Sermon; Proper 18C; Luke 14:25-33

Last week I said that Jesus had made quite a name for himself.  He has fed 5000 people.  He has cast out demons.  He has healed lepers, raised people from the dead, and debated Pharisees.  He is, in today’s terms, an influencer.  His popularity is what led the Pharisee in last week’s gospel to invite him to dinner.  And last week’s discourse abut humility and inviting the marginalized to your banquet was addressed to that small dinner party.

Today, though, Jesus is on the move.  About five chapters ago Jesus “set his face to Jerusalem.”  That is, Jesus knew his time on earth was coming to a close.  He knew his time in Jerusalem would be his final hour.  He knew the world could not tolerate his message and would execute him.  Even so, he was resolved to see his mission play out to the bitter end.

So now, here in Chapter 14, Jesus is making his way to Jerusalem and his Passion.  He took a little rest last week by accepting a dinner invitation.  It was also last week (although we didn’t hear it) where he performed his last Sabbath healing.

So again, he’s on his way to Jerusalem.  He’s fed 5000 people.  He’s healed demoniacs and lepers.  He’s raised people from the dead.  He is the original 1^st Century influencer.  And this is all most people know about him.  He told his close disciples several times that he would be rejected, suffer, and die.  But he never said this to the crowds.  So all the crowds know about him is the good stuff.

All the crowds know is he heals and feeds people.  All the crowds know is that he takes on the religious hypocrites, pointing out that they only care for themselves and not the people whom they are supposed to serve.  All the crowds know is that Jesus relates to God in a way they’ve never seen.  The crowds are willing to follow a man who appeals to them.  But the crowds have no idea what following Christ really entails.

Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem gathering followers as he goes.  But these followers are joining a parade.  They are Johnny-come-latelies who see the fun but not the commitment.  They join in because of some promises without understanding the sacrifice or the cost.  It’s like the lines of people hurrying to get on the spaceship because the aliens have promised to serve mankind.

This is where we are.  This is the context for Jesus addressing the crowds.  He has told his closest disciples that following him will take sacrifice, commitment, and possibly death.  Now he tells the crowds, “If you want to follow me, you must hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and life itself.”

First, let’s address that word ‘hate.’  For us, that word conjures up emotions of hating brussels sprouts, or anchovies, or those who abuse women and children, or Nazis, or the Dallas Cowboys, or anything else we despise.  Instead, the word hate refers here to a Semitic expression meaning ‘to turn away from, or to detach yourself from.’  What Jesus is saying here is that to follow him is to turn away from worldly loyalties that pull you away from God.

Think about it:  if Jesus had meant ‘hate’ as we understand it, then this one verse would undermine and cancel out all of the other verses and commands in the bible to love your neighbors, love your enemies, and everything else having to do with relationships.

Another translation gets around this by rendering this particular verse as, “Unless you love me more than father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even life itself, you cannot be my disciple.”  Which, to me, seems to make more sense.

Regardless, whether we learn that hate is not the emotional response we see it as, or whether we prefer a translation that says, “Love me more than these,” the point Jesus is making is that discipleship is costly, it requires commitment, and it requires a reordering of your life.

We live with a variety of competing loyalties.  Families, jobs, and sports are the big three in our society.  There are others, and I’m sure if you honestly evaluated your life you would find no shortage of things that you give more attention to than God.

And it’s not just individuals who have competing loyalties.  A majority of our politicians claim to follow Christ, and yet they continue to love guns and the lobby that allow our children to be killed on a regular basis.  That’s but one example of people who put loyalties to anything else over and above loyalty to God.

It is not enough to say we follow Christ like the crowds joining the parade to Jerusalem.  If we claim to follow Christ, we must be willing to put our loyalty to him above everything else, even if that leads the world to crucify us.

This isn’t about giving everything to God or the Church.  Despite that last line, literally giving up all your possessions would be irresponsible.  But taken overall, in a world of many competing loyalties in which we all live, the claim of Christ and the gospel not only should take precedence, it should do something more.  What following Christ and the message of the gospel should do is it should redefine all of our other loyalties with a gospel lens.

The ultimate question this passage asks us to consider is this:  Am I truly and honestly submitting to the demands of Christ and the gospel, or is Christ simply a tool I use to rationalize my own priorities?

Because if we don’t honestly sit down and count the cost of discipleship, we’ll be left with a partial commitment that will simply crumble away over time, falling victim to other priorities and other commitments we deem more important.

Amen.