Month: September 2025

Theodidacti by Prayer

“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[1]

Introduction

“Thoughts and prayers.” Any day of the week, on any social media website you will see people sending “thoughts and prayers” into tragic situations—either global or local. The sentiment is kind and hints at “emotional solidarity.” As our world becomes increasingly more violent—violence seeming to be our primary form of communication—the sending of “thoughts and prayers” increases. What else can we do but say: hey, I’m praying for and thinking about you during this time. There’s nothing wrong with it.

Until there is. Typing (and speaking) “thoughts and prayer” to those who are suffering and grieving makes us feel like we’ve done something. To some extent, we have; we spoke to and someone’s pain. And even though that dopamine surge feels good, it doesn’t do anything for their pain, and it certainly doesn’t do anything to address the issue. Now, to be gentle here, many of us feel like we can’t do much to overhaul a violent, polarized, and death dealing atmosphere and landscape. Many of us may feel that God needs to step in and set it all straight. Some may feel that our socio-political activity has nothing to do with our faith and so, to be faithful, we opt out of action and lean in to prayer.

Is everything really that helpless and hopeless? I don’t think so. Without jettisoning our orientation toward “thoughts and prayers” we can (maybe!) see that our prayers and thoughts are just the beginning of our socio-political activity in the world to make this place better for our neighbor who is grieving because they have experienced its trauma firsthand. In other words, when we shift our perspective and see prayer as our first step and not our last (ditch) effort, we might find a way to push our activity beyond uttering “thoughts and prayers” and living it in the world to the wellbeing of the neighbor and to the glory of God.

1 Timothy 2:1-7

In Paul’s first letter to Timothy,[2] he begins with an exhortation to prayer (in all its forms), Therefore, first of all things I urge petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings to be made on behalf of all people, on behalf of kings and all the ones being in authority so that we might pass time with a quiet and peaceable life in all piety and respectability (v1-2). Paul centers the life of prayer within the life of the believer. Why is this important[3] for Paul? A few reasons.

First, Paul understands that both Timothy and his flock will come under pressure not only from the opposition of the false teachers in Ephesus (who are antagonistic to Paul’s mission[4]), but that they will also come under fire by the local culture who will demand conformity to its status quo.[5] For Paul, prayer—the whole kit and kaboodle—will help to ground the believers and form and shape their lives, strengthening and uniting them together against these oppositional forces.

Second, the church, for Paul, is to be both missiological and present in their community (despite the opposition). Rather than being compliant to the surrounding socio-political realities by either playing nice through their “thoughts and prayers” for those others in their society[6] or living quietly off the radar bringing no attention to themselves by being good and obedient citizens,[7] Paul sees prayer as a feature of their corporate and private life of worship that will position these believers in the world by bringing the gospel in word and deed and serving their society by means of living out the gospel and it’s law of love.[8] This includes praying for all people; thus the believers cannot pick and choose subjecting themselves to an insular mindset.[9]

Third, prayer is to promote and provoke the believer in conformity to God’s will (which happens in the event of prayer) to be those who are Christ’s representatives and who participate in God’s mission in the world.[10] This means that as they pray for others and (especially) the rulers and those in authority they are praying for a specific outcome that will align with God’s mission in the world in which they participate. This is more than just nice thoughts and kind prayers for these leaders, it’s requesting God’s intervention by power of the Holy Spirit to change the hearts of these leaders and authorities.[11] The believers are to pray that their leaders are able to bring forth such a quiet and peaceable life, respectable and able to be godly; this is not that the believers are to live quietly while falling in with the demands of society and its leaders,[12] it’s about their being able to live according to the ethics of the reign of God within the kingdom of humanity with an eye to overhaul it where needed.[13],[14] This form of prayer, resulting in robust space to participate in God’s mission in the world to the glory of God and the well-being of the neighbor, is vital for the life and praxis of the church in the world and conforms to God’s will for the church’s life and praxis in the world.[15] This is doing church.

