Can you give up what you need to give up when you need to give it up to follow Jesus?
I
don’t know about any of you, but I know that I could be labeled a
procrastinator. It’s a terrible habit
that can show itself in so many ways.
Most of the time I find myself finding “just one more
thing” to do before embarking on the most common of things, like going to
bed. It’s so easy to notice that dish
that could go into the dishwasher or those clothes that could be put away. And by the time all those menial tasks are
completed, I might not be as tired any longer, so I can’t fall asleep.
I do it in the office, too.
There’s one more little task that needs to be done, a chair that I can
move, a copy to be made. I delay doing
things because those little things are just that, little. They won’t take long, but when I add all
those little things up, I have put off something else. Like preparing a sermon or doing something
that takes more time and energy.
There are times when procrastinating forces action, because
deadlines approach. But most of the
time, I think procrastinating is just an easy way to put off something that,
even though it is necessary or something enjoyable, I don’t want to, can’t, or
haven’t found the right moment to consciously devote time, emotional energy or
creative juices on at that specific moment.
Another way I procrastinate is thinking I am actually
capable of multi-tasking. Really, I
can’t. When I try to do multiple things
at once, even something like knitting while watching television, only one of
those things will have the market share of my attention. Something will have to give. Even listening to music while cooking or
cleaning can be distracting. I mean,
when you gotta dance or sing, you just gotta!
What Jesus wants us to know is that we all have so much
going on in our lives we really do have to prioritize so that we can focus on
what is life-giving. We need to place
boundaries around our personal sacred spaces, so that we can give and receive
in good measure.
Sometimes it’s hard to create boundaries because doing so
means we must give up something—a relationship, a way of living, an activity—to
stay focused on the goal, the prize, the priority.
If it’s really what you want to do, you just might have to
give something up.
So, when two men come to Jesus and say they want to follow
Jesus, Jesus makes a point of saying that this is one of those priorities that
will require changes in their lives. And
not just changes, but big changes that will mean a different focus, a new
priority—and all of it needs to happen immediately. There is no room for second guessing or
procrastinating.
These men learn that they won’t be able to bury their dead
family member or even say goodbye to those they love. They can’t close up their businesses or give
away or sell their belongings. If they
want to follow Jesus, they have to be willing to break away from the life they
have lived and do it. And they have to
do it NOW.
Jesus recognizes that this is exceptionally hard and not
everyone is able to walk away from the life they know to follow Jesus. Not then, not now. And to expect people to drop everything to
follow an itinerant preacher and teacher, well, that just might make people
wonder.
And yet, some of us do it.
Some of us are willing to put God first, to follow Jesus, to listen to
the call of the Holy Spirit and change our lives completely. Even if we don’t really know how it will all
work out.
For me, following Jesus has never been a difficult part of
my life. And yet, to hear the Holy
Spirit calling me into ministry was something that either I didn’t understand
or didn’t want to hear when I was younger.
It was easy for me to procrastinate, to put off God, so that I could do
other things, like raise our children.
I didn’t recognize the urgency of God’s invitation to
ordination, but I did know that I wanted to do more than just follow
Jesus. I knew that worship meant more
than sitting in a pew and being fed. I
recognized that I had to participate, learn, lead and grow.
What I didn’t recognize in my call was that I was prepared
much earlier in my life than I knew.
And then, I knew. It’s
amazing when you recognize that you are enough, just as you are, to be open to
the experience of becoming more for God’s mission in the world.
This isn’t limited to people called to ordination. That’s just my experience in the past 12
years. But for the bulk of my life, I
knew that I was following Jesus, just like many of you know for yourselves.
But I did use my family as a way to procrastinate. I doubted my abilities. I used many excuses to put off what God
placed in my path and I put off listening when Jesus said, “follow me.”
You all know it’s so much easier to let our lives consume
us and to make work or family or hobbies our priorities. Following Jesus means giving up and changing
and growing and maybe losing our place in our families, our work, and the
world.
Putting God first in our lives and following Jesus by
living out his life-giving, love-affirming ways in the world can mean struggle.
But it can also mean abundance.
Yesterday Cecelia and I attended The Bishop’s Summit on
Faith and Giving, and we were reminded that God will provide what we need to do
the work of Jesus in the world. We have
enough to pursue equity and justice in the world, as we follow Jesus. God is abundance, and when we trust in God’s
abundance, we can more easily say ‘YES’ to Jesus.
It is so easy to procrastinate, to create reasons to put
off following Jesus. But Jesus tells us
today that it’s time to stop that behavior and trust in God to provide
everything we need to be beacons of God’s love, followers and imitators of
Jesus and open to the breath of heaven blown by the Holy Spirit.
What’s holding you back?
How can I help you step out in faith?
Let us pray.
Holy and life-creating God, why
do we put off using the gifts you have given us to be your holy people in this
world? Help us figure that out in our
lives. Give us strength to look and
ponder and really understand how we have procrastinated and have not taken our
steps to walk as boldly in this world for you as we might. You are God.
You are Jesus. You are Holy
Spirit. We place our hearts in your
hands, trusting that you will not drop us or leave us hungry or abandon us when
we walk out into the world to live lives of faith. Amen.