Burning Bridges And Plows
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
This week many of the people in your pews may have their minds on the upcoming July 4th holiday. As we celebrate America's birthday while enjoying parades, backyard barbecues, and fireworks displays, the idea of freedom is one of the bedrock concepts that will be lifted up all around. But what does freedom really mean? Our culture equates freedom with having a multitude of choices. Yet when the founders of our country envisioned a free society, they weren't thinking about the ability to choose from 30 different types of cereal in the grocery store. Instead they were thinking about the opportunity to steadfastly pursue the gifts of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Scott Suskovic notes that the lectionary texts for this week from 1 Kings 19 (the alternate Old Testament pericope) and Luke 9 offer a very different vision of freedom. Both passages define freedom in terms of forging boldly forward in the life of faith without looking back. Elisha's act of destroying the yoke of oxen is a particularly bold move, given the value of livestock in his culture. That sort of gutsy decision runs counter to the predominant conception of freedom in modern America, which emphasizes "keeping our options open" and committing ourselves as little as possible. When we respond to the call to discipleship, by contrast, we're meant to move resolutely forward, forsaking all other possible courses of action. Team member Paul Bresnahan offers additional thoughts on another aspect of freedom -- the vital importance of vigorous debate, one informed by the courage of our convictions and an overriding passion for God's justice. Danish pastor Kaj Munk memorably characterized such passion as a "holy rage" that challenges us to take action.
Burning Bridges and Plows
by Scott Suskovic
1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21; Luke 9:51-62
THE WORLD
I remember my grandfather teaching me how to play cards when I was young. He was a master card player -- and what made him so good was that he always kept his options open. He could play his hand in three or four different ways. "Never commit too early" was his motto for success.
That may work in cards, but in discipleship it runs counter to the teaching of scripture. We are a society that likes to keep our options open -- we like choices. The local hardware store probably has what we need, but we like Home Depot. The family-owned stores probably have enough, but we like malls. When it comes to our shopping, churches, doctors, and even political candidates, we like options. Sometimes, however, it can be overwhelming. Many times I have stared at a menu the size of a small novel and wondered what to order.
As our founding fathers wrote about this great nation being centered on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness they weren't thinking in terms of the 400 different coffee combinations at Starbucks. They were thinking of the gift of freedom to which they would never yield, never compromise, never bend: "Give me liberty or give me death."
This week's lessons from 1 Kings 19 and Luke 9 teach a lesson contrary to my grandfather's and closer to the founding fathers. It is a lesson of making a choice, sticking to it, and leaving the past behind. It will never be an easy path, because such a commitment to one path will always cost you something dear.
THE WORD
In 1519, Hernan Cortez led his men off their ships to explore the New World. The first thing he said to his men when they were all gathered on shore was, "Look at our ships." He had sent back a few men to set fire to their vessels. As the men gasped in horror, he told them that there was no going back. There was only one way to go -- and that was forward. Follow me!
It is with this same determination that our lessons speak to us today. In a world in which we are careful not to burn any bridges so that we might have options in the future, 1 Kings 19 tells us a different way to live.
Notice the sequence of the events surrounding the call of Elisha. He was a man of some wealth -- a man with many options. Elisha had twelve yoke of oxen when Elijah threw his mantle over Elisha's shoulder, selecting Elisha to succeed him. However, before Elisha left to follow Elijah, "he returned from following him, took the yoke of oxen, and slaughtered them; using the equipment from the oxen, he boiled their flesh, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out and followed Elijah, and became his servant" (1 Kings 19:21).
Do you notice the commitment? He slaughtered the oxen, burned the yokes, threw a farewell party for the village, and then followed Elijah. In other words, there was no going back. Elisha had burned all of his bridges. He had no oxen; he had no plows; he told everyone good-bye. He could not play his hand three or four ways depending on how things worked out. He was all in, fully committed, never looking back.
In that same spirit, Jesus' response to would-be followers sounds harsh and demanding. To those who said that they were eager and committed to Jesus, Jesus replied, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.... No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:60, 62).
These disciples were not making unreasonable requests. They wanted to bury their father first. They wanted to say good-bye to their loved ones. These are honorable requests. Why such harsh words? Because being a disciple is not like playing cards -- it is a commitment to move forward, make changes, and never go back. It means a radical life change.
When I was a missionary in Japan, there was a wonderful Christian woman who was very faithful to the church. Her husband, however, did not convert for a long time. When the pastor spoke to the husband about this, he discovered that the husband had no problems with Jesus or Christianity. In fact, he agreed with most of the teachings. When the pastor pressed him further on his reluctance to be baptized, the husband finally confessed that he never came home on Thursday nights. He and his wife had an "agreement" that he would not be home on Thursday nights. He didn't want to be baptized because he liked Thursday nights.
The pastor continued to work with and pray for the husband until one day he decided to be baptized. There was a great celebration at the church, but when the pastor spoke privately to the husband about his new life, the husband said with a smile, "I'm home on Thursday nights." He knew following Jesus meant burning some bridges and never going back.
Jesus said, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." That just makes sense. If you are plowing a field and looking back all the time, the lines will be crooked and your direction will be lost. A Christian who keeps his options open, who continues to play his life three or four ways depending on how all this Christianity stuff works out, will never be able to move forward in faith.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
This would be a great opportunity to talk about the cost of discipleship, to use a term from Bonhoeffer. When Jesus calls people to follow him, it is a radical call to come and die -- to die to yourself and live for Jesus. What important issues are facing your community or church where people are holding back? Where they know what is right, but are having a difficult time giving up the past?
This week's lessons are a powerful wake-up call for us all. What bridges do you like to keep in sight -- just in case? What options do you like to keep open -- just in case? What are you looking back towards as you keep one hand on the plow -- just in case?
For some, it's a business that they keep separate from their faith. For some, it's an addiction that has never been addressed. For some, it's their finances that they have never fully entrusted to God. And for some, it's Thursday nights.
