Friends in Christ,
Loyalty, by definition, means unswerving in allegiance: such as faithful allegiance to your country, to your spouse and family, to your school, to your church, to your work.
Loyalty is not this: In heaven they faced God, who wanted to know what they believed in. The German shepherd said "I believe in discipline, loyalty and training to my master". "Good" said God. "You may sit on my right side". The Doberman said "I believe in love, care and protection of my master". "Aha, you may sit on my left" said God. Then God looked at the cat and said" and what do you believe in"? The cat replied " I believe you are sitting in my seat".
It is something we want in our families, friendships, workplaces, and relationships. Two examples without our Lutheran church come quickly to mind. When an individual is Confirmed, we ask, “Do you intend to continue steadfast in this confession and Church and to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it?” – a lot to ask of a thirteen-year-old. And, at a wedding, the pastor asks both spouses, “In the presence of God, I take you to be my wife/husband from this day forward in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, as long as we both shall live.” (The average length of a first marriage in our country is currently 7.8 years – far from a lifetime.)
Just as we value loyalty and devotion, it is also something Jesus wanted from His disciples as He journeyed from town to town, preaching the Word of God, healing the sick, and finding the lost. He cared and He wanted them to care for Him. But … as St. John noted, “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” Please note, the ones who turned away were not strangers or outsiders or curiosity seekers, they were disciples who had seen and heard Jesus performing His ministry.
May I share some troubling statistics that apply to us? Church Trac, a group that does statistical analysis of Christian churches reports that approximately 3500 people leave their congregations every day, or, if you prefer, 1.2 million leave their church every year. And, another way from which to view it is this way: a church should expect to lose about 10%-15% of its members each year. The Christian faith in the United States has seen 40 million members stop attending in the last 25 years. Loyalty lost.
The question for us is plain: are we among those who have lost or will lose loyalty to Jesus? And, if the temptation is there to turn back, why would we turn away? We want to know so that we can avoid the loss of faith, the loss of God’s promise, the loss for forgiveness, the loss of hope.
(1) Some turned away because the message of Jesus about His body and blood seemed too graphic, out of the ordinary, vulgar, crude. They were, as Jesus noted, “offended” by what He said. And, one more than one occasion He used blunt words to describe the challenge of faith in a sinful world: pluck out your offending eye, cut off your offending hand, turn your check even to the one who has harmed you, give your coat to someone who is cold.
(2) Others turned away because they actually had no faith, or, at best, shallow faith that had no depth to withstand the scorching times of life. Remember the parable Jesus once told about the farmer whose seed fell on the packed down path, rocky ground, thorn infest ground, and good soul. In three of the four instances, the seeds and plants perished, some after a good start. It means this to us: how would you feel about your car if starts once every three tries, is it reliable? If the letter carrier skips delivery to your house every Monday and Thursday, is she trustworthy? If you go to work once or twice a month, are you a reliable employee? If your refrigerator stops working for a day or two every now and then, do you say, “Oh well, it works most of the time."? If your water heater provides an icy cold shower every now and then, is it dependable? If you skipped paying your electric or gas bill, would the companies mind? … If you worship God once a month, if we read our Bible only seldom or not at all, if we pray only in church, if we join with friends using coarse language, if we use God’s name as a curse word, do we honor and please our Heavenly Father?
(3) Still others turned away because the cost of discipleship was too great an expense. The call to put God first – even above home, family, and occupation was more than they were willing to pay. No, to be clear, Jesus did not ask them – He does not ask us – to abandon family, home, and occupation – but rather, to put Him above all others in our life. Let Him be our first priority – which, to be sure, is no small ‘ask.’
(4) Instead of turning away, our hope – our goal – is to move even closer to Jesus, just as St. Peter affirmed, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Yes, closer to the Word of God and His promises of love and grace for you: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. … Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."
Let’s end with this: One of the soldiers of Frederick the Great, a powerful Prussian king, could not afford a watch. Instead, he wore a bullet attached to his watch chain. Having noticed this, Frederick decided one day to have some fun at the man's expense: "My watch tells me that it is five o'clock," he declared, taking out a beautiful diamond-studded timepiece. "What does yours say?" "My watch does not tell me the hour," the soldier replied undaunted. "It tells me every minute that it is my duty to die for Your Majesty." So pleased was the king with the man's response that he promptly handed him his own watch. "Take this," he ordered, "so that you may know the hour as well."
It is the kind of loyalty Jesus has shown to us. It is the kind of commitment we want to show to Him. With the help of the Holy Spirit we do not want to be a short-lived disciple. We want to remain close and committed to our Savior. We want His blessings and gifts. We want to be shining examples to our world. May our loyalty be seen and shown to all. Amen.
