15th Sunday after Pentecost
2007
Proper 18
the Rev. Ken Kroohs
September 09, 2007
(Deuteronomy
30:15-20; Psalm 1; Philemon 1-20; Luke 14:25-33)
DO YOU WANT WINE OR VINEGAR
?
St. Christopher’s,
MAY
THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH ... AND THE MEDITATIONS OF ALL OUR HEARTS ... BE ALWAYS
ACCEPTABLE TO YOU ‑‑‑ OUR STRENGTH AND OUR REDEEMER AMEN
Jesus’
teaching is another of His confusing ones.
What is this about HATING your family? Aren’t you supposed to love your
family? ... What is this about counting
the cost? Aren’t you supposed to go
forth in faith not worrying about how it will happen?
This past
week I was speaking with a colleague ... I am fairly sure no one here knows
this person so don’t try to guess! My friend
was talking about calling a person whose spouse was having an operation. I mentioned that I always try to be at the
hospital when a person is having an operation.
My friend said “I don’t have time for that!! I have this and that and this other thing to
do.” .... As we talked we finally agreed it was a
matter of setting priorities. I don’t
get everything filed away after a meeting — although if other people leave my
desk alone I can usually find stuff!!
And there are other things I don’t always get done. These are priority questions — not really
“time” questions.
Today Moses
and Jesus are talking about priorities.
Let’s look
at Moses’ statement. I have this image
that Moses is a bit frustrated — not exactly angry but frustrated that the people
do not understand. So he says: “look
guys – it really is not that difficult.
You can choose this or that. You
cannot have both, you must make a choice.
I have set before you life and good — or death and evil. Which do you want?”
Later in
the passage Moses goes a step further.
Rather than simply saying “make a decision” Moses tells them which is right decision: “Choose life”
Jesus is
saying something very similar. I don’t believe
Jesus is teaching us to “hate” our families as we understand the word
“hate”. Rather Jesus is telling us that
we must make a choice. Notice the final
statement: “So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has,
cannot be my disciple.”
I think the
parts about counting the cost are Jesus’ way of warning us that there will
be a cost. I believe Jesus is
telling us not to start down the road of Christianity unless we are serious
about walking the full road. We use to
call this “defensive communication” — Jesus is laying it all out so when
someone complains He can say: “Whoa! I
told you what this choice would mean!” The great multitudes were following
Jesus but He knew that most of them where not ready or willing to pay the full
price.
“But”, we
say, “but isn’t God and Jesus and Christianity supposed to free and available
to everyone?” ---- Wellllll ... yes, and no. It is free and available to everyone. But it also requires making choices – which
can be considered a cost.
When we get
enter a committed relationship or get married, we decide to settle down with
one person --- that is a wonderful gift ... free (not talking monetary here!!)
free and available to everyone. BUT
there is a cost. The wedding service
states it means “forsaking all others”.
The relationship between a married person and another person is
different than between a single person and another single person. At the very least the potential directions a
relationship can go differs depending on whether we are married or single.
A person
under a work contract has a different relationship with other potential
employers than an unemployed person.
A person
who has chosen God has a different relationship with other people and other
influences than a person who has not honestly and sincerely chosen God.
A married
person pays the cost of not being with other people romantically. The person with a work contract pays the cost
of not being available to work at other places.
The person who honestly and sincerely chooses God ... in Moses’
words, chooses life and good, pays the cost of not going in other
directions. BUT, while the person who
chooses life and good may pay the cost of not going in other directions, they
will receive the joy of finding their true selves.
Acknowledging that we all fail from time to time in our
relationship with God, when we choose God we turn away from other possible
decisions. Or, we should ... or
we MUST if we are true to our decision for God.
In our
marriage service when the words are spoken that we will “forsake all others” we
think we know what that means. And we
are at least partially correct. It does
mean sexually forsaking all others. But
it means much, much, much more.
So when
Moses and Jesus speak about choosing God, it does mean not worshiping Baal, but
it also means much, much, much more.