"Come, follow me!" Don't take these words too lightly. They are meant to change you both now and for all eternity. What bridge do you need to burn right now in order for you to say in all honesty the words found in the Gospel text: "I will follow you wherever you go"? Be prepared for such a decision to cost you dearly.
ANOTHER VIEW
Holy Rage
by Paul Bresnahan
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
It goes without saying that the ultimate law under which we conduct our ethical lives is the Law of Love. Jesus made that clear when he said, "Love God, and love your neighbor as you do yourself." If we wish to be followers of Jesus, this is the essential beginning of our faith. Faith, hope, and love of the sort described by Paul's famous Hymn to Love in Chapter 13 of his First Letter to the Christians in Corinth resonates deeply in our spirits. When we conduct our lives under such a banner as this, the fruit of the spirit then will be, as Paul points out in this week's epistle, "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."
That being said, is there something missing in the current condition of our national and international life? Do we not all share a sense that something is very wrong in our land, in our homes, workplaces, and schools? We find ourselves involved in a war that we are increasingly uncomfortable with. We have a sense that our national leadership was not entirely candid with us when we moved in haste to invade Iraq. Most of us were of one mind with the invasion of Afghanistan and the hunting down of Osama bin Laden, but the widening of the war to include Iraq has a disquieting note to it. Far too many people have died in Iraq. Way too many of our soldiers, and soldiers from other countries, have paid dearly for a decision and a policy that is increasingly questionable at its very root.
Our church just returned from New Orleans, where we joined hundreds of others in rebuilding and repairing a city that is at the very soul of America. Our government is not very much in evidence there, I'm afraid to say. FEMA is about to take most of the trailers away from folks who hardly have the wherewithal to restore their homes. The city is still half the size it was before Katrina. We wondered if we've been sold something of a bill of goods when we bought the current public policy dictum: "The best governed is the least governed."
The speed with which the degradation of the environment is occurring seems to be increasing. The education of our children seems to be mediocre at best. The litany of concerns that seem to have come home to roost after these many years of lackluster government is growing daily. The notion of continuing faithfully in love while befitting our fundamental biblical mandate just does not have the sound of sufficiency to face the challenges of life in our time.
The freedom we have in Christ does not lead to self-indulgence but to living under the bond of love that calls us to become slaves of one another. Thus we love one another. When we became free from Pharaoh's yoke of slavery, we found ourselves under the Law of Moses, which instructed us in the love of God and of our neighbor. Thus a pattern emerges in the biblical tradition.
Freedom in America brings us to law as well. Freedom requires vigilance. Without vigorous debate we can lose the freedoms we so cherish. Frankly, we did not have the kind of debate we really needed to have before we entered into war with Iraq. Most of the world backed us when we invaded Afghanistan. Most felt that holding al-Qaeda accountable was appropriate, and most of the world stood with us there. The invasion of Iraq, as we look at it now in retrospect, seems to have had a measure of haste to it. Thousands lay dead; there is now no honorable way out; the same grinding tragic reality wears on. And now we wonder how we got into this quagmire as we look for a way out that makes sense.
What seems missing to me is a holy rage. We seem to have been shamed into compliance by an appeal to blind patriotism. Blind patriotism is as foolish as blind faith. But even that, as biblically ordered as it sounds, still does not have quite the ring to it that may be necessary for this point in time.
There was a Danish pastor, Kaj Munk, who was killed in 1944 by the Gestapo. He wrote of a "holy rage" that seemed to be missing from kind and polite Christians. He mused, as we do about the beauty of "faith, hope, and love," but he felt with dire urgency that these were not the qualities that were missing. The desperate times in which he was living called for desperate measures. He called for courage. He called for a certain "recklessness" that comes from the knowledge that "things are wrong in the world." And then in these stinging words that have the sound of today in them, he wrote: "To rage against the ravaging of God's earth, and the destruction of God's world. To rage when little children must die of hunger when the tables of the rich are sagging with food. To rage at the senseless killing of so many, and against the madness of militaries. To rage at the lie that calls the threat of death and the strategy of destruction peace. To rage against complacency. To restlessly seek that recklessness that will challenge and seek to change human history until it conforms to the norms of the Kingdom of God."
To be sure, Jesus wants us to love one another. We are called to be free in Christ and to live under grace. But Jesus has also called us to be "a salty presence" in our world. After spending a week in New Orleans, my parishioners have become very salty indeed. They want to have some answers as to why our government is so complacent to the suffering of our people. Do we really want to do nothing? We found people who are still dying in the aftermath of the storm.
"We the People" are the government. If we want peace with justice, we can have it. If we want to tend the good creation God has given us, we can do so. If we want to respond to the suffering of God's people in the Mississippi Delta, certainly we can express our will. If we want better education and so on, then let us have "salt" in ourselves.
God's kingdom has the look of beauty, peace, justice, joy, and the caring, healing touch of one human being for another.
That Danish pastor has much to teach us of courage and of a "holy rage." As we come to the celebrations of our nation's independence, let us remember that patriotism includes a willingness to have the courage of our convictions to speak boldly. There may be time for "holy rage" to be part of that courage.
ILLUSTRATIONS
There's an African parable about the risks we face in life. It's a story about a rope bridge spanning a huge chasm. The members of one particular village are facing famine. With no prospect of surviving on their land, the village elders decide the only thing to do is seek a new home across the river. The only way to get there is by walking across a rickety, swaying rope bridge. With some trepidation, the villagers step out onto the planks. The bridge begins to sway. As they reach the center, the swaying becomes more intense. (This is simple physics -- the middle of the bridge is the most unstable point, for it's furthest from the two ends which are anchored in the earth.) Some of the villagers give in to fear. They turn around and head back towards the only country they know -- a country where they are sure to die. Others, however, grit their teeth in determination and keep moving onward. They find that with each step they take the bridge feels more stable underfoot. Finally, as they approach the end, it feels like they're walking on solid ground -- though still they are suspended high over the gorge.
This story is a model of how to persevere through a crisis of faith. There comes a time when everything is swaying back and forth, when disaster seems inevitable -- yet the only thing to do is keep putting one foot in front of the other, knowing that firmer ground lies ahead.
