For the week of September 7 – 13th Sunday after Pentecost
Morning Prayer: All-knowing God, We gather together with praise and thanksgiving for who You are, and for all that You have done for us.
You know us better than we know ourselves—all our thoughts and actions—and yet You love us. No matter where we go or what we do, Your love encircles us—ahead and behind—gently leading and guiding and blessing. We praise You for Your love and Your faithful presence in our lives. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Opening Hymn: #103 Immortal, Invisible, God, Only Wise
- Immortal, invisible, God only wise, in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise. - Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light, nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might;
Thy justice like mountains high soaring above
Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love. - To all, life Thou givest, to both great and small; in all life Thou livest, the true life of all;
we blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
and wither and perish, but naught changeth Thee. - Thou reignest in glory; Thou dwellest in light;
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
all laud we would render: O help us to see 'tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee.
Psalm 139:1-6
139 Lord, You have examined me.
You know me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I stand up.
Even from far away, You comprehend my plans.
3 You study my traveling and resting.
You are thoroughly familiar with all my ways.
4 There isn’t a word on my tongue, Lord,
that You don’t already know completely.
5 You surround me—front and back.
You put Your hand on me.
6 That kind of knowledge is too much for me;
it’s so high above me that I can’t reach it.
Prayers of Intercession: Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayers for those dear to our hearts. We now pray as You have taught us: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us, not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Offering spotlight: The Blessings Box was an Eagle Scout project of Thomas Huckans. People in the neighborhood often stop by to use something. Share your blessings with those who are struggling financially. The Blessings Box supplies non-perishable food such as ready-to-eat cans of spaghetti-os and sealed packages of meats, household cleaning supplies such as laundry and dish detergent and personal hygiene products such as toothpaste and soap. Thank you for sharing your blessings and for giving to The Blessings Box.
Offering prayer: Tender and knowing God, You have searched us and known us—every thought, every fear, every hope that stirs within. You wove us together with care, claiming us before we could speak Your name. Receive these gifts, offered not from perfection but from hearts seeking You. Use them to shape a world more reflective of Your love and shape us, too, into a people more open, more generous, more faithful. May our giving become a response to Your knowing and our generosity a reflection of Your grace. In the name of the one who knows us still. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Hymn of Preparation: #338 Where He Leads Me
- I can hear my Savior calling, I can hear my Savior calling,
I can hear my Savior calling, "Take thy cross and follow, follow Me."
Refrain: Where He leads me I will follow, where He leads me I will follow,
where He leads me I will follow; I'll go with Him, with Him all the way.
- I'll go with Him through the garden, I'll go with Him through the garden,
I'll go with Him through the garden, I'll go with Him, with Him all the way. (Refrain) - I'll go with Him through the judgment, I'll go with Him through the judgment,
I'll go with Him through the judgment, I'll go with Him, with Him all the way. (Refrain) - He will give me grace and glory, He will give me grace and glory,
He will give me grace and glory, and go with me, with me all the way. (Refrain)
Scripture: Luke 14:25-33
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus. Turning to them, He said, 26 “Whoever comes to Me and doesn’t hate father and mother, spouse and children, and brothers and sisters—yes, even one’s own life—cannot be My disciple. 27 Whoever doesn’t carry their own cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.
28 “If one of you wanted to build a tower, wouldn’t you first sit down and calculate the cost, to determine whether you have enough money to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when you have laid the foundation but couldn’t finish the tower, all who see it will begin to belittle you. 30 They will say, ‘Here’s the person who began construction and couldn’t complete it!’ 31 Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down to consider whether his ten thousand soldiers could go up against the twenty thousand coming against him? 32 And if he didn’t think he could win, he would send a representative to discuss terms of peace while his enemy was still a long way off. 33 In the same way, none of you who are unwilling to give up all of your possessions can be My disciple.
Affirm your faith by reciting the Apostles’ Creed: I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again; He ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen. (UM Hymnal #882)
Message: Pastor Becky Cuddeback
So when I read this account my mind goes to pictures. It wants to animate what I am reading. For some unknown reason as Jesus is traveling with these large groups, Forest Gump comes to mind! You know when he ran for 3 years, 2 months, 14 days and 16 hours. He starts out alone and he picks up groups that are just going to run with him for a certain distance or a set length of time. Forest doesn’t offer any kind of conversation, in depth teaching or testimony. He’s just running because he feels like running, until he doesn’t want to do it anymore. Tells the crowd he’s tired and he’s going home. Which he does and folks go their own way after their encounter with him. They are merely running with him. Those that are with him haven’t pledged any kind of fidelity or loyalty or allegiance. They are all there for their own reasons. They just happen to be doing it with him and with others.
This is where these images separate. Those that are following along with Forest have no expectation, no rewards, there’s no further plan or connection. The run ends when it ends. It ends when Forest decides it ends. Those who are running with him could have decided to continue without him but it seems kind of silly because those who are running are running with him. But Jesus had those who are traveling with Him as well.
