The Arc of Possession

Posted by stpauls on September 5, 2010 under Sermons | Be the First to Comment

[This Sermon was written by The Reverend Lois Boxill and preached on Pentecost 15,  September 5, 2010.]

Today’s passage from Luke gives us much to wrestle with.  Indeed, this passage has been categorized among the “hard texts” of Jesus.  As such, it is a text where whatever warm and fuzzy ideas we might have about who Jesus is are decimated and left deflated to one side.  However, rather than run from a text that challenges us or resort to scriptural literalism, let us attempt to fully engage with this passage and see where this wrestling might lead.

Part One: “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother (parents), wife (spouse) and children (progeny), brothers and sisters (siblings), yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.”  And to be clear, the Greek misein has been translated correctly and Jesus does use the word hate. So a key question here is “What is required to be a disciple of Christ? What does being a disciple of Christ entail?”

Part Two: “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Here, an apparent indication that some heavy lifting might be involved in the walk of a disciple.  Responding to one’s particular call and, as if that wasn’t enough, continuing to follow.

Then, what follows is an apparent digression about the importance of coming to terms with the true costs involved in doing anything before embarking upon a particular path or course of action.  Planning is important. Coming to terms with the true cost is important.  When parts one and two are looked at through the lens of this apparent digression, several key questions seem to arise:

• Can any of us be disciples of Christ?
• Do any of us have any idea what it takes to be a disciple?
• What does it mean to be a follower of the Son of Man?
• What does it mean to follow a “man of sorrows” acquainted with death?
• What does it mean to “carry one’s cross” on a journey of faith?

All of a sudden, this passage isn’t so obscure anymore.

The digression continues with an apparent explication about the repercussions of failure to consider the true cost of one’s intended action: public ridicule and losing status in the eyes of others.  This continues a theme that has run through the readings from Luke up to this point – an apparent obsession with how others see us and what others think.

Then the digression utilizes a war analogy – that of the leader of a nation who finds himself facing the spectre of certain death.  This leader must consider not only his only fate, but that of his/her people/ of his/her kin.  The leader must think in terms of the true cost of his or her actions or failure to act.  There will be consequences – possibly very grave consequences for those this leader might consider most dear – I think we might be on to something here.  The analogy goes further to indicate that the most prudent choice may be the perceived path of the coward – when you realize that your foe cannot be defeated in battle, be the first to send an envoy to make peace – and do not delay for your people could remain in peril.  The best choice may be to not engage in the journey if you can’t deal with the outcome.  What losses are you willing to take in the name of the cross?  What is the personal cost you are willing to bear?

Finally, the passage returns to the terms under which one might be excluded from consideration as a disciple of Jesus, “So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”  This last comment begs the question:

• What would happen if possession were the lens through which the entire passage might be better understood?
• What are possessions?
• What do we possess?  Or better yet,
• What are we possessed by?
• How might relationships with loved ones; relationships with our kin, serve as possessions?
• How might failure to pick up one’s cross combined with failure to respond to the invitation to follow Christ be manifestation of our possession by possessions?
• Who are we without our possessions?
• What are we, especially as inhabitants of the global north and west, without possessions?
• What does our society say about those lacking possessions?

However, before we tackle the idea of possession, let’s first return to the scandal in Part One of the passage where Jesus uses the word “hate” to describe the attitude he apparently commends those who would be disciples to adopt relative to everyone and everything, apart from himself.  From the time of the Sixteenth Century Reformation, there has been a school of Biblical interpretation that suggests that “Scripture interprets Scripture.”[1] That is to say that difficult-to-understand passages are best challenged by and understood when considered relative to other similar text in the Bible.  This method sometimes enables a somewhat more accessible passage to breathe life into the challenging text or suggest some deeper meaning that might be missed.  However, for Scripture to interpret Scripture, there is an assumption that the Bible speaks as a unified whole as a work of one divine author, the Holy Spirit.

Using this method, we try to understand what Jesus is getting at when he suggests that we hate our loved ones.   Part of the trouble we have with this statement is that if understood in terms of the conventional use of the word “hate,” this text contradicts many other clear teachings of Scripture about hate.

• Such as 1 John 3:15, “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”
• How about 1 John 4:20, “If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”
• In addition, this particular commendation of Jesus would contradict the many commands to love, such as, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39) and
• “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:43-44). So unless Scripture contradicts itself, Jesus cannot mean “hate” in the conventional sense.

Fortunately, there is another passage in which Jesus speaks on the same subject. In Matthew 10, our Lord says: “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.” (10:37-38). When Jesus says whoever does not hate his family and self cannot be my disciple, he doesn’t mean that we should not love them in any sense. Of course we are to love them! Kinship is indeed a very good gift from God! However, the text seems to point to the tension that is created when love of others surpasses love of God.