When it comes right down to it, there's only one way to learn faith: by doing it. As the theologian Alan Richardson has written, "According to the Bible our knowledge of God is not like our knowledge of electrons or square roots: we know truth about God only by doing it, not by talking or reasoning about it, just as we know love only by loving. Truth in the Biblical sense is something to be practiced." [cited by Ian Pitt-Watson in The Folly of Preaching, p. 36]
***
The state of New Hampshire used to have a distinctive motto on its license plates: "Live Free or Die." The motto, found on a Revolutionary War era flag, was made famous by the Continental Army general John Stark.
There was an irony to those license plates -- every last one of them was manufactured by men who were not in fact free. As with many other states, New Hampshire's license plates were made by inmates in the state's prisons.
The men who made those license plates were not able to leave their prison. Yet how many of us remain in our prisons -- prisons of fear, of regret, of painful memories -- when in fact we actually do have the power to leave? Freedom is as much a matter of the heart as anything else. We are faced with the same choice every day: live free or die.
***
Dan Hotchkiss is a senior consultant at the Alban Institute. In an article he compares the different ways secular nonprofit organizations and churches typically deal with risk:
Consider what happens when somebody has an innovative idea. In most nonprofits a staff member or senior volunteer vets such ideas for consistency with mission, plans, and vision. If it passes muster it goes to someone, usually another staff member, with the power to OK both the idea and the necessary resources. It is up to that decision-maker to seek necessary input and support. Major decisions get passed up to the executive director, who may ask advice from the board before deciding to approve the money, staff, and other resources to carry out the plan.
In a majority of churches the response to new ideas is quite different. The first response is often, "If you're willing to take charge, just go ahead!" Then, after a pause: "Unless, of course, you need money. In that case you'd have to ask a committee to allocate some of its budget. If you need a budget increase, then the finance committee needs to pass on it, and on their recommendation the board might or might not say OK. Or sometimes things go to the board first, then finance. If your idea would require new staff, you have to go to the personnel committee -- but honestly, you might as well forget it. The senior minister has wanted an associate for years. The music director has been asking for a youth choir director since VE Day. There's no way any other staff will be approved until those two get what they want, or die."...
Congregations naturally structure themselves to avoid risk. That is the fact that stood out for me as I contrasted the nonprofit leaders I met in the course of my continuing education with the clergy and lay leaders I see in my consulting work. The nonprofits, as a group, were far more willing to risk the treasure in their keeping -- which was, in most cases, very little to begin with -- in an all-out effort to fulfill their mission. Most congregations, by contrast, act as though the Great Commandment said simply, "Exist."
-- Dan Hotchkiss, "The Stewardship of Risk," in the February 2007 issue of Clergy Journal
***
In his book The Cost of Discipleship, German pastor and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer talks about what it means when Jesus calls us to follow him:
If we would follow Jesus we must take certain definite steps. The first step, which follows the call, cuts the disciple off from [his or her] previous existence. The call to follow at once produces a new situation. To stay in the old situation makes discipleship impossible.
Levi must leave the receipt of custom and Peter his nets in order to follow Jesus.
One would have thought that nothing so drastic was necessary at such an early stage. But... the only right and proper way is quite literally to go with Jesus. The call to follow implies that there is only one way of believing on Jesus Christ, and that is by leaving all and going with the incarnate Son of God.
-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (Macmillan, 1969), pp. 66-67
***
If we truly want to follow our Lord, we need to free ourselves from expecting to live in luxury. Fritz Kreisler, one of the greatest violinists of all time, said:
"I was born with music in my system. I knew musical scores instinctively before I knew my ABCs. It was a gift of Providence. So... I never look on the money I earn as my own... I am constantly endeavoring to reduce my needs to the minimum. I feel morally guilty in ordering a costly meal, for it deprives someone else of a slice of bread -- some child, perhaps, of a bottle of milk.
"My beloved wife feels exactly the same way about these things as I do. You know what I eat; you know what I wear. In all these years of my so-called success in music we have not built a home for ourselves. Between it and us stand all the homeless in the world!"
-- E. Stanley Jones, The Christ of Every Road (Abingdon, 1930), p. 154
***
It's easy for us, and for our family and friends, to think of excuses for why we can't answer our Lord's call, for why we can't follow our Lord.
In 1908, when Oscar Hellestad was preparing to leave his Wisconsin home and go out as a missionary to China, his father said, "So you want to be a missionary! But do you really think you're strong enough? If you were vigorous like the other boys in your class -- like George Nottelson, or Alfred Olson, or Carl Anderson -- it would be different. You've never been a really robust boy, not since you had pneumonia -- you know that, Oscar. Do you really think you could stand up under the strenuous life of the mission field?"
Now in 1940 when, because of the war, Oscar was preparing to leave China after working there as a missionary for 32 years, a letter from home, back in Wisconsin, arrived, telling him that his classmate in the little country school, Dr. Carl Anderson, for many years a doctor at the Mayo Clinic, had died.
It gave Oscar a strange feeling. Now he was the only one left from his class. Back came his father's words: "Do you really think you're strong enough for the mission field?"
-- Barbara Jurgensen, All the Bandits of China (Augsburg, 1965), pp. 181-184
***
Would-be theologians... must be on their guard, lest by beginning too soon to preach they rather chatter themselves into Christianity than live themselves into it and find themselves at home there.
-- Søren Kierkegaard, from an entry in his Journal for July 11, 1838
***
Jesus was poor and a workman. Astonishing! The Son of God -- who, more than anyone else, was free to choose what we would -- choose not only a mother and a people, but also a social position. And he wanted to be a wage earner.
That Jesus had voluntarily lost himself in an obscure Middle Eastern village; annihilated himself in the daily monotony of thirty years' rough, miserable work; separated himself from the society that "counts"; and died in total anonymity.
-- Carlo Caretto, Letters from the Desert
***
The work we do is only our love for Jesus in action. And that action is our wholehearted and free service -- the gift of the poorest of the poor -- to Christ in the distressing disguise of the poor.
