This post is part of the ON THE WAY sermon series at St Mark’s Anglican Church, Casino July/October 2022
Once again we are served a smorgasbord of classic texts in today’s lectionary:
Jeremiah visits the potter
A whole NT book (Philemon) in one go!
Jesus seeking to turn away his wannabe followers
THE SCENE
We are still on the road (the way) to Jerusalem,
to the cross,
to the future
Large crowds were travelling with him.
Success looks like this!
As Jesus heads south he attracts additional disciples
A few from each village
More and more people are joining every week
Things are on a roll
All the spots in the OpShop roster have been filled
There is a waiting list for volunteers
Everyone wants to be part of this exciting new thing
HOW (NOT) TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE
Jesus seems not to have read the 1936 best-seller by Dale Carnegie
He is not collecting Facebook friends
Not gathering followers on Twitter
In this week’s confronting “Good News” there are 2 affronting statements
Two slaps in the face (to pick up a meme from this week in US politics)
We might summarise them together as: COUNT THE COST
COSTLY DISCIPLESHIP
Discipleship is not a diversion for people who have everything
Discipleship demands everything we have and all that we are
Let’s take those hard words in reverse order
We begin with the last of his put-downs for wannabe followers:
Question: Have you got what it takes?
Hint: everything!
Clarification: you will lose everything (that you think you possess)
“none of you can become my disciple
if you do not give up all your possessions …”
We have heard those words so many times
But have we ever once taken them seriously?
How much are we prepared to lose for this Jesus project?
In the first of his challenges
Jesus raised the ante
His remarks are so extreme that they surely have to be metaphors
And he was a master of hyperbole
To be my disciple, you need to …
hate your parents
and your spouse
and your children
as well as your siblings
and even your own life.
Jesus calls that set of radical choices,
“carry your cross and follow me …”
There is no alternative model of discipleship
Everyone who follows Jesus walks this path
This is how Jesus did it
If we want to walk his way, then is how it goes
Radical grace
Demands radical faith
Expressed in radical discipleship
Authentic discipleship shapes lives that are different
Where “cheap grace” is rejected as a scam
Where the cross (God’s unique call on our faithfulness) is embraced
It will take different forms
Not every follower of Jesus sold their property & abandoned families
It is the task of a lifetime
Not a sudden act to impress others with our spiritual character
But rather a sustained decision to love others
In the name and in the spirit of Jesus
It may cost us everything
And it may transform others as well as ourselves
We are forming community and transforming lives