The Cost of Discipleship - June 30, 2013 - Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 8) - Text: Luke 9:51-62

I have told this story before, but it is worth telling again. There is a story about a young college man, a Christian man, who got a summer job working in a lumberjack camp. This particular lumberjack camp had a reputation for being a real tough camp, the roughest, toughest lumberjack camp in all North America, full of only the vilest of heathen men. After the summer ended all the friends of the young college man were curious as to how the he had fared at the lumberjack camp. They wondered if he got beat up for being a Christian. One day one of his friends ask him, “did they make fun of you or persecute you for being a Christian?” The young man answered, “no, they never caught on.” The question we might ask is, “is this young man really a Christian?” or does he merely confess to be a Christian with his lips, but his heart is far from the Lord. This morning with the help of the Holy Spirit we hear what Jesus means when He says, “Follow me.” And we will better understand the true cost of discipleship.
 

The question we might get from our text for today is, “What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus?” Our text for today is sandwiched in between the disciples argument about who is the greatest and Jesus sending out the seventy-two to go and proclaim the good news of salvation. In their argument of who is the greatest, Jesus explained to His disciples that greatness, that is spiritual greatness, is not measured in human terms, but that greatness comes in having faith as a little child, which truly speaks of infant baptism. His concluding words are, “For he who is least among you all is the one who is great” (9:48c). Here we have our first hint at what discipleship means.
 

Our text begins with telling us that Jesus time to be taken up to heaven was approaching. That means that we are approaching the time for Jesus’ death on the cross. We are also told that Jesus is resolute in His going to Jerusalem, which is where we know that He was to be crucified. As He is heading for Jerusalem, He needs, either to go around Samaria, which is the long way, or to go through Samaria. However, the people of Samaria did not welcome Him, because He was headed toward Jerusalem. Now, here in this text, we get a glimpse of the character of the disciples (v. 51-56). James and John, the ones that Jesus affectionately called the sons of thunder, react by wanting to send down fire from heaven. They want a show of power.
 

The Samaritans did not welcome Jesus because of who He was, the proposed Messiah. Remember, there was a continual battle going on between the Jews and their “half” cousins, the Samaritans. Neither liked the other. And here we see that just as many of the Jews did not believe in Jesus, so neither did many of the Samaritans. Jesus knows that He did not come to destroy the Samaritans, but to save all people, thus He rebukes His disciples and turns to go another way.
 

All of this brings us to our lesson in discipleship (v. 57-62). “57As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ 58And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head’” (v. 57-58). This first man wanted to follow Jesus, but He did not understand the cost of following Jesus. Jesus wanted to make sure he understood exactly what it would cost before making such a commitment. The cost of following Jesus is the cost of giving up everything, including a “permanent” place in this world, a permanent place to sleep, a roof over your head and a nice cozy bed. To us the question might be, “Are we ready to give up everything in this world, the luxury of a bed, and a roof over our heads, even our status quo, for the sake of following Jesus?”
 

Continuing on in our text we read, “59To another [Jesus] said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ 60And Jesus said to him, ‘Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God’” (v. 59-60). Jesus calls this second man, but he has an excuse. His excuse is that he still has family to take care of, but after his family obligations are complete, after his father has died and he has buried him and completed the required number of days morning, then he will follow Jesus. Jesus’ response might sound a bit crass, “let the dead bury their own dead,” but He wants us to understand that to be His disciple means He comes first. To us the question might be, “Are we ready to give our lives for Jesus now or is something else standing in our way? Do we want to put off being a disciples until a more opportune time?”
 

Continuing on His journey, we read, “61Yet another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ 62Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God’” (v. 61-62). Here again, this third man steps forward and volunteers his service, yet, he too has an excuse, he needs to go back and say good-by to his family. To us the question might be, “What is standing in our way of being disciples of Jesus? Are we too busy with the things of this world?”
 

