September 4, 2016
Text: Luke 14:25-33
The heading for this lectionary reading in my bible is "The Cost of Being a Disciple," which is described pretty clearly: the cost of following Jesus is everything. It's clear that the point of this passage is that we must place relationship with God through Christ above everything else. We must be willing to give up everything else to be a follower of Jesus. I felt uncomfortable when I first read this passage, when I began preparing for today. It makes me wonder what else I would I need to give up, to leave behind, to really follow Jesus.
I read several online commentaries preparing for today, and one pointed out a seeming contradiction. While salvation is a gift freely given to us, the relationship that we are invited into, of discipleship, asks us to be willing to give up everything. At the same time, it is clear from today's lectionary scripture that God's desire is that we offer discipleship as a free will offering, given consciously with our eyes wide open.
And we don't have to. It is possible to follow Christ only sometimes, when convenient or interesting - as part of the large crowd, using today's scripture as an image. Common sense tells us that not everyone in the crowd following Jesus on that day was actually there to take in his message and take on his lifestyle. Jesus was exciting—unusual things happened around him—miracles, controversial teachings and confrontations with the Pharisees. There were some who hoped for the growth of a political movement that would defeat Rome. And you might just be fed too! Who wouldn't want to be there? In today's lectionary reading, Jesus was explaining to the crowd what discipleship involved, knowing that not many would be willing to pay the price. So, it is one thing to identify yourself as a Christian and another thing to be a disciple. We are free to choose.
Following Jesus meant that the lordship of Christ comes first, before family, possessions and even our own life. Being a disciple required ongoing commitment, as illustrated by the story in today's passage about building the tower: we need to complete what we start.
And the story about the king going to war reminds us that we also need to have a realistic understanding of what it will take to engage and confront evil in the world; we can't just act willy-nilly, without forethought or intention: we need to prepare ourselves well for the challenges we will face.
In the verse following today's lectionary reading, Jesus illustrates the cost of not being a disciple, or even of losing focus as a disciple: v 34: “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
These passages in Luke are not unique in their description of the cost involved in following Jesus. In Matthew, Chapter 10, there is a similar, more graphic passage of the cost of discipleship that Jesus gave to his closest followers, the 12 disciples, when sending them out into the world. Here are some excerpts from that passage:
16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17 Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. ......22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. ..... 34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.35 ........ 37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
And then Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a book entitled The Cost of Discipleship, which echoes some of the same themes. In the book Bonhoeffer distinguishes between "cheap" and "costly" grace.
Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ." It's a kind of grace in which we console ourselves with forgiveness, without undergoing the transformational work that a Christ-centered life requires.
In contrast,
costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. It is costly because it compels us to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: "My yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Bonhoeffer believed that, over time, the Church accommodated the demands of obedience to Jesus to the requirements of society and culture. In this way, the gospel was cheapened, and obedience to the living Christ was gradually lost beneath rites and rituals that assured forgiveness, help us feel better and demand nothing.
Now, I don't know about you, but I'm feeling pretty disheartened by all of this. I honestly can't say if have embraced a cheap grace or a costly grace. And, to be truthful, I feel a little nervous wondering what would be required of me if I really submitted myself to a costly grace. What am I holding back? I'm not even sure. Henri Nouwen also had some thoughts on the subject, in his book, Compassion, that I borrowed from Meade after last Sunday's teaching. I found them helpful.
In the chapter "Obedient God", Nouwen says: obedience gives servanthood its deepest dimension. ... But the initiative still remains ours," confirming the voluntary, free will nature of our discipleship. And then, as if confirming the tension between free will and complete obedience, he asks, "Are we really servants when we can become masters again once we think we have done our part or made our contribution?" Nouwen defines Obedience, as embodied in Jesus Christ, as "a total listening [to God], a giving attention with no hesitation or limitation.." This thought gives me hope: I can claim a desire, an aspiration, to give my complete attention to God, even if I don't get it right all the time. Nouwen explains further:
"In Jesus, God's compassion is revealed as suffering with us in obedience. Jesus is not a courageous hero whose act of emptying and humbling himself earns adoration and praise. He is not a super social worker, a super doctor, or a super helper. Jesus is not a great hero who performs acts of self-denial that no one can imitate. Jesus is neither a spiritual giant nor a superstar whose compassion makes us jealous and creates in us the competitive desire to get as far, high, or deep as he did. No, Jesus is the obedient servant who hears the call and desires to respond, even when it leads him to pain and suffering. This desire is not to experience pain, but to give full, undivided attention to the voice of the beloved God." So becoming a disciple of Jesus requires that we give our undivided attention to God, to listen for God's voice and to respond, letting God lead the way, and not letting family, ourselves or our belongings get in the way.