And fourth, thanksgiving helps to form those who recall God’s wonderful work in the world and in this way they find their hope in what God will do, giving assurance to their prayers that the God to whom they pray in the name of Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit is the same God who is oriented toward love, life, and liberation, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.[16]

Paul then affirms, This is good and acceptable in the presence of God our savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come into the knowledge of truth (vv3-4). Through prayer and thanksgiving, the believers become formed to the will and mission of God. In this way they can go into the world as Christ’s representatives and bring Christ (thus God) to those in their society.[17] Prayer is so closely linked to God’s mission of salvation that we can see that it’s crucial to the believer’s discipleship formation and causation. Through the humble posture of prayer, the will of the one who prays is conformed to the will of the one to whom they pray. As believers pray for God’s will to be done on earth as in heaven, they are also praying for their will not to be done and to be replaced with God’s will so that they can be active participants in God’s reign coming and God’s name being hallowed. As the believers in Ephesus are conformed to God’s will and move out and work in the world, God’s mission of salvation goes forward in and through them and truth (real truth) is knowable.

Paul then says, For God [is] one, and one mediator [between] God and humanity the person Christ Jesus, the one who gave himself [as a] ransom on behalf of all people, a testimony for the due season, into which I, I was placed [as a] herald and apostle—I speak the truth, I do not lie—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth (vv5-7). According to Paul, all have access to God because God is one,[18] and this one God has a mediator who is Jesus Christ through whom all have access to God.[19] Jesus Christ is the one who liberated (all!) humanity from death by means of his death and resurrection. This is the good news and the very thing believers not only believe but through which they are conformed to God’s will and mission in the world. For Paul, the church is responsible[20] to this person, Jesus Christ, who identified with humanity in its plight; it is also for this person they are to be his representatives in the world and the foundation of their faith and love for God and for others.

Conclusion

[21]Dorothee Sölle’s and Fulbert Steffensky write, in Not Just Yes & Amen, “[God] stands on the side of life and especially on the side of those to whom life in its wholeness is denied and who do not reach the point of real living. He is not on the side of the rulers, the powerful, the rich, the affluent, the victorious. God takes sides with those who need him. He sides with the victims.”[22] Where God sides is the location—the starting point, the continuing point, and the end point—of Christian existence and praxis in the world toward the neighbor to the glory and in the will of God. Thus, Christians are exhorted by their life of Christ and by their own faith to dare to move beyond the deafening silence of “thoughts and prayers,” extend their voices and hands beyond the heartless “yes and amen,” and lay claim to the long dormant divine “No!” This is done not by the believer’s own strength or alone, but by and in the strength of Christ and in the witness of the community witnessing to Christ in the world.

In Romans 13:14, Paul exhorts his audience to “to put on [as clothes] the Lord Jesus Christ and do not allow the flesh provision toward inordinate desires.” Christians are to clothe themselves in Christ, to shed the cloaks and covers of the kingdom of humanity, to shrug off the mythologies of power and privilege peddled by church clerics and state councils aimed toward inoculating Christians against active participation in the world as Christ for the well-being and benefit of the neighbor. To put on Christ is to participate in Christ’s life in this world now as Christ did in his own witness to the love and will of God more than 2000 years ago. This exhortation is echoed in Philippians 2:5, “Let the same mind be in you that is in Christ Jesus…” The believer is to be clothed in and have the same mind as Christ. The inner and outer person is to be aligned to the image of Christ who witnessed to God’s life affirming and liberative love in the world for the oppressed, for the victims. To be as Christ, to be formed—inwardly and outwardly—to the image of Christ comes with comfort and liberty in God by faith, but it also comes with a great burden to be as Christ to the neighbor. As theodidacti[23] through prayer, Christians are summoned to hear the silent cry and to respond by joining the divine revolution of life, love, and liberation for the beloved. Beloved, we pray first, and then we act for the wellbeing of the neighbor and to the glory of God.

[1] LW 54:157-158; Table Talk 1590.

[2] I’m using traditional language for the author of this letter so I can just keep it simple for the audience. I am aware of the debates of authorship and dating.

[3] Towner, Timothy, 165. “If the church has discerned the mandate character of this letter, it understands that Timothy’s task is to ensure that these instructions be implemented.”

[4] Philip Towner, The Letters to Timothy and Titus, TNICNT, ed. Gordon D. Fee (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006), 162. “The context throughout will continue to be that of false teaching and opposition to the Pauline missions.”