One, two, three; three strikes and they’re out. Each of these three incidents teaches the same lesson; true discipleship of Christ implies a denial of self and all earthly ties, and in certain circumstances even the obligations of blood-relatives. Service to Jesus requires an unconditional allegiance.
 

In our epistle lesson for today, Paul outlines the difference between being a disciple, a servant of Jesus and walking away from such service. He uses the terms, living by the Spirit or living by the flesh, that is our sinful nature. Listen again to what Paul tells us, “13For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. 16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:13-25).
 

So, what does this mean, to be a disciples of Jesus? To be a disciple of Jesus means to recognize that it is not we who choose Jesus in order to follow Him, but rather that He has chosen us. He chose us through His Word. He chose us at our Baptism. He chose us and gave His life for us. He gives us forgiveness of sins and faith. He is the one who does everything for us and gives to us everything that we need. He does, He acts.
 

Jesus calls us to faith and He calls us to discipleship. When it comes to being a disciple of Jesus we are reminded that we cannot compartmentalize our lives. We cannot be like the young college student in our opening story, that is we cannot be a Christian only when we are at church and then not be a Christian when it might be difficult to be a Christian. We cannot divide our lives and the times of our life as such: this is work time, this is family time, and this is Jesus time. Jesus calls us to lifetime discipleship, that is that all our of life and all parts of our life are lived as a disciple. When we work, we work as a disciple. When we are at home, we are a member of our family as a disciple. When we play, when we do whatever we do, we do all as a disciple of Jesus. Our lives are lived in such a way that they say, “I am a disciple of Jesus.”
 

Finally, Jesus is not a now or later proposition. At the beginning of our text we read, “51When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem” (v. 51). The time is now, there may be no tomorrow. About this, we rejoice. We rejoice, because we are New Testament Christian. We have God’s Word which tells us that everything has already been accomplished for us. Jesus has given His life for ours. Jesus has paid the price for our sins. Jesus has suffered and died on the cross for us. Jesus has told us, “Your sins are forgiven.” Jesus has risen from the dead. Jesus has ascended into heaven. Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit to work faith and strengthening of faith in us. The Holy Spirit works in us so that we are disciples of Jesus. Jesus has promised that He will return.
 

The cost of true discipleship is your life. And this is not a half and half proposition. A person cannot be a Christian part of the time and say leave me alone the rest. We are either one hundred percent God’s, or one hundred percent not His. So, whose are we? What do our actions confess about us? What does our stewardship confess about us? What does our Divine Service attendance say about us? What does our Bible Class attendance say about us? What does our participation and volunteer service at church say about us? Are we trying to be a part time Christian. Are we only lukewarm for the Lord? Can we relate to these words from Revelation where God says, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Rev. 3:15,16). Unfortunately, because of our inborn sinful nature, we are poor Christians, but take heart, because we have a God who does not do fractions. He did not die a little for us. He did not give us some forgiveness now and some later after we “make the cut”. We have a God who gives us the whole lot of His grace and forgiveness and a whole lot more. We have a God who is not lukewarm. We have a God who is not our God just part time, only when we are at church. We have a God who is always our God, one hundred percent of the time and one hundred percent our God. We have a God who has given us His everything, once and for all. The cost of discipleship was the price of His one and only Son. And He paid that price for us. I now live, because He lives in me.
 

We are disciples of Jesus. By faith in Him, faith given to us by Him, we are His disciples. We may not be perfect disciples and we will never be perfect disciples, at least not this side of heaven, but we have our Lord’s promise that He will be with us. He will continue to work on us to mold us into being the disciples He wants us to be. He will continue to help us as He has paid the price for our discipleship.
 

