PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

“God our creator and sustainer, You feed your children with the true manna, the living bread from heaven. Let this holy food sustain us through our earthly pilgrimage until we come to that place where hunger and thirst are no more, through Jesus the Christ, our Brother. Amen”

―Celtic Communion Prayer

Luke 14:25-33

The Cost of Discipleship

25 Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, 26 “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. 27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 For 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? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or 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? 32 If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. 33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

One of my passions over the years has been backpacking. I’ve had some amazing trips throughout the US and Canada. I’ve also taken groups of high school students on some amazing adventures, as well as with friends and family.  For example, when I took our son and a friends of his to the Tetons in May.  

I even like the process of preparing for a backpacking trip.  One other example, and one of the most enjoyable trips was a trek to climb Mt. Whitney with some of my closest friends while I was at seminary in California working on my M.Div.

We started several months before as we had to apply for a permit to climb Mt. Whitney with the National Forest service. It was a lottery system and we were sure if we’d get it. They said to stay away from busy weekends and have no more than 2-3 folks to increase our chances of getting a permit. We picked the 4th of July weekend and had 5. Yet, we somehow were still selected for a permit!

We planned meticulously, all of us contributing something and distributing who would carry what. We planned for contingencies, and we made sure that we had everything lined up in case of emergencies, our route we’d take, etc.

We wanted to make sure that we had “counted the cost” of what it would take to do this trip and to do it well. In many ways, it was a pilgrimage, kind of like the one we are doing as a church to Iona this fall, and again sometime next year.  You plan well, but you also know that some things are beyond planning, and that as well, is part of the adventure, part of a pilgrimage.  

We did have some unforeseen issues on Mt. Whitney, but because we had counted the cost, we were able to overcome some things and had an amazing adventurous journey together…and great stories to share!  

Our passage this morning finds the writer of Luke picking up the journey, or pilgrimage, motif again with Jesus.

Jesus in on his way to Jerusalem with his disciples with a large crowd that was following him. Many of the folks in that crowd were probably neutral in terms of what they thought of Jesus, maybe just curious, but they were still drawn to him. I believe that Jesus, when he turned around and addressed the crowds, was wanting to draw as many of them who were willing to have eyes to see and ears to hear, the cost of what it means to truly follow him in the way of becoming fully human as God intended.

Jesus goes on to say that one must hate his father, mother, wife, children, siblings…even their very lives to follow him. Whoa! When we read that today, we have a very black and white understanding. But, in the first century, where family ties are central and there is an honor and shame culture like we discussed last week, Jesus is trying to break through to the crowds that there is a deeper community, deeper relationships, than simply familial relationships, that we are all bound together in our shared humanity, and we are being called into a new way of living and being with one another. Jesus is not telling the crowd that family isn’t important, but that there is a deeper bond, a oneness with all of humanity and that is a deeper priority.  

The word hate as understood by a first century audience is equivalent to disgrace. Are you willing to be shamed, to risk your honor, by walking towards a love for all of humanity, to follow Jesus, the reformer of a system that you’ve been brought up in? Are you willing to risk everything to be a part of the ethos and reality of the Kingdom of God that Jesus is sharing?

If you are, count the cost. Jesus goes into the metaphors of building a tower and a war campaign…build a strong foundation first, but also build something on top of that foundation. If you are going to wage a war, do you have enough fighters? I wouldn’t read into the metaphors too much other than Jesus is using some imagery that folks could understand, contemporary examples, that’s telling the crowds that following him is more than simply showing up at an event or at the temple occasionally, it’s all about a lifestyle.

It’s also about letting go and letting something deeper within you and all around you emerge, be born or remembered anew if you will.

We hold on to so much. We hold on to our shame, our image of honor, or possessions such as material wealth, even those possessions we hold in common like a neighborhood, a country, or even a church. Yet, Jesus is saying that we should let go of the vision or image that we’ve created to live into a better vision of what God intends….to move to the deeper places of who we are and to love those things out of our depth of being, of our divine image, and not out of our own image.  

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a great German reformed theologian. He lived through Nazi Germany until he was arrested for his role in an attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler. Which, we won’t have much commentary on today, there’s so much more to Bonhoeffer’s life.

He also wrote some great books like the Cost of Discipleship where he says that the grace we have isn’t cheap…it has a cost, it is painful as witnessed in our lives and in the crucifixion of Jesus. We are invited into a better story, a better way of living, yes, but that comes at the cost of having to look deep inside of us to where our loyalties lie, to be aware of what it means to ask ourselves hard questions and be willing to trust in the mystery of God around and in us, and ofGod’s vision for our lives.

We are reminded of God’s calling to us to be that community that God calls in scripture the body of Christ. Jesus is not only calling us through the scriptures to live in the reality that we are all in the presence of Christ, but to bid farewell to whatever is holding on to us or that we are holding on to that prevents us from truly coming alive through Christ being present with us now, in this space, and in all of time…this sacred moment is to remind of God’s work in our midst on our behalf.