Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Jeremiah 18: 1-11
Psalm139:1-5,12-17
Luke 14: 25-33
“When Christ calls a man (or woman), he bids him (or her) come and die.”
Those are the staggering words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor and theologian in the Confessing Church in pre-World War II Germany. Hitler and the Nazi regime are slowly strangling religious expression in Germany. A few pastors in the German Lutheran Church dare to speak out in opposition to the horrors they foresee for Germany and for German believers.”
As a result of his opposition and his association with the planners of an assassination plot against Hitler, Bonhoeffer is arrested and imprisoned.
His book, “The Cost of Discipleship.”[1]has become a kind of guidebook for those seeking seriously to be disciples of Jesus Christ.
I believe we need to hear his words in these times.
“Cheap grace “, he writes, “is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting to-day for costly grace……Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principal, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the love of God taught as a Christian ‘conception’ of God, an intellectual assent to that idea is held to be of itself sufficient to secure remission of sins……In such a Church the world finds a cheap covering for its sins; no contrition is required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin. Cheap grace therefore amounts to a denial of the living Word of God, in fact, a denial in the Incarnation of the Word of God.”
These are hard words!
But we just can’t ignore them!
They are written by a man willing to die for his faith and his resistance to any kind of religion which is counter-fit, a poor copy of “the real thing”.
Jesus’ words to the multitude of people who are following him around as recounted by Luke are also hard words!
But, while some receive his words and believe them, many think him a religious fanatic, a “nut”; his words too hard to swallow.
And yet, they’re fascinated by him!
So, they follow him around the countryside, hoping to witness one of his “miracles” and listening to him preach.
The words of Jesus are not the words we might prefer either. Where are the words of healing, comfort, folks brought back from the dead and those lovely stories with solid moral teachings? It appears Jesus believes his God is not only about love and forgiveness and healing…, but is about justice…, and yes…, about judgement.
Today we see him followed by those large crowds, the believers and the curious spectators. And he turns …….and tells them something they don’t want to hear! It’s too hard!
We, too, may find we’d rather not hear them!
“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.”
Wait…What?
“What’s he saying? Maybe he’s even crazier that we thought!”
“I’m doing the best I can”, or “I’m really a good person” or maybe even, “Well I’m really spiritual.…but not religious!”, isn’t going to make it with him.
He just keeps insisting, “Beloved, you just can’t have it both ways!”
He doesn’t try to “sell” himself to his would-be followers with promises of everything running smoothly for them. This is the guy who knows he’s on his way to Jerusalem where he’s going to get killed!
Then he adds something else: “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”
He explains this by citing somebody who starts to remodel their house but neglects to check their bank balance! Or some country that decides to attack its neighbor without checking on the strength of the neighbor’s army, the resolve of its people or the kind of weapons they have or can procure.
These “carry the cross” words are hard for us to understand. We don’t see folks walking around with crosses strapped on their backs as was the humiliating rule for victims of Roman crucifixions.
But maybe we do see something that might help us understand what Jesus is getting at.
Let’s say you decide to take that extended back packing trip on the Pacific Crest Trail you’ve wanted to do for years.
You start preparations a long time ahead! You begin to prepare your body so that you’re in good physical shape. You get out the maps and decide the portion of the trail you’ll tackle. You figure out how much food you’ll need to get enough calories to keep up with the physical exertion. As the day of departure approaches you check to be sure your boots are softened up and are in good shape and your backpack has not been eaten by rats in the garage!
And finally, you begin putting stuff into the backpack: sunscreen, insect repellent, extra socks, blister plasters, a flashlight, TP, matches, a poncho and sleeping bag, a water container, a first aid kit, etc. …
and then you weigh it!
“Can I manage that day after day, mile after mile, you ask?”
Well, finally the day arrives!
You strap on that backpack, wiggle it around until it’s more or less comfortable…
and you start walking!
I believe that’s what Jesus is talking about!
It’s all about deciding to be a disciple!
It’s about accepting that there may be challenges and getting prepared for them. No surprises there!
It’s recognizing your strengths and the weaknesses. Do you believe you have what it takes?
Then it’s about shouldering that load.
And then you start walking!
What’s in your “pack”?
Deep love for the people you’ll run into on the trail?
Anger over injustice, no matter when or where you see it?
A deep desire to be used in the bringing in the reign of God?
A profound appreciation for the physical beauty around you?
And the deep, deep conviction that you are doing the right thing but you are somehow, maybe mysteriously, not alone.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer didn’t lead people to believe that their faith in the face of the rise of Nazi oppression would not have consequences. He, and they, are not crazy religious fanatics!
They are simply “Disciples”.
They’ve decided to pick up their spiritual “back packs” and begin walking!
He, and many others, will pay dearly for their decision.
Bonhoeffer refuses numerous attempts to spirit him out of Germany into the safety of England or the U.S., saying, “How can I return to Germany after this war is over if I find safety in another country now?”
In one of his last letters to his friends, he writes, “We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God.”
From his prison cell, he continues to write letters of encouragement to his friends and be a pastor to his fellow prisoners.
Even as the prisoners can hear the roar of advancing Allied artillery, he is taken out into the courtyard of the prison building and, even as he prays with his guards, is hanged.
His last act the night before his death is to lead his fellow prisoners in a service of worship, singing hymns, prayers, and Eucharist.
“Interrupted by God? Oh yes!
Am I willing to be interrupted by God…. to take up that “backpack” of a disciple and begin to walk, no matter the consequences?
Sometimes I wonder.
How about you?
Amen!
[1] Bonhoeffer, D., Touchstone Ed, New York, 1959