If we pray the work...
if we do it to Jesus
if we do it for Jesus
if we do it with Jesus...
that's what makes us content.
-- Mother Teresa, Words to Love By
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by Thom M. Shuman
Call to Worship
Leader: We will follow you, Lord of our days...
People: but we need to go do the shopping for vacation first.
Leader: We will follow you, Lord of love...
People: but we forgot about our friends visiting this week.
Leader: We will follow you, Lord of our hearts...
People: but could we do so next week, after the Fourth?*
Leader: We would follow you, Lord of every moment...
People: we will follow you!
* July Fourth is a national holiday in the United States. If you do not observe this holiday, you could substitute the phrase: "but could we do so next week, after work?"
Prayer of the Day (and Our Lord's Prayer)
Inspiring God, Giver of words:
you speak and chaos is transformed into the starry skies of night;
you whisper and the wind leaps to caress our cheeks on a summer's evening;
you smile and all creation rejoices in delight.
Jesus Christ, Uncomfortable Word:
you stand with society's castoffs outside the halls of respectability;
you break bread with sinners and give them the seats of honor at your Table;
you walk the darkened hallways of death,
comforting those who are taking their last steps;
and you call to us, saying, "Follow me."
Holy Spirit, Sifter of words:
by your touch, our anger can dissolve into gentleness;
by your peace, our enemies can become friends for life;
by your joy, our envious spirits can become generous hearts.
God in Community, Holy in One,
set us free to be your servants,
even as we pray as Jesus teaches, saying,
Our Father . . .
Call to Reconciliation
Called to freedom, we think we have a license to do as we please, whenever we want.
But the call is one to a life of service to others,
of giving ourselves completely to God and trusting in the One who has set us free.
Let us confess how we have misused our freedom, as we pray . . .
(Unison) Prayer of Confession
Set free for freedom, Redeeming God,
we find ourselves tied down by sin, by fear, by doubt.
Given a chance to commend our friends,
we condemn them with our gossip.
Our addiction to winning at all costs keeps us from engaging in costly service.
Guided by our passions,
we make ourselves sick by gorging on the fruit of the flesh.
Forgive us, High and Holy One.
Call us to freedom, so we may serve others and not focus on ourselves.
Set us free, so we may walk in your way,
placing our feet in those invisible footprints of obedience and faith
created by Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, to lead us to life with you.
(silent prayers may be offered)
Assurance of Pardon
Leader: Hear the good news:
by God's grace, we are set free,
so we choose to follow Jesus and to live by the Spirit.
People: Guided by the Spirit, we can feast on that Fruit
which strengthens us to follow Jesus and to serve others.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
Leader: May the God of freedom be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Children of God, lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them to the One who sets us free for lives of service and hope.
Leader: God's Children, let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: We will sing our songs of freedom to the One who calls us to new life.
Your voice thundered, Holy One of Creation,
and silenced the fractious voices of chaos.
As the sun, moon, and stars light our days and nights,
so your love illumines our souls.
When our fears threaten to flood our lives,
you make a path for us to your heart.
All this you do out of your love for us,
yet we forgot all your wonders,
and stretched out our hands to grasp the rotten fruit of the world.
You sent the prophets to help us remember your great acts,
but we dismissed their words as being of no value to us.
Then, to keep your promise never, never to forsake us,
you sent Jesus Christ, to put our feet back on the Holy Way.
Therefore, trusting that you will hear us,
we join our voices with the chorus of heaven,
and our sisters and brothers around us,
singing our glad songs to you:
Sanctus
Holy are you, God of all generations,
and blessed is Jesus Christ, your Son, our Savior.
When he could have remained safe by your side in glory,
he took the risk to follow your call to become one of us.
When he could have ignored our cries for help,
he opened his ears and his heart to bring us words of healing and hope.
When he could have pointed to his miracles and wonders,
he spoke of your grace and called us to service.
When he could have ignored sin and death to return to you,
he picked them up and carried them to Calvary,
turning and renouncing them forever,
as he strode out of the empty tomb into the new life waiting for each of us.
So as we remember what God has done for us
in the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus,
we speak of that faith which is a mystery:
Memorial Acclamation
Pour out your Spirit upon the gifts of the Table,
and upon your children who have come to feast.
As we taste the Bread of Life,
may we be filled with that freedom which makes us servants.
As we drink from the Cup of Grace,
may we be nourished by the Fruit of the Spirit.
Then, we will go forth to follow where you lead us:
to bring justice and mercy into communities crumbling by hate;
to bring hope into those neighborhoods where despair has moved;
to bring peace to a broken world governed by violence and war.
Then, when all time has come to an end,
and we gather with our sisters and brothers from every moment and every place,
we will sing our glad songs to you,
God in Community, Holy in One.
Amen.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
The Cost of Discipleship
Luke 9:51-62
Object: some quarters
Good morning! During his time on earth, there were many people who wanted to be followers of Jesus. Do you all want to be followers of Jesus? (Let them answer.) Yes, of course you do. Sometimes we call people who love and follow Jesus "disciples." So if we are following Jesus and trying to live as he told us to live, we are his disciples.
Once some people told Jesus they wanted to follow him and be his disciples, but Jesus let them know that being a disciple is not easy. He told them to come along with him and be his disciples, but he let them know that they might not have any place to sleep and that they had to put God first and not worry about a lot of personal things if they wanted to follow him. When they heard this, they decided that they had more important things to do and they didn't follow him.
I'd like to see if you are the kind of disciple that Jesus wants. Today, I have for each of you a quarter. (Hand out the quarters.) Now, that quarter is yours to keep. You can buy candy with it or do anything you want. But you are in church today, and soon we are going to have an offering. What do you think Jesus would want his disciples to do with that quarter: spend it on yourself or put it in the offering? (Let them answer.) Yes, you're right. Jesus would want his disciples to give the money to God, but it is your money and you can put it in the offering or keep it. I won't know what you do, so it's up to you to decide. As I said, being a disciple is hard. I hope all of you will decide to put your quarter in the offering even though you'd rather keep it, but it's your decision.
