Sermon September 9, 2001

Luke 14:25-33 Dean Keith Joyce

²⁵Now large crowds were travelling 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. 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.

What Jesus is saying today in the Gospel reading is even more shocking. In order to follow him we are to "hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself". How can the man who says we are to love our enemies say we are to hate those whom we usually love the most! It's absurd. Well, perhaps. Jesus is making an important point, in a shocking way, both to get our attention and to make sure we really grasp the significance of following him.

What's he getting at? Jesus is tackling the matter of loyalty. He wants his followers, then and now, to be clear about the cost of following him. At the heart of the matter, literally and figuratively, is that the way of Jesus is the way of love, it's the way of wholeness, of healing, of reconciliation, of restoration - it is the way of truth. Jesus doesn't ask anything of us that's harmful to us, or that's destructive to our character or that in any way demeans us. And for all this to enter into our experience Jesus Christ has to be the object of our first and highest loyalty.

Christ's teaching here simply is saying, in very clear terms, that love of Christ, loyalty to Christ, is to be so much our first and highest loyalty that other loyalties, in comparison, are like hatred towards them, no matter how important they are. Tough stuff, yes. Challenging, yes. Impossible, yes, - when attempted in our strength and if left to our own devices. But as he says in the Gospel of John, he does not abandon us to our limited and finite abilities. He says to his disciples - that's also you and me - "¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate (or Helper), to be with you forever. ¹⁷This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.¹⁸ "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you."" (John 14:16-18 - NRSV)

Jesus doesn't invite us to follow him, especially with such strong expectations, without asking us to count the cost. That's what his two illustration have us consider. In the first one, in the matter of estimating correctly the cost of building a watch tower in one's vineyard, one commentator suggests it is as if Jesus is saying, "Sit down and reckon whether you can afford to follow me." Then , in reference to the second illustration, of a king wondering whether, with inferior forces, he can defeat an invading king with a much larger army, this same commentator suggest it is as if Jesus is saying, "Sit down and reckon whether you can afford to refuse my demands."

Jesus asks us to take stock and think about what we are doing. Following Jesus is not merely an emotional or sentimental act that soon fades in fascination after the first rush of enthusiasm. There is a personal cost, but it is a cost, though, to our ideas of what is best, or of how best to do spiritual things, or of where religion fits into our lives. The challenge, even the affront of what Jesus is saying is that it is not a matter of how we include him in our lives but rather it's a matter of how we give him the whole of our lives, of making him the first and most important loyalty of our existence.

Earlier I had said that following Jesus on his terms means we are going the way of love, of healing, of restoration and of the truth. In other words, it is the best thing for us. Here's why. Not only does loyalty to Jesus take precedence over all else, it also defines all other loyalties and relationships and, indeed, all aspects of life. When Christ is truly first in our loyalties, all those other aspects of our lives, those other loyalties and relationships, come into healthy alignment with the truth, with the ways of God. This ultimately is the best thing for them, and for us.

This re-alignment of our other loyalties and relationships, as we grow in putting our Lord first in our lives, does not always happen overnight. It's not a quick fix for what ails us. It takes patience, prayer, listening, intentional seeking after the things of God so they form us more than our own thoughts do. It can mean struggle and effort, and an openness to the Holy Spirit to do the impossible (by our standards) in us.

Many years ago I was hurt deeply by a situation I did not fully understand. And I know that part of following Christ is to do as he has taught, and that includes, amongst many things, what he has taught about forgiveness. Jesus has said that we are to forgive, "Not seven times, but, ... seventy-seven times (or seventy times seven)." (Matthew 18:22 - NRSV) But I wanted some kind of retribution, some kind of recognition of what had happened, and then I might forgive. Nonetheless, a calcifying bitterness about this period in my life had developed around my heart, and I felt its constraint.

Recently, after struggling with God about this, in prayer, - and let me tell you it was a serious struggle; I didn't want my loyalties realigned at all! - I began to feel release from this bitterness, and sensed that God's Spirit was enabling me to let it go. I began to feel a freedom I hadn't felt in some time, as he enabled me to realign my loyalties in this matter. And then, very shortly after this, and I am mean VERY shortly, I received a letter from someone who had been part of that bafflingly hurtful situation, and the writer was desiring God's reconciliation between us. All I could do was chuckle, in fact I laughed right out loud - God's timing was incredible! I was delighted to receive the letter.

It certainly was nothing I had planned, nor, in my wildest imagination, was it something I ever could have engineered. What I can acknowledge now is that the difficult, even painful following of Christ's call - and I certainly struggled against it - was the way of peace and of healing and yes, even of love - his peace, his healing, his love.

So even in these tough words of Jesus, in the deep challenge that they are to our way of thinking, let us hear the profound love and compassion of our Lord. His way always will be the best way, whether it is in the big things of life or in the hidden recesses of our hearts. Having Jesus as our highest and most important loyalty, and therefore being formed by following his way, is part of the grand purpose of God. That purpose is the most important thing on the face of the earth, namely the revelation of God's love to the world, so that everyone will know that love and be healed and transformed and made whole by its incredible grace and mercy and peace.

I'm ending with this poem which attempts to pick up on aspects of what I believe God wants us very seriously to consider and take to heart. It's called: When I Say..."I am a Christian"

When I say..."I am a Christian" I'm not shouting "I am saved" I'm whispering "I get lost!" "That is why I chose this way."

When I say..."I am a Christian" I don't speak of this with pride. I'm confessing that I stumble and need someone to be my guide.

When I say..."I am a Christian" I'm not trying to be strong. I'm professing that I'm weak and pray for strength to carry on.

When I say..."I am a Christian" I'm not bragging of success. I'm admitting I have failed and cannot ever pay the debt.

When I say..."I am a Christian" I'm not claiming to be perfect, my flaws are too visible but God believes I'm worth it.

When I say..."I am a Christian" I still feel the sting of pain I have my share of heartaches which is why I seek His name.

When I say..."I am a Christian" I do not wish to judge. I have no authority. I only know I'm loved.

-Author unknown