Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Labor Day weekend)
Luke 14:25-33; Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Philemon 1-21
"Now large crowds were traveling with him..." The campaign had begun. Everywhere he went there were crowds of people wanting to see him. hear him, some wanted to just say they had been close, maybe even touched him. There were also the reporters, the cynics, and the critics. And a few representatives of the opposition watching his every move, listening to his every word, waiting for him to make a mistake, say the wrong thing, make the wrong gesture. But as long as the crowds showed up, in fact they were getting bigger, there was hope that the campaign would progress successfully. Everything was going so smoothly. Clearly the public opinion polls were in his favor. And it was then that "he turned and said to them..." He said what? Said what everyone wanted to hear? That things were getting better, all we need to do is stay the course. Vote for me. Or that things could be a lot better if we make some changes. Choose a new course, vote for me. But the voice speaking, the campaign being waged is not the voice of a Republican or a Democrat. the voice is that of Jesus and 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."
It takes little imagination to picture what happened next. The deathly silence of the crowd. A few people looking at each other saying, "What did he say?" "Did you hear that?" Some no doubt began to wonder, wasn't Jesus the peace and love candidate? Where did this hate language come from? We can almost see the spin-doctors jumping to Jesus' defense, trying to explain that he didn't literally mean "hate" when he used the word hate. Things like this happen all the time in the heat of a campaign. You say something that is either overly simplistic or exaggerated or hyperbolic or reflective of only part of the more complex question. The spin-doctors stress that He doesn't really mean to actually "hate" your mother and father but rather to keep things in proper perspective, that we recognize the complexity of the world we live in. The problem for the spin-doctor and media analyst, however, is that Jesus keeps on talking. "Another thing," Jesus says, "if you won't carry a cross, you can't walk with me. Anybody who begins to build a tower without counting the cost runs the risk of looking stupid when he runs out of brick and can't finish the tower. And any king who goes to war without first considering whether or not he has the troops to win the war, may look foolish as he begs for peace. Count the cost. And one more thing, you can't be one of my disciples if you don't give up everything you own."
The preacher Will Willoman suggests that there is a verse missing from the Bible at this point. Willoman says that what happened next is what we all know would happen today. The next verse should have said, "After this the great crowds became a good deal smaller." This lesson is about as politically loaded as any text can be in a presidential campaign year. The parable images Jesus used seem to strike amazingly close to home. Especially in the post 9/11 world we live in when tower construction has taken on a totally different meaning. Certainly the costs now are calculated far differently then they were before 9/11. And likewise the example of counting the troops needed for war and peace is understood from an experiential base that has changed drastically through the addition of places like Afghanistan and Iraq to our national vocabulary. It is tempting to wonder if Jesus were campaigning today which party would he claim? Certainly both parties have tried to claim him. Which may explain the full-page ad this past week in the New York Times and several other newspapers around the country with the headline. "God is not a Republican. Or a Democrat." The purpose of the ad placed by the Christian publication Sojourner Magazine and signed by thousands of Christian leaders from around the country was printed to challenge the belief by either party or any politician that they had an automatic or maybe divinely ordained right to the vote of any specific faith community. No faith community or religious denomination whether evangelical, Roman Catholic, Jewish or Lutheran is confessionally aligned with one party or candidate.
Certainly there are some specific issues that parties and candidates reflect to a greater or lesser degree the affirmations of some faith communities. But on the most radical and cross-defining points our human condition fails us. We fall short of the kingdom. For we love our good life with our families too much. We politicize and criticize, cheer and jeer. While Jesus continued to walk toward Jerusalem and the cross. God is not a Republican. Or a Democrat. The ad reminds us of texts like today's from the Gospel of Luke in which Jesus says things that no politician in his or her right mind would want to be associated with. "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." This would clearly not be a proof text for the family agenda folks or even the right to life groups. Jesus says hate and we immediately try to explain the word away. We expect to find some textual or theological loophole. A symbolic reference or maybe a translation question concerning a word that actually means something other than "hate." But after a little research and checking I honestly can't tell you that the original Greek word used in this case means anything more or less then our English translation. Jesus is saying exactly what he said. To truly follow him we are going to have to turn our backs on everything that matters most to us.
