How well do you know yourself?

Sermon-C Proper 18 –September 9, 2007
Do you know what this will cost you?
The Cloud of Unknowing, “O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.”
Mike Yaconelli , the great youth leader who died a few years ago in a car accident, used to say, "Follow Jesus and he will mess up your life; or don't follow Jesus and you can mess up your life all by yourself.
So here’s this week’s question-“How well do you think you know yourself?”
Think about the times in your life when you’ve really gotten in trouble-when you really fell into something bad. I’ll bet if you were really honest, you’d have to say, “I didn’t face the facts-I wasn’t honest with myself.” Usually when I first get into trouble, I start explaining things (to myself) by saying that “circumstances were against me” or “ other people didn’t do what they should have” or it was just bad luck. But you know what, most of the time when bad things happen to me, it’s because to some degree I misled/lied to myself. I thought I was smarter or wiser or stronger than I was. Most of the time, when we get in deep, I think, it’s because we aren’t honest with ourselves.
Jesus is still on his way to Jerusalem, and the crowds are growing every day. People are flocking to him, like he’s the messiah or something. And each day he gives them something harder, something more challenging to chew on. He’s not trying to get rid of them-he just wants them to understand what he’s about-and what it is to follow him. They keep thinking that it’s going to be great. And he keeps saying that it’s going to be hard.
You know in Judaism, if you want to become a Jew, a rabbi is supposed to turn you away twice, before even talking to you about it. They believe that being a Jew is so hard and so difficult that anyone who wants to be a Jew must get used to rejection-or they shouldn’t even consider conversion.
Jesus begins his teaching this way:
14:25 Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them,
14:26 "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.
14:27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Large crowds are following Jesus. They’re all so excited, so expectant. He is the answer to all their dreams. And he verbally slaps them in the face. To continue n this road is HARD, he says.
So let me ask you, has being a Christian cost you a lot? Have you had to make significant sacrifices, to be a follower of Christ?
Soren Kierkegaard the great 19th century theologian told this story:
"I went into church and sat on the velvet pew. I watched as the sun came shiningthrough the stained glass windows. The minister, dressed in a velvet robe, opened the golden gilded Bible, marked it with a silk bookmark and said, 'If any man will be my disciple, said Jesus, let him deny himself, take up his cross, sell what he has, give it to the poor, and follow me.' And I looked around and nobody was laughing."Has it been hard for you? Let me clear one thing up, when Jesus says, “"Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” “Hate” is a poor translation. A better way to say it is, Whoever does not love them less, cannot be my disciple. But can anyone here really say that? I can’t. Jesus was trying to wake up everyone who thought that following him would bring them prosperity and health and happiness. He knew what it was going to cost him, and he knew what it would cost those who were faithful.
Is this a hard gospel to hear? You bet. I don’t like it. It’s too hard. I want a God who comforts, and strengthens, and supports me-especially when I get myself in trouble. I don’t want a savior who demands so much of me.
Are you sure you wish to follow me? Jesus wants to know. And of course everyone says, yeah, sure. They thought it was a parade. How many of you would join an organization, be a part of something, if you thought it might cost you-everything?
Jesus isn’t trying to drive folks away-he just wants them to see the truth about discipleship-to understand. He is trying to get them to face the truth about themselves. How many times have you got into trouble, because you lied to yourself? Almost every time, for me. Because I wanted things to be different than how they truly were.
I think if I was to retitle this section I would call it, “Facing ourselves.” The crowds are growing. The enthusiasm, the expectations, the hopes, the dreams are all overflowing. Everyone believes that he will be the answer to all of their prayers.
There is an old story:
A pilgrim settled down to sleep one night at the edge of a village - soon an excited villager appeared saying 'Give me the diamond, give me the diamond '. 'What diamond?' asked the pilgrim. The villager replied 'I have had a dream that you have a diamond of great value and if I asked you for it you would give it to me and I should be rich forever." The pilgrim reached into his bag and pulled out a stone. 'You may certainly have it', he said and settled down again to sleep. The villager looked at the great gem in amazement for it was the largest diamond he had ever seen. Hetook the diamond and walked away. He tossed and turned all night unable to sleep, and the next day he return to the pilgrim and said“give me the wealth that makes it possible for you to give away this diamond so easily.”
To follow is to live a different life. To follow is to stand out-and on occasion-to stand apart. To follow sometimes will be dangerous, and at times should be hard. We can’t confuse inconvenience with sacrifice. Sometimes following is awkward or tiresome or embarrassing. Jesus said, to follow may cost us. It may cost us a lot. To be a people that stays with Jesus as he heads to Jerusalem, means more than inconvenience. It means the cross.
One pastor wrote: It is costly to be a congregation that makes a difference.
“How well do you think you know yourself?” The people on the road to Jerusalem thought they knew themselves pretty well-til they heard today’s teachings-and then they had to wonder.
"Follow Jesus and he will mess up your life; or don't follow Jesus and you can mess up your life all by yourself.