Agreeing to live like this will change us in profound ways, to be sure, as we distance ourselves from the powers and influences of this world. This kind of transformation can best be accomplished in a community of like-minded folks. David Hilfiker touched on this in his recent teaching on Christian Community and Culture. He said: "In our day, some of those powers Christ has disarmed are consumerism, the idolatry of capitalism, violence as a way of solving problems, and the fear and exclusion of the stranger. Christ liberates us from those powers, giving us access to the unlimited grace of God."
The natural outcome of our liberation is displacement, which Meade talked about in her sermon last week. Nouwen explains:
"The call to community as we hear it from our Lord is the call to move away from the ordinary and proper places. Leave your father and mother. Let the dead bury the dead. Keep your had on the plow and do not look back. Sell what you own, give the money to the poor and follow Jesus." Nouwen says that "the paradox of the Christian community is that people are gathered together in voluntary displacement. The togetherness of those who form a Christian community is a being-gathered-in-displacement." Note that this displacement, this form of cultural exile, is of our own free will leading to an ever deepening understanding of the cost of discipleship. Nouwen says that
in voluntary displacement we cast off the illusion of having it together, and we begin to experience our true condition, which is that we, like everyone else, are pilgrims on the way, in need of grace. Voluntary displacement leads us to the existential recognition of our inner brokenness and brings us to a deeper solidarity with the brokenness of our fellow human beings. .... In voluntary displacement, community is formed, deepened, and strengthened. Voluntary displacement as a way of life rather than as a unique event is the mark of discipleship.
Further, Nouwen seemingly turns today's lectionary scripture on its head by saying that "the paradox of voluntary displacement is that although it seems to separate us from the world - from father, mother, brothers, sisters, family, and friends -- we actually find ourselves in deeper union with it, with the world. Voluntary displacement leads to compassionate living precisely because it moves us from positions of distinction to positions of sameness, from being in special places to being everywhere." Living in voluntary displacement initiates an ongoing process for us to untangle our conscious and unconscious motivations, fears and ambitions that get in the way of our freely choosing to listen to God's voice and follow call and that prevent our being healed from our own brokenness, our own poverty. This thought reminds me of Karen's recent teaching on tattoos, which I understand as the indelible images of identity that mark us, some positive and some negative, some life giving and some that suck the life right out of us. Living in voluntary displacement, our tattoos, our unique images of identity are also subject to displacement. We'll get rid of some, change others and maybe add on a few new ones. The cost of discipleship is that even our tattoos, positive and negative images of ourselves, are turned over to the transformational influence of God.
In early June, Kayla spoke to us about a passage in Luke Chapter 7. She commented on Jesus' fondness of using dislocating situations and people as teaching and learning opportunities. Kayla said:
to become ourselves, as much of ourselves as we can become before we die—trusting God more today than we did yesterday—we will need to be, again and again, bounced out of our nest of familiar. We will only be truly at home when we find that our true home is not in a comfortable and familiar location, or dependent upon certain elements or people [or tattoos], but is actually found in DISlocation, merging into challenging situations with people different from ourselves who have questionable opinions and annoying habits."
It is by allowing ourselves to be put in uncomfortable situations, listening for God's voice and responding to that voice without hesitation or distraction that we gain the spiritual discipline we see in Jesus' life. It is only by challenging our sense of identity - that we can discover the truth about who we really are. It is only by extracting ourselves from our familiar routines that we can find our way home.
I'd like to say that I can do this. But I also have to say that the words of absolution in our liturgy are comforting to me: "The Holy One knows our fears and limitations, even before we feel them."
I want to be willing to have my unhelpful habits and thoughts revealed and routed. But I know that I can't do it on my own. I'd get distracted and discouraged and would give into my fears or cave under worldly pressures much to easily. My only hope is to take on this journey in community - with you, with all of you.
So I stand before you today to let you know that I am a broken and imperfect person, who gets afraid and confused. I get annoyed by people, and I'm sure that I annoy others too (my son Benjamin has been clear about that!). I do try to do my best, and I often fail to get it right. Sometimes all I can do is try to aim in the right direction and hope. Thank you being strong for me and for encouraging me when I get impatient or feel like I don't want to try to live a disciplined lifestyle. Thank you for being my beloved community on this journey home.