Prayer: Dear Jesus: We want to follow you and be your disciples, and we ask that you give us the courage and the strength to put you first in all the things we do. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, July 1, 2007, issue.
Copyright 2007 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Scott Suskovic notes that the lectionary texts for this week from 1 Kings 19 (the alternate Old Testament pericope) and Luke 9 offer a very different vision of freedom. Both passages define freedom in terms of forging boldly forward in the life of faith without looking back. Elisha's act of destroying the yoke of oxen is a particularly bold move, given the value of livestock in his culture. That sort of gutsy decision runs counter to the predominant conception of freedom in modern America, which emphasizes "keeping our options open" and committing ourselves as little as possible. When we respond to the call to discipleship, by contrast, we're meant to move resolutely forward, forsaking all other possible courses of action. Team member Paul Bresnahan offers additional thoughts on another aspect of freedom -- the vital importance of vigorous debate, one informed by the courage of our convictions and an overriding passion for God's justice. Danish pastor Kaj Munk memorably characterized such passion as a "holy rage" that challenges us to take action.
Burning Bridges and Plows
by Scott Suskovic
1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21; Luke 9:51-62
THE WORLD
I remember my grandfather teaching me how to play cards when I was young. He was a master card player -- and what made him so good was that he always kept his options open. He could play his hand in three or four different ways. "Never commit too early" was his motto for success.
That may work in cards, but in discipleship it runs counter to the teaching of scripture. We are a society that likes to keep our options open -- we like choices. The local hardware store probably has what we need, but we like Home Depot. The family-owned stores probably have enough, but we like malls. When it comes to our shopping, churches, doctors, and even political candidates, we like options. Sometimes, however, it can be overwhelming. Many times I have stared at a menu the size of a small novel and wondered what to order.
As our founding fathers wrote about this great nation being centered on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness they weren't thinking in terms of the 400 different coffee combinations at Starbucks. They were thinking of the gift of freedom to which they would never yield, never compromise, never bend: "Give me liberty or give me death."
This week's lessons from 1 Kings 19 and Luke 9 teach a lesson contrary to my grandfather's and closer to the founding fathers. It is a lesson of making a choice, sticking to it, and leaving the past behind. It will never be an easy path, because such a commitment to one path will always cost you something dear.
THE WORD
In 1519, Hernan Cortez led his men off their ships to explore the New World. The first thing he said to his men when they were all gathered on shore was, "Look at our ships." He had sent back a few men to set fire to their vessels. As the men gasped in horror, he told them that there was no going back. There was only one way to go -- and that was forward. Follow me!
It is with this same determination that our lessons speak to us today. In a world in which we are careful not to burn any bridges so that we might have options in the future, 1 Kings 19 tells us a different way to live.
Notice the sequence of the events surrounding the call of Elisha. He was a man of some wealth -- a man with many options. Elisha had twelve yoke of oxen when Elijah threw his mantle over Elisha's shoulder, selecting Elisha to succeed him. However, before Elisha left to follow Elijah, "he returned from following him, took the yoke of oxen, and slaughtered them; using the equipment from the oxen, he boiled their flesh, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out and followed Elijah, and became his servant" (1 Kings 19:21).
Do you notice the commitment? He slaughtered the oxen, burned the yokes, threw a farewell party for the village, and then followed Elijah. In other words, there was no going back. Elisha had burned all of his bridges. He had no oxen; he had no plows; he told everyone good-bye. He could not play his hand three or four ways depending on how things worked out. He was all in, fully committed, never looking back.
In that same spirit, Jesus' response to would-be followers sounds harsh and demanding. To those who said that they were eager and committed to Jesus, Jesus replied, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.... No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:60, 62).
These disciples were not making unreasonable requests. They wanted to bury their father first. They wanted to say good-bye to their loved ones. These are honorable requests. Why such harsh words? Because being a disciple is not like playing cards -- it is a commitment to move forward, make changes, and never go back. It means a radical life change.
When I was a missionary in Japan, there was a wonderful Christian woman who was very faithful to the church. Her husband, however, did not convert for a long time. When the pastor spoke to the husband about this, he discovered that the husband had no problems with Jesus or Christianity. In fact, he agreed with most of the teachings. When the pastor pressed him further on his reluctance to be baptized, the husband finally confessed that he never came home on Thursday nights. He and his wife had an "agreement" that he would not be home on Thursday nights. He didn't want to be baptized because he liked Thursday nights.
The pastor continued to work with and pray for the husband until one day he decided to be baptized. There was a great celebration at the church, but when the pastor spoke privately to the husband about his new life, the husband said with a smile, "I'm home on Thursday nights." He knew following Jesus meant burning some bridges and never going back.
Jesus said, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." That just makes sense. If you are plowing a field and looking back all the time, the lines will be crooked and your direction will be lost. A Christian who keeps his options open, who continues to play his life three or four ways depending on how all this Christianity stuff works out, will never be able to move forward in faith.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
This would be a great opportunity to talk about the cost of discipleship, to use a term from Bonhoeffer. When Jesus calls people to follow him, it is a radical call to come and die -- to die to yourself and live for Jesus. What important issues are facing your community or church where people are holding back? Where they know what is right, but are having a difficult time giving up the past?
This week's lessons are a powerful wake-up call for us all. What bridges do you like to keep in sight -- just in case? What options do you like to keep open -- just in case? What are you looking back towards as you keep one hand on the plow -- just in case?
For some, it's a business that they keep separate from their faith. For some, it's an addiction that has never been addressed. For some, it's their finances that they have never fully entrusted to God. And for some, it's Thursday nights.
"Come, follow me!" Don't take these words too lightly. They are meant to change you both now and for all eternity. What bridge do you need to burn right now in order for you to say in all honesty the words found in the Gospel text: "I will follow you wherever you go"? Be prepared for such a decision to cost you dearly.
