Introduction:
Have we any idea of what we are letting ourselves in for when we proclaim ourselves as disciples of Jesus? What do we imagine the life and journey of a disciple ought to be like? How fully can we truly call ourselves his disciples in our world?
The reading we have just heard is full of gritty determination, but it is also laden with warnings to us, as well as containing a number of loaded – but persuasive – rebukes from Jesus.
We have heard that Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem”. Whilst it might seem rather archaic, this is very strong language, which is deliberately used to indicate the absolute determination that Jesus had to fulfil his mission and his destiny. He knew – even at this stage – the horrible fate that awaited him, yet he did not shrink from it, but faced it fully and stoically: and it is this determination that both sets the scene for the rest of the Reading and indicates to us the things that we might have to face in our Christian lives and ministries.
Some good news:
The first rebuke that Jesus gave – which is also the most obvious of them all – is his reprimand of James and John, the “Sons of Thunder”1, who offered a violent retort against the Samaritans when they refused to accept the Lord and his followers into their village.
We might imagine that these brothers would have smarted or felt hurt at the way that Jesus replied to them, but actually, this is nothing but good news, for it clearly indicates that Jesus wants all of his disciples to understand that his way is the way of mercy, tolerance and understanding, not destruction. Jesus is unambiguously stating that he does not expect any who would be his disciples to act in a violent way towards any other being: many alleged “Christians” of a more fundamentalist inclination might do well to learn and understand this fact!
Some bad news:
Ordination: you work extremely hard for a number of years towards it and then, once it has happened, have to work only one day a week: right? Once ordained, you get paid lots and lots of money for doing precious little: right? You even get a free – usually enormous – house, with all your bills paid and a housekeeper thrown-in for free: right? All you then have to do is lead some services, preach some sermons, and do some of that praying stuff, to be guaranteed a place in Heaven: right?
Okay, so you don’t feel called to ordination – no problem! As a member of the laity – but also as a “good” Christian, all you need to do is to go to church once a week (or thereabouts) and to give as much or as little as your embarrassment level will allow you: right? If you have a musical gift, you might volunteer to play an instrument or sing in the choir: more “Brownie points”: right? Clear diction might mean that you would be good at reading the Scriptures during services: this gives you both a better understanding of the Word of God, and brings you nearer to God’s Realm: right?
Wrong – on all counts: or at least it ought to be, whether you are the highest ranking and most visible of all the ordained clergy, or the person who slips quietly in and out at the back of the service, whom nobody either knows or notices!
We have probably all known of churches where the priests and leaders are put onto – or who themselves actually build and climb onto – pedestals, so that they might be looked-up to and themselves be “worshipped”. We all know of churches where the priests are really rather wealthy, when compared to their parishioners. We have all seen the large houses that some clerics inhabit, which are quite often surrounded by considerably less desirable properties. And we have all seen those non-ordained members of the church who seem to view themselves as “curates”, and who work terribly hard to prove to the clergy and to the congregation as a whole, just how utterly indispensable they are.
Well, Jesus has the same kind of news for folk who think like that as he had for those he addressed in the Reading: “Thanks, but no thanks!”
One of the primary points that Jesus is making in this Scripture is that there is nothing easy about following him properly. If “the Son of Man has no place to lay his head”, who are we to expect that our lives and ministries ought to be more comfortable? If Jesus is content to have no earthly security, to have no earthly place that he might call “home”, who are we to demand a greater level of affluence than the poverty that he endured?
Then there is the urgency of Jesus’ message. We might think it peculiar that he would say that the dead ought to bury the dead. But the “dead” that Jesus expects to do the burying, are those who are ‘dead’ to the Spirit, those who are insensitive to Jesus’ call.
