Pentecost 16 C, Sept. 19, 2004
Text: Luke 14:25-33
Giving Up Everything to Follow Jesus (Luke 14:33)
Last week we passed the third anniversary of the terrorist attacks of
September 11 on the United States. It has been three years since
president Bush announced the war against terror – in his words, a war against
“evil.” The past three years have seen military action brought to
Afghanistan and Iraq. But I wonder if this crusade against the evil “over
there” has blinded us to the evil that exists among us, the evil within
our own hearts.
For example, during Jesus time there was a building accident in
Jerusalem. The tower of Siloam had collapsed resulting in a number of
fatalities. This is what Jesus had to say about that: “Do you think that those
who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think they were
more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But
unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:4-5)
Now, we may ask, “How appropriate is such a prescription? Does it not
ignore the more immediate problem of improper building safety standards?
And applying this reasoning to today, does it not ignore the more
immediate threat of terrorism, the unhappy prospects of ongoing global
conflict, or the domestic problems of economic uncertainty and the erosion
of sound social values? But for Jesus these are merely the symptoms of a
far more serious problem. He interprets these as signs that the end is
near. Details about how we die, whether in a building accident, a
terrorist attack, or from natural causes is not the important issue. More
important is: Are we ready to face God’s judgment? What can be more
catastrophic than to find out that we have cut ourselves off from God’s
grace because we refused to repent and turn our hearts to Him? What are we
to do?
Lest we should project our own share of guilt for the misery of our
world on a band of terrorists, or for that matter, on politicians, judges,
the media, or anyone else, Jesus, I’m sure would warn us that, “no, the
terrorists are not more guilty than you are. Unless you repent, you too
will all perish like they.” In our struggle against evil we must first
begin with ourselves. We must confront our own rebellion against God.
We cannot ignore the log in our own eye before looking for the splinter
in our brother’s eye. We must ask ourselves, “What have I done or
failed to do that contributed to the hopelessness and despair that causes
people to commit desperate acts of terror? Yes, each of us bears
responsibility for the misery of our world.
In our Gospel lesson, Jesus confronts us with the things we should and
could have done to bring reconciliation and peace to our world. Here
Jesus outlines God’s anti-terrorism plan. It is called discipleship. It
involves taking up our cross and following Jesus. This is what Jesus
says, and please brace yourselves, for this is one of His most difficult
teachings: “If anyone come to me and does not hate his father and
mother, his wife and children, his brother, and sisters—yes even his own
life—he cannot be my disciple… Any of you who does not give up everything
he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26, 33).
These are very difficult words. If we thought that Jesus was all
fuzzy-wuzzy talk about love, we are shocked that such mean words can come out
of His mouth: A call to hate those nearest and dearest to us, to hate
our very own life. How can Jesus say this? Well, Jesus knows that His
love for me and for you would take Him to the cross. Had He allowed
Himself to be deterred by the thought of how it must hurt His mother to
watch her own son being scourged and die agonizingly on the cross before
her eyes, then we would still be without hope and enemies of God. But
thanks be to God that Jesus loved us more than His own mother and gave
Himself up for us!
In our Epistle reading from the letter to Philemon, the apostle Paul
imitates the action of Jesus on behalf of a runaway slave. Paul returns
the slave to His master and offers to pay for anything the slave should
owe his master. He goes on to say that formerly this slave was useless,
but now he has become a brother (16). Paul did for the slave what Jesus
does for us. Jesus paid for our sins and brings us back to God, no
longer as condemned sinners, but as God’s dearly beloved children and heirs
of His kingdom.
This love of God for sinners has been the inspiration of countless
Christians throughout the centuries. They sacrificed everything heeding
Jesus call to go into all the world as messengers of His love. And many
went, willingly laying down their lives to do that. At one point,
missionaries who were sent to Africa used coffins as shipping crates to pack
their belongings. That’s because most missionaries that went to Africa
at that period did not live very long before either being killed or
succumbing to a tropical illness. In choosing to go to Africa they
literally took up their cross, or should I say “coffin,” and followed Jesus.
They were under no illusion what following Jesus involved.
Imagine what you would do if you saw your daughter packing up her
coffin to go and share God’s love with an isolated tribe in a
disease-infested jungle? Would you not try to stop her and reason with her that God
might have other plans for her life? That is why Jesus said, “You cannot
be my disciple unless you hate your father and mother…” If you are
afraid to hurt the feelings of your family it will be difficult to be a
disciple of Jesus.
In some way being a disciple of Christ is like being a soldier. Over
the past few years we watched soldiers mobilized for duty in Afghanistan
and Iraq. As a soldier you cannot say, “I’m sorry, Sarge’, I can’t go
because my family is afraid I might get hurt.” How do you think your
Sargent will react? Will he not laugh in your face? The armed forces is
not a calling for people who are not prepared to make the ultimate
sacrifice for their country. The same is true for those who follow Jesus. But
the sad reality is that the number of those willing to do the same for
the sake of God’s kingdom appears much smaller than those who routinely
put their lives at risk for their country.
This sad lack of concern among Christians for those who are without
hope is further compounded in relationship to Muslims. Although Muslims
make up at least 1/3 of all non-Christians in the world, only a tiny
fraction of Christian missionaries, about 1/100, are sent to the Muslim
world. Muslims have been largely ignored by Christians. It seems that the
only times we take Muslims seriously is when we feel threatened by
them. 1000 years ago Christians responded to the spread of Islam with the
Crusades. A few years ago it was Desert Storm and now it is a holy war
against Muslim countries harbouring terrorists. It seems that the only
way we know how to communicate with Muslims is through the barrel of a
gun.
Now imagine, if you will, instead of sending tens of thousands of
heavily armed soldiers to the Middle East, we send missionaries, Christians
armed with the Word of God and a holy love for Muslims. Christians who
are not afraid to offer their lives so that the Muslims can hear that
God loves them and that Jesus died for their sins. Imagine what might
happen! If our previous generation had heeded this call, there probably
would not be enough Islamic terrorists on this planet today to
commandeer a single airplane. Imagine!
Over the years I have had the opportunity to be close friends with
Muslims from many backgrounds, including Muslims from Afghanistan and Iraq.
I believe what Muslims need most is a Christian friend who is willing
to demonstrate God’s love to them not just in words but with action. Not
with guns and overwhelming military superiority, but with Jesus and an
overwhelming demonstration of love, a willingness to sacrifice all.
Muslims do not know that God loves them unconditionally in Christ.
Their god expects them to earn their righteousness. The desperate actions
of terrorists can be understood as attempts to redeem themselves of
their sins by doing something great for their god. They crave approval from
a god who cares little for them. Why are they so ignorant of God’s
love? Because Christians have withheld God’s love from them. We have
selfishly kept God’s love all to ourselves, unwilling to share it. And so we
reap a fearful harvest of violence from desperate souls crying out for
love and attention.
It is not going to be easy to share God’s love with our Muslim
neighbour. For a thousand years most of what they have received from the
“Christian” West is bullets and war. It is going to take a little more than
just words to convince them that we are serious when we say that we love
them and that Jesus died for them. Unfortunately we seem more willing
to engage them with guns and bullets than with the Gospel and a coffin:
A coffin that testifies to the truth of our faith in Christ and our
hope of everlasting life. Without a coffin, without allowing ourselves to
become vulnerable, our words are but empty and meaningless.
Even though we have failed God in that we love our own life and family
more than we love Him, I want to assure you that God has not given up
on us. The ongoing conflicts in our world should remind us that our
world is coming to an end. This earth is not our real home. God wants us to
know that He has got something far better for us—a permanent home. In
Christ we have the hope of the resurrection of our bodies and a new
life. This gives us joy and peace in the midst of the sorrow and
destruction we see around us. It is this peace that will draw others to Christ.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only anti-terrorist weapon that can
truly bring peace where there is conflict. It doesn’t just kill
terrorists, it changes them into brothers and makes them co-heirs with us of
God’s kingdom. May this amazing love of God encourage us to be faithful
followers of Jesus, willing to carry our cross for the sake of all who
still hunger for an experience of God’s love. Amen.