Counting the Cost

•September 5, 2013 • 5 Comments

There’s a line from Jesus Christ Superstar that goes,

Always hoped that I’d be an apostle,

Knew that I would make it if I tried

That has to be one of the greatest misunderstandings of what being one of Jesus’ followers is about.  You don’t “make it” as a disciple.  In fact if you think you have made it, then you almost certainly haven’t…

Luke 14:25-33

Being a Disciple

25 Large crowds were walking along with Jesus, when he turned and said:

26 You cannot be my disciple, unless you love me more than you love your father and mother, your wife and children, and your brothers and sisters. You cannot come with me unless you love me more than you love your own life.

27 You cannot be my disciple unless you carry your own cross and come with me.

28 Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. What is the first thing you will do? Won’t you sit down and figure out how much it will cost and if you have enough money to pay for it? 29 Otherwise, you will start building the tower, but not be able to finish. Then everyone who sees what is happening will laugh at you. 30 They will say, “You started building, but could not finish the job.”

31 What will a king do if he has only ten thousand soldiers to defend himself against a king who is about to attack him with twenty thousand soldiers? Before he goes out to battle, won’t he first sit down and decide if he can win? 32 If he thinks he won’t be able to defend himself, he will send messengers and ask for peace while the other king is still a long way off. 33 So then, you cannot be my disciple unless you give away everything you own.

So now it’s time to talk about being a disciple and its cost.

It sounds awful for Jesus to say to be a disciple means that you have to love him more than your family.  I understand that to mean that the rest of our relationships fall into place when we have our relationship with Jesus right.

But Jesus makes it clear that following him is no picnic.

For Jesus, doing what God needed of him involved carrying his cross – and not just carrying it, but being nailed to it.  He had to surrender all he had and all he was, even his life.  The cost for us may not be quite so dramatic, but a cost there will be.

Are we ready for that?  Are we willing to give up all that we have and are and hand it over to God?  To allow him to take us and use us?

It’s a sobering thought, but one we need to consider if we are to finish the task God has called us to.

What is God calling me to surrender to him?  To give away?  To carry?

Is there anything I’m putting in front of him that I shouldn’t be?  Or that would be enriched by putting him in his right place in my life?

Do I think as a follower of God I’m entitled?  Or am I looking to see what I can give, not what I will get?

Lord
help me to put you
above everything else in my life.
May I be willing to give,
to carry,
to follow your way.

Help me Lord
to stay the course
and
to give you all I am
and all I have

Posted in bible, faith, follow, Jesus, Lectionary, Religion, theology
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Another Chance

•September 4, 2013 • Leave a Comment

Saint Philemon

Have you ever been asked to do something you really don’t want to?  But you really care for and respect the person that is asking you?

Perhaps what they ask you is beyond the realms of your generosity, yet…

Philemon 1-21

1 From Paul, who is in jail for serving Christ Jesus, and from Timothy, who is like a brother because of our faith.

Philemon, you work with us and are very dear to us. This letter is to you 2 and to the church that meets in your home. It is also to our dear friend Apphia and to Archippus, who serves the Lord as we do.

3 I pray that God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!

Philemon’s Love and Faith

4 Philemon, each time I mention you in my prayers, I thank God. 5 I hear about your faith in our Lord Jesus and about your love for all of God’s people. 6 As you share your faith with others, I pray that they may come to know all the blessings Christ has given us. 7 My friend, your love has made me happy and has greatly encouraged me. It has also cheered the hearts of God’s people.

Paul Speaks to Philemon about Onesimus

8 Christ gives me the courage to tell you what to do. 9 But I would rather ask you to do it simply because of love. Yes, as someonein jail for Christ, 10 I beg you to help Onesimus! He is like a son to me because I led him to Christ here in jail. 11 Before this, he was useless to you, but now he is useful both to you and to me.

12 Sending Onesimus back to you makes me very sad. 13 I would like to keep him here with me, where he could take your place in helping me while I am here in prison for preaching the good news. 14 But I won’t do anything unless you agree to it first. I want your act of kindness to come from your heart, and not be something you feel forced to do.

15 Perhaps Onesimus was taken from you for a little while so that you could have him back for good, 16 but not as a slave. Onesimus is much more than a slave. To me he is a dear friend, but to you he is even more, both as a person and as a follower of the Lord.

17 If you consider me a friend because of Christ, then welcome Onesimus as you would welcome me. 18 If he has cheated you or owes you anything, charge it to my account. 19 With my own hand I write: I, PAUL, WILL PAY YOU BACK. But don’t forget that you owe me your life. 20 My dear friend and follower of Christ our Lord, please cheer me up by doing this for me.

21 I am sure you will do all I have asked, and even more.

The Book of Philemon is just 25 verses long, and written with a very specific purpose – to beg Philemon to help Onesimus.  Philemon was a prominent Christian in his community.  His slave, Onesimus had run away, but come into contact with Paul whilst he was in prison.  Onesimus had become a Christian himself and so Paul writes to Philemon asking him to give Onesimus a second chance – and more than that to welcome him as a Christian brother.

Onesimus had once been useless – now he is a useful person, so useful that Paul would prefer to keep him with himself, but he hands him back to Philemon.

Paul wants Philemon to restore his relationship with Onesimus, he wants him to be welcomed as Paul himself would be – but not because he is forced, but because he chooses to.  He also promises to pay back himself anything that Onesimus owes to Philemon.

So for its brevity, the book is about the important subjects of forgiveness and reconciliation – the giving of another chance, allowing someone to prove they are sorry.  There are bells ringing loudly in my mind about someone promising to pay back anything that is owed by this man, one man promising to make another man’s mistakes right.

We are reminded again of the Christian imperative to forgive, to give another chance, and to show grace to others.

Would I want to welcome back someone who had cheated me and run away from me?  Someone who had abused my trust and good nature?

Would I expect to be given another chance myself…?

I thank you Lord
that you give second, third, fourth,
and many more chances.
That when I get things wrong,
you do not turn your back on me,
but welcome me as I return to try again.

May I be someone
who gives another chance to others,
not turning them away
because they have got something wrong,
upset me,
or abused my help to them.
May I remember your generosity to me
and apply that generosity
to all around me
for no one has done anything worse than me

Posted in bible, community, faith, forgiveness, God, Lectionary, life, Religion, theology
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Hints on Happiness

•September 3, 2013 • Leave a Comment

Psalm 1

BOOK I

(Psalms 1-41)

The Way to Happiness

1 God blesses those people
    who refuse evil advice
    and won’t follow sinners
    or join in sneering at God.
2 Instead, the Law of the Lord
    makes them happy,
    and they think about it
    day and night.

3 They are like trees
    growing beside a stream,
trees that produce
fruit in season
    and always have leaves.
Those people succeed
    in everything they do.

4 That isn’t true of those
    who are evil,
    because they are like straw
    blown by the wind.

By McKay Savage from London, UK [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

5 Sinners won’t have an excuse
    on the day of judgment,
    and they won’t have a place
    with the people of God.
6 The Lord protects everyone
    who follows him,
    but the wicked follow a road
    that leads to ruin.

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So the way to be happy is to refuse bad advice, to not sneer at God, but to read and think about God’s word. As trees draw life from the stream, so the wise draw their strength from God.

Posted in bible, faith, God, Lectionary, life, Religion, theology
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