Sermon for SMHP, Year C, Proper 18, Pentecost + 13, Sept. 8,
2019
Luke 14:25-33
25Now large crowds were traveling with Jesus;
and he turned and said to them, 26"Whoever comes to me and does
not hate father and mother, wife and children, siblings, yes, and even life
itself, cannot be my disciple. 27Whoever does not carry the cross
and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28For which of you, intending
to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether
he has enough to complete it? 29Otherwise, when he has laid a
foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule
him, 30saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to
finish.' 31Or what king, going out to wage war against another king,
will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to
oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32If he
cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks
for the terms of peace. 33So therefore, none of you can become my
disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.
[slide]
How many remember the
movie When Harry Met Sally?
Classic romantic comedy. Rob Reiner
directed, Nora Ephron wrote it. Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan starred.
There’s a moment early on
when the main characters, Harry and Sally, are talking about being edgy. Sally offers some lame example, and Harry
says,
“When I buy a new book, I always read the last
page first. That way, in case I die before I finish, I know how it ends. That,
my friend, is a dark side.”
I don’t know how “dark”
it is, but it is certainly an interesting behavior, one which, it turns out, is
practiced by more than a few people.
I mean, if you want to
know how it’s all going to come out, read the end first.
In some ways, we do this
every week. We come to church and hear
readings from the middle of the life of Jesus, even though we know how the
story is going to come out.
In our lesson for this
morning, Jesus is kind of playing with the fact that he knows how
the story is going to come out. And it
kind of helps if we look past the very beginning of this lesson. Because the beginning seems to bother people
for some reason. Which I get. Taken all by itself, a statement like, "Whoever comes to me and does not hate
father and mother, wife and children, siblings, yes, and even life itself,
cannot be my disciple.”
It’s almost like he’s
trying to get their attention, right?
And I bet he did, because
who’s he speaking to?
“Large crowds.”
Some of these people may
never have heard Jesus speak before. Do
you think all that “hate your father and mother and wife and children and
siblings” stuff got their attention?
Did it get yours?
You kind of have to pay
attention to a line like that, right?
And that is the point, right? We
know enough about Jesus to know that he isn’t really telling people to hate
their parents, right? Why isn’t he?
Because there’s a
commandment about that! Jesus is not
instructing the people in the crowds to violate the Fourth Commandment.
And in order to
understand what he is trying to tell them, we’ve got to read on. There are two mini parables in the lesson
which serve to get to the point.
The first is about a man
getting ready to build. Before he
starts, he sits down and figures out what this is going to cost.
The second is about a
king, who must decide if he has enough soldiers to win a battle with another
king.
In contrast to the
opening verses of the lesson, these little fables are simple and direct, and we
can probably all understand the point Jesus is making, right?
Before you embark on
something serious, make sure you can pay the cost, whatever the cost might be.
Clearly Jesus is inviting
people to do something, and he wants them to be sure that they can commit to
it, to “pay the cost.”
To know what he’s
inviting us to do, we have to take a page out of Harry’s book and read the last
line.
What is all this about?
Discipleship.
Jesus is asking his
followers to consider what the famous German theologian and martyr Deitrich
Bonhoeffer famously called “The Cost of Discipleship.” [slide]
Bonhoeffer’s book, The
Cost of Discipleship, is basically a treatise on this passage of scripture
and others like it—the times that Jesus explains what it means to be a
disciple, and what it is likely to cost us.
What does it cost?
Everything.
I wish there was a nice
soft-pedaling way to say that, but the truth is that Jesus is very clear: the cost of discipleship is everything. If you have more allegiance to stuff, to
money, to leisure…even to family…than you do to God and to the gospel, then discipleship
is not for you.
In what is probably the
most oft-quoted line in his book, Bonhoeffer put it this way: [slide] When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and
die.
That may sound harsh, but you don’t
have to think about it long to realize that it is true. If other things can get in the way of our
discipleship…if our commitment to the gospel, to love of neighbor, to walking
the way of Jesus—if that commitment isn’t fierce and strong, then we will veer
off the path as soon as some new distraction comes along. We’ll come up with some excuse not to do what
we know Jesus is calling us to do.
When Jesus calls us, he bids us come
and die to all of those distractions.
Come and die to the fact that the first
Chiefs game of the season is on at noon…but there is work to do to prep for a
youth center downstairs.
Come and die to the fear of speaking
out on behalf of those who are being persecuted. Die to fear.
Die to racism. Die to fear of
other people’s racism.
Come and die to the idea that you can
be a “halfway Christian.” Jesus doesn’t
have an installment plan. You either
invest it all—your whole life—right up front…or you watch from the sidelines.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer lived in times not
unlike our own, and as a pastor, he was forced to make a decision. Lots of his fellow Lutheran pastors were
embracing the values of National Socialism.
Bonhoeffer and Pastor Martin Niemoller helped form the Confessing
Church, which stood up to Hitler and the Nazis.
Niemoller spent seven years in a concentration camp.
Bonhoeffer accepted the invitation to
come and die. Sixty years ago this year,
he was hanged for his part in a plot to assassinate Hitler.
Most of us are not being called to
take such extreme measures. Most of us
are not being called to literally give our lives for the sake of other human
beings.
But all of us…every single one of
us…is being called to lay down our lives and take up the gospel. To let go of whatever is in our way,
in order that we might love and serve our neighbors.
The lesson before us this morning is
an opportunity to sit down and decide whether we can pay The Cost of
Discipleship. Can we answer the call of
Jesus, the call to follow, the call to “come and die?”
If not, this is our chance to get
out. This text is like this sign
[slide].
You’ve seen this sign? It’s just past the Legends, as you head west
on I-70 toward Topeka. After that exit,
you’re on a toll road, and it will cost you.
If you can’t pay the toll, then you need to get off the road now. Visit the Agriculture Hall of Fame. Swing back around to Dave and Busters, or
Nebraska Furniture Mart. Take it easy.
Because discipleship isn’t easy.
But the company is good. And you know how the story will come out in
the end.
Amen
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