Pentecost 16 (Luke 14:25-33)  9/08/2013

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Welcome to everyone as we gather together to begin a new program year and embark on our shared journey of growth, discovery and ministry this year. The time of summer vacations is now nearly over and I hope everyone has some great memories of these past few weeks. I have made several wonderful memories during this past summer. And during this past week as I have reflected on memories of summer fun and other events, I recalled one of the most strange memories I have of summer. As a young boy, my family would drive through Berlin on what is today Route 9, past a section of the town that contains many small ponds created by the old clay pits used to provide material to the local brickyards. In one of those small ponds sits an abandoned crane, with only the very top of the crane’s mast visible above the water. The image of the crane sitting in the middle of the pond always struck me as very odd and I wondered how that might have happened. Over the years I have heard many stories about the old abandoned crane: the operator uncovered a natural spring of water, or perhaps there was a strong rainstorm that appeared quite suddenly (as we experienced last week!), or maybe some mechanical failure of the crane made it nearly impossible to retrieve. Regardless of the cause, the crane’s mast remains above the water as a monument of a very bad day; a cautionary tale of the dangers of distraction.

In our Gospel this morning, we hear Jesus teaching the crowd that followed him about the dangers of distraction to the life of being his disciple. Jesus appeared to be in a rather serious mood that day, as he used some sobering and unsettling words: “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.” (Luke 14:26) These words do not seem to be spoken by the caring and loving Jesus that we have come to know. Although the meaning of the Greek for the “hate” we hear in our lesson this morning does contain an element of disapproval, we should understand Luke’s use of the word here to mean that a disciple of Jesus would place the greatest priority on discipleship, placing all else below God’s wishes for us. In effect, a process of removing the many distractions of life in an effort to hear God’s call to us with great clarity; to hear God with undeniable honesty, with a singleness of heart and mind. Distractions to discipleship can cause the entire undertaking to become undone, and Jesus provided the listening crowd with some examples. “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he had laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'” (Luke 14:28-30) In this interesting example from Jesus, we experience a lesson that contains great simplicity and yet great complexity, all at once. The successful outcome, says Jesus, can be obtained only if you give up all your possessions; straightforward in its simple release from all that appears to stand in the way, yet deceptively complex in its practical application if we hope to remain living in this world.

If we are to successfully navigate the difficulties of living out Jesus’ cautionary lesson of discipleship, we must discover a means to be the stewards of God’s grace by using our possessions; by giving up our attachment and our desire for worldly things, not allowing our possessions to possess us. We must devote some intentional time of thought toward the practice of ministry and prayer. The practice of committing time to the ministry and prayer of God becomes the practice of intentional discipleship. Intentional discipleship is exactly what Jesus is inviting us to take up when he invites us to follow him, to follow him without any distractions. Give up those things that possess you; live with the confidence that the clarity of God’s word is found in the life of the intentional disciple.

What does it really mean to be an “intentional disciple?” How can someone practically take up the work of “intentional discipleship?” After all, I imagine many of us discover we are challenged to find the time to get to the grocery store during the week…let alone devote additional time to the practice of intentional discipleship! John Westerhoff, an Episcopal priest and well-known author, wrote the following about a topic he described as “ministry within daily life and work;” he wrote, “ministry within daily life and work implies being more intentional about understanding your daily life and work as the context for loving and serving God as well as practicing a way of life that manifests this understanding.”^[i] If we consider Westerhoff’s insight, intentional discipleship is about the context of one’s understanding. The intentional disciple lives in the God-centered context of faithfulness and charity. The intentional disciple undertakes many of the same tasks and holds many of the same responsibilities as one who does not practice such intentions. But the intentional disciple responds to the world from a different context; the intentional disciple lives and serves the world rooted in the promise of God’s love and abundance. The scarcity of the world is left far behind because scarcity and fear are the broken promises of the world. Love and abundance are the powerful forces of God that break down barriers and lead us to acts of great charity.

“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?” The distractions of our lives can pull us away from God’s intentions for us. There is a curious monument to the distractions of our lives just down the road from here – an odd crane sitting in the middle of a clay pit pond. Jesus calls us to remove the distractions of our lives, to give up our worldly view and to live in the God-centered context of intentional discipleship. As we begin this new program year together, a year full of new opportunities and new understandings of our ministry together, I pray that you will take up the invitation to become an intentional disciple of Jesus Christ. Amen.