Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 14:25-33; Jeremiah 18 :1-11; Philemon 1-21
It must be the time of year and all the football games suddenly reappearing on television. Especially the upset games, seems like everyone now knows about Appalachian State, for better or worse. And then there are the miracle games where a team comes from behind to win. Certainly there were several games played yesterday where the game changed drastically from the first to the second half. I always find myself wondering what the coaches said at half time to motivate their players. Of course, that may be giving too much credit to the coach and the role of the pep talk. But I suspect we have all seen at least a couple sports movies where the coach gave a speech that seemed to change the complexion of the entire game. Our sons will occasionally reminisce about speeches that their high school coaches used. High school coaches have the advantage of knowing that the players on their teams completely change every two or three years so they can recycle their best pep talks (something preachers are generally cautioned against doing). Each of the boys heard some of the same pep talks in different years which reflected the basic game philosophy of their coaches. One of the favorite speeches is referred to by the boys as the "Titanic" speech where the coach tried to motivate his losing team at half time by reminding them of the great ship the Titanic. He stressed how this football team was a great football team, like the Titanic. But, he reminded the players, as he looked around the room, that that great ship was sunk by holes in its hull. All it took, he said, was a bunch of little holes. And that, he said looking at each of his players, is what each of you are. Each of you are little holes sinking our great ship, the Titanic. Each of you has to stop being so holy. It is usually at this point in the retelling of the story that number two son notes that he always wanted to raise his hand and correct the coach by reminding him that the Titanic was not sunk by a bunch of little holes but by one really, really big hole. But he would always say he thought better of it since he wanted to play out the season.
Now I suspect that few of you heard the gospel lesson I read this morning and thought of football or coaching pep talks, but there is actually a very real similarity to be found between Jesus' words and a coach's talk. First of all, we need to recognize where we are in the story of the life of Jesus when we read our gospel text. For the last few weeks we have focused on what are referred to as controversy texts. Issues like defining the Sabbath and eating etiquette but now the picture is shifting to final instruction for the disciples which will culminate with Jesus entering Jerusalem. The miracles and crowd pleasing challenges to the religious authorities were the stuff of the first half of his ministry. Now Jesus has to get serious and identify those who are going to be serious about him and his teachings. We are confronted today with the contrasting dimension of Jesus' person and message. The loving, caring, forgiving, liberating, redeeming side of Jesus, with all the nice stuff we like about him, is suddenly challenged by the Jesus speaking today when he says, " Who ever 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. Who ever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple... So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions."
This is probably not the best day for this shift in our lessons. This is Sunday school rally day when lots of people are just returning to church after the summer off. This is a supposed to be a happy, up lifting Sunday but instead we hear some very hard words. I suppose I could say that in light of our Rally Day theme of cross training, this is the coach talking. Jesus is trying to prepare not just the 12 but any of the crowds that were gathering around him for the challenge of real discipleship. Like the coach who informs those who would be players, whether football, soccer, volleyball, gymnastics, basketball or lacrosse, the coaches always begin by reminding those who would participate that if they are serious about their sport they will need to make sacrifices. So it appears that Jesus was confronting those who would claim to follow him. And like many a coach, there is a kind of love-hate relationship that quickly becomes too real. Most of us have come to recognized that there are two sides to our relationship to Jesus. There is the Jesus who meets our needs and then there is the Jesus who makes demands upon us that we are no so sure we are interested in fulfilling.
Our cross training theme is a good reminder of the struggle we have with the Jesus we are happy to have as our friend versus the Jesus who stretches and challenges us. It is one thing to exercise occasionally when it is convenient and not too much effort but the serious athlete knows that the real training and fitness comes when there are changes made in diet and routine, priorities and practice. There comes a point when the athlete must decide how much they trust the coach and the athletic talent they have been given. The great athlete is the one who is willing to believe in seemingly impossible ways of seeing and living in the world. Impossible in the sense that it means living in a world yet to come. A world in which a human being runs faster than any human being has ever run, or pitches faster then any one has ever pitched or leads a team to victory when the score is so lopsided no one believed they could win.
It is tempting to try to explain away Jesus' hard words by saying we just don't understand the translation right, but I can assure you that our text pretty much says in English what it also says in the New Testament Greek in which it was written. There are definitely the words "hate" and "cross" and the instructions to give up all your possessions. But there is also something more.
