Preached at All Saints, Collingwood, Anglican Diocese of Toronto, 4 September, 2022, the Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost.
Lectionary Readings (Yr C): Jeremiah 18:1-11; Psalm 1; Philemon 1:1-21; Luke 14:25-33
26“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. (Lk 14.26)
Does God have a sense of humour?
I know today’s readings well, because, three years ago, they were the readings that marked my very first Sunday with you as priest and preacher. I remember vividly how strange our gospel seemed to me that Sunday, because lots of my wife Joy’s family had turned out for my first Sunday here. I felt like looking and saying, “Lorz, this ain’t funny!” It was very awkward looking at them (and you!), and trying to explain what Jesus meant by hating one’s family.
It’s especially awkward this Sunday, because one of those family members, our beloved Uncle Brian, was sitting in that very pew three years ago, and came back with his lovely wife Donita every Sunday until he got too ill to come, and as of last night he returned to the Lord, God rest his soul. So, Jesus, tell us, why should we hate our families and loved ones? Am I supposed to hate Uncle Brian? If God is love and our faith is a way of love, what does hate mean?
I could go into a long bible study like I did three years ago (you can look it up here), but let’s note briefly that what Jesus is saying here does not square in any way with that he says elsewhere, like “love your neighbour as yourself”, or “a new commandment I give you, that you love one another or “no greater love than to lay down one’s love for a friend”. So whatever Jesus is saying here, he’s using hyperbole or exaggeration as a technique, like when he says elsewhere, “if your hand offends you, cut it off”. It’s what Jesus does when he wants our attention.
So what does Jesus want to tell us? Perhaps Jesus was warning those crowds that if they really wanted to follow him, there would be a cost. I noted three years ago how for those first followers of Jesus, who were of course Jews, to say that Jesus was Messiah and Son of God would have put them squarely at odds with family and relatives. In the ancient world, where family was everything, to be shunned by your kin was a huge deal. So following Jesus then had a price.
Jesus said, “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple”. Does following Jesus has a price for us today? Have we made sacrifices? Have we been persecuted or discriminated against? Have we had to give up friendships or habits that stood in the way of pursuing our faith as followers of Jesus? And if there is a price to pay, then what do we get in return? What do we gain from following Jesus?
I’ve joked before that putting “take up your cross and join us” on our church website and marketing material would pretty much be the kiss of death. People today don’t really associate church sacrifice. The reasons I get from people about their church attendance are often things like “a nice service”, “an inspiring message to get me through the week”, “music” “to see my friends”, and so forth. These are all good reasons and I want All Saints to provide good liturgy, fellowship, and inspiration. But unless we see all these good things as somehow stemming from our discipleship, then we are in danger of reducing church to a pleasant extra in our lives. Honestly, we can get inspiration and fellowship and maybe even music from a service club. If Jesus is telling us to put hi first in our lives, then there must be some greater reward than a nice feeling.
Our gospel lesson today begins with the phrase, “Now large crowds were traveling with him”. Wherever he travelled, we know that Jesus attracted large crowds, and some believed in him and some rejected him and some were probably just curious. By this point in the gospel, Jesus is travelling towards Jerusalem, where he will literally take up his cross. The crowds will welcome him, turn on him, and then mostly desert him. But some will stay true, some will keep a vigil at the cross, some will see Jesus resurrected, and some will take up his message. The church will follow him across the centuries, as we follow him in our time. We follow Jesus because we believe that this is the best way that we can shape our lives in this world and in the next.
We follow Jesus because following him is the reward that shapes our lives and brings them to a good end.
We follow Jesus because he’s the lord of truth and light. We follow him because he is best possible way to make sense of the world. If we want to follow Jesus, there are certain ways of living and being that we are called to reject. To take up our cross today can mean that we don’t buy into ideologies of extreme wealth and unlimited state power.
Taking our cross can mean that we hate the cruelties of our day and instead assert the dignity and rights of those who don’t look like us or who weren’t born here, of those who are irrationally hated and discriminated against; the hatred being whipped up around the world against the trans community is astonishing given the small size and harmlessness of the trans population, and how easy it us to throw the vulnerable under the bus of society. Jesus will have none of that.
Following Jesus means striving to live our lives in the kingdom of God on earth, where there are no divisions and there is no contempt. That message has been sent out for as long as the church has been in business. In Paul’s time, following Jesus meant rethinking the hard divisions of ancient society between slaves and free. Our second lesson, Philemon, is about how a very early Christian church is being encouraged by Paul to see a slave, Onesimus, as a kinsman in Christ and as part of the family of God.
If we look at the rise of fascism in the world and to the south (I don’t say fascism lightly), then we can see that we as Canadians and as Christians may have to make hard choices and carry crosses in the near future. I think of decent people and Christians in 1930s Europe, just quietly trying to live their lives, and then a few years later were risking their lives to hide Jewish neighbours. We never know when history and faith may call on us to take up our own cross,
Finally, we follow Jesus because he is the lord of life, life in this world and the next. I look around this church and I see the places where those we loved sat and are now gone: Bruce and Jean, Marilyn, Adam, Paul and Dr Stan, Brian, and so many more. Knowing them as part of our Christian family was a reward for following Jesus. Knowing that we will be united with them again on a distant shore of light is a reward worth waiting for. So yes, Jesus does warn us that we will have to take up a cross, but Jesus also promises us that his burden is easy and his yoke is light, and that if we follow him, he will lead us to a good place