We know that those who were following Him did it differently. Jesus offered relationship; there were expectations and instruction. We know that Jesus drew large crowds as He went. He was able to take 72 of them and send them out ahead of Him to prepare the way. The crowds always seemed to find Jesus. We look to the Sermon on the Mount. We look to the Sermon on the Plain. The man fed thousands at least twice. We look to those stories where Jesus gets swamped by the crowd. It seems that no matter where He went, there they would be. People came to see the miracles, the teaching, the feedings, but then they would leave because they had lives to go back to. They had things they needed to get done. At the end of the day they either saw what they wanted to see or they heard what they wanted to hear. So they just dropped off.
Jesus was okay with the crowds that came. Yet what He was looking for were true disciples, followers. Folks that would stay close to apply that learning and then go out into the world.
In our account today, Jesus lays out for them what following Jesus would look like.
First everything, everything would have to come second to Jesus. Scripture uses the word “hate”, that you would hate Your mother, father, brother, sister; you would hate everything. But hate in the sense that you didn’t love as much.
It’s the same kind of idea with Jacob and Rachel and Leah. Scripture says that Jacob hated Leah but loved Rachel. But we know that Jacob did not hate her; he just loved her less than he loved Rachel.
Scripture is telling us that what has to be the priority is Jesus. We can’t go with the word “hate”. That would completely put us in opposition to what Jesus wants which is to love God and love your neighbor. He just wanted to set the priority that nothing could be higher than Jesus.
He says to them, “You have to carry your own cross.” Which is a dying to yourself. A surrendering to God’s will. It also means trusting God, especially in our challenges and our suffering.
So we have to prioritize Jesus first. Then we have to die to ourselves. And then the third one is giving up all of your possessions. Now before I lose any of you, it’s giving up ownership of your possessions.
Maybe better stated would be that we aren’t owned by our possessions. See, it’s not a bad thing that we have stuff. It’s a bad thing when we end up living our lives in service to our stuff. But it’s realizing that what we own ultimately belongs to God.
I often quote to you Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker. She has a quote that give a timelier application of this Scripture: “If you have two coats, one of them belongs to the poor.” What we have is what God sends out into the world. We aren’t meant to be owned by things because it obscures our view of Jesus and of God.
That can be tough to hear, yet we need to hear the truth. Discipleship transforms us and transforms the lives around us. The struggle is this (and I say this with a completely broken heart because I’m a product of it and a promoter of it): The church big and little hasn’t always been faithful in disciple-making. We’ve been really good at making members of churches. But not necessarily disciples of Jesus Christ.
We see that in our own hymnal when we have membership vows and we have a whole service devoted to what it is to be a member, yet we turn to Scripture and Jesus is calling for disciples. Discipleship is about transformation of each of us personally. Which means that we should be different because we follow Jesus. Our lives should be different than others. Our communities should be different because of Jesus.
Membership doesn’t require transformation; only compliance in so far as we’re not uncomfortable, or angry, or unhappy. Yet it isn’t your fault. At least not entirely. You only know what you’ve experienced. Discipleship language comes and goes, and the focus shifts. Pastors come and go and just like with the trends of society, fads and programs rise and fall. But the call remains the same. “Who will come and follow Me?”
So what if we look to start over? What if we look to re-focus? What if we seek the relationship that transforms us and decide to follow Jesus? Taking what Jesus says to heart and beginning anew; following with intention and opening ourselves up to all of the possibilities God offers us in order to be disciples. It’s a leap of faith. My promise to you is that we will be deliberately leading in ways of discipleship; to put us on a path that has us encountering grace and being built by the grace of God – where we will grow closer in relationship with Jesus; deeper in our relationships with one another; and to be what God has called us out to be – which are disciples of His beloved Son.
So in the weeks that follow, we will be looking at what it is to be a disciple. The depth of how we start – and how we are honest with one another – and building the kingdom. Because here is the truth. People are hungry for Jesus. They are not looking for another program. They are not looking for a club. But they are looking to experience the risen Lord and Savior that you claim to follow. So let us move on to a path of discipleship for the transformation of our lives and the transformation of the world.
Holy and Gracious God we come looking to meet You and to see You; to begin to look at what it means to follow Jesus. To prioritize and focus and to be Jesus to each other, in our wholeness, in our brokenness; so that we are Jesus to each other for all to see and for all to experience. Amen.
Closing Hymn: #593 Here I Am, Lord
- I, the Lord of sea and sky, I have heard My people cry.
All who dwell in dark and sin My hand will save.
I, who made the stars of night, I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear my light to them? Whom shall I send?
Refrain: Here I am, Lord. Is it I Lord? I have heard You calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if You lead me. I will hold Your people in my heart.
- I, the Lord of snow and rain, I have borne my people’s pain.
I have wept for love of them. They turn away.
I will break their hearts of stone, give them hearts for love alone.
I will speak My word to them. Whom shall I send? Refrain:
- I, the Lord of wind and flame, I will tend the poor and lame,
I will set a feast for them. My hand will save.
Finest bread I will provide till their hearts be satisfied.
I will give My life to them. Whom shall I send? Refrain:
The blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you this week.