ANOTHER VIEW
Holy Rage
by Paul Bresnahan
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
It goes without saying that the ultimate law under which we conduct our ethical lives is the Law of Love. Jesus made that clear when he said, "Love God, and love your neighbor as you do yourself." If we wish to be followers of Jesus, this is the essential beginning of our faith. Faith, hope, and love of the sort described by Paul's famous Hymn to Love in Chapter 13 of his First Letter to the Christians in Corinth resonates deeply in our spirits. When we conduct our lives under such a banner as this, the fruit of the spirit then will be, as Paul points out in this week's epistle, "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."
That being said, is there something missing in the current condition of our national and international life? Do we not all share a sense that something is very wrong in our land, in our homes, workplaces, and schools? We find ourselves involved in a war that we are increasingly uncomfortable with. We have a sense that our national leadership was not entirely candid with us when we moved in haste to invade Iraq. Most of us were of one mind with the invasion of Afghanistan and the hunting down of Osama bin Laden, but the widening of the war to include Iraq has a disquieting note to it. Far too many people have died in Iraq. Way too many of our soldiers, and soldiers from other countries, have paid dearly for a decision and a policy that is increasingly questionable at its very root.
Our church just returned from New Orleans, where we joined hundreds of others in rebuilding and repairing a city that is at the very soul of America. Our government is not very much in evidence there, I'm afraid to say. FEMA is about to take most of the trailers away from folks who hardly have the wherewithal to restore their homes. The city is still half the size it was before Katrina. We wondered if we've been sold something of a bill of goods when we bought the current public policy dictum: "The best governed is the least governed."
The speed with which the degradation of the environment is occurring seems to be increasing. The education of our children seems to be mediocre at best. The litany of concerns that seem to have come home to roost after these many years of lackluster government is growing daily. The notion of continuing faithfully in love while befitting our fundamental biblical mandate just does not have the sound of sufficiency to face the challenges of life in our time.
The freedom we have in Christ does not lead to self-indulgence but to living under the bond of love that calls us to become slaves of one another. Thus we love one another. When we became free from Pharaoh's yoke of slavery, we found ourselves under the Law of Moses, which instructed us in the love of God and of our neighbor. Thus a pattern emerges in the biblical tradition.
Freedom in America brings us to law as well. Freedom requires vigilance. Without vigorous debate we can lose the freedoms we so cherish. Frankly, we did not have the kind of debate we really needed to have before we entered into war with Iraq. Most of the world backed us when we invaded Afghanistan. Most felt that holding al-Qaeda accountable was appropriate, and most of the world stood with us there. The invasion of Iraq, as we look at it now in retrospect, seems to have had a measure of haste to it. Thousands lay dead; there is now no honorable way out; the same grinding tragic reality wears on. And now we wonder how we got into this quagmire as we look for a way out that makes sense.
What seems missing to me is a holy rage. We seem to have been shamed into compliance by an appeal to blind patriotism. Blind patriotism is as foolish as blind faith. But even that, as biblically ordered as it sounds, still does not have quite the ring to it that may be necessary for this point in time.
There was a Danish pastor, Kaj Munk, who was killed in 1944 by the Gestapo. He wrote of a "holy rage" that seemed to be missing from kind and polite Christians. He mused, as we do about the beauty of "faith, hope, and love," but he felt with dire urgency that these were not the qualities that were missing. The desperate times in which he was living called for desperate measures. He called for courage. He called for a certain "recklessness" that comes from the knowledge that "things are wrong in the world." And then in these stinging words that have the sound of today in them, he wrote: "To rage against the ravaging of God's earth, and the destruction of God's world. To rage when little children must die of hunger when the tables of the rich are sagging with food. To rage at the senseless killing of so many, and against the madness of militaries. To rage at the lie that calls the threat of death and the strategy of destruction peace. To rage against complacency. To restlessly seek that recklessness that will challenge and seek to change human history until it conforms to the norms of the Kingdom of God."
To be sure, Jesus wants us to love one another. We are called to be free in Christ and to live under grace. But Jesus has also called us to be "a salty presence" in our world. After spending a week in New Orleans, my parishioners have become very salty indeed. They want to have some answers as to why our government is so complacent to the suffering of our people. Do we really want to do nothing? We found people who are still dying in the aftermath of the storm.
"We the People" are the government. If we want peace with justice, we can have it. If we want to tend the good creation God has given us, we can do so. If we want to respond to the suffering of God's people in the Mississippi Delta, certainly we can express our will. If we want better education and so on, then let us have "salt" in ourselves.
God's kingdom has the look of beauty, peace, justice, joy, and the caring, healing touch of one human being for another.
That Danish pastor has much to teach us of courage and of a "holy rage." As we come to the celebrations of our nation's independence, let us remember that patriotism includes a willingness to have the courage of our convictions to speak boldly. There may be time for "holy rage" to be part of that courage.
ILLUSTRATIONS
There's an African parable about the risks we face in life. It's a story about a rope bridge spanning a huge chasm. The members of one particular village are facing famine. With no prospect of surviving on their land, the village elders decide the only thing to do is seek a new home across the river. The only way to get there is by walking across a rickety, swaying rope bridge. With some trepidation, the villagers step out onto the planks. The bridge begins to sway. As they reach the center, the swaying becomes more intense. (This is simple physics -- the middle of the bridge is the most unstable point, for it's furthest from the two ends which are anchored in the earth.) Some of the villagers give in to fear. They turn around and head back towards the only country they know -- a country where they are sure to die. Others, however, grit their teeth in determination and keep moving onward. They find that with each step they take the bridge feels more stable underfoot. Finally, as they approach the end, it feels like they're walking on solid ground -- though still they are suspended high over the gorge.
This story is a model of how to persevere through a crisis of faith. There comes a time when everything is swaying back and forth, when disaster seems inevitable -- yet the only thing to do is keep putting one foot in front of the other, knowing that firmer ground lies ahead.