My prayer for each one of you is that the Holy Spirit might continue to work in your lives, working faith, strengthening your faith, and keeping you in faith so that you do have your eyes looking forward in service to Jesus and His Kingdom. So that ultimately we might all together stand before the Lord’s throne and say, with all the saints, “to Him be the glory,” for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

America’s Dislike for Standing on Principle

So, I am rethinking about a statement made after the BSA voted to allow openly avowed homosexual boys to be active members, that because a boy said he was gay at his Eagle board of review he was not allowed to be an Eagle scout, and someone said, “Shame on the Boy Scouts.” Really, shame on the Boy Scouts for standing on principle? The young man knew the standards and expectation of being a Boy Scout. He could have simply passed his board of review and later, perhaps after turning 18 and being declared an adult and actually, maybe understanding his declaration, said he was gay. In other words, perhaps he was looking for a confrontation.

Any other organization for any other reason would be commended for standing their moral ground. What would we think of a judge who declared a guilty man innocent just because . . . ? We would not think him very just. Anytime we join groups with certain expectations and criteria, we know their expectations before joining. If we have a problem with their expectations, instead of thinking ourselves heroes in changing the organization, perhaps we should join a different group or create a new one.

So, not shame on the BSA, but shame on the one with the hidden agenda, the one trying to change the organization to which he owes so much, especially so much in character building. A young man’s sexuality (sexual preference or orientation) should not even be an issue for these young men under the age of eighteen, because that is not a part of the Boy Scouts of American program, unless of course you consider sexuality under the issue of a scout being morally straight (which excludes the immoral practice of homosexuality). Our society has failed our youth yet again in its immoral pressuring. If instead of being lenient and allowing promiscuity, always with the excuse “They’re going to do it anyway,” and instead we held them to a higher standard, expecting them not to be promiscuous, they would live up to our expectations.

But again, one more problem we have in our culture is that we attempt to shame those with high moral principle in order to ease our guilty conscience for our own wishy washy-ness. We simply cannot stand someone with good strong moral principles which is a big problem in and of itself.
    As is the case with one joining any organization, check out what you are joining before you join. To join with the intent to change the organization to your standard is unfair to that organization. If no organization meets your standard, create your own. The rest of the members of that organization did not join with the expectation of having to conform to your standards, so shame on you for your attempt to change them.

The Medium Is the Message

Let me begin by saying that I am not perfect and I do not always get everything right. Also, there are probably times I make doctrinally confusing missteps in my leading of Divine Service as well. My hypothesis is that I believe not everyone is cognizant in making the connection between the medium and the message nor doctrine and practice. My Sunday worship experience will help illustrate my hypothesis. I do not believe there was any ill intent in certain messages that were subtly presented in the church we visited, and it is more than likely that ninety-five percent of people attending did not perceive the messages I did.

So, we go to visit a sister congregation for church on Sunday. This particular congregation has a beautiful new sanctuary. When we enter the sanctuary, we see a very large beautiful wooden cross hanging from the high ceiling over the altar. To the right of the altar is the beautiful baptismal font and to the right is a beautiful pulpit. From this sight one’s first impression concerning the doctrine of this church would be that this is a church there the sacrament of Holy Baptism, the Sacrament of the Altar and the preaching of the Word of God are central, not to mention Holy Absolution. The pews all contained new copies of the church hymnal giving the impression that the hymnal was regarded as a useful tool for Divine Service. The other positive from this service was that the pastor’s sermon was a good sermon consisting of law and a wonderful proclamation of the good news of the Gospel.

With the positives stated, it is unfortunate that these positive messages were confused with other negative messages. As we noted the central doctrinal message of the font, altar and pulpit, we also noted the entertainment message of the screens on both sides on the front walls, both displaying much of what was in the worship folder. Unfortunately, only some of the hymns in the worship folder were from the hymnal in the pew which was not used at all. Instead, the worship service was filled with other “liturgical” aberrations. One of the most interesting and doctrinal befuddlements was the fact that the female lay reader read all the lessons, including the Gospel lesson from the pulpit, but the pastor preached from in front of the altar.

