their needs or the needs of their children - ‘What can the church do for me’ becomes the primary reason for membership. 

The Christian faith has become a ‘low risk’ and ‘low cost’ spiritual commodity with many faith communities luring in their customers with:

“Come and get comfortable on Sunday.  We won’t ask much of you.  Your kids will be taken care of and you’ll have good coffee and an uplifting message in less than an hour.”

Where is the passion?  Where is the loyalty?  Where is the cost of discipleship?

A safe message that brings in the largest numbers of congregants becomes the fare of the day!

The Princeton Study shows that teens are hungry for passion and commitment, but they all too often are fed spiritual cake when what they want is spiritual meat and potatoes.

Commitment, loyalty, and sacrifice – that is what Jesus calls us into when we follow him. 

There is a cost to discipleship.  There is a price to being a follower of Christ. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Lutheran pastor, martyred for his attempts to bring down the Third Reich, wrote about the cost in his famous commentary on the Gospel of Matthew entitled The Cost of Discipleship:

“When the Bible speaks of following Jesus, it is proclaiming a discipleship which will liberate mankind from all man-made-dogmas, from every burden and oppression, from every anxiety and torture which afflicts the conscience.  If they follow Jesus, men escape the hard yoke of their own laws, and submit to the kindly yoke of Jesus Christ.

He is talking about the grace of God that sets us free.  But he goes on to say:

But does this mean that we ignore the seriousness of his commands?  Far from it.  We can only achieve perfect liberty and enjoy fellowship with Jesus when his command, his call to absolute discipleship is appreciated in its entirety.  [page 31]

‘Low cost’ ‘low risk’ Christianity can lull us into a spiritual sleep.  It keeps our faith on the surface and segregated from life.  I can have Christ over here on Sunday morning, but the rest of the week is for me!  Christ dare not touch my politics or how I work or think about my world! 

Cut-rate faith has led Christians to close their eyes and hearts to the injustices in our world.  It has led some faith communities into unquestioned loyalty to charismatic leaders.  A sense of entitlement and the primary question “What’s in it for me?” are the fruits of low cost Christianity.

Biblical discipleship is defined as ‘carrying the cross.’  The ‘cross’ simply is not marketable because the cross means giving up self-interest and competing loyalties.  The spiritual market appeals to the self.  Carrying the cross leads to a life centered on the compassion and heart of God as shown in the Christ – God’s word made flesh. 

                                                           

A church will:

o   maintain a nice building,

o   conduct public worship,

o   minister to the sick and dying,

o   baptize babies,

o   marry and bury people…

Will a church:

o   welcome a disturbingly honest sermon,

o   knowingly lose money by telling the truth,

o   speak up for the marginalized,

o   stand publicly against violence and hate,

o   feel lonely…?

As Christ’s church collectively following Jesus, are we willing to carry a cross?

Jesus then tells two parables about starting something and not finishing it – a builder who does not plan well, and a king who cannot finish the war.  These are illustrations to make the point that once you start to follow, you’d better be ready to finish.

This Gospel is a tremendous challenge and a call. 

We are not up to it.  We cannot finish the job or follow through, but God can and does in Christ. 

Christ turns his face toward Jerusalem.  Christ suffers under Pontius Pilate is crucified and dies and is buried.  Christ cries from the cross:  “It is finished!”  And on the third day God raises him.  This ‘selfless one’ centered in God is brought into new life.

Christ finished what we are unable to finish.  He now calls us – no better yet, God’s Spirit enters into our hearts and probes and prods us with the living Christ.  The Christ that is in us responds to the call.  The Spirit working through us enables the church to carry the crosses of today in witness to the passion and love of Jesus.

The good news is the costly grace of the incarnation of God.  God became one of us in Christ and the whole human condition is transformed:  hearts are turned away from self and toward the living God, lives are lived for others, hope is alive in the faith community.

God not only calls us to carry the cross, God empowers and transforms us in our cross carrying.

Yet, we resist, this is too hard a word – but the Holy Spirit persists and the struggle is on!

The Christian life is a struggle – a paradox – God wrestles with us and sometimes it is not all that neat and clean and pretty.  The Christian life is messy, and difficult, and full of surprises.

Maybe that is not what we want to hear, but it needs to be said.  Maybe that is what we don’t like about Jesus – this talk of loyalty and struggle.  In the words of Gerhard Frost [the poem on your insert]:

What I Don’t Like About Jesus

Let me tell you

what I don’t like

about Jesus.

He calls me to follow;

I like to run around.

He lets me see a single step,

and sometimes even less than that;

I choose to travel

by sunlight or headlight;

He gives me only starlight.

I like to set the pace;

He asks me to hurry or worse---

sometimes to wait.

He embarrasses me and gets me

into trouble; he sometimes

makes a scene.

And just when I feel strong

He calls me to a cross;

I want a crown

Gerhard E. Frost

Seasons of a Lifetime: A Treasury of Meditations

Amen