Perhaps you noticed a little uptick in activity around town this week amidst our quiet Bloomington summer. The staff at IU began the annual ritual of welcoming incoming freshmen, this year the Class of 2014, to campus. With the excitement of their high school graduations subsiding these bright eyed teenagers are flooding into town ready to embark on the next phase of their lives. They are being ushered around campus for a more formal introduction to their next home. As they register for classes and scope out their living quarters they also get their first real glimpse of all the opportunities this university has to offer beyond a place to study.

A few years ago a young woman I will call Cathy went through a similar orientation at Duke University in North Carolina. Her successful, professional parents had groomed her for this opportunity to study at this prestigious institution. They knew that the training she received there would prepare her to follow in their footsteps. After several years of intensive study she would find herself a well respected position at this or some other world renowned university.

Since attending college is not solely an academic endeavor Cathy she took advantage of some of those other opportunities for personal growth. In particular she found herself regularly attending chapel. She also got connected with the staff and friends for Bible study. Late into the night they would discuss what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Over time Cathy noticed that her priorities began to shift. As a result she registered for some different classes and began to explore other career opportunities. Instead of going the route her parents. had pushed, a new path began to emerge.

The more classes she took, the more excited she became about her future work. Immersed in fulfilling her newfound calling Cathy decided the time was right to fill her parents in on her exciting news. Over the phone she began to talk about these classes she was taking and this new venture for her life. As she talked, Cathy noticed that her parents had gone rather quiet. To fill the silence she changed subjects just a bit and began to talk about the friends she had made at chapel, the discussions they had at Bible studies, and the personal reflection those things inspired within her. Her parents asked a couple of perfunctory questions school life, told her they loved her and said goodbye.

The following morning Cathy's father pulled out his phone and dialed the Dean of the Chapel at Duke. He barely allowed time for a greeting before barraging the head campus chaplain. "What did you all do over there at Duke?" he inquired. "Our daughter went to school to become a research scientist, but now she says she is going to become a medical missionary to Haiti. You ruined her life. Why did you do that?"

"You ruined her life." Consider for a moment. Though this was Haiti before the devastation of the earthquake, it was still one of the world's poorest nations. When she went to Haiti, she would be lucky to have a roof over her head. When she went to Haiti, she would be a long way away from home, making it extremely difficult to return home for important family events. When she went to Haiti, she would be leaving many of her family and friends back at home. That certainly does not sound like the life Cathy's parents had in mind for her when they sent her off to college. In her parents' minds I'm sure it did sound as though her life was ruined.

While there were probably other means of dealing with this news, we should give her parents at least some credit for at least identifying a reasonable culprit in instigating their daughter's change in heart. I cannot say for sure, but it certainly sounds as if Cathy had encountered this morning's gospel lesson at some point in her chapel visits or Bible studies and was responding to the message she heard.

At the center of today's passage from Luke lies the story of Jesus taking the disciples on a journey and encountering other would-be followers along the way. The first eager bystander they encountered as they went on their way proclaims "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replies as if to say, "are you sure? We will not have any of the comforts of home along the way." Another potential disciple accepts Jesus. invitation to join in on the voyage...with the condition that he tends to family obligations first. Jesus instructs him to leave that work for others. A third says he is up for this venture, but first he must bid farewell to those he is leaving behind. "Sorry," says Jesus "if you are coming with me, there's no looking back."

Sign up for this trip with Jesus and you can expect homelessness...you can expect to be unable to be with loved ones at times of deepest need...you can expect to leave on a moment's notice with no chance to say goodbye.

"Jesus," one might say, "you are ruining their lives. Why are you doing that? Are you the same Jesus whose ministry began with the proclamation that 'The Spirit of the Lord was upon you, because God had anointed you to bring good news to the poor. That God had sent you to proclaim release to the captives and to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor?'"

It is almost cruel. This message of good news, this promise of freedom, this vision of hope...all of that dashed by Jesus' words reminding us of what we must expect to encounter and leave behind if we are to go about the work of realizing the reign of God. Being a disciple starts to sound a little less like a night on the town cheering on this miracle worker and more like struggle. Less like a cozy family gathering and more like sacrifice.

In his book, "The Cost of Discipleship" Dietrich Bonhoeffer captures this tension between the draw we feel to Jesus' message leading to a deeply felt desire to follow him and the need to maintain some sense of control about our lives. "[The disciple] wants to follow," Bonhoeffer writes, "but feels obliged to insist on his own terms to the level of human understanding. The disciple places himself at the Master's disposal, but at the same time retains the right to dictate his own terms. But then discipleship is no longer discipleship, but a program of our own to be arranged to suit ourselves, and to be judged in accordance with the standards of rational ethic."¹ I think we are all guilty of the "but first let me" syndrome from time to time. Yes, I will follow..."but first let me" take care of the things that are most important. When that happens something is needed to reorient our priorities.

When I need my children to really listen to what I want to tell them I will cup my hand, place it on their chin and cheek, and turn their faces in my direction. Hearing the gospel lesson today offers a literary version of this parental maneuver. At the outset of the passage, Jesus "sets his face to go to Jerusalem." In that act of turning toward Jerusalem we notice a new sense of purpose to Jesus' ministry. He knows where he is headed. He also knows his fate upon reaching his destination. One can feel our attention being turned in a similar direction. It becomes apparent that answering Jesus. call to follow him requires a readiness to face that same fate. So now, first let us focus on Jesus so that very act we take, every word we share is done with our attention turned toward the cross in Jerusalem.

Focusing on what lies ahead for us does not diminish the influence that the experiences and connections to our past have had on who we are today. It is a reminder that our identity as disciples is shaped by our faith in a God creating new life, coming down to meet us, where we are, in ways that are meaningful in our time and place.

I am reminded of remarks from the Presiding Bishop of the ELCA, Rev. Mark Hanson, at last month's Indiana-Kentucky Synod Assembly. During breakout sessions to discuss ways the church might move forward in mission he raised some eyebrows when he asserted that, and I shall quote him here, "nostalgia is a virus." What he was saying was that while we are rightly mindful to remember and rejoice in the past. Living in the past is quite another thing. You see, in many ways we can be captives of our own successes. We are motivated to fix those things that we think of as bad or consider evil. But that which we consider "good"? Often times that leaves us content and does not challenge us to seek that which is best.

If we are to move beyond the good and pursue the best, our lesson from Luke is that our faces need to be set on Christ. When that happens we see that Jesus is calling us to a new way of living. Jesus invites us to ruin something in our lives. He summons us to set aside those things that separate us from him.

And why is he doing this? Jesus is doing this so the people of Haiti can experience God's compassion through someone like Cathy. He is doing this so we may make God's presence felt as we nurture one another in our suffering and welcome others to join in on the journey. He is doing this to unleash God's life giving work of reconciliation on a needy creation.

Amen.

 

¹ "The Cost of Discipleship" p66