When it comes right down to it, there's only one way to learn faith: by doing it. As the theologian Alan Richardson has written, "According to the Bible our knowledge of God is not like our knowledge of electrons or square roots: we know truth about God only by doing it, not by talking or reasoning about it, just as we know love only by loving. Truth in the Biblical sense is something to be practiced." [cited by Ian Pitt-Watson in The Folly of Preaching, p. 36]
***
The state of New Hampshire used to have a distinctive motto on its license plates: "Live Free or Die." The motto, found on a Revolutionary War era flag, was made famous by the Continental Army general John Stark.
There was an irony to those license plates -- every last one of them was manufactured by men who were not in fact free. As with many other states, New Hampshire's license plates were made by inmates in the state's prisons.
The men who made those license plates were not able to leave their prison. Yet how many of us remain in our prisons -- prisons of fear, of regret, of painful memories -- when in fact we actually do have the power to leave? Freedom is as much a matter of the heart as anything else. We are faced with the same choice every day: live free or die.
***
Dan Hotchkiss is a senior consultant at the Alban Institute. In an article he compares the different ways secular nonprofit organizations and churches typically deal with risk:
Consider what happens when somebody has an innovative idea. In most nonprofits a staff member or senior volunteer vets such ideas for consistency with mission, plans, and vision. If it passes muster it goes to someone, usually another staff member, with the power to OK both the idea and the necessary resources. It is up to that decision-maker to seek necessary input and support. Major decisions get passed up to the executive director, who may ask advice from the board before deciding to approve the money, staff, and other resources to carry out the plan.
In a majority of churches the response to new ideas is quite different. The first response is often, "If you're willing to take charge, just go ahead!" Then, after a pause: "Unless, of course, you need money. In that case you'd have to ask a committee to allocate some of its budget. If you need a budget increase, then the finance committee needs to pass on it, and on their recommendation the board might or might not say OK. Or sometimes things go to the board first, then finance. If your idea would require new staff, you have to go to the personnel committee -- but honestly, you might as well forget it. The senior minister has wanted an associate for years. The music director has been asking for a youth choir director since VE Day. There's no way any other staff will be approved until those two get what they want, or die."...
Congregations naturally structure themselves to avoid risk. That is the fact that stood out for me as I contrasted the nonprofit leaders I met in the course of my continuing education with the clergy and lay leaders I see in my consulting work. The nonprofits, as a group, were far more willing to risk the treasure in their keeping -- which was, in most cases, very little to begin with -- in an all-out effort to fulfill their mission. Most congregations, by contrast, act as though the Great Commandment said simply, "Exist."
-- Dan Hotchkiss, "The Stewardship of Risk," in the February 2007 issue of Clergy Journal
***
In his book The Cost of Discipleship, German pastor and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer talks about what it means when Jesus calls us to follow him:
If we would follow Jesus we must take certain definite steps. The first step, which follows the call, cuts the disciple off from [his or her] previous existence. The call to follow at once produces a new situation. To stay in the old situation makes discipleship impossible.
Levi must leave the receipt of custom and Peter his nets in order to follow Jesus.
One would have thought that nothing so drastic was necessary at such an early stage. But... the only right and proper way is quite literally to go with Jesus. The call to follow implies that there is only one way of believing on Jesus Christ, and that is by leaving all and going with the incarnate Son of God.
-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (Macmillan, 1969), pp. 66-67
***
If we truly want to follow our Lord, we need to free ourselves from expecting to live in luxury. Fritz Kreisler, one of the greatest violinists of all time, said:
"I was born with music in my system. I knew musical scores instinctively before I knew my ABCs. It was a gift of Providence. So... I never look on the money I earn as my own... I am constantly endeavoring to reduce my needs to the minimum. I feel morally guilty in ordering a costly meal, for it deprives someone else of a slice of bread -- some child, perhaps, of a bottle of milk.
"My beloved wife feels exactly the same way about these things as I do. You know what I eat; you know what I wear. In all these years of my so-called success in music we have not built a home for ourselves. Between it and us stand all the homeless in the world!"
-- E. Stanley Jones, The Christ of Every Road (Abingdon, 1930), p. 154
***
It's easy for us, and for our family and friends, to think of excuses for why we can't answer our Lord's call, for why we can't follow our Lord.
In 1908, when Oscar Hellestad was preparing to leave his Wisconsin home and go out as a missionary to China, his father said, "So you want to be a missionary! But do you really think you're strong enough? If you were vigorous like the other boys in your class -- like George Nottelson, or Alfred Olson, or Carl Anderson -- it would be different. You've never been a really robust boy, not since you had pneumonia -- you know that, Oscar. Do you really think you could stand up under the strenuous life of the mission field?"
Now in 1940 when, because of the war, Oscar was preparing to leave China after working there as a missionary for 32 years, a letter from home, back in Wisconsin, arrived, telling him that his classmate in the little country school, Dr. Carl Anderson, for many years a doctor at the Mayo Clinic, had died.
It gave Oscar a strange feeling. Now he was the only one left from his class. Back came his father's words: "Do you really think you're strong enough for the mission field?"
-- Barbara Jurgensen, All the Bandits of China (Augsburg, 1965), pp. 181-184
***
Would-be theologians... must be on their guard, lest by beginning too soon to preach they rather chatter themselves into Christianity than live themselves into it and find themselves at home there.
-- Søren Kierkegaard, from an entry in his Journal for July 11, 1838
***
Jesus was poor and a workman. Astonishing! The Son of God -- who, more than anyone else, was free to choose what we would -- choose not only a mother and a people, but also a social position. And he wanted to be a wage earner.
That Jesus had voluntarily lost himself in an obscure Middle Eastern village; annihilated himself in the daily monotony of thirty years' rough, miserable work; separated himself from the society that "counts"; and died in total anonymity.
-- Carlo Caretto, Letters from the Desert
***
The work we do is only our love for Jesus in action. And that action is our wholehearted and free service -- the gift of the poorest of the poor -- to Christ in the distressing disguise of the poor.
If we pray the work...
if we do it to Jesus
if we do it for Jesus
if we do it with Jesus...
that's what makes us content.
-- Mother Teresa, Words to Love By
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by Thom M. Shuman
Call to Worship
Leader: We will follow you, Lord of our days...
