If I asked you to name some disciples- who
would you name? Would you think of Peter,-
the Rock on which Christ will build his
church- do you think of James or John
nicknamed the sons of thunder, what about Thomas- who was challenged to put his hand in the
wounds of Jesus?
When I asked to you
to name some disciples? Did anyone look
around and think of someone sitting in a nearby pew? When I said to name disciples did you think
of Deacon Lee back there? Or Bishop Franklin? Did
you think of folks who wear white plastic collars around their necks? Do we think of disciples as people who lived
long ago who followed Jesus? Do we reserve the word disciple for the Holy
People in our midst?
But what about
ourselves- when you looked in the mirror this morning- did you think-I’m a
disciple- I’m a follower of Christ? Probably not.
I realized something
this week- that when I think of disciples, that when I talk about disciples,
when I talk about followers of Jesus from this pulpit- I think of all you- I
don’t often think of Peter or Andrew or James or John-- When I think of the disciples I think of you – I
think of 20-30 kids downstairs in Sunday
School- the acolytes sitting back that -- when I think of disciples I think of people shut- in at home. But I
realized for the first time in seven years that you probably don’t think about
yourselves as disciples. I realized that when Jesus mentions disciple-
you are probably not thinking ding-ding-ding-ding that’s me.
Curious to dig deeper into this word disciple--- I consulted an online dictionary-- Now there were two ways that
this dictionary defined disciple the first was “a personal follower of Jesus
during his time- the second way it defined disciple was
more generic it said- a follower or student of a teacher, leader, or
philosopher. That definition leaves room
for you and I to be included in the pantheon of disciples.
[A couple of weeks
ago, I went over to meet with my
spiritual director, while I was there he
asked me what would be the focus of my ministry in the year ahead. One of the things that I told him, that as the pastor of St. Mark’s I would like
to help my flock to live more fully into this thing we call discipleship, I
want to help them to live more fully into being followers of Christ. I realized that my ministry
is to challenge- to poke, to prod to get us --to think about what it means to
be 21st century followers of Jesus in Orchard Park New York? ]
Now that we’ve
established that this word disciple includes you and I along with that pantheon
official disciples like Peter and Andrew—who really wants to be one after what we
hear Jesus say today about discipleship – Tough words to swallow- when Jesus
says Whoever comes to me and does not
hate, [HATE] father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sister,… and
even life itself cannot be my disciple.
Anyone want to sign
on for that? If that is the case Jesus,
you can have your discipleship.
Someone I heard this
week commenting on the text said- don’t forget that they kill this guy at the
end of the story- and not because he’s all warm and fuzzy- but because he says
things that are so threatening to the culture he was living the powers that be
can’t let it go on any longer and they nail his body to the cross.
But does Jesus
really means what he says or is this a case of hyperbole? Does being disciple
really mean we should hate father or mother? Probably not-- there are plenty of
other accounts in the gospel where Jesus advocates for family values. But I
think this passage is still meant to challenge us.
Listen to how Emilie
Townes describes discipleship and what this
passage means underneath all those words like hate father-mother sister
and brother
She writes:
“At the heart of
discipleship is transformation. The cost of discipleship is not just becoming
accumulators of new information about living life fully, or changing behavior
in regards to Jesus teaching. The cost
[of discipleship] is engaging in a profoundly radical shift toward the ethics
of Jesus with every fiber of our being.”
[What would it look like for us to make a radical shift towards the
ethics of Jesus with every fiber of our
being?] She continues, “there is no driftwood in discipleship, as we are
called to live lives of complete devotion to God. Jesus reminds us in today’s passage from Luke
that following him means we cannot be shallow or uncommitted believers…”[1]
When we hear
passages like this- hate father, mother-- our first thought should be oh
yeah--Jesus means business… the call before us to follow him is not easy or
un-challenging. Discipleship may mean devoting our lives to Him- as much as we
devote our lives to our husbands and wives- to our children.
I would imagine that
two miles down the road- deep in the locker room at the Ralph- Doug Marrone is
looking into the eyes EJ Manuel and Mario Williams and all the rest of the buffalo bills saying-
there is only one way to play the game today- there is only one way to beat the
New England Patriot—you are going to have leave everything you brought with you
today out on that turf.
There is only one
way to be a disciple- there is only one way to follow. We have to leave everything out there.
This passage reminds us that There are to be
no shallow or uncommitted believers… —were are not playing church or were playing
followers as little children might play house or kitchen. The kingdom depends picking up crosses,
reordering our priorities- complete devotion to God.
The good news is
that Jesus invites to this life of disciple- and when we engage it --- the
kingdom of God tears into this world and live are transformed, people are
healed, and downtrodden are lifted up- and peace flows. We get to participate in that life – Oh my
gosh what privilege- what honor that we get to do that. But it’s not easy and it demands that every
fiber of our being be involved. Are you up to challenge? AMEN
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