Anybody planning on moving to Florida soon?
Just when you thought California was going to be the new hurricane central, Idalia came back and reinstated Florida as number one. It wasn’t as bad as Hurricane Ian, but it was bad enough. And yet a lot of people still dream of retiring to Florida. I’ll wager, though, that 90% of the realtors they talk to when looking at houses never mention hurricanes. Sanibel Island’s web page doesn’t mention hurricanes. Panama City’s doesn’t either. Or Tarpon Springs, or Daytona Beach, or Key West, or - well, you get the idea. I don’t like hot weather, so I’m not tempted to move to Florida under any circumstances, but far too many people believe the ads, yearning for year-round summer, and don’t want to think about the downside.
Everybody wants to escape the bad times. Everybody wants to trade up, to get an edge, to make their lives easier or safer. And in the first century, for the Jews, pretty much the only hope the ordinary people had for things to get better was the coming of the Messiah. There had been traveling rabbis for decades, preaching liberation and even sometimes healing people. So it wasn’t unusual that large numbers of people flocked to Jesus. They all needed something, and they all had different expectations. Some wanted to be healed, some wanted economic or political change, and some just wanted to say they’d seen the man everyone was talking about.
But Jesus had this problem. Jesus had the nasty habit of telling the truth. When people came to him, he talked about negative things like “discipleship” and “picking up your cross,” hard roads, and narrow gates. Jesus wasn’t much of a salesman, was he? If he wanted people to follow him, why didn’t he wait until they had signed on the dotted line before he mentioned the hurricanes?
Whenever Jesus had a large crowd following him, clamoring to come near and maybe even to come along, Jesus always went and said something the people didn’t like. They would say things like, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” [Jn 6:60] A few verses later, John tells us that “because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.” [Jn 6:66] And then Jesus made matters even worse by asking the twelve who were left, “Well, what about you? Are you in or out?”
I can picture Peter, can’t you, saying something like “Jesus, of course we’re sticking with you but you really need to tone down your rhetoric. I mean, you’re scaring them off in droves with all this talk about how hard it is to be your disciple! Bring ‘em along gradually, why don’t you, let ‘em get used to the idea a little at a time, or there won’t be anybody left for you to preach to, and all your work will be down the tubes!” But Peter, thank God, didn’t have a clue about modern marketing techniques. Peter just said, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” [Jn 6:68-69]
Peter’s statement must be ours as well. If Jesus really is the Son of God, if he really is the way, the truth, and the life, then the cost of discipleship is whatever he says it is. If he isn’t, then hey. We can decide for ourselves how seriously we want to take it.
Well, we’re here because we’ve made that leap, most of us, haven’t we. But how many of us have actually left anything behind, as Peter and John, James and Andrew left their nets and boats beside the sea of Galilee when Jesus called?
People are attracted to Jesus, to the Gospel, for many different reasons. Some are good, but some are not so good. In our consumer society, one of the things that experts on church growth talk about is marketing, how to attract people. What’s the secret? Is it hiring a youth director, changing to contemporary music, putting on a professional multi-media Sunday morning extravaganza? Not that there’s anything wrong with those things. We need to take our children seriously, we need to honor God with music that lifts the heart, we need to bring our best to worship. But maybe - just maybe - we should be raising the bar by challenging people rather than by catering to them.
Jesus was never impressed by how big the crowds he attracted were, even though it impressed - and threatened - the Pharisees. Because even though large crowds flocked to him, most of them came as consumers, for what they could get out of the experience right there and then. And I’m afraid that in an awful lot of apparently thriving congregations today that’s exactly what’s going on. Preacher Cleavon Matthews puts it this way: “Great multitudes will follow as long as there is no price to be paid, no contract to sign, no commands to obey, no orders to follow, no sacrifices to surrender, no gifts to offer, no commitments to keep, no burdens to bear, no suffering to share, no hardship to handle, no effort to exert, no pills to swallow, no limitations to learn, no scriptures to study, no worship services to attend, no prayers to pray, no cooperation to communicate, no battles to fight, no pledges to promise, no covenants to keep, and no standard to uphold.”