[5] Towner, Timothy, 162. “…the church will often still feel the presence of opponents and their teaching activities, and the latter will come up for specific treatment in several place…the local culture is also exerting pressure on community life in a way that causes Paul to intervene forcefully.”

[6] Towner, Timothy, 163. Misconception 1 needing to be addressed, “…the church has often understood the text to lay down a broad commission to pray for all people and for government leaders without really stipulating what direction such prayer ought to take. But the real concern, as close attention to the argument wills how, is for the prayer that supports the church’s universal mission to the world. That is, Paul urges Timothy to instruct the Ephesian church to reengage in an activity it had apparently been neglecting—prayer in support Paul’s own mandate to take the gospel to the whole world.”

[7] Towner, Timothy, 163. Misconception 2: “Dibelius saw this text as introducing the new shape that Christian existence took following the departure of the apostles and as a result of the disappointment over the delay of Christ’s return. In his estimation, prayer for all and for those in authority sought the goal of the quiet and peaceful life—that is, a Christian existence characterized by outward behavior conforming to secular notions of ‘good citizenship.’”

[8] Towner, Timothy, 163. Solution:  in Romans 23 (and 1 Peter 2) “There Paul lays down a theology of the church-world dialectical reality in which the church is to find itself in a position of missiological service to society.”

[9] Towner, Timothy, 167. For all people, “to counter a tendency toward insular thinking in the Ephesian Church brought on by an elitist outlook or theology.”

[10] Towner, Timothy, 165. “The theological interests and the universal theme reveal that the prayer practice Paul sought to reinstate in Ephesus had the evangelistic mission to the Gentiles as its target.”

[11] Towner, Timothy, 1623-164 “In our text with its specific evangelistic focus, it may be argued that the church’s commitment to acknowledge the secular power structure and society’s expectations is to be expressed in its payer for salvation and effective political leadership.”

[12] Towner, Timothy, 169. “The two terms (‘quiet and peaceful’) that initially describe this life express the Hellenistic ideal (conveyed variously) of a tranquil life free form the hassles of a turbulent society It is obvious enough that Paul envisions the state with God’ help, as being capable of ensuring the conditions that would make such a life possible.”

[13] Towner, Timothy, 169. “The next phrase, ‘in all godliness and holiness,’ describes this life’s character and observable shape. …Yet when the theological reshaping of these concepts is taken into account, it becomes clear that Paul had others aims—namely, to express the theology of a dynamic Christian ethics by means of the language of the day. This technique would of course ensure intelligibility. But Paul almost certainly intended also to reinvent the language and subvert alternative claims about the nature and source of godliness associated with politics and religious cults in the empire.”

[14] Towner, Timothy, 170. “Prayer for the tranquil setting is prayer for an ideal set of social circumstances in which Christians might give unfettered expression to their faith in observable living. This distinction allows us to place the second prayer (for leaders) into the missiological grid of the passage: the church is to pray for the salvation of ‘all,’ and it participates in that mission by making God present in society in its genuine expression of the new life for all to see.”

[15] Towner, Timothy, 177. “Thus Paul explains that prayer for the salvation of all people, and specific prayer for the effectiveness of the civic powers, conforms to the will of God. It is not simply an optional church practice that pleases God, but a practice as integral to the church’s life with God as was sacrifice in the time before Christ.”

[16] Towner, Timothy, 167. “…thanksgiving not only bolstered confidence by focusing reflection on God’s past responsiveness to petition, but also was an expression of confidence in anticipation of God’s future response…”

[17] Towner, Timothy, 179. “In the Ephesian context of false teaching Paul emphasize that salvation and adherence to the apostolic message are inseparable. God’s will is that all people will commit themselves in faith to the truth about Christ.”

[18] Towner, Timothy, 180.

[19] Towner, Timothy, 180.

[20] Towner, Timothy, 183. “Paul invites the church of Ephesus to view its own location within God’s redemptive story and its responsibilities in relation to the appearance of this ‘human.’”

[21] This portion is taken from my unpublished dissertation (University of Aberdeen, 2024), Leaving Heaven Behind: Paradoxical Identity as the Anchor of Dorothee Sölle’s Theology of Political Resistance.