I guess I am just frustrated with the fact that we cannot understand the unity that comes from uniformity in doctrine and practice. For all who call for diversity, do we not realize that the word “diversity” contains the word divide, not unite; thus there truly is not unity in diversity, rather there is division in diversity. At one time we all spoke the same liturgy at somewhat the same time across the Lutheran congregations of America and even in other countries. Can you imagine that amount of unity before God. Now God hears a mishmash of voices and “liturgies” rather than a unity. This experience has strengthened my resolve to be more perceptive in my own planning processes and in taking care of presenting the right message, through the right medium, and in teaching others the importance of our Lutheran doctrine and how it is seen in Lutheran practice, so that there might one day again be unity.

No Greater Faith - June 2, 2013 - Second Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 04) - Text: Luke 7:1-10

Hopefully we are taught in confirmation that when we pray, we pray in faith, that is, we pray believing the words which we pray. Perhaps you have heard the antithesis of that statement as being, “when we doubt, we undo our prayers.” In our text for today we are brought to meet a man who is described as having a great faith, yet, I believe that we also will see a man who has a great love.
 

Our text begins by moving us past the previous chapter in the Gospel according to Luke in which Jesus was preaching to the people, and now we move into Capernaum where we will meet a Roman centurion, a Roman soldier. Luke describes the events as we read, “1After He had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was valued highly by him. 3When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant” (v. 1-3). We are told that there was a centurion whose servant was sick and about to die. The fact that this man was a centurion meant that he had a rank placing him over one hundred soldiers. He had the charge and responsibility for the lives of one hundred men. Evidently he had worked his way up in rank and was a good soldier.
 

This centurion, who is unnamed, had a servant who was ill and so ill in fact that he was about to die. Our text tells us that this centurion, who was a Gentile, not a Jew, had heard of Jesus and we might deduce that he had also heard of the many signs, wonders and miracles that Jesus had performed. His actions indicate his love for his servant as well as his faith in Jesus. The fact that this centurion had only heard of Jesus tells us that he probably had never personally met Jesus. The approach of the centurion was that he did not go himself to see Jesus, rather he sent a delegation. He sent a delegation consisting of Jewish elders, who were his ambassadors, who spoke for him. What he told them to tell Jesus was, “ask him, politely, nicely, humbly, to come and heal my servant.” He did not expect Jesus, a Jew, to defile Himself by coming into his Gentile house.
 

And so, this delegation of Jewish elders went to see Jesus. Continuing in our text Luke tells us, “4And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.’ 6And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, ‘Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. 7Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed’” (v. 4-5). Did you notice the difference in what the centurion asked the elders to say compared to what the elders actually said. The centurion simply asked the delegation to ask Jesus to come and heal his servant. The message of the elders, with their embellishment, was that this man “deserved” to have Jesus come and heal his servant. Here we see the respect this centurion had among the people. They loved him as he loved them.
 

The delegation pleaded with Jesus, telling Him that this centurion, this person who is an outsider, a Gentile, loves our nation, even though he is not a Jew. This outsider built our temple, perhaps even suggesting that he built the temple from his own money. This man loved the people and we see that they loved him.
 

Jesus’ response was immediate and decisive, He set out to go to the home of the centurion. He left to go with the delegation, with the elders. He went to go to the house of the centurion in order to heal his servant.
 

But Jesus never made it to the centurion’s house. We continue reading in our text as Luke tells us, “6And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, ‘Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. 7Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 8For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, “Go,” and he goes; and to another, “Come,” and he comes; and to my servant, “Do this,” and he does it’” (v. 6-8). So Jesus was on his way to the centurion’s house, but when the centurion found out that Jesus was coming to his house he sent a second delegation to Jesus. This second delegation was a group of friends who came to tell Jesus that He did not need to bother Himself with coming to his house, but simply that all He needed to do was to say the words and his servant would be healed.
 

Notice that when the centurion explains his position of authority saying, “For I say to this one go and he goes and to this one come and he comes,” he is not making a comparison of himself to Jesus, that is, that Jesus, too, is under someone else. No, rather he is expressing his faith in Jesus and His authority, saying that he himself, the centurion is under others, but that all are under Jesus.
 

