Date: September 1st & 4th
Preacher: Pastor Ashley Rosa-Ruggieri
First Reading: Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Psalmody: Psalm 1
Second Reading: Philemon 1-21
Gospel: Luke 14:25-33
When I was in Cambodia for my year with Young Adults in Global Mission, one of the first things we learned at orientation was important phrases in Khmer. Important places, rooms, numbers, questions, and foods that we might need to know. One of these phrases was meant for our trips to the markets when we were looking to buy something. We would hold up or point to an item and say, “tlai bohn-mahn” and in English we might say, “how much is this?” when asking about an item for sale. However, a literal translation from the Khmer instead could be: "how expensive is this?” And that question is one great summary of our readings for today, when we talk about discipleship. How expensive is it? How expensive is discipleship? And since we want to be Christ followers, disciples that follow Jesus, we want to know how expensive it is, and then the question becomes: Can we afford the cost?
Now, there are parts of our scripture that are very clear about the importance giving monetarily, but that is not the only focus of our passage this week. Rather, this week is about action, and attachment, and what it means to give that up and consider the cost of it in our lives. What Jesus is asking us to do is drop our own attachments, pick up the cross, and follow him. We see this first when he tells us that we must hate our family and our own lives. Jesus is not promoting animosity between families or demanding that we talk to ourselves negatively to put ourselves down. He does not want us to literally hate ourselves or our lives. The idea of hate here is more about turning away or breaking off from attachment that can be used as an excuse to avoid discipleship, rather than a feeling that we might put in contradiction to love.
It is not that we are to hate, as in be malicious or rude. We are to hate in a way that breaks our attachments to things outside of our call to discipleship. Through this lens, hate becomes a form of rejection or letting go, which is a way of preparing for our walk with Jesus. It is not easy for us to detach ourselves from the life we know. We grow fond of our lives, of people, places, spaces, and things. Sometimes we even grow comfortable through these attachments. But Jesus’s point in this passage is that when we choose to become disciples, when we choose to follow Jesus, we are also choosing to let go of the attachments that get in the way of our walk with Christ.
The main point of Jesus’s warning is to help us understand the cost of discipleship and following him before we have decided to do so. Jesus gives us two examples of other times where it might be important to consider the cost before agreeing to something. The first is an example of building a tower. No one would have gone into that project without being sure that the money it would cost is available. If someone did start too early, before they were ready, they could end up with a foundation but nothing else. It is the same with Christ followers who have not considered what is asked of us. We may have a strong foundation, a belief in Jesus and even a partial understanding of what Jesus asks of us, but when it comes to the more difficult things, there is not enough to protect that person from the elements. Misfortune, tragedy, or a challenge to one’s own belief can easily sway our path of following Jesus if these were not considered before it all started.
Next Jesus gives the example of a king set to go to war, but with half of the people fighting as the opposition has. In this case, the king will send a peace offering ahead so that the war can be staved off before it begins, protecting all who could have been unnecessarily hurt in the fight. In this case, the cost was too much, and so the king found a different way to move forward. The same could be said about our faith and walk with Jesus. Perhaps we think the cost is too much, and so we bargain to delay the inevitable. Maybe we ignore the hard parts, the expensive parts, placing them far away. This practice may grant peace in the short term, but the problems that were there will need to be discussed and worked through at some point. In both of these cases, Jesus is saying that the cost of discipleship is a big one, one that asks us to make sacrifices, and let go of attachments to physical things. Rejecting the things that get in the way of following Jesus is a heavy cost to pay, and so Jesus warns that people must consider what it means to claim being a disciple before making the decision.
As it says in our reading from Deuteronomy today, “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity.” Though said to a different audience at a different time, this is the same sentiment that Jesus is expressing. The way of Jesus, the way of the cross, is not an easy one, and it is not cheap. With it comes death and adversity, shown to us in the death of Jesus himself on the cross. But with it is also life and prosperity. Because though we claim the cross and carry it, we also proclaim that Jesus has been resurrected and that cross remains empty. Life and prosperity come from the joy we can claim together as followers of Jesus who died and rose again, defeating death forever. Jesus’s offer of discipleship sets before us life, death, prosperity, and adversity. We are not promised an easy life because we follow Jesus, in fact, we are often told the opposite. Life will not be easy. The cost will be expensive. To follow Jesus, we must consider the cost, sever the attachments that we store for ourselves in this life, pick up the cross, and walk the road behind Jesus. Not an easy message, nor an easy walk, but a realistic view of what it means to follow Jesus in difficult, uncomfortable, even distressing times. Our savior does not gloss over these costs, he warns us of them before we have even picked up our cross to follow. And so now it is our turn to answer that question for ourselves—how expensive is it? To do that we must consider Jesus’s words when it comes to discipleship—to reject attachments, to pick up the cross, to consider what will be asked of us, and then, after all of that, to choose the cost of discipleship wholeheartedly and with complete understanding, as we start walking on the road and follow Jesus on the way. Thanks be to God.