Loading...My cousin was a missionary in Kazakhstan for several years.
It is illegal to act like a missionary in Kazakhstan --to gather people (Kazakhs) together for Christian worship or to teach Bible study classes.
So, my cousin didn’t do any of that. Rather, she did what she does best – she taught English.
For the two years she lived in Almaty (the capital city), she offered English language classes.
And, she lived her life intentionally as a disciple – witnessing with her very being to Christ and the love that she knows in Christ.
She talked about her faith when asked.
It’s not illegal to be Christian, so some Kazakhs became believers and followers. They were also friends, so they could gather together with my cousin and other missionaries-who-didn’t-act-like-missionaries over a meal to talk, to ask questions, and to support one another in prayer and community.
Yes, there was a price to pay:
the risk of being caught in what might be considered a “Christian” gathering,
the scorn or censure of family members (for the Kazakhs).
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As you got ready to come to church today for worship, what did it cost you?
A free morning to catch up on chores or the morning paper?
Time, unstructured time, with family?
Sleeping in?
Whatever money you’re going to put into the offering plate?
What does it cost you to be Christian, to follow Jesus?
In our time and place, the cost is smaller than it has been in other times, or that it is in other places:
we can gather freely as a congregation and pray and learn together.
There’s a pretty good chance that your family members also follow Jesus and are believers (even if they don’t attend church worship services very often!)
But, not necessarily. And, that may cause you some pain or sadness.
Most of us won’t know the deep division that being Christian can create.
Or, maybe we do, but wouldn’t label it as such.
In Jesus’ time, following him came with a steep cost and could make painful divisions in families, not just the one that James and John made in their family when they left their father Zebedee and the family fishing business. Following Jesus could and did include the steep price of getting into trouble with the Romans for be a disciple and follower of Jesus and his rabble rousing ways.
They also got into trouble with the Jewish religious leaders for hanging out with and intentionally seeking out and including (!!!) the outcasts, the unclean, the sinners, and the pariahs.
Following Jesus meant a whole new way of living.
Faith and belief did not mean answering catechism questions correctly, or assenting to all of the words of a belief statement (or creed). It did not mean keeping the status quo or tradition in worship or prayer life.
Rather, following Jesus meant questioning the religious, economic, and political way that was seen as normative, and was understood as The Way Things Are.
Following Jesus in Jesus’ time meant
• giving up the security of “knowing” that the Messiah would come in strength and power, and cut those horrible Romans down to size;
• rejecting the easy temptation of judging others regarding, well, anything.
• Most importantly it meant practicing love and forgiveness, especially of those who were different from them – especially in their belief.
And, this is all true today, just as it was in Jesus’ time.
Following Jesus means
• giving up the security of “knowing” that Jesus, as Messiah, will use strength and might to get rid of anyone who defies or rejects him;
• rejecting the easy temptation of judging others regarding, well, anything.
• And, most importantly, it means practicing love and forgiveness, especially of those who are different from you, especially in their belief.
From a societal point of view, it seems a piece of cake to be Christian in America (harder to be Muslim, or Sikh!)
Yet, dig a little bit and don’t use society’s definition of what it means to be Christian (rather, use Jesus’ description of what followers do):
following Jesus means reaching out to and including those whom society rejects, shuns, and shames.
This will likely cause division in a family, including in a church family.
Following Jesus means making choices in your way of living each day to reflect the love and compassion to which Jesus invites us.
Practically speaking, that could mean different things to each of you, but it could, if you think about it, cause division. That division may be relatively “light” –people might think you’re “weird”, or it could be a source of great pain for you. All because you follow Jesus.
Following Jesus in our contemporary American society is hard, what with its loud voices that conflictingly tell us that
if only you believe, you will be blessed with things,
or, if you accept Jesus in your heart, you will be saved from hardships in this life and from the eternal fires of hell;
or, if you are truly Christian, the you will reject people who are (fill in the blank) .
But, following Jesus is NOT any of those things.
Following Jesus is a way of life that works for reconciliation, healing, restoration, compassion, inclusion, and hope for everyone, all of God’s beloved creation.
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“What did it cost you to come to church today?”
Coming and being here may have costs for you,
so let’s make our time together valuable:
to pray, sing, learn, support, eat with, and encourage one another
in worship, in fellowship, in learning, even in a parish meeting
in order to help one another live like Jesus.
Not just believe in Jesus, nor just to say the correct words, nor just to do the correct actions in worship,
but to learn to and encourage one another to live like Jesus in every day life.
Be in this community as Christians together to dig deeply into what it means to follow Jesus and to equip one another with the tools of Jesus-following so that our lives are palpably and intentionally shaped by faith.
Be together, not as an obligation or because it’s the “thing to do”, but be together as a community gathered, encourage, nourished, equipped and sent into the world to live as people transformed by the love of God in Christ. Amen
