August 26, 2007 Message

August 26, 2007
Luke 9:51-62
“Good Intentions and Good Excuses”

Being a Christian – a follower of Christ – is about saying yes to a certain way of life, God’s way. This new life of discipleship thrusts us into the center of life’s uncertainties – it’s challenges and accomplishments – without excuses.

In today’s reading from Luke, we find three men, all wanting to go along with Jesus on his journey from Galilee to Jerusalem - but only on their terms. They will follow as long as it’s not a hardship for them or they can finish what they’re doing first or they can put it off for awhile until the moment’s just right. But Jesus tells them discipleship is unconditional. It doesn’t wait until tomorrow – which may never come; it isn’t centered on the past – yesterday’s gone, today’s a different day. And it is not something to be put off until tomorrow. “Seize the moment”. God’s kingdom is here right now!

These men all had good intentions – and good excuses. They wanted to follow him, and yet they didn’t. We all have our own excuses for not following through on our good intentions, not living up to the challenge of discipleship – don’t we? And that is what our lesson is about today – our good intentions and our good excuses.

“Follow Christ and be part of a dynamic church!” proclaims a religious leader in the comic strip Pontius’ Puddle. A crowd quickly gathers.
“Er, by the way,” he quickly adds, “organized religion may lead to inter-faith wars, unresponsive bureaucracies and doctrinal debates that divide and drive away members.” The crowd vanishes.
And then he concludes with a sigh, “Evangelism was much easier before they made us add a disclaimer.”

The three ‘would-be’ followers that Jesus meets in today’s Gospel text were great at coming up with excuses that would allow them to gracefully bow out of discipleship when it got too demanding or uncomfortable. And yet, Jesus responds with a no-nonsense, no-excuses mandate, separating those who would follow from those who could only hesitate and calculate the cost of their commitment.

The naive promise of the first sounds as though he were actually committed to following Jesus. "I'll go with you, wherever," he says. But Jesus' response lays out the truth about his own identity and mission, and makes it clear how demanding a personal commitment to this path would be.

The young man claims he will follow Jesus "anywhere," but the truth is that following Jesus means no security of place, profession or person. In place of “anywhere” is "nowhere." There will be no home, no office, no pension plan, no IRA, no health-care plan, no home-owners insurance. When Jesus clarifies the uncertain nature of following ‘God’s way,’ he is challenging all of us to move beyond the accepted standards of safety, beyond our preoccupation with security, financial or otherwise. The only true security in life is through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which gives us true freedom - freedom to love God and to love one’s neighbor.

Jesus dashes the dreams of his first inquirer for a secure place in his ministry by pointing out that the strength of his mission is built on the apparently shifting sands of uncertainty. For us to be moved by the Spirit with complete freedom, we must not be too deeply rooted in our own lives and selves. One cannot have total security on earth and enjoy freedom in the Spirit.
The second person in today’s text receives a personal invitation from Jesus to follow him. But, not unlike us, this individual claims family responsibilities tie him down and hold him back. According to Jewish tradition it was the duty of the eldest surviving son to see to the burial of his parents. It may not even be the case, therefore, that this potential disciple's father is yet dead. The request could be for a grace period of an undefined amount of time, until this man's father grows old or ill and dies.

Who among us doesn't feel the daily tug at our psyches as we try to balance the load of all the things that demand our time and effort? We all have bills to pay; some of us have kids that outgrow shoes three times a year and school supplies to buy, or ailing elderly parents that need assistance. And then there are the grocery bills that grow at an inversely proportional rate to the number of sacks it takes to get the groceries home.

But Jesus doesn’t allow us to claim our families as some sort of a discipleship-exemption loophole. There is no validity in claiming "this isn’t a good time" as our excuse for not responding to God's call. Indeed trusting in God's love and grace and plunging into the demands of discipleship will only result in making us more capable of dealing with family crises that come our way. It isn’t so much a matter of ‘tossing’ our family responsibilities, but rather in discipleship, renewing our love and commitment to others, including our family.

The last man in today’s story also uses his family as an excuse to buy time before taking any decisive action. Here, however, the excuse is far more superficial. He wants to be socially acceptable and courteously correct about this whole undertaking. After all, what would people say, how would they feel, if he simply walked away from his former life in order to follow Jesus? His anxiety is over what others might think about him - not the excitement and anticipation of serving Jesus.

Jesus challenges this reluctant disciple to move beyond what “he should do,” and to dare to do something for God. The image of the plow Jesus uses is a moving image. A field does not get plowed by turning it over in your mind. You must walk along, always moving forward in order to prepare the ground. Jesus does not leave us where he finds us. Discipleship is not a static state. Rather than fretting over what may be socially or politically correct, Jesus gives us a new reference point for life - freedom in God's Spirit to truly love and serve each other.

Peter writes to the early church (1 Peter 1:2), “There are no excuses. For God has blessed us with an abundance of whatever we need to do what we are called to do. Let the church rest in the total sufficiency of God's grace and peace, which are given to us "in fullest measure."

Luke's trilogy of “good intentions and good excuses” when it comes to discipleship is hardly unique. The Bible is filled with people who came up with all sorts of creative excuses for not serving God. Consider Elijah who said, "Excuse me, Lord, but my nerves can't take it!" Or Isaiah who said, "Excuse me, Lord, but I'm not pious or pure enough." Jeremiah balked and said, "Excuse me, Lord, but I'm too young." And perhaps the most prolific excuse-maker of all, Moses, said, "Excuse me, Lord, but I'm too old - and besides I've earned my retirement." When the Lord shot down that excuse, Moses came back with, "Excuse me, Lord, but I'm not good at public speaking." When that failed to convince the Lord, Moses finally trotted out the old, "Excuse me, Lord, but there are others much more qualified."

Discipleship, that is, following Jesus, required these men to journey with him, his eyes set on Jerusalem. There wasn’t time for lingering fondly with family, remembering old times. God was about to do something completely new and those who would be a part of it must face the future, their eyes fixed ahead, not constantly looking back
So, where does this leave us?

Are we willing to turn our backs on comfort and duty and family in order to follow Jesus in bringing about the kingdom of God? Are we willing to give up whatever security our life holds? To those whom this sounds like nothing but pain and suffering and sacrifice, then the answer is probably, “No. I don’t want to get into this. I’d rather not.” But to those who see this as the only way to a meaningful and fulfilling life, then the answer, the answer is surely, “Yes, I’m ready to go! Lead the way! I have faith in you, Lord!”

What special road of discipleship is God calling us to today – as a church or as individuals? Is there a special or unique service staring us in the face, calling for our attention, but only receiving our excuses? Are we willing to trust Jesus to give our lives meaning and balance and security?

When you hear the voice of Jesus calling, will your response be "Excuse me, Lord" or will you spring up like the boy Samuel and eagerly proclaim, "Here I am, Lord"?