The Third Sunday after Trinity, Year C

Readings: Galatians 5:1, 13-25; Luke 9:51-62

Someone once observed that disciples come in three varieties; tugboats, sailboats and rafts.

Tugboats follow Jesus not only in sunny weather, but also in stormy weather. They follow him not only when the wind and waves serve them but also when they oppose them. They are people who love not when they feel like it, but always, day in, day out.

Sailboat disciples follow Jesus only in sunny weather. They go in his direction only when the wind and waves serve them. When stormy weather comes, they tend to go in the direction that they are blown. They follow the crowd more than they follow Jesus.

Finally there are raft disciples. They are not really followers of Jesus at all. They won’t even follow him when the wind and waves serve them. They go in his direction only when they are pulled or pushed. They act like Christians because they have to, or because it is to their personal advantage to do so.

We are entering that period of the church’s life where we begin to celebrate vocation: over the next couple of weeks, ordination to the priesthood takes centre stage, but discipleship at all levels falls to be considered.

What is discipleship? It is to know a sense of calling to be a Christian and to seek to live out that life with integrity, with honesty and with humility. It is to seek to reveal to an ignorant agnostic world the truth and good news of Jesus Christ risen from the dead and the salvation he offers to all who would seek him. And it is to serve joyfully, with love and with the fruit of the Spirit as Paul describes it - Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control.

These are hallmarks of discipleship. And the calling of discipleship is our collective and individual call. Only you can decide how you will live it.

It is concerning how often Christian communities fail to reflect these hallmarks both as individuals within the body but often as the ethos of the whole. Christians can sometimes get so caught up in our minor desires and dislikes that they miss the point of discipleship and fellowship.

Discipleship is our clear acknowledgement that this isn’t our Church, it is the Church of Jesus Christ, we serve him and we are called to seek to enable, through whatever means we have available, to encourage and bring in new members, new disciples so that the Gospel can be made real in word and deed. That requires generosity of Spirit, it requires a willingness to move to enable others and sometimes it requires radical and sacrificial change.

Jesus did not pull any punches with his message. Our Gospel today has some of the hardest words Jesus uttered, all to do with discipleship. Today’s gospel is a sequence of four incidents and encounters with people who could have become followers of Jesus but who were held back by ulterior motives and concerns. Each encounter highlights a different concern.

The first incident is the encounter between the messengers of Jesus and the Samaritan villagers. The concern that holds the Samaritans back from accepting and following Jesus is patriotism. Samaritans and Jews were bitter enemies. The Samaritan villagers had probably heard about Jesus and what he was doing and were interested. But as soon as they learnt that Jesus and his disciples were Jews and were heading for Jerusalem, their admiration turned to opposition. Patriotism as support of a national cause like supporting Olymipic or Commonwealth games, are of course, good things. But when this support or Ethnic sentiments become the spectacles through which one sees all reality, including spiritual and eternal reality, then we become in danger of losing perspective and being idolatrous.

The second incident involves a man who says to Jesus. “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replies, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Why did Jesus say that? Probably because he perceived that here was a man who valued financial independence and security. It is a good thing to seek to provide well for oneself and for our families, but we must consider what we should offer to God who provides all that we need and when we fail to respond generously to the needs of the Church and to those around us we can be aware that this desire for money may be coming in the way of our wholehearted following and service of God.

The third incident is that of the man who wanted first to go bury his father before following Jesus. Jesus’ response flew in the face of the command to “Honour your father and your mother.” It was also an important aspect of the Jewish law for the family to take care of the deceased relatives. This is a man of high moral principles, a man who keeps the law and is concerned for his religious duties. Again this is a very good virtue. Yet Jesus is saying that we should not allow religious observance to immobilize us and keep us from following Christ, who is always on the move into new territories and new challenges.

Finally there is the man who wants to go and say farewell to his family before following Jesus. He wants to follow the example of Elisha, who bid his family farewell before becoming Elijah’s disciple. This man has high social and family values. One could only wish that such values were as strong today in our society. Yet set before the urgent call of the kingdom of God, social and family concerns take a back seat. “No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom.”

To follow Christ is to follow him unconditionally and to do so joyfully. Can you complete the sentence: “I will follow Jesus on condition that…” IF you can complete the sentence then you are in the same situation as any of these well-meaning but mistaken disciples. Jesus will not accept a second place in our lives.

Albert Schweitzer, considered the father of modern theology, wrote

He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lakeside, he came to those who knew him not. He speaks to us the same word, “Come follow me.” And sets us to the tasks which he has to fulfil for our time. He commands. And to those who obey him, whether they are wise or simple, he will reveal himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they shall pass through in his fellowship, and as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience Who he is.