BEING A DISCIPLE OF JESUS

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18; Luke 14:25-33

Season of Creation I — Sunday, September 4, 2022

The Rev. Dr. Ritva H. Williams

We begin our reflection this morning with a psalm praising God’s creative skill and intimate care for human beings. The psalmist declares that each of us is individually known, personally shaped and crafted, both precious and significant. As a knitter, I love the image of God knitting all of our inner parts together in the womb. The psalmist is struck by how each of us is fearfully, reverently, wondrously, strikingly, remarkably, differently made in the image of God. Each of us reflecting the likeness of God. Paradoxically, we learn in verse 15 that each of us has been shaped in the depths of the earth. Our origins lie in the earth — the adamah — from which God made the first earthling — adam. We are dust and to dust we return — a truth that is proclaimed on Ash Wednesday and at every funeral. All of us represent humble earthly origins and divine potential. The good news is that the God who is big enough to have crafted the vastness of space and the beauty of biodiversity knows and loves us personally. 

We need to hear and hold tight to this message as we join Jesus this morning. Crowds have gathered around him. Some are hoping for spiritual guidance. Others are longing for Jesus’ healing touch. Others are looking for entertainment — to witness some amazing deed, or to watch Jesus spar with and put down a scribe or Pharisee. This morning Jesus offers a reality check, challenging them, and us, to think about why they are following him.  Why we are here. Jesus challenges them, and us, to really think hard about what it means to a disciple and a follower of the way of Christ. 

Jesus uses strong, exaggerated, harsh sounding words to describe what is expected of his disciples: (1) to hate parents, spouses and children, siblings and even life itself; (2) to carry the cross; and (3) to give up all one’s possessions. How’s that for a recruitment speech? It doesn’t make following Jesus sound very attractive, does it? We might conclude that being a disciple of Jesus isn’t realistically do-able or even desirable. Perhaps the most confusing aspect of  Jesus’ insistence on hating one’s family is the contradiction with everything Jesus says about loving our neighbor, loving our enemies, and loving one another as Christ loves us. This contradiction is an invitation to go deeper.

So, let’s start with love and hate. In the Bible these are not emotions. They are consciously chosen values that lead to specific ways of living and behaving. To love someone is to intentionally stand in solidarity with them, to be there for them, to care for them regardless of your feelings. To hate someone is the opposite, to distance yourself from them, to turn your back on them, abandon them to their fate regardless of your feelings.

Remember Jesus’ story of the man who was beaten and left to die on the Jericho road. Three passers-by, a priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan saw him lying there. The priest and the Levite crossed the road, and continued on their way. That’s hate acted out. The Samaritan stopped, provided first aid, took the man to an inn, and paid for his lodging, food and continued medical care.  That’s love acted out. That is what being a disciple of Jesus looks like: to set aside, at least temporarily, your own personal agenda to spend time, energy and money caring for a stranger in need.

How does this relate to family? In the world of Jesus, family determined everything about a person’s life — social status, education, work, friends, and yes even your spouse was chosen by your family. In order to survive families lived and worked together. One’s self and one’s family were practically inseparable. Hating one’s family in the ancient world involved detaching oneself to some degree from family, like when the fishermen James and John left their father Zebedee in order to follow Jesus.  

It is still true today that our individual lives are connected, and entwined with family. Parents and siblings provide the matrix for our existence, the formation of our identities, and shape our future relationships with spouse and children. Today we know that overly enmeshed family systems inhibit the development of healthy individuality. For each of us to blossom and grow there has to be some intentional space between us and our families of origin; our spouses also need space to flourish, and as parents we need to provide that space for our children. 

Maybe that’s why the greatest commandment is not, “Love your family as if it’s God.” The greatest commandment is not even “love God, love your family.” Rather the greatest commandment is “love God, love your neighbor.” Scripture explains that the neighbor includes the stranger, the foreigner, and even the enemy.

To be a disciple is to be a student and learner. To be a disciple of Jesus is commit ourselves to learning how to make Jesus’ values our values. This is not something that you achieve by taking a six-week class. At the center of Jesus’ values is the cross which symbolizes laying down our lives for others. To be a disciple of Jesus is a lifelong journey of making intentional decisions about who we see as God’s children, who we stand in solidarity with, and how we use our time, energy, talents, skills, and money. The challenge of being a disciple of Jesus has always been that Jesus’ values and behavior Jesus were and are counter-cultural. 

Human societies have always drawn boundaries between persons based on race, ethnic origin, gender, age, social status, religion, political affiliation, and so forth. We all instinctively engage in us versus them thinking. Being a disciple of Jesus challenges us, encourages us, and empowers us to stop doing that. The way of Jesus shows us how cross boundaries in order to love the neighbor, the stranger, the foreigner and even the enemy just as the Samaritan did. 

Human societies also fall victim to the myth of scarcity, and respond by promoting greed over giving, hoarding over sharing. We strive for financial security even as we resent any benefit, gift or blessing that comes to our neighbor. We look down on the poor, blaming them for their poverty. We both admire and distrust the wealthy.  Their wealth looks like a marker of success, even as it signals greed and hoarding at the expense of others.  Being a disciple of Jesus challenges us, encourages us and empowers us to advocate for the well-being of all persons, to strive for justice and equity among all peoples. 

Being a disciple of Jesus challenges us, encourages us, and empowers us to invest our time, energy and resources in projects that may not benefit us personally in the short-term but which can and will make a positive difference for the community and the world in the long-run. Working hard to make ethical choices about food, clothing, energy needs, and transportation, have a big impact on the lives of others and on the planet.

Please pray with me:

We praise you, O living God, For you know us completely and love us completely. You have created us good and holy, lending your image in the act of creation. Again and again, we have fallen away, and you have found us, again and again, and repeated the call, “Follow me.” Help us to be better disciples of Jesus, committed to the way of the cross, expanding our vision of your family, and sharing our resources for the good of all. Open our ears to the cries of creation, of fertile earth stripped of its riches, of living waters choked with chemicals, of clear air filled with pollutants, of dying creatures, and of suffering people. Teach us to cherish and protect your world and all its inhabitants. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.