The High Cost of Discipleship

Rev. Dr. Michael Stotts 

Gen. 21:8-21

Mt. 10:24-39

Several years ago, in the first church we served in East Bridgewater, Mass., Peggy and I and our congregation, welcomed a visitor from Germany, Pastor Klaus Seidenstucker.  He was a part of the German pastor's exchange program  in which we'd participated.  Peggy and I had been a guest in his home, in the small town of Netphen, in Germany, and now, the following year, to complete the exchange he had come to visit our parish  here in Massachusetts.   As was the custom in the exchange, we invited Klaus to preach that Sunday.  He knew English  well, and  even as he told us the title of his sermon, I could tell he had a good command of the language, and was very good at playing with words.  The title was, "Holy Craziness."  To set this theme,  he began by saying that in many ways, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, while ultimately freeing, and giving us new life, very often, at first hearing sounded like so much craziness.  And as I read our scripture passages for this morning, I thought about Klaus's sermon.  For on first reading, each of these passages would seem to suggest that one would have to be crazy to be a follower of Jesus Christ, and live out our Judeo-Christian faith.             

First from the Old Testament we have a somewhat complicated story of a divided family.  And who wants a divided family?.    Old Abraham, the father of 3 different religions, including our own,  Abraham  was married to Sarah, but unable to conceive she urges her husband to have a child by her slave Hagar.  Hagar then indeed bears a son--Ishmael.   However later: surprise!  In her and Abraham's old age, Sarah finally gives birth to her own son by Abraham,  a son named  Isaac.  Since he is a legitimate son, he will becomes the new head of the family, after Abraham is gone.   After Isaac's birth, Sarah then becomes jealous of Hagar's son, and convinces her husband to send away Hagar and Ishmael.   God however saves them both, and indeed, tells Hagar that God will make a great nation of Ishmael.  And indeed we know today that just as the Jews trace their family line from Abraham, through Isaac, so too do the Muslim people consider Ishmael the father of their people after Abraham.     And so begins the division which, too often tragically even today seems to be dividing and throwing into turmoil the human family.             

Then we hear our Gospel reading this morning.    After that Old Testament lesson, Jesus words here in Matthew seem to ring true.  Jesus says, "do not think that I come to bring peace but a sword," . .  to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother, and so on.   And then, as if to add to this holy craziness Jesus says."Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it."                 

Yes, holy craziness.   So are you ready to be disciples of this Jesus Christ?              

First of all, isn't it a bit of holy craziness that to follow this Jesus, we have to lose our lives in order to find them? What does he mean by that?   Do we really have to take up a cross--to follow him.   Well perhaps not literally--perhaps . . .             

Think for a moment what it means to be a disciple of someone--even a disciple as loving and hope-giving as Jesus Christ.  Doesn't  it mean  we have to stop singing that American national anthem?  Oh, not the one we sing before sports events, but the one given birth by Frank Sinatra--you know the song-- "I'll do it my way"?   If you're going to follow someone, especially Jesus Christ, the first order of business of any disciple, is very clear--you have to stop doing every-thing that you want, first of all--and follow someone else--in this case Jesus Christ.         

Now, I know, that goes against much of what our own culture tries to teach us.  Our world tells us we need to stand on our own two, feet, be assertive, try to beat out the other guy--be number one -- like the Celtics.  We love that.  We want to be like Paul Pierce and  Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen, and be able to beat our breast and say, "We're number one!"   But Jesus Christ is one who instead we are called to follow--not get in front of, but to follow.    Essentially what we're asked to do is to give up control.  To let go of trying to manage everything our own way, (give up our own life, in that sense), and instead to let ourselves be led, by the Son of God.   But letting go is oh so hard, isn't it?                         

In a way it's kind of like my experience, which some of you may remember my sharing before, about the fact that as a boy, I  was a afraid of the water --for the longest time, in fact, and so resisted up until my teenage years,  learning how to swim.  In a way it was a perfectly logical fear-- I thought!  I knew, if you put your face in the water, you couldn't breathe--right?  And if you did breathe, accidentally, with your face in the water, you were dead!  So,  in my desire to protect myself--which is logical, isn't it?--I refused to let go and float, and let the water hold me up.  There were literally several summers worth of swimming lessons at the public pools in our town, therefore, where I was the only child who just refused to even try to learn to swim.  So I spent some miserable times, down in the shallow end by myself.  But boy, I was winning, I thought!  I was getting my way!  No one was gonna drown me!               

It wasn't therefore until we started vacationing, summers up in Northern Maine, where we were on the lake a large part of the day, and I could  get used to the water, and then--most importantly, have some help from the folk I trusted the most, my family--it wasn't until then that I finally learned to swim. And  I'll never forget that first summer, when I let go of my fears long enough to do it!                 

My Dad took me out to where the water was just above  waste deep, and he encouraged me just to lean forward and put my face in the water  with my arms out straight and push off long enough to float to him.  Well, of course I knew he wouldn't let my drown--so though I was still very afraid and resisted for a bit, finally that day, I let go of the fears long enough to trust in the water and my father, and hey I floated, I did it!--with my face in the water.  I did it.  What a feeling of joy that was.  And the funny thing was--I thought of it as something I did all by myself that day.  What really had to happen, though,  was for me to let go of my own wants and fears, my own way, and trust enough in another to teach me--one I trusted and loved.  So , with  my father encouraging me, and the water holding me up  I finally swam that day.  If only I'd trusted in the water before, and let go of my own way my own fears earlier, and trusted in my teachers--let them lead me, think how many more years of fun in the water I would have had.             

