PROPER 18C - Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Psalm 1; Philemon 1-20; Luke 14:25-33 -

9 September 2007 - A sermon preached by The Rev. Peter A. Munson for St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, Boulder, Colorado

 

Are We REALLY Going to Follow Christ?

 

INTRODUCTION - Zach and Homecoming

 

Sometimes being a parent is downright agonizing. As my children get older, and reach the next stage of development, I am reminded of what it was like for me to go through that stage. It is both blessing and curse. It is blessing in the sense that I can see my children making choices with way more composure and maturity and a sense of self than I had at their age. It is curse in that I see the possible pitfalls ahead of them, the possible hurts that could come, and of course, as a parent, I can’t possibly protect them from all of that. It is curse in that I can remember so well some of the stuff that I went through as a teen, and some of it still makes me groan inside.

 

Zach went to homecoming for the first time last night. They make it sound so warm and fuzzy with that word - “homecoming”. You know they still do a dance for homecoming, right? Does this ever strike you as maybe one of the worst ideas of all time? And yet, because it is “tradition”, we keep subjecting teens to it, generation after generation.

 

Here, for some kids, is their very first date, or the potential for their very first date. You are in the midst of your adolescence, in which one of the key struggles is “Where do I fit in?”, and your mind never seems to stop thinking about how you look and what other people are thinking of you at every particular moment... it’s self-consciousness run amok. And given all of that, you are supposed to ask a girl out, or - if you are girl - hope and pray that a guy that you like will ask you out, and then you are supposed to go to a dance, with all these other self-conscious kids there, and strut your stuff on the floor, when, for most guys at least, the thought of getting out there in front of all these other people and dancing is right up there with having a root canal. No, wait. Let’s be honest. This is way worse than a trip to the dentist.

 

It’s homecoming. Aren’t you excited? Honestly, don’t a lot of kids just want to get through this rite of passage relatively unscarred, and get back to school on Monday, and move on to the next thing? Anything that doesn’t feel so artificial, anything where life doesn’t feel so much under the microscope.

 

We were at one of the parents’ houses last night before all the kids went out to dinner, and we’re standing around on the front lawn, taking pictures of our children, most of whom looked like they were thinking, “Oh, God, what have I gotten myself in to?” Julia edged up to me at one point and said, “My stomach is churned up, just thinking about what it is like to be one of these kids right now!” Exactly! Who ever thought this was such a good idea? Why is it still thought of as a fun thing? Aren’t there much better ways for kids to begin dating than this?

 

And then, as parents, you watch your kids drive away to the festivities. And of course they don’t do homecoming at the high school gym anymore. That would be way too lame.

 

They do it at Invesco Field. Your children have been driving by themselves for maybe six months, and they’ve never driven into Denver. And you watch them get into a car and drive, or get into the passenger side with a friend, or with their date, and head out. You don’t think parents were praying last night? Probably even the parents who don’t regularly pray were praying.

 

THE LESSONS

 

What does all this have to do with the lessons?

 

The lessons from Deuteronomy and Luke are about the choices that God gives us. God gives us the choice to love him or not. To make him part of our lives, or not. Similarly, Jesus gives us a choice. Do we want to follow him or not? And, do we want to just sort of follow him, doing that when it is convenient for us, when we can squeeze him in, after we’ve attended to everything else that we really want to get to first? Or do we want to follow him in such a way that we really try to put God first? Do we want to listen for God’s voice, to learn what we think God is calling us to do - day in and day out, year in and year out - and respond to that voice, first and foremost?

 

Jesus gives us some advice. He says, in effect, “Don’t just blindly follow me. Don’t just follow me because a crowd of people is following me right now. Stop and calculate the cost. Following me is going to lead to you dying in some ways. Following me is going to mean you finding a whole new way of living, too. Are you ready for that?”

 

To put it another way, are you going to the dance because everyone else is going, and because the conventional wisdom is that this is a fun thing to do, and everyone who is anyone is going to be there? Or are you going to the dance because you’ve really thought it through as best you could, weighed out the potential promise and the potential cost, and decided, “Yes, this if for me.” Or, “No, this is not for me.”

 

LETTING GO

 

The thing about being a parent is that your children come into the world and you can’t wait to hold them and feel their little bodies next to yours, all new and breathing life. And from the moment they begin to walk and talk, you know that your job is to prepare them as best you can for life out there. You know that you are not doing your job if you don’t learn how to let go. With all the risks that are out there, we have to let them go. Say a prayer as they walk away or drive away or move away, and offer them up to God’s care. And let go.

 

Being a parent is good training for the life of faith, it seems to me.

 

I think Jesus says we should sit down and calculate the cost of following him because you and I tend to want it both ways. We want to be totally in control of our lives, and follow God’s leading, too. And Jesus says, “No. Stop and think about that for a while. That can’t work.”

 

“If you are going to follow me, there can be no other gods. Money can’t be your god. Happiness can’t be your god. Having things or status or power can’t be your god. And you don’t get to be god, if you want me in your life.”

 

The choice is there. We do have a real choice. We can be so into wanting control that we squeeze God pretty much right out of our lives. Or we can say, “Lord, I’ve weighed it all out. I choose you. It feels riskier than going to a homecoming dance, but I choose you.”

 

Where are you in your life right now? Are you willing to let go, and let the risen Christ lead you? Are you willing to listen for the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and let God’s Spirit guide you, in every area of your life?

 

And where are we as a community? One thing I can tell you. We are no different than the people of Israel in Moses’ time. We are no different than the crowd that was intrigued with Jesus. God has set before us today life and prosperity, death and adversity. According to the testimony of those who’ve gone before us, life and prosperity don’t come to those who go running after other gods. Life and prosperity - true life, and true prosperity - come to those who seek God and love God and trust God. Life and prosperity come to those who can open up their hands and their hearts, and let go of everything else, so that they can reach out to God, and embrace God, and say, “Yes, Lord, I have counted the cost, and I am willing to follow you.”

 

Are we okay with the idea of prospering?

 

Are we okay with the idea of finding new life?

 

Are we okay with the idea of giving up time-honored traditions, and not following the crowd, when we discern that those traditions and those ways don’t give life? Are we okay with the idea of giving something up, of going through some struggles and some dying, so that we have the opportunity to find the pearl of great price?

 

Are we going to go to the dance because everyone else has pressured us to go, because almost everyone in America believes in God, or because we’ve thought and prayed about it, and considered the cost, and decided that we can say without reservation, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, and you alone.”

 

The choice is ours to make, Jesus says. Consider the cost and the promise. And then make a choice. Don’t be wishy-washy, or too easily influenced by others. Stop. Think. Pray. Consider. Weigh it all out. And then decide.

 

God sets before us today life and prosperity, death and adversity. What will we choose?