Actually, looked at this way, this section of Luke sounds a lot like overtones from the Old Testament where God says things like, “I am a jealous God” there is no other.  Or even the commandments, “Thou shalt not make for yourselves any other idols or graven images or worship any other Gods but me.”  So, one way of accessing this text might be to read that for those who would be disciples of Jesus Christ, love for Jesus must come first. Loyalty to Jesus must come first. Obedience to Jesus must come first. Are we willing to put love of Christ first, above all?  This is about relationship.

And if any of you doesn’t think that following Jesus can translate into separation within families or tremendous pain, there are actually numerous examples to be drawn from, especially from the lives of faithful people in the church, and from our own stories.  How about a faithful priest or lay person who has given his or her entire life to the love and service of the people of God who refuses to deny that he or she is also gay – yet no less a follower of Jesus or child of God.  I know folks in this diocese, and particularly in this Parish sometimes like to think that we have entered a “post-gay” era, but if that were true, the mission of the Church would be clearer and the slaying of gay and lesbian people in parts of the world where the Anglican church is a major source of power, take Uganda as an example, would not be condoned, or worse, not even acknowledged.

Or how about a faithful priest who has served and taught the people of God for over 25 years? A follower of Jesus whose devotion and commitment are acknowledged by the very people who proceed to strip her of her priesthood because they can’t understand how she could find and engage Jesus in the midst of fellowship with her Muslim brothers and sisters where she recognizes home and finds welcome. Beloved, in Christ, following Jesus can be costly.  Are you willing and able to carry your particular cross – even if it means that Jesus is the only one you will find out there with you at the end of the branch? It isn’t all songs and praises.  There are valleys and shadows, and sometimes walking apart from those we love for even some part of the journey.  Are you willing to follow Jesus when others, especially those dearest to you, can’t understand?

Now to this business of possession.  As usual, for a start, let’s turn to the dictionary to try to access some of the meanings of the verb, to possess.  Definition: possession – (when used as a verb to describe relationship to or with an object): to have as belonging to one; have as property; own: as in to possess a house and a car; to have as a faculty, quality, or the like: to possess courage; (of a spirit) to occupy, dominate, or control (a person) from within: He thought he was possessed by devils; to dominate or actuate in the manner of such a spirit: He was possessed by envy; to have domination over; to have knowledge of: as in to possess a language; to keep or maintain (oneself, one’s mind, etc.) in a certain state, as of peace or patience; to maintain control over (oneself or one’s mind, etc.); to impart to; inform; familiarize; to cause to be dominated or influenced, as by an idea or feeling, etc.; to make (someone) owner, holder, or master, as of property or  information; to gain or win; to occupy or hold.

The tricky thing with possession is its trajectory.  It is about relationship that often devolves into an internal power struggle – a struggle of will against thought.  Often times we all start out thinking that we are the ones who remain in control of the power relative to the thing/person that is possessed.  Yet, it is only a matter of time before we ourselves become possessed by the thing we hold or try to take hold of.  The arc turns inward and we have actually been rendered powerless. Today, Jesus says, give these all up if you are to be my disciple.  Release all that possesses you today.  Exempt yourself from the quest of possession.  Be free.

Today’s passage is about the proper ordering of one’s focus.  Concerning Jesus’ “Family Values” (which at surface glance in the passage appear to be rooted in hate) – Jesus suggests that our relationships/our kinship be based on pursuit of “truth” and that “real” family values reflect a radical commitment to family and neighbor through service of Christ.  Families are called to reflect God’s cosmic, universal, kingdom values and that true family values will necessarily become more nuanced as families continue to live out Kingdom values in a diverse and changing understanding of family and neighbor. Jesus’ family values challenge all the “isms” of time and suggest that in the quest for truth while there might be suffering and pain, freedom will result, regardless of the apparent cost.  The call to discipleship is the call to continually ask, “And who is my neighbor?” And to seek the neighbor in the other.   Today, we have been given an invitation to release all those things that bind us in patterns which do not serve freedom or the way of the Cross. The way of the cross is life itself.  We hate our mother and father, brother, or sister, only in so far as they serve to maintain bonds that deprive us of the gift of freedom and of fullness of life that we have each been offered by the living Christ.

Beloved, consider well the invitation to follow.  Jesus has offered full disclosure about the journey of discipleship.  Know that there will be a cost – but then consider what living to its fullest is truly worth to you.  Will we choose captivity over freedom?  Will we choose the familiar chains that shackle us over freedom unknown?  This is our choice today.  So, in this pause before the mad dash “return to normal” that commences this week, this question of response to the invitation of discipleship is actually most timely.  Consider as we move through time going forward how many times our thoughts and desires stray from thoughts of service of the building up of God’s realm on earth.  How do we participate in cycles that bind up and oppress, rather than cycles of freedom – for ourselves and others?