Do
I just come to church and listen to Christ's words, or do I allow those words
to enter my soul, and allow them to push me into action?
This
question is especially poignant when we hear Jesus' words, "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. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my
disciple.”
I
guarantee that this family hating text probably is not a part of the mission
statement of any Christian family values ministry.
Here
are some family values for you: "Hate each other…that’s the way families work!"
Of course, I have seen many family
reunions that looked like they took this bible text literally, so maybe this is
not quite as shocking as I first thought.
Seriously,
we know that Jesus is exaggerating here to make a point: even family should not
get in the way of following Christ. And, in the ancient world where the father
was the head of all decisions in the family, fathers were getting in the way of
new, young believers who had heard the call to follow Jesus.
But,
that is not just an ancient problem. I
once read about a teenager who defied her parents every Sunday morning to go to
the youth Sunday school and worship service with a friend, rather than do her
family’s usual Sunday morning activities (which did not include church). Her
parents grounded the teen every week for defying them, and every Sunday morning
she would choose to defy them again by getting up, leaving the house through
their protests, and going to church to be with the Lord. She sacrificed her
social life throughout the week so that she could have a life in the Lord. For
her, following Christ was the number one priority in life, and everything else
fell in to place under that.
But,
those are dangerous ideas for today’s world, right? Exactly, how often do
people choose Christ over and above anything else and make a sacrifice for the
sake of Christ? Do we even know what sacrifice is?
Actually,
sacrifice is not something that is foreign to our world today. How many
families sacrifice time together or even sacrifice a family vacation for the demand
of a sport? How many grandparents sacrifice their own desires to engage in
hobbies or live in Florida for the sake of being near grandchildren? How many
mothers sacrifice their entire social lives to care for their little ones? How
many men sacrifice their bonds with friends and family to fulfill the
requirements of their jobs? How many people sacrifice at work throughout the
week so that they can buy a new dress or eat at a nice restaurant on the
weekend? We are not a society devoid of sacrifice, quite the opposite. We
intentionally make sacrifices all the time.
Now,
I am not going to criticize those who sacrifice for their children’s sports, or
sacrifice for the wellbeing of their families through their jobs. We all set
our priorities in life.
Bringing
Jesus’ words into today’s language, theologian David Lose tells it this way, “What parent wouldn’t count the cost before
signing up for the traveling soccer team and what new employee wouldn’t
consider whether she is willing to work every weekend her first year of
employment?”
We
all know how to consider the cost of sacrifice. But, what Jesus is doing here
is asking us to do the same for him. When Jesus says, "Follow me." he
is saying, “sacrifice all else for the sake of my kingdom.”
What
would this sacrifice look like? For one,
it would look like sacrificing other parts of your life for the sake of the
lowly and the sinner…just like Jesus did. “Take up the cross and follow me,” Jesus says,
“because those who do not take up the cross cannot be my disciples.”
Just
to be absolutely clear, I would just like to point out that I am not talking
about earning your salvation here. Salvation, like the healing Jesus provides
to the blind man who reaches out to him, is given as a gift. God’s Grace is not
earned through sacrifice. God clearly says, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
The amount of people that are loved by Jesus and are saved through his name is
not small by any means.
There
is one thing I would like to point out though: Jesus performs his life saving
act of salvation on the cross alone. How many of those who were saved by Jesus
on the road to Jerusalem ended up taking up their crosses and following him to
the bitter end? The reality is that no followers hung on the cross to his right
and to his left.
All
I am saying is that being saved by Jesus is not the same as following him. Today,
I am not talking about salvation, I am talking about discipleship.
That
was my first question: “Am I a hearer of Jesus, or am I a follower?”
One
of the most common responses I get for a lack of participation in the faith
life is, “I believe is Jesus and God. I know that I’m saved. I really don’t
have to hear it over and over again every week. I can be a Christian on the
golf course just as well as I can in church.” That is all well and good, but as
a seminary professor of mine once responded, “Sure, you can stop and worship
Jesus, reading the scripture together with your buddies, and be inspired into
action just as easily on the golf course as you can in church on Sunday morning,
but you won’t.”
That
being said, it seems to me that Jesus has called us to do something a little
more than simply hearing God’s words of salvation. Yes, they are important.
Yes, they are powerful. Yes, you may have them memorized, but being a follower of
Jesus Christ is more than hearing. Being
a follower of Jesus Christ is a way of being; it is a way of doing; it is a way
of living in Christ.
As
the number one priority in life, it affects what we sacrifice our money on: a
$3 morning coffee for ourselves or a loaf of bread for the poor? You can make a
different choice in the morning.
As
the number one priority in life, it affects what we sacrifice our time for: a
vacation in a rental cabin or time spent helping our neighbor. You can make a
different choice.
But,
it is even more than just choosing one thing over another. Being a follower of
Christ frames how we spend our time no matter where we are.
I
was blown away by two men at a volleyball game a few years ago as I (not quite
so accidentally) overheard their entire conversation in the bleachers. One of
the men was talking about his struggles as he and his wife went through a messy
divorce. The friend listened carefully as volleyballs went whizzing by, and a
child spilled popcorn.
Just
then, in the middle of the game, in the middle of the crowd, in the middle of
the community, the friend stopped the man in the middle of his misery by
grabbing his hand, and saying, "We need to pray." Quietly, yet
confidentially, he prayed for his friend and his struggles.
I
watched that evening as a sporting event suddenly turned into church, and the
social politeness that keeps faith out of the public view suddenly became
second priority as Jesus came down into that place through that prayer.
On
that day, in those bleachers, Jesus was not found alone on his cross. Christ is
still able to lead his followers to take up the cross and put discipleship
first. May Christ lead you, and may you
follow.
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