Thanks to our knowledge of Jewish law, we know that it is highly unlikely that the father had actually even died by the time that Jesus called this man, for if the father had been dead, the son would have been too busy with the funeral arrangements to have been in the presence of Jesus. Jewish law is very clear that the duty of burial has precedence over all other matters. Through this we can see that the man expected the death of his father, although it had not yet happened. So Jesus chastised him: “…go and proclaim the Realm of God”. This message is also very clear: in it Jesus is plainly saying “If you are to follow me, you must do it now, you must do it with absolute commitment, and you must do it with the zeal of a missionary!”
We might also think that it is harsh that one could not say “goodbye” to one’s family and friends, before setting-off on the journey with Jesus. Again, Jesus has a message, which is: “By this you show your reluctance to follow me! You must be sure that you know what the cost of discipleship is before setting out, so that you will not turn back. If you are in any doubt whatsoever, if you turn back at all, you are no true disciple of mine. Only those who have fully and carefully counted the cost of discipleship – and who, should I ask it of you, are prepared to give-up everything else – are fit to follow me!”
In short, the sacrifice of all that we find comfortable and familiar, the loss of any status that we might hold dear, and absolute, unwavering commitment are the prerequisites to being a true disciple of the Lord.
To plough or not to plough? Some costs and rewards of discipleship.
Many of you will know that I, for one, deliberately abandoned my faith several years ago. I had my ‘hand to the plough’, and looked back. After years in the wilderness, having heard my cries, Jesus again sought me out, and welcomed me home, bringing back just one of his many lost sheep. His great and unconditional love forgave me for falling short of the ideal of discipleship.
I think that we can be sure that Jesus will never fail to show us his love, if we are prepared to tolerate some level of uncomfortable sacrifice when we commit ourselves to him. We are his disciples, and we should know that we are never left alone, never abandoned, never asked to do things too difficult for us to handle, but are always called his children, are always protected by his love. He knows our strengths, and will doubtlessly further strengthen us in these areas, to better serve him and his people. He knows, too, our weaknesses: he makes plentiful allowance for these, and is careful not to ask of us things that we are unable to fulfil.
If we answer the call of Jesus fully and properly, we will talk to strangers about our faith, even to the point of risking personal ridicule and insult: if we choose not to answer the call, we keep our “faith” a private matter, exhibiting and professing it only in this building.
If we answer the call of Jesus fully and properly, we will give of our finances, of our goods and chattels to those who are in greater need than we, by supporting charities and by direct action: if we are not truly his followers, we are more likely to close our eyes, our hearts and our minds to those in need.
If we answer the call of Jesus fully and properly, we will be prepared to die to defend our faith and to speak of Jesus’ great name and absolute, non-discriminatory love for all of humanity: if we are not truly his followers, we will kow-tow to the discrimination, hatred, fancies, whims and demands of mere mortals.
The choice is entirely ours: we either do what we honestly believe that Jesus asks of us, proclaiming the Realm of God for all people, with enthusiasm and commitment, or we do as selfish minds – either our own or those of other people – say we ought to do.
MCC is “a house of prayer for all people”. It is both our inheritance and our bequest: it is our duty to build-up this City of God, before we pass its care on to those who will inevitably follow us. It is our duty to proclaim Jesus’ absolute and inclusive love, and our mission to welcome all those who would come to love and to see God.
MCC acknowledges the “priesthood of all believers”, and openly proclaims that we are all called, not only to be Jesus’ disciples in this world, but also to be the very tools that he uses to build and to sustain this Church. The continuing life and spiritual prosperity of MCC is dependent entirely on how much missionary zeal we are prepared to commit to.
None of us here are ‘dead to the Spirit’: our challenge therefore, is that we think not of ‘the church’ as this building, but as something that we daily carry with us, in our hearts, in our minds and, most especially, on our lips, as we bring the Good News of Salvation to all those whom we meet; as we allow them to share in the inheritance of MCC; and as we bequeath to them the same privilege of being missionaries for Jesus.
Amen.
(John Stanway)
This sermon was first preached in the Metropolitan Community Church of Manchester. Click here for further information.