Brad Sullivan
Proper 18, Year C
September 4, 2016
Saint Mark's
Episcopal Church, Bay City, TX
Philemon 1-21
Luke 14:25-33
Let Go of Everything We’re Afraid to Lose
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, are two of the most
polarizing figures in American politics right now, understatement of the
year. They’re probably two of the most
polarizing people in recent memory.
Folks are even stopping being friends with other people (at least on
Facebook) because of whom they support.
There’s nothing new about people not being overly comfortable talking
about politics, but not even being able to say who you support for fear of
total ridicule and scorn seems kinda new to me.
Whether it is because of who our candidates are or a sign of the times,
these two political candidates have ended up being extremely divisive and
polarizing figures.
Now, it would be an overstatement to say that if you support
one of the candidates, you have to hate members of your family who support the
other one…an overstatement for most people.
Some probably feel that way, but my point is, that’s what Jesus said
about himself. You cannot be my disciple
unless you hate members of your family.
I don’t know that he meant that once you decide to be his disciple, you
have to start hating people. I think it
was more that once you become his disciple, your family might hate or reject
you, and you’ve got to be willing to accept that, or on the other hand, if your
family isn’t living as his disciple, you still need to, even if that causes
friction. In short, Jesus was a
polarizing figure far beyond Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.
If we are to take Jesus seriously today, we find that is
still just as polarizing. Not because he
said outlandish, hurtful things, not because he was untrustworthy. Jesus was and is polarizing because he spoke
hard truths; looked deeply into the heart of things; and lived an intentional,
well thought out, and loving life. Jesus
lived a life in which he loved people more than things, in a world in which
many people value their things at the expense of treating other people
well. Anyone who does not give up their
possessions cannot be my disciple, Jesus said.
That’s not exactly incendiary rhetoric, unless you valued
your money, your excess money, more than you valued people in need. His teachings were incendiary if you let your
love of your religion trump love of God and people. His teachings were incendiary if you noticed
the flaws and misdeeds of others while ignoring your own.
Jesus was pretty darn uncompromising in his general stance
that we don’t get to do what we want to do when what we want is going to hurt
someone else.
“You want a divorce, Pharisee? Sorry, dude, but that would leave your wife
destitute. Yeah, I get that her pot
roast is usually dry and that she isn’t as hot as your remember from 15 years
ago. You need to grow up and honor the
marriage vows you made.”
Folks didn’t like hearing that.
“Yes, vineyard owner, I get that not everyone worked the
same amount today, but they still need enough to live on. Pay them all a full day’s wage, even those
who only worked for a few hours.”
Folks didn’t like hearing that.
“Very impressive and expensive stuff you’ve got here. You’ve got way more than you need, though. You know, there’s a lot of people in this
town who don’t have enough. You could
sell some of your possessions and ensure that some folks in your city have a
roof over their heads or the tools they need to start earning a living at a
trade. You want to keep all your stuff
instead? Then you really can’t be my
disciple.”
Folks didn’t like hearing that.
“But I don’t want to forgive these people,” some would
say. “They really hurt me.” “Well then,” Jesus said, “you can’t be my
disciple.,”
Folks didn’t like hearing that.
Imagine what parents might have said to their children who
had begun following Jesus. “If you start
forgiving people like that, son, folks are going to walk all over you your
whole life. You need to man up, be
strong, and stop being such a pansy.”
Another father might have said, “Don’t even think about giving away your
possessions. I worked hard for this
family, and now you want to just give away your stuff? That’s a betrayal of all my years of
work. I didn’t work for some strangers I
don’t even know. I worked for you, so
don’t you dare destroy that with this crazy Jesus.”
Or another, “Well, if that’s how you want to run your
business, like a charity, good luck, but your workers are going to walk all
over you. Pay ‘em a full day’s wage for
a few hours work. You’ll be sunk and
then you can work for me. Moron.”
Folks either really loved what Jesus taught, or they really,
really hated what Jesus taught. There
wasn’t a whole lot of in between. So,
Jesus told folks that they needed to consider the cost of being his disciple
before deciding to follow him. “Your
family and friends may turn away from you.
You’ll need to give up a lot of what you have so that we can live this
life together and so that those who don’t have enough will have enough. There will be burdens, hard to bear, and
you’ll need to take those too.
As sales pitches go, that’s a little unorthodox, and yet for
many people, it worked. Folks saw in
Jesus something greater than their stuff.
Folks saw in Jesus something greater than their pride. Folks saw in Jesus something worth the cost
that he warmed them they would pay.
Yeah, Lord, our stuff is pretty cool, but I do think I like
people better. I get that some will see
forgiveness as weakness, but I see it as the strength of letting go of my hurt
and offering grace. I get that in an
economy of exchange, people should get nothing more than they worked for, but I
like the economy of your kingdom better, where we choose to be generous so that
those who can’t work enough still have enough to live on.
While some were scandalized by those teachings, others saw
something beautiful in his teachings.
Even more, people saw in Jesus forgiveness and grace, love and kindness,
and a way of life that didn’t care about self righteousness but cared about
righteousness for the sake of others. In
Jesus, people seek to be righteous not so that they will be good enough for
God. In Jesus, God makes us good enough through
his grace, through his forgiveness and love.
In Jesus then, people seek to be righteous for the sake of others. I will do right so that I don’t harm others,
so that I do good for others.
That also was scandalous to many. “This Jesus is claiming God’s grace and
forgiveness, but only the priests can declare God’s forgiveness as the people
offer sacrifices to God,” said the religious leaders. Jesus spoke for God because Jesus was
God. Jesus declared God’s forgiveness
not because some religious task had been completed, but because he could see in
people’s hearts regret for what they had done and a desire for a new start, a
chance to lead a new life, and so Jesus granted people that new life, granting
them God’s forgiveness and grace and freeing them from the bonds of fear and
shame that had kept them dwelling in their tortured past.
Jesus offered people a new life of freedom and grace. Jesus declared as beautiful those whom
society had cast aside. Jesus even said
to invite such people into your homes.
Have dinner with the poor, the outcast.
Get to know as brother, sister, friend, those whom society would write
off. Then you might actually have a
reason to give up your possessions to share with those who are now your
brothers, sisters, and friends.
Folks don’t want to sell their possessions and give away
their money away simply entrusting someone else to spend it. Folks often don’t trust that some other
person is going to spend their money better than they would. Sharing with the outcast of society who have
now become our brothers, sisters, and friends, however, now that’s a different
story. That’s the church truly living as
the church. That’s following what Jesus
taught. That’s a new life, freed from
love of possessions, freed from fear and pride.
The life of Jesus’ disciples is a life of freedom and grace.
What if things go wrong as we start to share? What if we end up feeling duped or used? What if our new brother, sister, or friend
ends up betraying us in some way? Well,
then it’s time for forgiveness and grace.
Even as we may or may not say, “no more,” to that person we still show
that person love, forgiveness, and grace, perhaps even a second chance when
they’ve shown true repentance and regret.
Following Jesus isn’t playing it safe. We’re going to be used, mistreated,
ridiculed, sometimes even by members of our own family. Jesus said we would. Jesus said we would be bearing a cross, an
implement of torture and death, not playing it safe. Playing it safe means putting our trust in
our stuff, even trusting in people and our religion as possessions, things to
keep us safe. Following Jesus, choosing
not to play it safe, we need to let go of everything we’re afraid to lose. Then we can put our trust in him, in his
grace and love, in his mercy and forgiveness.
Following Jesus, then, we receive a new life, a life no longer bound by
fear and shame. Following Jesus, we
receive a new life of freedom and grace.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment