The Cost of Discipleship

 Sermon delivered in South Africa on August 21, 2022

The Cost of Discipleship

“Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit may show forth our power among all peoples, to the glory of your Name…”

What a powerfully concise yet complex summary of all that we as a church hope to accomplish in this time of world chaos. It is also, beloved brothers and sisters, an accurate expression of my prayers as I traveled thousands of miles, far, far from my home in Florida, to be with you and to continue my journey of seeking to identify ways in which we as a church can better shine the light of Christ throughout the world – all the world. A world blanketed in darkness. The darkness of poverty, war, displacement, socio-economic injustice, and the encroaching effects of climate change.

And so today as we gather in this sacred space, I pray that while coming together from vastly different cultures and yet worshipping the same God in quite similar ways and words, we can more fully experience our sameness in our desire for love of neighbor and peace on earth. Indeed, although each of us is unique in their own way, we are the same as we stand united as beloved children of God, and as Archbishop Tutu might say, united in creating a community that becomes the image of God, a light to the world.

This is not my first time in Africa. Several years ago, I traveled to Zambia to mentor an amazing young pastor, Victor Chimfwembe, as he organized a monthly medical clinic in a remote community several hours from Ndola. I can say without hesitation that Jesus was alive and well in the hearts and minds and souls of this incredible community living in abject poverty but filled through and through with hope and love, a direct result of their relationship with Christ – with God. I have had similar experiences in Haiti and in the Dominican Republic. Remote communities living in the most extreme poverty, amidst terrifying violence, and with little or no possibility for a better future, all coming together each Sunday to worship joyfully, their hearts and minds and souls filled with hope. A hope that stems from their faith in Jesus Christ – in God.

And of course, my work in the United States has led me to places and people so very different than me, and yet, in the end when I look into their eyes I see God, and I know that we are the same.

And today, Sunday, we along with so many people in so many places throughout the world are gathered in unity to strengthen our faith, to increase our hope and through prayer, song, participation in the Eucharist, and fellowship commit ourselves to a life of discipleship, a life of being sent into the world as a beacon of light and hope to those who live in darkness. To go into the world in peace to love and serve the Lord.

A life of discipleship. In many ways that is the hardest part. Living the life of a disciple, one who lays down their life to follow Christ - that is the hard part. Dietrich Bonhoeffer in The Cost of Discipleship writes, “In the gospels the very first step a man must take is an act which radically affects his whole existence.” Discipleship is the hard part, it radically disrupts our whole existence, and yet discipleship is the part to which we must pay close attention, perhaps more now than ever.

If we are to show forth God’s power among all peoples, if we are to be Christ’s disciples, we must be open to hearing God’s call to us – God’s call for us. And, if we are earnest in our desire to hear God’s call we must listen – listen for God – listen for the divine. Mother Teresa wisely tells us, “God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer."

Jeremiah listened and did not like what he heard. He shouted out, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” But God did not let Jeremiah off the hook. God once again spoke to him saying, “Do not say I am only a boy; for you shall go to all whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you.” Then the Lord put out his hand and touched Jeremiah’s mouth; and the Lord said, “Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms to pluck up and pull down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

What an astoundingly beautiful and powerful image – the Lord put out his and touched Jeremiah’s mouth. God put his words in Jeremiah’s mouth. This little piece from Jeremiah is proof positive that God does have a call for each and every one of us. A call that we can only hear through listening to the divine. And perhaps more importantly it is proof positive that God does not want to let us off the hook if we do not like his call. Not at all. But we are not alone in this call that might seem too difficult to imagine. God is prepared to put his hand on our mouths and to fill us with the courage, endurance, hope, and love that is needed to carry out the work that he has given us to do – however challenging it might seem. He will watch over our going out and our coming in. He will be our refuge now and forever. 

I believe that those of us who are gathered here today have already heard God’s call for them and that each of us in our way, and in our own time is growing in their understanding of the meaning of their call and the impact that it will have on their lives if we are to follow it; if we are to take that first step that will radically change our lives. 

It is a scary business – very scary. But in our moments of fear and resistance, we must feel God’s hand on our mouths, we must call out as did the psalmist when he cried out to the Lord, “Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe; you are my crag and my stronghold.” We must remember that it is only through following the very narrow path of discipleship, a path so easy to stray from, to fall away from that we will achieve true discipleship.

We must remember the words of today’s collect as we follow our call to work together to create communities that are gathered together in unity by the Holy Spirit, and which show forth the church’s power among all peoples. The power of love and the hope of peace. The power of a community that becomes the image of God, a light to the world.