Isn't that really a part of the "holy craziness" that all of us have to learn, in this "I'll do it my way" nation of ours. We need to learn to give up our lives of wanting just our own way and giving in to only our personal desires, and learn instead to be followers.  We're to be disciples of the one who would teach us all how God meant us to live--as a loving, self-giving rather than self-keeping and selfish people.             

Then, part two, of this way of holy craziness that is our faith--beyond learning to let our Teacher--Jesus Christ go first, before ourselves, is learning then to follow him--to do as God is calling to do, and as we feel and know in our hearts that Christ would have us do.   Far too often that is an exercise for many of us which we  only think about on Sunday, and maybe for a little on Monday.  But then life hits doesn't it; we have personal responsibilities; we have all kinds of people pulling us in all kinds of directions trying to get us to do things they want, or that it's our responsibility to do, so  it's all too easy isn't it, to stop looking for daily guidance from God, and just do what we think we have to do--thinking  . .. we'll get to God later.   Yet if we learn to trust in God, we'll find that in spite of all the other pulls in all those other different directions others are leading us toward,  if we let God guide us, and learn to listen to that still small voice of God, telling this is the path we need to follow--not that way, then indeed, our faith promises us, we will be far happier in the end. We will have become the person God wants us to be, not just what we, or those countless others pulling  us, want us to be.  After all,  God made us, so does it not make sense that we ought to live as we feel God wants us to, if we are to work best as were meant to work?              

I once had a friend named Ron, in one of the churches Peg and I served. At a fairly early age, Ron felt a call to the ministry.   He had  grown up  in the church, and slowly become convinced that being a pastor was what God had made him to be. Unfortunately, he had a strong-willed father who was sure the ministry was not  a place  one could really make something of oneself--at least by his standards, so he convinced Ron he should try to go into business, instead.             

So Ron did.  He went to school, and married fairly young.  and then, with a family that grew rapidly, he got one job after another, wanting to support them. But no one job was satisfying for him, and so he never did very well at any of them.  His heart wasn't in it.    It wasn't until he finally began to listen to God's calling to the ministry that Ron found his path that he was meant to follow.  At last, after about 6 or 7 different jobs, he went back to school, entering a program at Bangor Seminary in Maine, which enabled him simultaneously to finish his college work and seminary requirements, while also serving a church so his family would be supported.   And finally Ron was happy.  Why?  Because at last he listened to his particular calling--that voice of God within that was just  for him, telling him with all his decisions, who he was--telling him what he was meant to be--what calling God-- not everyone else-- had for him.             

Yes, it may seem crazy, but in order to be the persons we were meant to be, and hence be the most fulfilled, satisfied person God made us to be, we need to give up our own will, and stop listening to everyone else's pulling us in many different directions, and listen to the still small voice of God within each of us--through which God tells us--listen to me--this is where you need to be today, and this is what you should be doing.   Of course our world tells us it's crazy to listen to voices--let alone the voice of God within.   But when we follow that voice, and become who we were made to be, we learn--it wasn't crazy at all.             

Finally then, the last step of holy craziness is one part of the lessons from this morning that I'm sure troubles all of us, and may prevent us at first from being disciples, following where Christ would lead us, being the person God tells us we should be.  And that is those words we heard today from Jesus about  not bringing peace, but a sword.  In our Old Testament lesson it seemed as if family members had to turn against family members for God's will to be done.   Two great nations of people Judaism, and the Muslim people,  yet so divided and often at war--and it all began that day that Hagar was sent away.  Yes and later Jesus seeming to underline the problem, when he came right out and said that he'd come to set even family members against one another,  and would bring not peace but a sword.             

What do we make of all that?   Well isn't it true that if one is to follow the voice of God in one's life, that that might cause some family turmoil.  After all Jesus teachings about love of God and  neighbor, are exactly contrary to our society's constant teachings telling us to think of ourselves and our own families first, and to beat out the other person--to compete, and excel above others.  Those  more selfish  ways are a lot different from following God, and loving your neighbor as much as yourself.  So of course there will be upsets in the family. Our faith goes against the grain of our world's values--let's face it brothers and sisters in Christ.              

But that's all right, for we know that very often it is indeed after conflict is faced and resolved that a new peace can come.  That the cross, though hard to bear, leads to resurrection.   And that indeed, loving others and loving God, leads to much more happiness than always trying to beat out someone else-- for climbing the success ladder is unfulfilling by it's very nature.  There will always be someone higher up the ladder, and one more step to climb.  And the possessions and wealth were taught to seek with our consumer society?  Well, we'll never have enough, will we?  So you see, while living, instead,  Christ-like lives may seem to lead to conflict  with our society, or our world, in the end we will be the people were meant to be--a people much more at peace with ourselves, in our world and with God.

John Wesley, the founder of our Methodist tradition, gave us a central prayer that he invited us to use, when society or our own wills seem to be leading us away from God.  He called it a Covenant Prayer, because he invited us to make a covenant with God, to give up our own ways and wills--yes to lose our life, in a sense in order to find it.  So as we close today, I want to invite you join me in that prayer.   It's on page 607 in your hymnal.   It calls us to give of ourselves, and instead to do as God wants us to.  To be disciples, in other words, as opposed to "I'll do it my way."  That kind of life may seem crazy, at first but if we'll use this prayer, and do as we say in the prayer.  We will find it's not so crazy after all--for all we're doing is finally  agreeing to be the people God made us to be.   And that's not crazy at all.   So join me, in Wesley's Covenant Prayer.