Scripture
uses the parallel between marriage and being righteous — in right relationship
with God. It is a strong parallel. I have begun to focus more on adultery as
when anything separates spouses. It
could be excessive focus on work, or hobbies, or money, or kids, or
whatever. Anything that takes a person
away from their spouse is a form of adultery.
EVEN .... even church work can be a
form of adultery!
A similar
thought process applies for our relationship to God. Anything that comes between us and God means
we are making a choice AGAINST God. ..... Whoa! .... What a minute here Ken !!! I was not
choosing against God but rather for something else! For family, for work, for
hobbies, for financial security, for prestige, for whatever ... not AGAINST God
but FOR something.
Sorry. That’s Jesus’ exact point. When we choose to be FOR something that is
not God, we are choosing to be against God.
Jesus’ exact
point ... count the cost ... understand the implications. Be ready to pay the price and the biggest
part of that price is being willing to let go of other things.
Here’s an
image that might help understand choices. (place a
large jar of vinegar and a large bottle of wine on the altar) ... when you come
up for communion ... do you want wine?
Or do you want vinegar?
As I
thought about that comparison I was struck with how grape vinegar and grape
wine begin the same way. The same
components create either wine or vinegar .... depending on the choices we make. The same components of life create good or
evil ... depending on the choices we make.
That sounds
like such an easy decision but what Moses is telling us is that our decision
about God is just as obvious. .... And yet, .... we say the words but may not live out the choice.
The two
easiest parts of our lives to visualize this choice ... this price we must be
willing to pay ... are financial and time.
What comes first in our budget of money and time?
A good, and
bad, exercise .... “good” in
the sense that it helps us understand ourselves ... “bad” in the sense that it
usually does not leave us feeling great! .... the
exercise is to pick something we could do for God ... and honestly seek to work
that into our lives ... then listen to ourselves argue our self out of it!
Everyone of us could give 5 hours more a week to ministry
activities. We could. .... ahhhh — that voice in your head
telling you that I am crazy? THAT’S what I meant about listening to
ourselves argue our self out of it! That
voice that says: “No I can’t! I have to
____” is an extremely important voice ... an extremely important teacher. That voice is the voice telling you what you
put in front of God. What do you commit
adultery with.
Unfortunately
that voice in our head usually begins with those things which are the easiest
to argue for. It talks about spending time with our
kids. Or the need to
work. Or other
honestly important things.
In your
bulletin is a white “home work”
sheet. On it this exercise is outlined
so you can actually do it during the week.
Please call me and we can discuss your findings about yourself.
The next
part of the exercise is to agree that there are important things in our life
... so make it easier ... say 2 hours more a week of God’s ministry ... agree
that the kids are important and work is important and now see what that little
voice says cannot be given up.
Then part
three of the exercise is to go back to the things we agreed are important, and
ask if they all are so important. Or are
there other ways they could be accomplished.
What would
happen if a major crisis hit your life? ... Or ANOTHER major crisis! Something that requires time
.... how would you adjust those activities
under that circumstance?
Once we
have thought through some of those decisions ... those priorities ... those
choices we can more honestly ask ourselves about God’s place in our lives.
On one side
of the home work paper is the exercise for time and on the other side is a
similar exercise for money. The goal is
the last question ---- where does God fit into my life? What choice have I made?
That same friend
who talked about setting ministry priorities also suggested that the real
question is commitment. Have you ever
known someone who said they were going to learn to play an instrument, maybe
purchased one, maybe even took some lessons — but seldom or never practiced?
How well
did they do? .... They CLAIMED to have made a choice but actually never made a
commitment. They did not count the cost
before hand, and were not willing to pay the cost once they started.
Consequently
they never received the joy they could have found. They choose death rather than life ... They
glanced one way, and walked the other.
Let us
pray: Life giving God, we thank you for your love through which you give us
these opportunities. Open our spirits
and our eyes to see the choices before us.
Strengthen our wills to stay the course with you. And keep us always mindful of the glorious
life you make freely available to us all.
AMEN</FONT></PRE> </BODY>
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