There is not a lot of wiggle room for the spin-doctor in us all. About all we can do is note that these words were spoken to a first century audience and we do hear and experience them differently some 2,000 years later. At the moment that he spoke these words to the crowd Jesus was declaring a very real truth. The reality was that for anyone to follow him, for anyone to become one of his disciples it literally meant leaving behind everything that they owned. There was no room for a U-haul on the road to Jerusalem. Jesus traveled light. The only thing that a disciple really had to be ready to carry was a cross, the burden of discipleship revealed to the early church. A radical redefinition of the priorities of the world both in Jesus' time and ours. We live in a post resurrection world. Our faith is not shaped by the literal abandoning of property and possessions to walk along side a first century Galilean. We walk with Jesus now in a million different ways. Our world is no longer limited to the local streets we walk or drive. Our every daily action has implications for communities far beyond our own. The very food we eat and clothing we wear has economic and social significance on a global scale. It is no longer just what we give up but also what we keep buying. What we use and what we abuse. What we conserve and what we waste. It all matters to others around the world. Every decision we make, every choice, carries divine promise and judgment threat.
In a political season we are increasingly aware of the importance of policies that truly address the needs of the poor, the hungry and homeless, and the oppressed. We struggle with the priorities of personal, local, regional, national and global interests that are often at odds with each other. We yearn for a promise to be made by a candidate or party that can truly be kept and not politically evaporate in the days after the election. Maybe that is why the Old Testament lesson for today, our first lesson, sounds so good. The great Old Testament leader Moses sets forth a clear promise that if the people obey God they will be blessed It sounded so simple. Moses said, "Choose life." It sounds so right and reasonable and true. But then we encounter that voice from the first century that reminds us that in so doing we will need to face a radical reordering of our world. We need to give up the things that we hold dearest. The things that make us feel most secure and safe. The very core of social institutions. This is not symbolic language. This is the radical gospel proclaimed by Jesus that troubled those who heard it in the first century and challenges us today. Choose life was God's invitation to the people of old. It is still the invitation. What Jesus made clear is that the way to life is not found through trying to save ourselves. The right choices we make are just not pure enough. As much as I hate to admit it.
If I am truly honest I have to grant that the election of either candidate for President will not signal the fulfillment of God's ultimate plan for humanity. Both men are flawed, sinful. In need of God's grace just as each of us are. Each has great character traits that attract the support of at least half the American population. But neither is perfect in fulfilling God's law, Christ's directive. Both carry great burdens of responsibility but neither has fully understood the full dimension of the cross that Christ would have each of us bear in following him. There is a cost to discipleship that goes beyond appearances. Try as we might to save ourselves, it is not to be. But we try so hard; we try so hard to order our world. To meet the expectations we have set for our selves. And we teach our children to work hard, make wise choices, but it is not easy. There are no guarantees that we can succeed by our own effort. When our middle son was much younger, around 2nd or 3rd grade, he decided he wanted a Super Nintendo System. This was one of the earliest game boxes that hooked up to your television. It cost at that time $129 at the Toys R Us store near where we lived. We told him we simply could not afford it, so he decided to save his money. Each week the two older boys got $5 allowances and the youngest got $3. Normally they used the money to buy various little toy items and candy treats when we visited various stores. At that time we seemed to visit the Toys R Us store at least once a week. And usually Tim's two brothers would rush off to see the latest Lego or Star War or Ninja Turtle toys and they would almost always buy some small item. But Tim developed the habit of entering the store and walking to the display case for the Super Ninetendo where he would stand and study the game he was saving for until it was time to leave. He never bought any thing. And when he got home and his brothers began to play with their new toys he would go to his room and count his money one more time to see how close he was. Five dollars a week plus a few special tasks and gift money.
The weeks and months passed as he stood their giving up everything his brothers were buying until one day he came and announced that he had the $129. We went to the store; the clerk gave him the game box. We went to check out and the cash register rang up a total due of $129 plus $8.39 sales tax. He stood their stunned." All I have is $129," he said. "That's two more weeks allowance." Of course you know what I did, I loaned him the money. No actually I did what any parent would want to do, I paid the sales tax. This was a moment that called for grace, freedom from the law. It's what Jesus was trying to get the crowd to understand. That the sacrifice of things we value and love will lead us not to greater rewards but to a deeper understanding of values beyond things. Open us to opportunities for grace. Reveal to us new understandings about ourselves and our relationships to others, the world, and ultimately even God.
We gather today not because we are so good at denying ourselves or because we have given up more things than any one else or because we have made the right choices. We are gathered by the word of God to choose life. To be confronted by the hard words of Jesus and the promise that through the cross that we are rarely able to even touch. Let alone carry. That Jesus has embraced us with a love that carries us beyond this moment. We still will be faced with the choices. The votes to cast, the priorities to reexamine. But the most important decision has already been made. Christ carried the cross. We now but walk through its shadow into the light of God's eternal grace.
Amen