Sunday, June 22, 2008

Delivered by Rev. Ellen Brantley

SERMON:  Losing and Finding… Life

TEXT:       Matthew 10:29-39

          I was listening to the radio the other day, and they were asking a timely question: “What would you take with you if you had to leave your home suddenly because of a flood?”  An interesting question, and listeners were calling and e-mailing their answers:  their pets, their golf clubs, their computer, their photo albums, their camera.  I don’t think I heard anyone say they’d take important papers.  I think that would be a good answer. 

          Anyway, it reminded me of an exercise we did in a college course a great many years ago.  Instead of describing it to you, I’m going to ask you to do this exercise right now.  First, I’d like you to think about the five most important things in your life.  Make a list – either on paper or in your mind – of the five most important things in your life.  (If you know how this works, just play along and try not to jump ahead.)  Many people list their family, of course.  Others include their homes, their pets, their health.  You might want to list your golf clubs your boat or another hobby.   I’ll give you a minute to think.         

          Now imagine with me that some catastrophe has occurred.  Maybe it is a flood.  And you have to give up one of your five priorities.  But it’s your choice.  Which will you cross off your list?

          Imagine now another disaster.  You’re going to lose another of your top five.  Again, it’s your choice.

          Once again, tragedy strikes.  It’s not as far-fetched as it seems.  Some people do suffer one tragedy after another.  And they don’t get to choose what they keep and what they lose.

          At this point, you should have two things remaining on your list.  And I have bad news.  One of them has to go.  Which will you keep and which will you let go?  What’s going to end up being number one in your life?

          When I did this exercise in college, I ended up with God.  And it surprised me.  I gave up my health, I let go of my family, I even eliminated my boyfriend whom I expected to marry.  (He actually needed to be eliminated from my life; unfortunately I didn’t realize it at the time!)  Granted, I wasn’t married, I didn’t have children who depended on me, so I don’t know how my priorities would line up today.  Is God still my number one?

          Well, come to find out, Jesus wants to be number one in our lives.  Remember what he said?  “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.  Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

          Not surprisingly, this passage is NOT a favorite of many people.  It sounds so harsh – especially for Jesus, the Prince of Peace, who commands us to love one another.  Here he’s saying, “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.  For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.”

          Years ago I knew a woman who divorced her husband, left her kids with him, and started attending seminary so she could go into the ministry.  It never sat well with me.  Is that what Jesus meant by “one’s foes will be members of one’s own household”?  Was her family holding her back from doing what God had called her to do?  Did she make God her number one and just eliminate these family members from her life? 

Well, I don’t know her whole story, so I mustn’t judge what she did.  But I don’t think putting God in first place means that we have to turn our backs on our family.  However, when we put God first in our lives – when we begin proclaiming the good news, worshipping, and praying – then our families may turn against us.  Remember that much of what Jesus preaches causes conflict, and many times how Jesus ministers is outside of common understanding and societal rules. 

One biblical scholar explained it using the image of a blast of cold, arctic air moving south from Canada, meeting the hot, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico.  “Along the edge of the encounter a front forms, usually marked by storms and volatile weather.  Jesus’ word states that there is no encounter between the new order [that he brings] and the old that will not at some level be fraught with conflict, division, and pain.  It is not simply that the old is threatened and resistive to the new; the new challenges the old and precipitates the strife.

In today’s world, of course, following Christ is not near as threatening and conflictual as it was during Jesus’ life on earth.  But putting Christ first does mean that sometimes we have to make a choice.  If your family members aren’t church-goers, for instance, someone who puts Jesus first might choose to attend church alone.  Or, better yet, if God is a priority in your life, you might strive to include Sunday worship as part of your family activities and celebrations.  You might, perhaps, plan to gather for lunch after worship, rather than brunch during worship.  You might postpone the family picnic or trip to the lake until the afternoon.     

Following Christ is a life-changing choice, but it changes our lives for the better.  When I discovered that God was first on my list, I realized that I wasn’t living like it.  If I really valued God above all else, then I needed to change my life.  I was a college student, remember, and like many college students, I wasn’t attending church on a regular basis.  I needed to “take part in the common life and worship of a particular church” which is also one of the marks of a faithful church members.  I needed to “proclaim the good news” (also a mark of a faithful church member) and not keep it a secret that I was a Christian.  I needed to listen to God more than I listened to my peers – and my boyfriend.  I needed to pray, I needed to read the Bible, I needed to keep God at the forefront of everything I did.  I needed to treat others as I wanted to be treated.  I needed to make my faith a part of my everyday life.

It’s a choice we make not once on a scrap of paper or during an altar call, or in a time of crisis when we need God most.  It’s a choice we make every day, every hour, every moment of our lives.  What comes first?  God or fear? God or success? God or our own desires?

You know, it’s not that we can’t be successful or have what we desire if we put God first.  Actually, putting God first will bring you more than you ever dreamed. 

You remember the young man who was trapped in a Utah canyon for days and ended up cutting his own arm off with a pocket knife?  He nearly lost his life down there.  It was a more harrowing experience than any of us could ever imagine, much less survive.  But now he says he wouldn’t trade that experience for the world because of what he has gained.  I don’t know what his faith is, but hearing him speak you realize that if he didn’t believe in God before, he does now.  He gained faith from that experience.  You might say he lost his life and then found it. 

“Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”  “Do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat? Or ‘What will we drink? Or ‘What will we wear?’….But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

It’s true that the cost of following Christ is great.  But commit your life to the Lord and he will give it back in full measure, and then some.

And Christ wants us to love our spouse, obey our parents, treasure our children, and live our lives to the fullest.  But seek first the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness, and all these things will be yours as well.

To the glory of God!               AMEN.