A World of Choices

David Hansen

Time after Pentecost – Lectionary 13 (July 1), 2007

Luke 9:51-62

Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.

Growing up, I was always a “But First” child.  You know the type – maybe one of your children was a

But First child – maybe you were even one.

I had no problem agreeing to do any chore in the house … But first I had one other thing to do.

Yes, I’ll mow the lawn, but first I need to go next door and ask my friend a question.

Yes, I’ll do my homework, but first I want to play one more game.

You get the idea.

In children, being a but first person can be cute sometimes, and at worst it is mildly annoying to his parents.  The problem is, we are still “But first” people, and that is exactly what Jesus is talking about in this morning’s gospel.

Jesus called someone to follow after him, and the man said, “Yes, Lord.  But first let me go and bury my father.”

And Jesus called another, who said, “Yes Lord, but first let me say my goodbyes to everyone at home.”

It seems like a black and white situation, doesn’t it?  Either I will do my homework, or I will play another game.  Either I will bury my father or I will follow Jesus.  Either I will say my good byes, or I will follow Jesus.

We like black and white situations, we like either/or choices.  They make sense to us – it is either A or it is B.  Two choices, clear as day.  It seems pretty easy to us – nice and neat.

But, what if Jesus wasn’t asking an either/or question?

Those whom Jesus called made it sound like an either/or question.  They made it sound like there were two different worlds – either they lived in the world of their normal lives, or they lived in the world of following Jesus.  And they were happy to move over to the world of following Jesus, but first they needed to wrap things up on their home planet – they had to bury their dead and say their good-byes.  Because it was a black and white, either/or choice for them: Jesus … or their everyday lives.

We’ve all known seen churches like this, right?

Churches that say, either you can live in the world, or you can follow Jesus.  It’s a black and white choice.

And so, these churches build their own bookstores, their own schools, their own movie theaters and bowling alleys, because if their choice is either/or, they are going to choose to follow Jesus.  That’s the nice and neat choice.

And we often approach our faith as an either/or choice.  And, just like those men in this morning’s Gospel, we come up with all sorts of things we have to do first.

I will read the Bible, but first let me catch up on the latest episodes of Lost.

I will help out at church, but first let me catch up at work.

I will come to Sunday worship, but first let me get through Little League season.

If it is a question of either/or, we can think of all sorts of last minute things we need to take care of in our world before we can leave and go to Jesus’ world … all sorts of But firsts.

But what if Jesus was looking for a both/and?

What would have happened in the Gospel lesson, had the first man said, “I will follow you Jesus, AND I will proclaim your message as I go and bury my father.”

And what if the second man had said, “I will follow you Jesus, AND I will go and tell my family and loved ones all about you.”

Something tells me that Jesus wouldn’t have had quite as harsh a response for them.

You see, Jesus won’t let us put him off onto a separate world from the rest of our lives.  He doesn’t call us to have one little compartment of our lives called “faith” and then the rest of our lives where we really take care of what needs to be done.

No, we are called to have one life – the life of faith.  And that – the fact that we are following Jesus – ought to shape how we “take care of business.”

It’s not, raise your children or follow Jesus.

It is, raise your children to be followers of Jesus.

It’s not, have a good job or be a good church member.

It is, be a good church member by doing your job in a way that proclaims your faith.

It is BOTH / AND.  We are people who continue to live in this world, who continue to have things to do in the world: we have to go to work, pay our taxes, run our errands, and do everything else that is a part of everyday life AND we are people who follow Jesus.

It is as if Jesus says to us, “Yes, I know you have to work, that you have to bury your dead, that you have to pay your taxes, and participate in the world.  But follow me anyway.  Follow me and do those things; follow me in a way that changes the way you live your everyday life.  Follow me forever, and follow me always; just no more “But Firsts”, no more “insteads.” 

It’s a very Lutheran idea: that everything we do – everything in this life, and not just the “faith” or “church” compartment – is a question of discipleship.  Everything – when done in a way that is shaped by the fact that we follow Jesus – can be holy.

It is not easy to be a both/and Christian, it is not easy to live in the world but not be of the world.  But that is what we are called to. 

It will change how we do things.

As followers of Jesus, we will still work, still play, still do all of our chores and tasks; but we do them all differently.  We do them all in a way that lets the world know that we follow Jesus.

When we learn to follow Jesus in this way, we will see that Jesus is not just in church on Sunday.  He is not stuck in that little compartment called “faith”, but he is wherever we are.

Its not about what you are or are not doing.

Its about who you are and who you are following.

Following Jesus in every part of your life does not mean not doing everything else.  It means doing everything else in ways that are filled with the love of Christ, ways that proclaim the good news of salvation.

It means being a follower of Jesus twenty-four / seven, not just on Sunday morning

It means daily … every hour of every day, walking closer to Jesus; and as we do, he will beside us always, whatever we are doing and wherever we are.

And for that, we can all say Thanks be to God.  Amen.