Luke 16:10-13

[Jesus said,] “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much. And whoever is dishonest in a little is dishonest also in much. If you are not faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you are not faithful with what does not belong to you, who will give to you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters. He will either love one and hate the other, or despise one and be devoted to the other. You cannot serve both God and wealth.”

I’d like to thank Kaitlyn Ferry and Lisa Smith for the inspiration for today’s message. When we talked this week, Kaitlyn pointed out the connection between the Pet Blessing service and the notion of what it may mean to “serve two masters,” like we just heard from Jesus. And Lisa posted the perfect video illustration of it all on Facebook the very next day.

(Rather than read my description of it, you can watch the video here. Since we worshiped outdoors, for our annual Pet Blessing service, I couldn't just show the video to the congregation this time around.)

In this short, sweet little video, a runway that looks to be about 15 feet long, is lined with cones and toys and treats other canine temptations. A dog is perched at one end of the runway, with his/her human standing at the opposite end. On the human’s signal, the hounds are supposed to walk/run/trot their way to their master without being distracted or stepping off the path. A guy in a black-and-white-striped referee shirt, a whistle around his neck, is timing their progress.

A German Shepherd goes first – very serious and all business – she runs straight to her master without missing a beat. Next goes a little Australian Shepherd – very anxious, but quick – who pauses halfway down the runway to sniff something, but doesn’t let the temptation get the best of him and continues on to the master who was calling his name. And finally, the video cuts to the happiest looking Golden Retriever you’ve ever seen, sitting like he should be at his end of the runway.

When he gets the command, though, the Golden Retriever takes a couple of steps and mouths the very first tennis ball along the path, takes a few more steps and gobbles a couple bites of food in the bowl he finds, jumps to the opposite side of the path to sample some food from another bowl, trots a few steps forward to toss a stuffed animal in the air, then he goes backward, to the start of the runway, and cleans two plates of some other tasty treats – all while the referee and timers smile and laugh, and while his poor, embarrassed master charges backward down the runway calling and pleading and begging for him to follow; which he does, sort of, while stopping at every other distraction and temptation along the way to lick plates, gobble kibble, and scarf down some hot dogs until his master has to grab him by the collar and drag him to the end of the course, to finally stop the clock“No one can serve two masters.” “You cannot serve both God and wealth.”

The truth is, when it comes to money and things and stuff, we are all more like the Golden Retriever on the obstacle course of life in this world, than we’d like to admit, right?

Here we are, here we sit, with God calling to us in ways we have been trained and instructed to go – to be faithful; to be generous; to give more than we take; to use only our fair share; to sacrifice, even, for the sake of others – with the example of Jesus shining like a beacon at the end of the runway.

And since Jesus does, we have to consider that it’s wealth and money and everything they represent – that tempt us and distract us and steal our attention from following our master as faithfully as we could. Like the tennis balls and stuffed animals and bowls of kibble that golden retriever couldn’t resist, we do our thing in this world tempted by too many things and by so much stuff – taking what we can get, whenever we can get it; gobbling up more than we need; ignoring the call and command of our master, too much of the time.

And all God wants for us is to keep our eyes on our master. With our attention focused there… With our eyes trained on Jesus’ example… And with our ears listening for his call and instruction, we will put God first – God’s ways, God’s wishes, and God’s will, I mean.

Because God knows it’s exhausting to have and to manage so many things and so much stuff, when we don’t do it well. It’s tiresome that so many of us in this culture live to work, rather than work so that we might live more fully. It’s debilitating and dishonest to keep up with the Jones’s at every turn. It’s a drain on our psyche and our spirit to serve the master of debt the way too many of us do or have done.

(The average household credit card debt in the U.S. is $5,700.00. For households that carry a credit card balance from one month to the next, that average debt climbs to over $16,000. And for households with the lowest net worth – for people with the least amount of money – the average credit card debt is something like $10,300.)

