Deuteronomy 30: 15–20 / Psalm 1 / Philemon 1 – 21 / Luke 14: 25–33
This
is the homily written for Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, McKnightstown,
Pennsylvania, for September 7, 2025 by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor. On this
day, however, the sermon was in written form only – the sermon time was instead
used for “Stump the Pastor” – a time of questions, answers and discussion about
the lectionary readings or other subjects.
“THE COST OF FOLLOWING THE LORD: HYPERBOLE -OR- REALITY?”
(Homily texts: Deuteronomy 30: 15-20 & Luke 14: 25–33)
Our lectionary cycle of readings places
before us some of the harshest sayings our Lord ever put before those who would
be His followers: “If anyone comes to me, and does not hate his own father and
mother and wife and children and brothers, yes, even his own life, he cannot be
my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my
disciple.”
Some of the things that Jesus said
qualify as being “hard sayings”. This, surely, is one of the most difficult to
hear and to consider.
A question then arises: When the Lord
says these things, is He speaking in deliberately exaggerated terms (in
hyperbole, which is defined as “exaggerated speech which greatly exaggerates
the truth”), or is He describing a reality that those who become His disciples
will experience?
The answer surely must be: Both.
The Lord is shocking any and all who
would consider being a disciple, a follower of the Lord, putting before them
the stark reality that such a decision will mean. For to make such a decision,
and then to follow through with it, means a total and complete change of focus
and direction in one’s life. That much is true. It was true for those who first
heard the Lord say these things, it was true for God’s people in the time of
Moses, as we hear in today’s reading from Deuteronomy, it was true for the
early Christians in the first centuries of the Church’s existence, and it
remains true for us today.
But it is also true that for many early
Christians, who came to faith in the Greco-Roman world, becoming a Christian
meant the distinct possibility of being persecuted, or even being martyred.
(That reality still exists in many places around the world today.) So, by the
time that Luke was writing his Gospel account, both realities had come true: Many
Christians who had placed their faith in the Lord, put their discipleship ahead
of relationships like family and friends. Following Jesus also meant the real possibility
of suffering and death.
Reality, yes!
Hyperbole, yes!
Both possibilities come with
challenges.
For those who would face physical
hardship, suffering or even death, the prospect that that path of discipleship
is a great challenge. (It’s worth saying that – even in the face of such awful
prospects – many in the days of the Roman Empire chose to follow the Lord, even
to the point of giving up their lives to do so.)
But, fortunately, that path isn’t one
that most of us – living as Americans in this wonderful country – are likely to
face.
And yet, even if the Lord’s challenge
to becoming a follower is of the easier path described in the Lord’s
exaggerated terms, it is still a challenge to decide to put one’s priorities in
order, with the Lord and our following of Him first in our lives.
Why?
Perhaps it is still a challenge
because, living in the society we are privileged to live in, becoming a
Christian doesn’t mean a radical change of lifestyle. One can be a Christian in
today’s culture, pretty much adopting the behaviors of the surrounding culture.
This is the easier path, by far.
And yet, as the culture beckons to us,
asking us to take up all of their various attitudes and behaviors, we – as
Christians – are called to bear witness to a different and better way of living
and being, saying “no” to some of the offerings that are placed before us.
To do so, it seems to me, is to
discover life in its fullest, most complete, and most fulfilling meanings.
Nothing that the culture can offer us will ever surpass knowing the Lord
personally, and following Him, day by day.
We are, then, in need of the Holy
Spirit’s help, that we will keep ever before our eyes and in our consciousness,
the richness that following the Lord Jesus Christ offers.
AMEN.
