The Other Jesus (September 8, 2019) -Rev. Peter Heinrichs, South Freeport Congregational Church
Luke 14:25-33 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
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.
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The picture Jesus presents of discipleship in this morning is intimidating. A large crowd has been following him and hanging all over him. No wonder they follow. They associate Jesus with miracles, with healings, with food and comfort and blessings. All the good stuff. The crowd wants more and of these blessings. But Jesus turns on them to say that following him comes at a price, the price of real commitment, of being ‘all in’ and every individual in the crowd might best calculate that price before taking a step further in the direction Jesus is going.
This is not the cosy Jesus. This is another Jesus, uncompromising, demanding, utterly realistic about what the world can do and will do to him – and unwilling to let his followers romanticize their own future following him. What I would like you to notice here is Jesus asking those who follow him to make a decision: What will you follow – the ‘mind for the world’ or ‘the kingdom of God’? You cannot have both. You must choose one or the other.
I grant you that Jesus does not make following the kingdom of God sound like a ‘home run.’ He talks about leaving family and familiar life, giving up creature comforts, risking imprisonment and death -- a real risk to Jesus and anyone associated with him. So…….why exactly would anybody take another step with this ‘other’ Jesus?
Because Jesus recognizes that folks are following him for more than ‘free stuff.’ They know something deep in their hearts. They know there is a choice to be made, even if they don’t want to make it. They understand that the ‘mind of the world’ cannot give them deep honesty, true freedom, real love or a glimmer of inner peace. They’re afraid of saying out loud to themselves that the ‘mind of the world’ cannot give them anything they truly want or need. Folks are just not used to being this honest.
The price of following Jesus is being this honest.
There are a couple of ways to take this invitation to deep honesty. Let’s try this one. Imagine that your life is like a journey on a bus. You’re on the bus, you’re headed somewhere, somebody is driving and you are accompanied by familiar fellow passengers and a lot of baggage. Since you trust that the bus is going where you plan to go, you’ve been kind of napping along the way. But now you wake up and look around. Maybe you don’t recognize the route outside the bus window. Or maybe you just have a “spidey sense” that something unfamiliar is happening. Something is not quite right.
You look around and question. Am I on the right bus? Who exactly is driving my bus. Can I trust the driver? And how did I end up with these fellow passengers and all this baggage? You sit with the questions for a bit, still a little disoriented from the nap. It then occurs to you to ask: What if I want to get off?
Now Jesus isn’t saying you should get off this bus. He is simply asking you to be honest: Is this the right bus for me? You might decide, yes, it is the right bus go back to your nap. Or you might decide, nope, maybe this used to be my bus, but there’s a new direction calling me.
For although we may think so, we don’t really thrive on a spiritual diet of just good, free stuff. We thrive when we discover that somewhere deep in all of us, somewhere we all have access to, somewhere we share with every other fellow passenger in life, is a deep honesty, a true freedom, a real love and more than a glimmer of peace. We may not be there yet. But it is there and we sense it.
I am reminded of another bus story, one that really happened on December 1, 1955. On that day a small African American woman, only five foot three inches tall, on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, refused to give up her seat among the white folks and go to the back of the bus. Rosa Parks was arrested for breaking the segregation law and her arrest ignited a bus boycott by African Americans in Montgomery, which in turn set off what we now recognize as the civil rights movement in this country. She wasn’t big or scary. She didn’t have a firearm. She didn’t have anybody by her side to keep her safe. She just didn’t leave her seat when she was told to.
Later somebody asked her whether she had been afraid. This was her reply: I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.
This is all Jesus is asking. That somebody please make up their mind and come with him to the kingdom where fear isn’t necessary anymore. Where the free stuff isn’t so important and the good stuff of inner courage and peace is worth the price. Because the best stuff is the discovery of what you are truly made of.
Amen
Luke 14:25-33 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
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.
----------------------------------------
The picture Jesus presents of discipleship in this morning is intimidating. A large crowd has been following him and hanging all over him. No wonder they follow. They associate Jesus with miracles, with healings, with food and comfort and blessings. All the good stuff. The crowd wants more and of these blessings. But Jesus turns on them to say that following him comes at a price, the price of real commitment, of being ‘all in’ and every individual in the crowd might best calculate that price before taking a step further in the direction Jesus is going.
This is not the cosy Jesus. This is another Jesus, uncompromising, demanding, utterly realistic about what the world can do and will do to him – and unwilling to let his followers romanticize their own future following him. What I would like you to notice here is Jesus asking those who follow him to make a decision: What will you follow – the ‘mind for the world’ or ‘the kingdom of God’? You cannot have both. You must choose one or the other.
I grant you that Jesus does not make following the kingdom of God sound like a ‘home run.’ He talks about leaving family and familiar life, giving up creature comforts, risking imprisonment and death -- a real risk to Jesus and anyone associated with him. So…….why exactly would anybody take another step with this ‘other’ Jesus?
Because Jesus recognizes that folks are following him for more than ‘free stuff.’ They know something deep in their hearts. They know there is a choice to be made, even if they don’t want to make it. They understand that the ‘mind of the world’ cannot give them deep honesty, true freedom, real love or a glimmer of inner peace. They’re afraid of saying out loud to themselves that the ‘mind of the world’ cannot give them anything they truly want or need. Folks are just not used to being this honest.
The price of following Jesus is being this honest.
There are a couple of ways to take this invitation to deep honesty. Let’s try this one. Imagine that your life is like a journey on a bus. You’re on the bus, you’re headed somewhere, somebody is driving and you are accompanied by familiar fellow passengers and a lot of baggage. Since you trust that the bus is going where you plan to go, you’ve been kind of napping along the way. But now you wake up and look around. Maybe you don’t recognize the route outside the bus window. Or maybe you just have a “spidey sense” that something unfamiliar is happening. Something is not quite right.
You look around and question. Am I on the right bus? Who exactly is driving my bus. Can I trust the driver? And how did I end up with these fellow passengers and all this baggage? You sit with the questions for a bit, still a little disoriented from the nap. It then occurs to you to ask: What if I want to get off?
Now Jesus isn’t saying you should get off this bus. He is simply asking you to be honest: Is this the right bus for me? You might decide, yes, it is the right bus go back to your nap. Or you might decide, nope, maybe this used to be my bus, but there’s a new direction calling me.
For although we may think so, we don’t really thrive on a spiritual diet of just good, free stuff. We thrive when we discover that somewhere deep in all of us, somewhere we all have access to, somewhere we share with every other fellow passenger in life, is a deep honesty, a true freedom, a real love and more than a glimmer of peace. We may not be there yet. But it is there and we sense it.
I am reminded of another bus story, one that really happened on December 1, 1955. On that day a small African American woman, only five foot three inches tall, on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, refused to give up her seat among the white folks and go to the back of the bus. Rosa Parks was arrested for breaking the segregation law and her arrest ignited a bus boycott by African Americans in Montgomery, which in turn set off what we now recognize as the civil rights movement in this country. She wasn’t big or scary. She didn’t have a firearm. She didn’t have anybody by her side to keep her safe. She just didn’t leave her seat when she was told to.
Later somebody asked her whether she had been afraid. This was her reply: I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.
This is all Jesus is asking. That somebody please make up their mind and come with him to the kingdom where fear isn’t necessary anymore. Where the free stuff isn’t so important and the good stuff of inner courage and peace is worth the price. Because the best stuff is the discovery of what you are truly made of.
Amen