We in the Lutheran church use the word "paradox". It is the idea of two contrasting, even mutually exclusive ideas or positions existing at the same time with equal value and meaning.
In our lesson for today Jesus follows his rather challenging words with two illustrations. One reminds us that no one builds without first considering the cost lest the money run out and the construction project is never finished. The other illustration is similar in nature only in this case reminds us that no military venture is properly waged without proper planning and calculating the nature of the enemy. A lesson that many fear our country has been slow to learn.
What our lesson for today intends to do is create space for us to consider a different way, a different attitude towards the world and our place in it. The point of the two examples Jesus offers is not that we should be better builders or military strategists, but rather that if you're going to build the kingdom of God, you better estimate the cost. In other words, you can't live with one foot in God's kingdom and the other foot in our world. We can't have it both ways.
We have to admit that there is a higher power then the U.S. government and military. There is even a higher power then our own intellect, feelings and priorities. In a world of terrorists and economic unpredictability we have to admit that we are not so sure about trusting the priorities Jesus would have us embrace.
And that means that we are cost cutters. We would rather cut, tailor and make Jesus into our own image, than listen to him and follow his discipling instructions, especially when we find what he says to be very difficult and unattractive. The elegant way to say this is that we find that we live in the tension between the world as it is and the world as it should be. The truth is, we have been compromised.
For most of us, following Jesus is just too difficult. We fall short. We want to live in the new world of peacemaking established by Jesus but we fear the violence so much that we just can't say no to one more prison being built, or one more new weapons project being approved by congress. We want to embrace justice for all people but struggle with the immigration laws and the fear of the other. We want to end poverty and hunger but it is hard to ignore the comfort we desire in our homes, cars, and the abundance of our life style. We live with one foot in the world of forgiveness and reconciliation and the other foot in a world where there is retribution and alienation. The bottom line is probably to simply say, "What do you expect? We are only human--too human".
I have never coached a major sports team but I have had lots of experience with grade school and middle school aged players of baseball and soccer. I have coached some very successful teams and a few that were not so successful. Time and again I remember standing in a huddle of players who were looking to me for some word, some insight that would help them be more successful as a team. Sometimes the words came and sometimes, it is hard for me to admit as a preacher, but sometimes the words failed me. I remember one year I was coaching a very young soccer team and we were having a perfect season. We lost every game. But regardless of your season's record, all teams played in the playoff. The only problem, of course, is that the worst team always plays the best team in the first round of the playoffs. So we played the undefeated team. And for a variety of reasons, probably least of which was my coaching, we played the season's undefeated team to a tie which meant we went into a sudden death overtime. The first team to score would win. I remember that huddle before we began the overtime. I told the team how proud I was of each them, I praised them for how well they had played and then I told them to go out to that field and do what they do best. And so, of course, we lost. Years later I remember reading the sports page as it reported on the Stevenson soccer team and I found myself smiling as I recognized the names of three varsity players from the team I had coached.
Jesus sets an impossible mark for us to meet. "None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions." There is no question of the truth of that statement. There is no way that I can become the kind of disciple Jesus describes. Try as I might to make it, I know I am going to fail. I am just too much of this world. I like my lifestyle too much. But that doesn't mean I couldn't make a few changes. And it doesn't mean that God might also make a few changes in me and the grace I find through the sacraments and the vision of the kingdom that I find in the community of faith...Well, the point is obvious. We cannot make ourselves into the disciples Jesus would have us to be. He carried the cross and I know that I couldn't do that, at least not on my own. The truth is that I need God's grace far more than God needs me as a disciple. I know my coaching did not create varsity level soccer players but I like to think that I didn't stop them from pursuing that possibility of discovering their God given talents and abilities. Jesus challenges each of us to consider the cost of discipleship. To count the cost and recognize that this is not our choice because by that criteria we all fall short and fail.
The true cost of discipleship, the bearing of the cross, the sacrifice of all, has already been paid by the only one who could make such a sacrifice. The true cross training program is not a list of things to do and things not to do. The true cross training program is being open to the miracle of the cross in our lives. To follow the way of the cross opened to us by God's grace. To follow the cross in study, fellowship, worship and service. And to ultimately kneel before that cross at God's table with our hand open and our spirit ready to enter a God's world. Jesus says count the cost carefully and recognize that all we really have is not ours but God's. All we can do is open our hand and receive. All we can do is accept the blessing of discipleship and invite others to receive that same gift.
Amen