Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

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

"Are you available?"

Every year in the spring we plant our garden.  We have vegetables and cutting flowers in the back yard, an English country garden in front of our house and hanging baskets and flowers in pots all over our very large deck.  At first it's exciting - planning the beds, preparing the ground, bringing home seedlings to plant and putting them in the earth.  We feed them, water them, pull out the weeds that grow around the little plants.  Then we mulch in the flowers and wait for them to grow.  I love it when the plants on the deck begin to flower and we can sit out in the evening and enjoy their beautiful colors.  During the summer we tend to get busy - entertaining my parents who come from England for 6 weeks, going away on trips, camping in Nova Scotia, or choir camp at Ivoryton.  And we always have to decide whether we're going to pay someone to keep up with the fairly extensive watering project while we're away, or just trust that it rains some while we're gone!  When I get home from work late and the mosquitoes are buzzing around I'm afraid I'm often tempted to forego watering the plants and just hope they make it 'til the next night.  Which of course, isn't very wise because in this hot weather, by the next night the plants are likely to be very droopy indeed. Not being a gardener myself, I have in the past, pretty much left the garden to David.  But he's traveling a lot at the moment so I'm having to pick up my share of the work if we're going to keep our garden growing.  And I've discovered there is a big cost to having a beautiful back yard.  There is nothing better than picking fresh tomatoes and basil for tomato salad at night.  But keeping up with the watering is not easy.  And I often find myself wondering if it is really worth the enormous amount of work it takes to keep up with our garden.  How much time am I willing to spend on my knees for the joy of picking homegrown summer vegetables?  Of course I know there's always a price to pay for pretty much anything that's worth doing in this life - even planting a garden!  Today the scriptures ask us a simple question.  Are we willing to pay the price of becoming a disciple of Christ?

Towards the end of Jesus' ministry crowds of people followed him wherever he went, eager to hear what he had to say.  Most were hoping for some kind of a blessing - help with a difficult marriage, forgiveness for hated Roman occupiers.  With such a crowd of followers one might have expected Jesus to open his arms wide and welcome them in God's name, glad that so many people had turned out to hear him.  One might have expected Jesus to tell them how pleased God is that they have taken the time to come out and hear him preach on a hot, sultry day.  But as is often the case, Jesus does not do the expected thing.  Instead of encouraging the crowds with comforting words his words are calm and measured.  "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."(Luke 14:25)  You can almost feel a chill fall upon the crowd at the sound of his voice.  "Is it possible for someone who has talked so much about God's love for all people now to be telling them they must hate their own flesh and blood?"  His words were offensive to be sure, but probably with not quite the same force they have for us today.  For the Aramaic word used by Jesus translated here as "hate" is actually a comparative word meaning less than.  "Unless you love your own flesh and blood less than you love God; or to put it a different way, unless you love God more than anything else you cannot be my disciples." This is an undeniable call for our love of God to take primacy over everything else in our lives.  

In order to make sense of these difficult words we should perhaps think back to the parable that immediately precedes this passage in Luke.  It is the parable of the banquet, a story in which the master of the house has extended an invitation to his friends and colleagues to attend a banquet at his house.  But none of them are available to come.  Someone has just started renovations on their house that they need to oversee.  Another has just bought a new SUV and they're just leaving for a test drive.  Someone else has kids to shuttle all over town to different games.  And another has just got married and is about to leave for their honeymoon.  The master is extremely displeased and immediately orders his disciples to go out into the highways and byways and find anyone who will come to the feast.  His friends are no longer invited.  When they return from their activities the door to the banquet will be closed.  As one author put it,  "Everything that makes responding inconvenient, every well-reasoned excuse, every possession and seductive attachment, adds to the risk of being left behind, safe but hungry."  There seems to be an urgency for us to respond to God's call.  We can all find a myriad of excuses for why we are too busy to come, which is why Jesus asks us today to make God a priority in our lives.  You see God is not interested in the crowds who come for blessing alone.  God is looking for disciples, those who will leave everything they are doing in order to be at his side. 

And there are many who have responded to Godr's call.  What we saw as we came into church this morning is the result of the life and ministry of many in this congregation who have decided to be counted not just as one among the crowds but as disciples of Christ, people who seek to follow Christ so closely that their lives are changed in the encounter. 

The beauty of the gardens around the church, and the serenity of the well-kept cemetery and memorial gardens are because of the love of a few members of this parish.  The new seating arrangement for the choir, the beautiful red front door and the plans to refurbish our bell tower have happened because of the time some people have chosen to give in God's service.  The bags of food we collect are delivered to the poor because someone cares enough to take the bags to Waterbury.  People alone in their homes receive gifts and flowers because some people offer to visit our lonely homebound parishioners.  The altar is laid and flowers adorn the sanctuary each week because of the quiet service of members of the altar guild.  The music on Sundays is beautiful because of the talent of our musicians who offer their gifts in service to God every week whether or not it is convenient.  Children learn the stories from the scriptures because adults take part in the church school programs week after week.  All these different ministries offer those who would be disciples of Christ an opportunity to draw closer to God and learn more about being a disciple of Christ.  They experience the joy of sharing life in God's kingdom.

As we gather together again at the beginning of a new academic year Jesus is asking each one of us to consider carefully the cost of becoming his disciple.  We are asked to put our love for God before the many distractions that will always vie for our time and our resources.  We are asked to commit ourselves to set aside a part of our lives every week to worship with God's people and to share with them in an every deepening spiritual journey.  God has planted on earth the most beautiful garden we can ever imagine, and we are invited to participate in the exciting prospect of tending to the plants, weeding, watering and feasting on the abundance of the produce at the banqueting table of our God.  Will you be one among the many who crowded round Christ just to receive a blessing, or will you be among those who are counted as Christ's disciples, available to work in the garden of God's love and feast at the banqueting table?

In Christ's name
Amen