"Remember The Poor" September 9, 2007 Proper 18, Pentecost 15

(First, read the passage for this sermon: Luke 14:25-33)

What a harsh passage we have this morning, from the gospel of Luke!
"Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” And, “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” And, “So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”

The fact that Jesus would say these sort of things, at this point in Luke’s story, is absolutely unimaginable to us Americans. That’s because, in our culture, the measure of “success” is numbers – and, by this time in Luke’s story, there are great crowds following him! Because of what Jesus has been saying and doing, he’s a sensation! He’s a star! Now, he’s going to chase away all but the most highly committed. Jesus is intent on discouraging all who are hangers-on. He is emphasizing the cost of discipleship, and now his numbers aren’t going to look so good.

"Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” “So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.” You know that the gospels were edited and put in written form several generations after Jesus lived and died and was raised. These verses describe the experiences of Jesus’ followers when they first heard these stories! Members of some Jewish families were in fact divided, according to how they responded to the good news of Jesus. And the earliest communities of Jesus people did in fact give up all their possessions, pooling their resources in a communal living arrangement. (The gospel of Luke, in particular, is very hard upon those who are rich – people like you and me.)

Do these verses describe the way you and I should live, today?

I certainly don’t think a requirement for discipleship is to hate the others in our families! (For you English majors out there, this is an example of hyperbole in the Bible.) But the point being made is that a cost of discipleship is to put parents, family, relatives, and even one’s own life in subordination to discipleship.

And, as for the teaching to give up all of our possessions, a good case can be made to say that it’s irresponsible not to take care of ourselves! But there are radical communities of Christians in our culture, sharing their resources, and I often do ask myself: why am I not living in one?

A benefit of this harsh passage is that it creates a tension. As one writer puts it, ”the cultural accommodation of the Christian faith has progressed steadily in recent years. As a result, many see no tension between the teachings of Jesus and the common aspirations of middle-class Americans.” In fact, the Christian gospel is a challenging and subversive thing to us who are the richest people in the history of the world. For instance, since only a small percentage of the world’s population lives in developed countries, nearly everyone on the face of the earth would agree with the surprise of the African visitor to this country who asked about our garages in utter amazement: “You have a house for your car?”

So, this morning’s harsh passage can be useful for you and me if it shocks us out of our self-centeredness! If you and I are responding to Jesus’ call to be disciples, the passage is telling us, then what is required is all that we have.

“Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” “The cross” is the ministry to which the Christ calls us. Luke’s community experienced suffering, in carrying the cross. Chances are that you and I will not face suffering that is severe as the result of carrying our cross, because God has blessed America with freedom of religion. Our “suffering” will most likely be gentle: not being able to afford a house as large as we could buy, for instance, or a car as fancy as we could buy – because, out of discipleship, we give away so much money that we can only afford what we need!

But even if our own suffering for the sake of the gospel is mild, carrying our cross means identifying in a radical way with those who are suffering. You may remember a verse from the passage I centered on last week, in Hebrews (13:3): Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured. Carrying our crosses of discipleship means solidarity with those who are Christians in all places of the earth.

At the end of our worship service, if I say the words, “Go in peace! Serve the Lord!” what do you say? (“Thanks be to God!”) In fact, over the 28 years that we used the Lutheran Book of Worship we got so used to the dismissal at the end of a worship service that, if a worship leader doesn’t speak those words, worshipers hardly know that it’s time to leave! In Evangelical Lutheran Worship, there are four options for the dismissal, and I’ve used all of them! There is “Go in peace. Serve the Lord.” And, “Go in peace. Share the good news.” And, “Go in peace. Christ is with you.” And there is this one: “Go in peace. Remember the poor.” (Thanks be to God!)

Remember the poor. That could be an effect of the imagery in this morning’s harsh passage from Luke, which shocks us out of our self-centeredness. Remember the poor. Remember those who are in need. Live in solidarity with those Jesus loves especially. (In the Bible, remember that, without exception, God takes the side of the poor and needy!)

In a spiritual sense , “the poor” include the rich. You and I who are rich are aware of our spiritual poverty, which means our weakness of faith, our doubts and our questions. That awareness drives us to our knees. We know our need for God’s grace. As Jesus carries his cross, he carries us on his back.

But we can’t wriggle away from the tension this passage creates, by spiritualizing it! “The poor” are also the poor in the plain sense of the word. They are those who have to decide between heating their houses in the winter and buying food. The poor are those employed full-time in a minimum wage job, who still don’t make enough to rise out of poverty. The poor are many of those millions in our country who do not have health insurance (a scandalous, disgraceful situation in a nation as rich as ours is). Carrying our crosses of discipleship means remembering those who are poor, as though you were poor with them!

In our congregation, many of us do give away at least some of our possessions: the money and material we give to FISH, and to the Grove Christian Outreach Center, and to the Mongai Parish, and to the United Lutheran Appeal, and to Virginia Synod benevolence (with so many of those dollars going to support organizations that work with the poor), and to Faith in Action, and to the Peninsula Pastoral Counseling Center (to their fund that pays for counseling for the poor). As a congregation, we are generous way beyond the norm, and that’s something to celebrate!

But still. This morning’s passage about the costs of discipleship still creates a tension within us, because we cannot do it on our own. When it is up to us, we can never do enough! And so, once again, the Bible turns us towards the God of grace. Thes passage from Luke sounds a radical call to become free from whatever inhibits us from whole-heartedly following our Savior. It’s a call for us to carry our crosses – which is only possible, of course, because of grace. Our ministries are only possible because Jesus the Christ is carrying us!

The benefit of this morning’s passage is that it shocks you and me out of our self-centeredness! As we are freed from that, God leads us to see the needs of our world not through our own eyes, but in seeing and caring about what the triune God sees and cares about: the God who made and loves all things, Jesus Christ who shares the lot of the most wretched, and the Spirit hovering with healing over all the world. (Gordon Lathrop)

In the name of that God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia