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| Word Cloud from the sermon |
What's required to follow according to Luke
The Gospel of Luke is full of stories about what it means to
follow Jesus. From the feeding of the 5,000 to sending the disciples out
without extra clothing or money, to today’s readings, Luke provides a glimpse
of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
We learn that we will be expected to be radically hospitable at the
wrong time and without sufficient resources as did the apostles when charged
with feeding the multitudes When Jesus
the apostles out without extra food or clothing, we learn we are expected to
travel light in this world possibly without sufficient food or clothing,
trusting in God’s providence. Luke does
not portray a cushy easy job, doesn’t inspire confidence in the likelihood of a
comfortable and genuine Christian.
This continues with today’s Gospel reading. Three people seeking to follow Jesus, and
three non-answers. The first offers to follow Jesus “wherever you go”. Jesus responds that the son of man has
nowhere to lay his head. More than referring to his housing status, Jesus is
giving a glimpse into what that following might entail. Sure, you can follow me, but I don’t have a home base. I’m not
settled. Come on! Two more people offer to follow, but with
a catch. The first responds that he
needs to first bury his father. Jesus’
response? “Let the dead bury the dead”. Another agrees to follow, but first asks to say
goodbye to his family. Nope.
Follow me now. Without burying the dead, or without saying
goodbye to your family. This sounds like an impossible ask.
Much will be asked
Indeed, much will be asked of us, both in terms of what we
have to give, and perhaps more difficult in what we must give up. First,
we are asked to follow someone who is not tied down to a particular home base, Isn’t
worrying about his home, and isn’t ensnared by roots that would keep him from
spreading the good news, wherever he was asked to go. He’s travelling light, and
in following him, we too need to travel light, and be willing to follow this
wanderer wherever he leads. We can worship Jesus from anywhere. From this
building, from our homes. But to follow
Jesus, we need to have a healthy detachment from the things we think provide
stability and predictability, particularly if those things get in the way of
our following Jesus. The son of man has no where to lay his head.
Without ties to a place or a community, Jesus travels
wherever, whenever. As a result, we
don’t know where he’s going to lead us.
We don’t know when. If we are to follow, we need to be willing to follow
when he calls, and where he calls. No, we
cannot ask Jesus to wait a minute while we take care of our family, to bid our
farewells. When Jesus calls, we are to
respond, without looking back and without hesitation. To be clear, this is not simple, or easy and
it certainly demands more than we’re comfortable. And it puts us at odds with
family and cultural expectations and priorities. Let me first say goodbye to my family.
Let me first take my kids wherever.
Let me first.. It happens to
all of us. We all struggle to keep Christ at the center. Luckily this isn’t a
pass/fail test. We need to just keep
trying. And as the baptismal covenant
says, when we fall into sin, we commit to return to the lord.
Follow Jesus to do what?
But what does that mean, to follow Jesus? Without Jesus roaming the earth now, what are
we actually to DO? According to the Epistle reading today, there is only one
thing we need to do and that is to love your neighbor as yourself. The love
they’re talking about isn’t moonlight and affection. Rather this is a deep empathy for others. The pastor Frederick Beuchner has a test he
uses to assess how he’s doing with loving his neighbor. He writes “If you
have not cried for someone other than yourself in the last year, then the
chances are you are already dead.” I
would go further to suggest that after crying for another, we are also called
to do something to help the other. Only when we truly love the other,
can we begin to remove that distance between us and the other. When we love each other as our self, there
ceases to be an “other” because we’re all in this together. When we can get to that place where we love
our neighbor as our self, we blur the lines between us and them. Anyone who’s been involved in service with
others knows of this blurring, and how alarming it is when you realize we are
all in this together.
Individual expectation bundled together into corporate expectation
To be clear, this is following, not worshipping, but
following Jesus is fundamental to our faith.
We are each individually called to follow Jesus Christ. We commit to it when we are baptized, and
every time we renew our baptismal covenant.
Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your savior? I do.
Do you put your whole
trust – whole trust – in his grace and love?
I do.
Do you promise to follow and obey him as your lord? I do.
There is no relativity in these statements. No time limit. No “let me check my schedule”. Or “yes, but
I’ve got something to do” in these statements.
This, and nothing less, is what we’re called to do, and who we are each
called to be.
That’s hard enough.
Even tougher is when those expectations are bundled together into the
Church. We, the people in this room are the church. It’s not the building or the
institution. It’s not the clergy or the
diocese. It’s the people who turn to
Jesus, accept him as savior, put our whole trust in him, and promise to follow
and obey. We are the church.
Missional Church
So Christ calls us to follow his risky uncertain lead, and
follow when asked. And from the Epistle
we learn that following Jesus is nothing more or less than fully loving your
neighbor as yourself. This is where we get into the tricky business of being a
missional church. A missional church is a church that corporately and
collectively turns to Jesus Christ, accepts him as savior, puts our whole trust
in his grace, promises to follow him into the world, and follow when he calls.
As the church – as a group of people who follow Jesus, we
are, as Presiding Bishop Michael Curry says the Episcopal branch of the Jesus movement.
From today’s Gospel, we hear that we are asked loose the ties that bind us. We
are asked to get rid of the structures and infrastructures that get in the way
of us following Jesus. We, the church, are asked to follow a leader who has
nowhere to put his head, and we are asked to love our neighbor as our self
above all else.
We the church are not the building, or the diocese, or the
parish hall. We the church are followers
of Jesus, who are asked to follow Jesus to love our neighbor, wherever that
takes us. We are asked to collectively and actively, pursue God’s vision, not
ours. If we, the church, take this seriously, what does that look
like?
I have a friend who’s a deacon in a parish outside of
Boston. Like many urban Episcopal church
buildings, it was founded by a population which has since moved out of the
city. The parishioners continue to
attend that church, but they drive in from the suburbs or from nicer parts of
town. The neighborhood around the building
has changed, and at the same time, the number of parishioners – those driving
in from the suburbs, has declined. The community around building had changed to
predominantly Brazilian immigrants. The church struggled with attendance and
revenues. After much prayer, they decided to return to their commitment to love
their neighbor, and to follow Jesus – right out of the building into this now
unknown community of neighbors. The
church, the followers of Jesus decided to hold a Brazilian dinner and invited
the community. Hundreds of people from
the neighborhood showed up, and the building was full and bustling. Soon, the church was host to numerous
Brazilian services and events. There was a new energy within the people who
were members of the church. Some questioned the strategy because few of the
Brazilians attended Sunday service or were pledging members. But the church – the people – who followed
Jesus out into the community to love their neighbors just followed Jesus. And a
funny thing happened. Church attendance
began to grow. Not with the Brazilian
neighbors, but with other Jesus followers who recognized the love of Christ in
the actions of the church. It was growing with people who wanted a faith
community to worship Christ, and to follow Jesus out into the world.
We at St. Thomas are in a somewhat similar situation. We
have a faith community that is different than when it was founded 60 years ago.
And the Eugene/Springfield area has changed since 1956. We’re not alone. The Episcopal Church
throughout the nation is dealing with changing demographics, with declining
population and pledging units. What
would it look like, if the we, the Episcopal Branch of the Jesus movement in
Eugene and Springfield refocused on being followers of Jesus?
Please do not misunderstand me. Worship is critical, and I’m partial to the
Episcopal way of worship. But if we get to comfortable with the worship - when we remain in the building to worship,
perhaps we’re missing the opportunity to seek and serve Christ in all people.
Maybe we aren’t exposed to the opportunity to strive for justice and
peace.
We have lots of St. Thomas members doing lots of amazing
outreach and ministry in the world. What
else could we, as a collective community of Jesus followers do, if we banded
together? I don’t have the answer, and I’m sure there’s more than one
answer. But I challenge you to think
about the question. And if ever you want
to scheme and dream, and want a sounding board, an encouraging word, or a cup
of tea, call me. This is an exciting time for the people of St. Thomas. The
possibilities are endless, and what an opportunity, as you search for a rector.
What possibilities! Jesus is calling us. As individuals, and more importantly, as the
gathered body of Christ, to follow him.
We need to figure out how we are going to respond.
Amen.