People: but we need to go do the shopping for vacation first.
Leader: We will follow you, Lord of love...
People: but we forgot about our friends visiting this week.
Leader: We will follow you, Lord of our hearts...
People: but could we do so next week, after the Fourth?*
Leader: We would follow you, Lord of every moment...
People: we will follow you!
* July Fourth is a national holiday in the United States. If you do not observe this holiday, you could substitute the phrase: "but could we do so next week, after work?"
Prayer of the Day (and Our Lord's Prayer)
Inspiring God, Giver of words:
you speak and chaos is transformed into the starry skies of night;
you whisper and the wind leaps to caress our cheeks on a summer's evening;
you smile and all creation rejoices in delight.
Jesus Christ, Uncomfortable Word:
you stand with society's castoffs outside the halls of respectability;
you break bread with sinners and give them the seats of honor at your Table;
you walk the darkened hallways of death,
comforting those who are taking their last steps;
and you call to us, saying, "Follow me."
Holy Spirit, Sifter of words:
by your touch, our anger can dissolve into gentleness;
by your peace, our enemies can become friends for life;
by your joy, our envious spirits can become generous hearts.
God in Community, Holy in One,
set us free to be your servants,
even as we pray as Jesus teaches, saying,
Our Father . . .
Call to Reconciliation
Called to freedom, we think we have a license to do as we please, whenever we want.
But the call is one to a life of service to others,
of giving ourselves completely to God and trusting in the One who has set us free.
Let us confess how we have misused our freedom, as we pray . . .
(Unison) Prayer of Confession
Set free for freedom, Redeeming God,
we find ourselves tied down by sin, by fear, by doubt.
Given a chance to commend our friends,
we condemn them with our gossip.
Our addiction to winning at all costs keeps us from engaging in costly service.
Guided by our passions,
we make ourselves sick by gorging on the fruit of the flesh.
Forgive us, High and Holy One.
Call us to freedom, so we may serve others and not focus on ourselves.
Set us free, so we may walk in your way,
placing our feet in those invisible footprints of obedience and faith
created by Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, to lead us to life with you.
(silent prayers may be offered)
Assurance of Pardon
Leader: Hear the good news:
by God's grace, we are set free,
so we choose to follow Jesus and to live by the Spirit.
People: Guided by the Spirit, we can feast on that Fruit
which strengthens us to follow Jesus and to serve others.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
Leader: May the God of freedom be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Children of God, lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them to the One who sets us free for lives of service and hope.
Leader: God's Children, let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: We will sing our songs of freedom to the One who calls us to new life.
Your voice thundered, Holy One of Creation,
and silenced the fractious voices of chaos.
As the sun, moon, and stars light our days and nights,
so your love illumines our souls.
When our fears threaten to flood our lives,
you make a path for us to your heart.
All this you do out of your love for us,
yet we forgot all your wonders,
and stretched out our hands to grasp the rotten fruit of the world.
You sent the prophets to help us remember your great acts,
but we dismissed their words as being of no value to us.
Then, to keep your promise never, never to forsake us,
you sent Jesus Christ, to put our feet back on the Holy Way.
Therefore, trusting that you will hear us,
we join our voices with the chorus of heaven,
and our sisters and brothers around us,
singing our glad songs to you:
Sanctus
Holy are you, God of all generations,
and blessed is Jesus Christ, your Son, our Savior.
When he could have remained safe by your side in glory,
he took the risk to follow your call to become one of us.
When he could have ignored our cries for help,
he opened his ears and his heart to bring us words of healing and hope.
When he could have pointed to his miracles and wonders,
he spoke of your grace and called us to service.
When he could have ignored sin and death to return to you,
he picked them up and carried them to Calvary,
turning and renouncing them forever,
as he strode out of the empty tomb into the new life waiting for each of us.
So as we remember what God has done for us
in the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus,
we speak of that faith which is a mystery:
Memorial Acclamation
Pour out your Spirit upon the gifts of the Table,
and upon your children who have come to feast.
As we taste the Bread of Life,
may we be filled with that freedom which makes us servants.
As we drink from the Cup of Grace,
may we be nourished by the Fruit of the Spirit.
Then, we will go forth to follow where you lead us:
to bring justice and mercy into communities crumbling by hate;
to bring hope into those neighborhoods where despair has moved;
to bring peace to a broken world governed by violence and war.
Then, when all time has come to an end,
and we gather with our sisters and brothers from every moment and every place,
we will sing our glad songs to you,
God in Community, Holy in One.
Amen.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
The Cost of Discipleship
Luke 9:51-62
Object: some quarters
Good morning! During his time on earth, there were many people who wanted to be followers of Jesus. Do you all want to be followers of Jesus? (Let them answer.) Yes, of course you do. Sometimes we call people who love and follow Jesus "disciples." So if we are following Jesus and trying to live as he told us to live, we are his disciples.
Once some people told Jesus they wanted to follow him and be his disciples, but Jesus let them know that being a disciple is not easy. He told them to come along with him and be his disciples, but he let them know that they might not have any place to sleep and that they had to put God first and not worry about a lot of personal things if they wanted to follow him. When they heard this, they decided that they had more important things to do and they didn't follow him.
I'd like to see if you are the kind of disciple that Jesus wants. Today, I have for each of you a quarter. (Hand out the quarters.) Now, that quarter is yours to keep. You can buy candy with it or do anything you want. But you are in church today, and soon we are going to have an offering. What do you think Jesus would want his disciples to do with that quarter: spend it on yourself or put it in the offering? (Let them answer.) Yes, you're right. Jesus would want his disciples to give the money to God, but it is your money and you can put it in the offering or keep it. I won't know what you do, so it's up to you to decide. As I said, being a disciple is hard. I hope all of you will decide to put your quarter in the offering even though you'd rather keep it, but it's your decision.
Prayer: Dear Jesus: We want to follow you and be your disciples, and we ask that you give us the courage and the strength to put you first in all the things we do. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, July 1, 2007, issue.
Copyright 2007 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