Recent polls show very little difference in life-style between Christians and non-Christians, from cohabitation and divorce to downloading CD’s off the internet. Churches fly rainbow flags, and crosses are a trendy fashion statement. But Jesus doesn’t want tourists. He wants permanent residents, people who are prepared to dig in and stick it out. Jesus wants disciples.
And Jesus doesn’t mince words. He puts it shockingly strongly: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” [v. 26] Now of course we are not meant to take this literally; this is a Hebrew idiom meaning to have a preference, to make a choice. What Jesus is demanding as a cost of discipleship that we put him first.
Jesus is saying, “Listen, you say you want to be a disciple, but you’ve got to understand what it means. You’ve got to decide right now who you’re going to be loyal to when the chips are down: me or them.”
That’s probably the main reason the world hates Jesus. Our commitment to Jesus comes before what’s popular, before our bosses and our careers, before our country, before absolutely everything - even what seems like it ought to have the highest priority of all, our families. Now, sometimes, the best way to demonstrate your commitment to Jesus is to make our families a top priority. For instance, if you had to choose between being running a famous and successful parachurch organization or being a parent, Jesus would say take care of your family.
But isn’t that exactly opposite to what he just said? Didn’t Peter and the rest leave their families behind? Well, I grant, that does seem to be a contradiction. But Jesus criticizes the Pharisees for spending their money on temple offerings rather taking care of their parents [Mk 7:11], and later on Paul writes to Timothy, “whoever does not provide for relatives, and especially for family members, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. “[1 Tim 5:8]
So what are we supposed to make of this? It means that our jobs, our families, our hobbies are all to be pursued AS FOLLOWERS OF JESUS. We aren’t to excuse wrongdoing just because it’s our husband or our daughter doing it. We can’t overlook fraud because a promotion depends on it. We can’t cheat on an exam in order to get into medical school. At the first General Assembly I ever went to, I testified for a resolution condemning third-trimester abortions. The woman who spoke after me spoke on the other side, telling how her third trimester abortion had been “responsible stewardship.” You see, she hadn’t been able get one earlier, because she had been in Bolivia, and if she was going to complete her seminary education on schedule, she just couldn’t have a baby. It was, she said, what Jesus would have wanted her to do. Excuse me? Jesus doesn’t want us to kill those who get in our way; he wants us to die to our own ambitions and desires. Jesus comes first, even if the terms of call seem to change midstream, even when the caviar and champagne you were expecting turns into baked beans and iced tea.
That’s why we each have to choose. None of us are born disciples. You don’t get a free pass just because you’re born in the tent. Furthermore, none of us naturally grows into a disciple. We have to make daily choices to follow or not follow. Jesus knew that most would find the cost too high. And Jesus expected that in the heat of the moment many would say “Yes, Lord, whatever you say,” and yet halfway down the road, the first time they went hungry or slept rough, got badmouthed by a Pharisee or threatened by a Roman, they’d want off. Don’t do it, he says. Don’t even get on board if you’re not in it for the long haul. Don’t move to Florida if you’re going to freak out when hurricane season comes. Because come it will.
Following Jesus is not the same as following the crowd. If we expect everything to be just the same as it was except for coming to church on Sundays, you’ve missed the fine print in the contract. A lot of people love foreign travel - but only if they can have Holiday Inns and McDonalds, only if the people speak English and elevators work.
In 1996 staff members at Bridger Wilderness Area collected the following comment cards:
· Trails need to be reconstructed. Please avoid building trails that go uphill.
· Too many bugs and leeches and spiders and spider webs. Please spray the wilderness to rid the areas of these pests.
· Please pave the trails. Chair lifts need to be in some places so that we can get to wonderful views without having to hike to them.
· The coyotes made too much noise last night and kept me awake. Please eradicate these annoying animals.
· There are too many rocks in the mountains. [Mike Neifert, Light and Life (February 1997), p. 27]
What are the rocks in your road? What makes following Jesus difficult for you? Do you have something that you consider yours, that you absolutely refuse to give to God? Guess what. God has it already. This is one moving train you don’t want to jump off of, because when you said yes to God, you signed everything you owned over to him.
Why is the cost of discipleship so high? Because nothing good comes cheap. Sunshine and palm trees cost hurricanes. Olympic medals cost sweat and pain and time. And following Jesus costs - well, everything.