When we’re forced to service that kind of debt – or any desire, really, that feeds our greed (this isn’t just about credit cards) – we can’t possibly pretend to also serve God as fully as God calls us to, or as fully as we would like. We can’t give food to the hungry, clothes to the naked, or water to the thirsty. We can’t give as much to the church or to charities that do God’s bidding. We can’t be a blessing for the world around us the way God has blessed us to be in the very first place

There’s hope here, of course. And an example of it shows up in that video with the dogs, too. That sweet, selfish, squirrely Golden Retriever gets pulled across the finish line, not to be beaten or punished or shamed in any way. He’s made to sit, still smiling when it’s all said and done. He’s patted and stroked and loved by his master, anyway, embarrassed though she may be. And I imagine he has some more lessons and training and second-chances in his future.

And so will we, by the grace of the God who loves us no matter what, until we learn to love and to serve and to give in response to that kind of provision; when we recognize that God’s grace is more valuable than anything our money can buy; and that our wealth is only worth a thing when we learn to share it in the name of the master who gives it all in the first place.

Amen

Luke 14:25-33

Now large crowds were traveling with [Jesus;] and he turned and said to them, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”

My guess is you’ve seen or read something like this before. I’ve seen it make its rounds on social media more than once, myself, but it never made me think about the Gospel, or faith, or following Jesus, until this week.

It’s an e-mail, written by a daughter, to her parents, after being away at college for the first time.

Dear Mom and Dad,

I know it’s been three months and that you haven’t heard from me since I left for school. I need to let you know what I’ve been up to, but before you read on, please take a deep breath, sit down, and remember how much you love me. : )

So, things are going pretty well. I got a minor concussion when I jumped out of the window of my dormitory during a fire shortly after I got here, but I’m pretty well over that now. Fortunately, a guy at the gas station next door saw everything and called the fire department and the ambulance. He also visited me at the hospital, and since I had nowhere to live, he was nice enough to let me share his apartment with him and his three buddies. It's really a room in the basement, but it's kind of cute. : )

He is a great guy and we are in love and planning to get married. We haven't set the exact date yet, but it will be before the baby comes. Yes, Mom and Dad, I am pregnant. And, yes, we hope to have the wedding before I start to show, because I already found a dress that I love. I know you will welcome this baby and give it all the love you’ve given me over the years.

And I can’t wait for you to meet Brad, which I promise will happen as soon as his infection clears up – that’s a whole ‘nother story, which I’ll tell you about some other time. Anyway, I know you’re going to love him, too. He’s so kind and super cute. He’s not all that educated, but he’s a really hard worker and he has plans to help run his family business once his dad gets back from some time away. : )

And I have so much more to tell you, like the fact that there really was no fire, no hospital, no Brad, no baby on the way, and no wedding plans, either.

What you really need to know is that I got a 'D' in my History class. And I totally failed Biology. I just wanted you to get that news with a little bit perspective about how much worse things could be. (Smiley face.)

I (heart) you,
Katie

That's funny, right? And clever, don’t you think? And, it made me think of Jesus and this Gospel, because of what Jesus seems to be up to here. He says all sorts of pretty harsh, surprising things, right out of the gate: “whoever doesn’t hate father and mother, hate wife and children, hate brother and sister, hate, even, life itself, cannot be my disciple.” And then, “whoever doesn’t carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Anyone and everyone listening in that crowd would have known what crosses were used for back in Jesus’ day, just as well as we do now.

And then Jesus goes on with all of this stuff about counting the cost, estimating the investment, measuring your resources before deciding – with no small amount of forethought and attention – whether you have what it takes to do this whole discipleship thing well… or seriously… or with some measure of faithfulness.

So, I couldn’t help but wonder if that’s why Jesus doesn’t wrap it all up with his final challenge: “No one can become my disciple unless they give up all of their possessions.”

My point is, I think it’s okay to see this as one of those passages of scripture that is chock-full of hyperbole, something we just talked about a week or so ago in our Breakfast Club Bible study. It’s one of those moments where Jesus is exaggerating things to get our attention; he’s overstating his point, so that we’ll listen; he’s talking in extremes so that that large and growing crowd of wannabes and hangers-on might stop for a minute and consider where he was headed… just where he might be leading them… and what this life of discipleship could really look like, if they were really serious about really following Jesus. It’s one of those moments, I’m pretty sure we’re not meant to take Jesus literally, so much as we are meant to take Jesus seriously.

So part of the point is to see that following Jesus isn’t easy. His lessons are hard. His expectations are high. His teachings are difficult to hear. He challenges us – and expects us to challenge one another – in ways that pretty much promise us we won’t always agree or get along or feel comfortable about what God is calling us to do – as individuals or as the Body of Christ in the world.

We might feel compelled to hate – or at least disagree and argue and take exception with – our friends and relatives, our Pastors and fellow Christians, from time to time. We might find ourselves bearing a cross, depending upon how far we’re willing to take our discipleship. And we might be called to sacrifice a thing or two – our time, our energy, a significant portion of our money and resources and stuff. “None of you can become my disciple, unless you give up all of your possessions.”

Which is where I find a strange connection to that letter the college co-ed wrote to her parents. I wonder if Jesus starts with the hard, harsh, heavy stuff – the hatred and disagreement and struggle we’re likely to face between moms, dads, siblings, spouses, and children; and that bit about carrying a cross, walking ourselves to the suffering and death of crucifixion – so that when he gets to that bit about our money and our things, we can receive it with a different kind of perspective.

Because I think, for the likes of you and me – white, middle class, safe, suburban, mainline Christian people, I mean – giving away our money and giving up our possessions, is as faithful and as tangible and as meaningful a thing as we can do to express and to experience our desire to follow Jesus.

I’ll say that again: For the likes of you and me, giving away our money and giving up our possessions, is as faithful and tangible and meaningful a thing as we can do to express and to experience our desire to follow Jesus.

See, I think we’ve convinced ourselves – thanks to a lot of hard work by the culture we live in – that to give up, to do without, to fore-go our financial possessions is more sacrifice than it was ever meant to be, or that it really is, when we’re looking at life in this world from the proper perspective. Not many of us risk hatred or alienation from our friends and family because of what we believe as far as I know. And most of us don’t have plans to carry or climb onto a cross come Friday, I suspect. But possessions and money?, that’s something we can do something about, if we’re honest. And God knows it.

Any of you who have been through our CrossRoads class know about the question I ask when we talk about financial stewardship: to share with the group the most meaningful gift you’ve ever given or received. I ask that question because, without fail, the gifts people talk about have very little, if anything, to do with their financial value. They could very well be worth a lot of money, but what matters most about the gifts that mean the most is who gave them, the occasion they commemorate, and the thoughtfulness, preparation, and sacrifice that went into the giving, in the first place.

And that’s what God asks of us as we consider the gift of discipleship we’re called to offer as followers of Jesus. It involves our money, yes. We are called to be generous and to do with less – to do without, even – so that the Church can flourish and so that God’s good news can be shared in ways we can’t accomplish on our own. More importantly, I think, we are called to be generous and to do with less – to do without, even – because it changes us for the better and helps us to love and care for others in more faithful ways.

But the gift of discipleship – be it financial or faithful following and sacrifice in any other way – is meant to be the gift of ourselves, the fullness of our lives as much as we’re able to offer it. There’s no promise that it will be easy. There’s no assurance that the world around us – or even those closest to us – will always understand or agree with what we’re up to. But there is the promise that through the living of our lives, following in the footsteps of Jesus, we will know eternal life, we will experience the Kingdom of God, we will find and share God’s heaven – in this life and in the next, by grace in Jesus’ name.

Amen

"One Master, One Mission" – Luke 16:10-13

"The Hard Work of Following Jesus" – Luke 14:25-33