Luke
14: 25-33 — It was a hot summer afternoon in July 1861 when the Union
army rode 25 miles south of Washington, DC, to meet the army of the
Confederate States of America. Many citizens of Washington followed the
army, most in carriages or buggies,
some on horseback, and some walking. Most had packed a picnic basket,
and when they arrived near Manassas at a little slip of water called
Bull Run, the observers laid out their blankets and opened their picnic
baskets to watch the unfolding battle from a nearby hill. The women sat
beneath parasols to protect them from the sun. Some were fortunate
enough to have looking glasses. Most squinted in order to observe what
they could, hands covering their eyes from the sun. Every now and again
an officer would send a messenger on horseback to report to the
onlookers the news from the battle. As interested as they were in the
battle, none of the onlookers were part of it. They were spectators,
not warriors.
A number of years ago, when basketball
legend Larry Bird retired from the Boston Celtics, Sports Illustrated
magazine published an interview with him. He was asked a question
something like this: “What is the one thing about fans that bothers you
the most?” His answer came quickly, close to this: “After a long and
grueling game, when I’m leaving the arena and fan yells out, ‘Hey Larry,
we sure gave ‘em a great game tonight,’ I want to say to that fan, ‘we?
– *WE* gave ‘em a great game? I didn’t see you hustling up and down
the court. How many points did you score tonight?’”
The
passage from Luke's gospel is striking. We have to wonder what prompted
Jesus to turn suddenly to the crowd following Him and give them such a
sharp message: “Unless you hate family and friends, unless you take up
your cross, unless you sell all your possessions, you cannot be my
disciple.”
Perhaps He saw a crowd watching from a distance
but only that. Perhaps He wanted to remind them that to be His
disciple is more than watching: “If you’re going to be my disciple,
realize that you’re part of the battle, not an observer, and that you’re
part of the team hustling up and down the court, not on the sidelines.”
There are those who treat Christianity as spectator sport.
Entertained and inspired by the words of Jesus, edified by the charities
of the Church, they seem to spread out their blankets and open their
picnic baskets and watch as things are said and sung on Sunday morning,
and then they go home and wait to be entertained and inspired again next
Sunday morning.
Perhaps it is to those people that Jesus
turned with sharp words: “That’s not enough.” No, the words and message
of Jesus are not meant to be inspiring, they are life-changing, and
unless one’s life is changed by those words, one is not a disciple of
the Lord. How so? Unless the message and person of Jesus have an
impact on decisions made every day, on social relationships and
friendships, on personal and business ethics, on use of time and
resources — well, unless one’s life is transformed by the power of
Jesus, His grace, His astounding mercy, His teaching, one is not a
disciple but just an observer.
To them, Jesus has another startling word: “Many will cry out ‘Lord, Lord’ and I will say, ‘I do not know you.”
