Refreshing our Hearts in Christ

This morning there is an insert in your service bulletin about an online course titled “Bridging the Political Divide.”  It is a free course offered by the noted Christian author and teacher, Parker Palmer.  Parker points out that we are living in a polarizing and contentious election season, and he invites us to examine how we might respond to the issues with “grace and grit.”

The course is about developing relationships in the midst of our current divisions that are governed by compassion and reconciliation.  Relationships and true discipleship are central values in the life of the Church and in the teachings of Jesus.

Jesus invites those who would follow him to change their relationship with others.  He wanted his followers, and he wants all of us, to embody the goodness of God by living with forgiveness, compassion and generosity.  As he said, “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”

The pastor of the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., William Lamar, has written, “In this week’s Gospel text, a thick throng is following Jesus.  We do not know what conversations are taking place in this group, a group enamored with Jesus for reasons both substantial and fleeting.  Maybe the journey is punctuated by the silence that often seizes us when we are in the presence of people possessed by notoriety or infamy.  We don’t know.

“We do know that when Jesus speaks he tells them, ‘Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even life itself, cannot be my disciple.’  They must be stunned by the challenge.  The word translated hate does not mean anger or hostility.  The implication is rather that when conflicts arise as a result of discipleship – and arise they will – discipleship must be chosen over all human relationships.  The choice is a hard pill to swallow, but at least with Jesus there is truth in advertising.”

The text warns us about taking our Christian life for granted.  Jesus said that to be his disciples we need to "count the cost."  He gave an analogy from ordinary life.  You would not begin a major construction project without having a reliable estimate of cost.  Nor would you go to war without considering the size of your forces compared with those of the enemy.  The point Jesus made is emphatic: neither should you take on Christian discipleship without considering what it will mean. 

It turns out that becoming a disciple is not so much something we do as something Jesus does in us.  Jesus begins to open us to a love so profound that it reorients every dimension of our lives.  All our previous assumptions about our relationships, our possessions, even our most intimate identity, are put in question.  Once we have glimpsed the treasure of this love, we dare not let anything stand in the way of its fulfillment.

Jesus made a provocative statement at the end of our gospel reading:  "None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions."  Perhaps this statement was not so much about whether we own our possessions as it was about whether our possessions own us.  When people who are adequately educated and relatively comfortable refuse to provide a reasonable path to citizenship for 11 million immigrants who live and contribute to our economy, and when they demand lower taxes at the expense of such basic needs as education, nutrition, housing and health care, then we are in the danger that Jesus warned about. 

Another dimension is added to these practical applications in Paul’s letter to his friend, Philemon.  His letter was also addressed to Philemon’s church.  Paul writes about praying “that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ.”  Then he refers to the joy and encouragement he has received from their love “because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed.”

The central point of Paul’s letter concerns his adoption of a child, Onesimus, who had been “useful” to him.  Onesimus had been a slave to Philemon and had run away.  While visiting Paul in prison he converted to Christianity, so Paul  makes an appeal to Philemon to accept him no longer as a slave but as a beloved brother in Christ.  Moreover, if Onesimus had wronged Philemon in any way, or if he owes anything, it should be charged to Paul’s account.  Then, he wrote, “let me have this benefit from you in the Lord!  Refresh my heart in Christ.”  I know “that you will do even more than I say.”

The commitment required for discipleship, and receiving one another as brothers and sisters in Christ are sources of hope and joy.  We should all “refresh our hearts in Christ.” We have much to do as we work, in the words of the Prayer Book, “to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.”  Amen.