If Nothing Else, Remember
First Congregational Church – Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
June 27, 2010 – Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Texts: 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14/Galatians 5: 1, 13-25/Luke 9: 51-62

Several weeks after I announced my resignation, Sarah de Young talked with me following a meeting and asked me to think about the twelve favorite sermons I had preached during my tenure here at the First Congregational Church of Wauwatosa. It was an interesting request and as I looked back over eight years worth of sermons I was overwhelmed at the amount of material that I had produced. You can imagine my shock, too, when I packed files and discovered the sermons from 1996 to 2006 filled 1.5 cubic feet of space. What I discovered was that my preaching over my years here has focused on three basic areas: basic Christian doctrine (especially around the big days of the Church year), what it means to be ‘church,’ and how we go about living the faith and making a difference in our world. Actually, those aren’t bad topics, given our times.

Today‘s readings from the lectionary for this fifth Sunday after Pentecost give me a great deal of material with which to work. So today, as the title of the sermon indicates, I want you to remember a few things, which pertain to those areas I’ve focused on during my time as your minister.

First, if nothing else remember that part of the Christian doctrine of salvation includes the concept of sanctification. I noticed that I’ve talked about this a fair bit, because I think it’s one of the doctrines that gets too easily forgotten in our religious culture. Many get so focused on justification, that initial part of God’s plan of salvation for us, that they forget that it is to blossom into sanctification, that is, holiness of life.

Jesus says, “Follow me.” Luke describes the call of several would-be disciples and their reactions. Each one of them had an excuse. Each had a reason not to keep the commitment that he initially made. Sanctification – the Eastern Church refers to it as theosis or divinization – is about coming to the point in our lives where we have opened ourselves to the presence of the Holy Spirit and we are living the commitment as Jesus did – who had set his face toward Jerusalem, knowing full-well that what awaited him there was suffering and death on the cross.

It is opening ourselves to the point that our lives begin to look like Christ’s, in that we are willing to follow him, whatever the cost. Jesus’ life was one of radical – radix, root, core – obedience to the Father’s will and way. Our life is to be the same.

Something I read by the Church Historian Donald Armentrout speaks volumes: “Even as the idea of commitment is gaining favor in many areas, spiritual commitment seems to be falling out of fashion. For some Christians, church is no longer something to stick with through times high and low, stimulating and routine. In our society we often acquire and rid ourselves of products, services, and even people, based on their usefulness to us. Why should religion be any different?”

“The answer lies in the nature of the Kingdom of God. Our citizenship in that Kingdom is voluntary; to be sure, no one is forcing us to be Christians. But it is an association founded not on our choice, but through the action of the Holy Spirit, who “calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth” (Luther’s Small Catechism). Through the waters of Holy Baptism, we bear the name of Christ and commit ourselves to a life of faith through God’s grace.”

He says, “In today’s Gospel, Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem, determined to carry out his mission all the way to the cross. It is because Jesus fulfilled his commitment that we have the opportunity to be members of God’s family. Yes, we may have down times as Christians; and yes, God will always welcome us back with open arms. But how much better would it be if, instead of looking back, we allow the Holy Spirit to pull us steadily into God’s abundant Kingdom!”

Dr. Armentrout lays it out nicely, but I think I can sum it up in a way that I’ve told you before: sanctification involves growing in faith to the point that we understand that God is God and we’re not. Our task is to grow in holiness, to grow in likeness to God, insofar as we are able as humans, so that our lives reflect God’s love as it was revealed in Jesus Christ. If nothing else, remember that, please.

Second, if nothing else, remember that as a Church in the Congregational tradition you are called and gathered by covenant. At the very beginning of the covenant owned by this Church it says, “as followers of Jesus Christ.” There is the essence of what it means to be Church, to continue what Jesus has done in the midst of the world, to continue that other doctrine I’ve talked about, the incarnation – the enfleshing of God in the person of Jesus Christ – which we continue by being the Church, the Body of Christ.

Remember this, one becomes a follower of Jesus because he or she is CALLED to become a follower, and not because it seemed like a good idea and we volunteered. I think that becomes fairly evident in the difference between the call of Elisha by Elijah and the second call story we hear in Luke’s Gospel this morning. “To another Jesus said: ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father. But Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead ... ’” (vv. 59-60a). In the call of Elisha by Elijah, the former consented to follow the latter only upon the condition that he could return home first and offer a proper good-bye to his family. This doesn’t wash with Jesus. Meeting any sort of precondition—no matter how noble and credible in the perception of the one called — is unacceptable to Jesus. The call of Jesus scandalously, outrageously, radically supersedes everything, even sacred family obligations (cf Ex.20:12). Remember that Jesus says, “You did not choose me, but I have chosen you.” (John 14:15) We have to understand that it is not we who have something to offer to God, but it is God who offers something to us.

What it means to be Church is to be the community of those called to this new and radical way of living toward God and toward each other. Let me say again that no one in the Gospel becomes a follower of Jesus as a volunteer; they become one because they have been called and have answered the call. Remember that and understand that as followers of Jesus Christ the work you do around here and the money you give isn’t voluntary, it’s because you’re following the lead of the Lord, who showed you a way that leads to life.

Third, if nothing else remember that that life to which we are called is to bear fruit. Paul says this so beautifully in Galatians that I want to simply read it again. “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.”

Remember that the freedom we have been given in Christ is a freedom TO. We are free to love as radically and as openly, and as extravagantly as Jesus did. We are free to forgive and to heal where before we were bound to be small-minded and to hold grudges or nurse old wounds. We are free to be people who bear fruit that shows itself as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. That is the freedom we have – to be God’s people and to live as God has shown us how to live through Jesus Christ and enabled us to live in the power of the Holy Spirit.

I would be greatly remiss if I didn’t quote at least “one dead guy” in my final sermon. So let me quote one man and one woman, both recorded in the The Apothegmata – The Alphabetical Sayings of the Desert Fathers and Mothers. Abba (which means ‘father’) Pastor wrote that “If you have a chest full of clothing and leave it for a long time, the clothing will rot inside it. It is the same with the thoughts in our heart. If we do not carry them out by physical action, after a long while they will spoil and turn bad.” In other words, do something. The next few months are going to be challenging, but not overwhelming. This church has been around for 168 years and had 19 ministers. So, understand that the Church is more than its minister and that you have work to do and lives of grace to lead. God will send you who you need to lead you to the next level – be patient, take your time and continue working to make this place what God is calling it to be.

The woman I want to quote is Amma (Mother) Syncletica. She said, “In the beginning there is struggle and a lot of work for those who come near to God. But after that there is indescribable joy. It is just like building a fire: at first it is smoky and your eyes water, but later you get the desired result. Thus we ought to light the divine fire in ourselves with tears and effort.” Jesus tells those who would answer his call to, “Hold onto the plow” and don’t look back. Why? Because the Kingdom of God itself is at stake and we are called to a greater, higher, better thing and looking back will only distract us and pull us off course. And again, in the words of Amma Syncletica: “We hold to the cross as our sail and so we can set a safe course.”

If nothing else, remember that you are called to be holy, that you are called to be followers of Jesus Christ, and that you are to bear fruit in your lives, through the gift of the Holy Spirit. If nothing else, remember that God is God and that you’re not and that God loves you and is with you. Amen.