05 September 2010

Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Psalm 1
Philemon 1:1-21
Luke 14:25-33

“Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” And right off the bat, we hear all about hating father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters, even life itself. But not to worry . . . at least not yet . . . all this stuff about hating one’s family is a rather typical, ancient Hebrew way of speaking – an exaggeration in order to make a point. Perhaps a better translation might be: “Whoever does not refuse the power and privilege that might come with family ties . . . . cannot be my disciple.” Or perhaps, “Whoever does not refuse the power and privilege of being white and a citizen of the United States . . . . cannot be my disciple.” Then there’s hating even life itself. “And,” says Jesus, “you can’t hold on to your self-absorbed ways of thinking and being and be my disciple. You must refuse to hold on to all those things to which you think you self so entitled.”

St. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, tells us that Jesus, “though in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be held onto, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave . . .” Even as Jesus refused to hold onto the privilege and power that were his by birth, being born God from God, so must those who follow refuse inherited privilege. The cross: the sign of divine refusal. And it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the ever escalating vitriol of life in these United States, in every arena, be it in the church, election politics, or in the congress; be it heard on FOX news, on talk radio, or in the courts; be it played out in referenda to wipe-out structures that provide for the common good, in referenda to prohibit same-gender marriage, or to turn back the clock on civil rights – it’s all of a piece – nothing more nor less than the last gasp of white heterosexual people of power dismayed and distraught over their inability to hold on to the great privilege that has customarily been theirs in this country. “If you are a disciple,” says Jesus, “you must refuse to hold onto your power and privilege.”

St. Paul writes to Philemon, a disciple of Jesus. “Pardon and make free your run-away slave Onesimus. Make him your brother. Refuse the power and privilege of ownership that was your birthright.” Poor Philemon. He’s going to be a laughing stock. His family will think he’s lost his mind. His neighbors will no longer speak to him. The town crier will blast him with all sorts of nasty names. People just don’t do that sort of thing. The founding fathers of the United States couldn’t bring themselves to do that sort of thing. “But you cannot be my disciples unless you pick up the cross – the sign of divine refusal – and follow me.”

The cross. The sign of divine refusal to hold onto power and privilege. If your read the Gospels with a Bible Atlas in hand, you’ll discover that Jesus spent a lot of time among the Gentiles, the foreigners – not blasting them for following some other religion, but being among them in love. God refusing to condemn those of other faiths – Jesus refusing to convert them to his own faith – God in Jesus refusing to do anything other than feed and make whole and receive them with greatest hospitality. The cross – the sign of divine refusal – the refusal to join the mob ready to drive the Muslim neighbor from the land – and you know damn well it’s not about the location of a Mosque, not really. And the cross – the sign of divine refusal – the refusal to clamor for the locking up and deportation of immigrants and others not like us who dare go out and about without the proper documents . . .  unless, of course, those people are white. The cross – in the form of a rainbow, the sign of the divine refusal ever again to seek a final solution . . . . to anything. “And whoever does not carry the cross, the sign of divine refusal, cannot be my disciple.”

“So too,” says Jesus, “none of you can become my disciples if you do not give up all your possessions.” The cross – the sign of divine refusal. Jesus – walking lightly upon the earth – refusing to be weighed down with care over riches; without a caravan of stuff following him across the countryside – and the gold and frankincense and myrrh long ago given and shed. The sign of divine refusal: God, in Jesus, refusing to employ gold as a weapon, refusing to praise the generosity of someone giving up a mere 10% of her or his income, reserving praise instead for the widow who refused to hold onto her two dull coins had but gave away all that she had or would ever have. Jesus, refusing as well to regard her or others without means – the sick and the orphans and the little children – refusing to regard them as a drag on the economy, refusing to do anything other than declare the least of them to be the beloved sons and daughters of God, and icons of Christ, all to be received with hospitality most generous.

The cross – the sign of divine refusal – the Divine One in Christ refusing to withhold good gifts from God, God’s grace, from any one. God, in Jesus, refusing to say, “I’ll only give gifts that are used locally.” Or “I’ll only give for those things that I approve of.” Or, “I won’t give until things are done the way I think they should be done.” Or, “I’ll give, but I’m going to do it grudgingly and I reserve my right to complain and criticize and control.” The cross – the divine refusal to put any conditions whatsoever upon the giving of every good thing and without counting the cost.

And the cross – the sign of the divine refusal to do anything other than love the enemy to death – even death by hanging naked on a cross. “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” St. Paul says to the Philippians and to us: “Have this mind, of divine refusal, among you which IS yours in Christ Jesus.” You have been baptized and marked with the cross of Christ – forever. You are disciples and you do carry the cross. And the cross, laid upon you before you could ever choose another way, it is not a great weight that makes life heavy, dull, and slow. Rather the yoke of the cross is easy and burden of the cross is light. To carry the cross, as disciples in every age have proclaimed unto their dying breath, to carry the cross is to walk with joy and light of step, to be no longer weighed down with the burdens of power, privilege, and possessions. With Christ you have gone to the cross and you have already died to the ways of the turned-in-on-self self, you have refused the great weight of this world’s emptiness and you do daily die to the grasping self. And so that you know the cross is was not the way of just some well-intentioned Galilean lunatic, Jesus, that Galilean, was raised for you – that you know the way of the cross that has been given you to follow is truly the way of that life which is beyond all the ages, the way of that life which not even the darkness of these times shall overcome. You are disciples of Christ and you do carry the cross, the sign of the divine refusal of power, privilege, and possessions for you are already risen with Christ from the dead.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN.