Pentecost 13C
September 7, 2025 – Rally Day
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Luke 14:25-33
INTRODUCTION
A bit of context for our first reading today from Deuteronomy: As you may also recall, the Israelites, after Moses led them out of slavery in Egypt, spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness in search of the Promised Land. Today’s reading is at the end of that period, as they are about to enter Canaan. Moses knows he is about to die, and is giving them some last instructions and words of wisdom before entering this land, which is already occupied, by people who do not worship the God of Israel. This is the climax of Moses’ big speech, and, contextual as it is, his words are still so valuable for us today! “Choose life!” he says. I heard one commentator say this week, “If there is one verse on which to hang your entire theology, this is it!” I quite agree – in all your decisions as a person of faith, “choose life,” choose the thing that will bring the greatest and richest life to those most in need of life.
For the Philemon text, I encourage you to read the little contextual blurb in the bulletin, which will make this short letter (we’ll hear almost the whole thing!) more meaningful.
And then the Gospel… oof. It’s a doozie. Keep in mind, that this is still the part of Jesus’ life where he is traveling to Jerusalem to what he knows will be his death. Many are following him, and he will lay out for them what it means to be a disciple. Warning: it isn’t easy! So, here we go – let’s listen!
[READ]
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
After reading this week’s assigned lectionary readings, the question that has been nagging at me all week is: What difference does it make in your life that you are a Christian? Or asked another way, how do you live your life differently than you would if you were not a Christian?
The Gospel reading is the one that especially brings this up for me. These are pretty steep demands from Jesus for being a disciple. Give up all your possessions, carry your cross, hate your closest family members. This is not a successful formula for church growth! Now to be fair, the way we read this in English in 21st century America lands differently than it would in 1st century Palestine. For example, the word translated as “hate” likely means something more like, “place at a lower priority,” as in, “if it’s between your spouse and Jesus, choose Jesus.” It’s slightly better, but still a big ask. No doubt about it – Jesus is outlining some severe demands for discipleship.
And so, I ask again: even if you have prioritized your family over Jesus (say, going to your kid’s tournament instead of worship, or staying home instead of feeding the hungry), even if you have kept most of you possessions and keep acquiring more, even if you have no intention of taking up a cross of any kind – do you still find that your commitment to Jesus, to being a follower of Christ, affects the way you live your day to day life? And if so, how?
I’ll be honest, especially in light of texts like this, I often feel like a not-good-enough Christian. Even though I have devoted my life to serving Christ’s Church in his name, I think fairly often that I could or should be doing more to live out my faith. I think I should be giving away more money. I should spend more hours volunteering to help the sorts of people Jesus prioritized (generally, the most vulnerable). I should buy less, own less, and pray more. I should forgive more easily, and be less judgmental. I should work harder for justice, and be more willing to put myself on the line to do so. But then I think, “Well, my kids need me, or my spouse, or my aging parents…” Oops, there I go again, prioritizing my family over Jesus!
Now, I know, it isn’t so clear cut as this. Caring for my family sometimes is a part of the way I live out the gospel and follow Jesus. It’s not black and white, and I think in this case Jesus is talking more about if your family members are at odds with your will to live out the gospel, then choose the Jesus route. But the point here is: Jesus’ demands here are difficult. He makes it very clear that the cost of discipleship is high. The payoff is fantastic, but we don’t always experience that payoff right away, so we are more inclined toward the things that pay off right now.
Today is Rally Day, a day when we try to draw people back into the life of the Church and start up some programs that took a summer hiatus. It is also God’s Work, Our Hands Day, a day when we intentionally look outward toward some ways that we can lean into a more active faith, by serving our community. You can do that today by donating food or money to Loop Ministries, or by signing a letter that urges legislators to support programs that address food insecurity. This is all good stuff! But I urge you also to think today about this question I’ve been posing: how does your commitment to Jesus affect how you live your life? And then perhaps take it a step further: if you are like me, and often think of ways your life could better reflect Christ’s hope for us, could better live into his demands for a life of discipleship… then what is one way that could happen?
Could you not only donate to Loop today, but also find ways to volunteer, either there or at another food pantry, especially as we focus this year on addressing food insecurity?
Could you join a Bible Huddle, and let a more intentional approach to God’s Word guide you in your daily decisions?
If you are someone who comes to worship and then slips out quickly, could you make a habit of staying for coffee hour and talking to new people, so you develop more and deeper relationships with other people of faith, so you can support each other in this effort?
If you can’t give away all your possessions, could you at least increase your giving to support our ministry here, or your donations to other organizations who are aligned with our mission?
What else could you do to follow Jesus more closely, to let your identity as a Christian play a larger role in the way you live your life?
What Jesus describes here for the life of a disciple is pretty radical, and a lot to take in all at once. But as I often tell my kids when it is time to clean a messy room: don’t look at the whole room at once. Focus on one thing (like, cleaning up the trash, or putting clothes in the laundry), and do that. “Chunking it,” it’s called. Make the chunk smaller until it feels manageable.
We can do this in faith, too. Focus on one area where you could be living more fully into a life of discipleship – “hating” things that keep you from following Jesus and prioritizing things that do; giving up possessions (whether they are things, money, or even mindsets) that hinder rather than help your faith; or taking up your cross and being willing to step out courageously on behalf of people in need, even if it puts you out of your comfort zone. Focus on one area, and make a goal to do it, to accept that cost of discipleship, to strive to let the fact that you are a Christian, a follower of Jesus, affect your life and the way you live a little more than it does already.
Friends, this effort may not go smoothly. Change is hard, and we all fall short of being the people and the Christians we want to be. So know also this: that God’s grace for you, and God’s love for you are not contingent on any of this. Though we may see ourselves as not-enough, God always sees us as enough. God’s salvation for us was promised to us in our baptism, and it stands, even if you do prioritize your kids, or your spouse, or your other family members, even if you don’t take up a cross. But it is also precisely because of this immense grace, this unearned gift of salvation, that we are compelled to be the best, most faithful version of ourselves. And so may God be with us as we try, and fail, and try again, trusting always that Christ is there with us all along the way.
Let us pray… Gracious God, you have given us everything, though we do not deserve it. Strengthen and encourage us to see you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, day by day. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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