Finally in verses nine and ten Luke tells us, “9When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well” (v. 9-10). Jesus’ response to this second delegation, to this delegation of friends, was a response of amazement. This centurion was not a Jew, but was a Gentile. This centurion came, asking in faith for his servant to be healed. This centurion believed that Jesus could heal him, and could heal him by simply saying the word. Yes, this man was a man of great faith, so great of faith, in fact, that Jesus says He has not found a greater faith among His own people, the children of Israel.
 

Jesus did not need to go to the centurion’s house and so He did not go. Jesus left to go to Nain and the delegations left and went back to the centurion’s house. And when they returned to his house they found the servant was already healed.
 

So the question we might ask is, “All that is fine and good, but what does this look like in our world today?” Today, this looks like an encouragement to us to “take it to the Lord in prayer,” but also to do so in humility and faith. We are to approach the Lord with all our earthly cares and concerns. We are to approach the Lord, with all boldness and confidence, not doubting, but firmly believing, but we are also to approach Him knowing that we are undeserving in having Him answer our prayers.
 

Today we are given a glimpse of who is Jesus. He is the one who is true man, but also who is true God. He does have authority over all the earth, as a matter of fact He has authority over all things. He hears and answers our prayers and we are thankful to Him, because as He answers our prayers, He does so not necessarily according to what we might ask, that is according to what we might think we need, or simply want, but even better, He answers according to what He knows is best for us, according to His good and gracious will.
 

Today, we are reminded once again that Jesus came to save. He came to save all people, Jew and Gentile alike. He came to save even “outsiders.” He came to save us, you and me. It is our sin which separates us from God. It is our unbelief on which the devil preys. Thus we see our constant need to pray without ceasing, and our constant need to make regular and diligent use of the means of grace, so that we might be strengthened in our faith, so that we might, with the help of the Holy Spirit, resist the temptations to unbelief from the devil.
 

Today we also have a lesson in faith and love. It was the love of the centurion for his servant as well as his faith in Jesus which moved him to send for Jesus to ask Him heal his servant. It is God’s love for us that moved Him to send His only begotten Son to suffer and die for us on the cross so that we might have forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
 

Notice that as always it is the Gospel which motivates us for our good. Certain the law may motivate with the negative consequences, at least on the short term, but it is truly the Gospel that motivates for the long term. In other words, the centurion was not motivated because of some threat of the law of not doing something, praying for his servant or the like, rather he was motivated by the Gospel, by the good news that Jesus is a man with authority, perhaps even that Jesus is truly God in human flesh, even the Savior of the world. It was the Gospel, the good news of something wonderful that he knew Jesus could do that motivated him to pray and ask in faith that Jesus would heal his servant. So too are we motivated, not by the dos and don’ts of the commandments, but by the good news of the Gospel, the good news that Jesus lived, died and rose for us, so we are motivated, to confess our sins, to live lives of faith, to always be ready to give an answer for our faith, and to always having an urgency about being given the gifts our Lord has to give.
 

Three weeks ago we celebrated Mother’s Day and in two weeks we will celebrate Father’s Day. Perhaps, as mother’s and fathers, as parents we might see something in the centurions love for his servant and his faith in Jesus which reminds us of our love for our children. And we might also see an example to us as parents of how that love might be acted out. As this centurion loved his servant and as he demonstrated his love and faith by his prayer to Jesus, so as earthly parent’s we might see our need to be in constant prayer to our Father in heaven, praying for our children, for their faith, as well as for all their other needs. And that as we pray for them we might pray in faith, firmly believing and not doubting that our Father in heaven will answer our prayers for our children on earth.
 

Finally, my prayer for all of you, brothers and sisters in Christ, is that the Holy Spirit will stir in you a strong desire so that you might have an urgency about yourself to make regular and diligent use of the means of grace, remembering your baptism, hearing and reading His Word, confessing your sins and hearing His words of absolution, and coming to the Lord’s Supper, so that you might be strengthened in your faith and so that you might resist the temptations to unbelief and so that you might stand firm until the end. To God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.