Advent Lutheran Church

"Follow on the Road Less Traveled"

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

I love this poem by Robert Frost;  One traveled on paths off the beaten trail, sometimes lonely, sometimes scary, but almost always leading to unexpected adventures and unsought-for treasures.

Jesus is on that road less traveled.  He has set his face towards Jerusalem; the place where prophets die.  As we travel with Jesus we get a series of stories illustrating what it means to be a follower of Jesus and what Jesus’ power means for the world.

What does it mean for those who become disciples?  One Monday night at bible study this is where we got stuck.  What is the cost of discipleship?  Now we didn’t come up with any firm answers or any list your can budget out. The closest we came was in Bonhoeffer’s book The Cost of Discipleship, he said that costly discipleship and "costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. It is costly because it compels a [Hu]man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: "My yoke is easy and my burden is light."

As Jesus travels towards Jerusalem, he encounters three would-be followers and we get a lesson on priorities. Along the road the first man said, Lord I'm ready to follow you wherever you go. Jesus replied "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head." a not-so-gentle reminder that with discipleship comes a cost, in this case potential homelessness.

To another Jesus said, "follow me," and the man replied, "I'll come along but first I need to take care of some family business. I have to bury my father." To this, Jesus replied, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God."

Jesus was pretty harsh with these fellows. Now let's be reasonable. He could have cut them some slack, couldn't he? Come on, what does he expect? Burying one's father, going home to say goodbye to family and friends, are perfectly normal things to want to do. Yet in his words to his would-be followers, Jesus is making it quite clear what the cost of following him is.

As modern-day followers of Jesus, Jesus is inviting us to follow that road less traveled. We, too, must face the cost of discipleship. To truly follow Jesus, to take discipleship seriously, to live a gospel-centered life requires us to make choices that are counter-cultural, that are sometimes inconvenient, that cause us to reassess our priorities and our normal way of being.  Serving the Kingdom of God and sharing the gospel becomes a priority. 

In his words about counting the cost, Jesus is not trying to be a "heavy." He is not being "mean," he's being Lord. One's primary allegiance is to that Lord. Service to the Lord takes priority over everything else.

Jesus is not against "burying the dead," nor is he anti-"family values." He was speaking to those would-be followers of his own experience. He, too, made the Kingdom his top priority. He, too, left his family. He, too, went away from his hometown Nazareth, and all his friends. He knew of what he spoke. He had counted the cost. He would not ask any would-be followers to do things he, himself, had not already done. Or to go to places he, himself had not already gone.

As Christians today, it would be easy to think the cost of discipleship has been lowered. We don't have to literally follow the Lord. To follow Christ, we aren’t required to give up all of our possessions and leave our family behind. Most followers aren’t called to leave their profession for it is precisely within them that they fulfill their calling. In your vocation, you touch minds and hearts and souls with the tenderness of God, and heal them.  You instruct and comfort people in need and help to drive out the demons that seem to have a strong hold on them.  In very ordinary ways, we participate in the extraordinary establishment of the reign of God.

The gospel, however, makes it abundantly clear that Jesus is asking for more Jesus is not interested in lip service; he is asking for commitment. Jesus is asking us to prioritize our lives consciously, to live intentionally, to put the demands of discipleship, of the gospel FIRST. FIRST. Rather than letting the ever-shifting norms of popular cultures define what is important, Jesus asks us to make decisions about how we spend our time and our resources in light of our faith, our beliefs, our spiritual values.

We need to ask ourselves what is really important. What do we want to do with this “one wild and precious life” God has given to each of us? Are we willing to say no to some things that are good and desirable (like sleeping in on Sunday, a soccer game, a cruise or a trip to Disney) in order to say yes to things that are more important for ourselves and our children, more central to God’s kingdom like those things to proclaim the Christ through word and deed, care for others and the world God made and work for justice and peace.

When we are called to follow we are called to make tough choices on how we are going to spend our time, our money, and our talents.  What is God calling us to do?  It that the priority Jesus sets for us when he says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth” or “where your heart is there your treasure will also be” or “from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required?”Sometimes the most difficult choices in life are not the ones between good and evil but between what is good and what is best.

The hymn we are going to sing in just a moment asks the question, Will you come and follow me?

Because following Jesus changes us. Following is more than sitting in a chair or pew, singing quietly for our own benefit. Following is getting up and walking in Jesus' footsteps. Are you interested in being changed -- not only at the resurrection, but this afternoon, tonight and tomorrow? Follow Jesus into the crowds and you'll never be the same.

But we need to ask these questions in light of Jesus’ message in today’s gospel: we must get our priorities straight if we are to be disciples of Jesus. And we must ask ourselves this:

Are we willing to go with Jesus down the road less traveled?

Amen