[22] Soelle and Steffensky, Not Just Yes & Amen, 82.

[23] Martin Luther, Freedom of a Christian

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Sinner isn’t a Four Letter Word

“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[1]

Introduction

The word “sin” and “sinners” carries a heavy load. It’s weaponized in a way to force people to be feel shame about their existence as fleshy human creatures. It’s incorrectly used doctrinally and theologically to spiritually abuse people stripping them of their inherent dignity and worth. It’s strapped with the burden of condemning people, pushing them beyond God’s limits and reach until they “reform” their ways because they are too “bad” or (worse) “evil”, that they need to become “good enough” first for God to accept them. And, in the Protestant tradition, “sinner” and “totally depraved” go hand in hand incorrectly making it seem like you are just a total pile of nothing-all-that-nice (to put it g-rated).

For all these reasons, over the past many years progressive churches have jettisoned the word and (even) the idea. I get it. When a concept/word becomes toxic and triggering, it’s best to find another way to speak of the thing or idea the word is signifying. So, to move away from the fundamentalist, American Evangelical notion of “sin” and “sinner,” progressive churches such as our own found different and lighter ways to speak about our human condition and plight—that we are turned in on ourselves. I will be honest with you, I know I am hesitant to use it because of my own experience (spiritually and theologically) with a heavy emphasis on human “depravity” and the resulting condemnation. Both “sin” and “sinner” are such loaded terms; isn’t it just better to avoid them?

The problem is that our entire biblical witness of God’s activity in the world and for God’s beloved, the people, is kind of hinged on these words. I don’t mean that God is wringing God’s knuckles over our sin, sinning and being sinners, while tromping about heaven angry as h-e-doublehockeystics. Rather, what I mean is that the biblical witness tells us—from beginning to end—that in spite of our sin and being sinners God desires to be so close that God will take on our human nature and become one of us to the point that God will die and become deeply identified with us in our human plight and condition of “sin.” Without speaking of sin, which (plainly translated) is the action of missing the mark (no matter how well intended the attempt was, to miss the mark is to go astray, to mishear), then God’s humble advent into our world and lives is not such a great story. To identify as a sinner is to be able to identify as a creature who can’t and doesn’t get it right often and yet finds themselves addressed and accompanied, loved and accepted by God. To identify as a sinner is to posture oneself humbly in the world accepting your creaturely (i.e. non-God, non-divine) status, to confess your dependence on mercy and grace from God and others, and to come empty handed into God’s lap and find yourself receiving absolutely everything without condition or charge and then to love others—by showing them mercy and grace—in the exact same way.

1 Timothy 1:12-17

Paul[2] writes to Timothy,[3] I have gratitude toward Jesus Christ our lord, the one who empowered me, because he regarded me faithful and placed [me] into [his] service, [even though] I was being a blasphemer and persecutor and violent man… (v12-13a). Paul positions himself honestly before Christ and to Timothy.[4] And even though Paul is contending with opposition coming at Timothy, he’s humbly authenticating his call not through big words and deeds but by highlighting his worst.[5] Through a posture of gratitude toward Christ[6] for what Christ has done with and in him,[7],[8] Paul cannot forget where he started: a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a “violent man” or a man with “rude arrogance” or “boastful pride.” In this way, he resists those who come against him with their boasting in themselves and their grand works, positioning themselves as better than everyone else; those who boast in themselves and in their own deeds so to elevate themselves over others are, for Paul, the ones to be wary of. Why? Because they place all the credit at their own feet.[9] What does Paul do? Paul Places all the credit at the pierced feet of his Savior and God.[10] But I was shown mercy, Paul writes, because I acted ignorantly in disbelief, yet the grace of our lord abounded exceedingly with faith and love that are in Christ Jesus (vv13b-14). Out the window goes boasting in himself: he acted ignorantly because he didn’t have faith—what he thought was right and true was exposed (by the light of Christ) to be wrong and false—and yet(!) Christ displayed both mercy and grace that abounded exceedingly with the divine gift of faith and love that will define his life and service.[11] His conversion, this pivot point in his life, was all because of Christ’s action toward him in mercy and grace,[12] not because of anything he did, thought, or said.[13] Paul’s presentation of himself is nlike those who boast in themselves and forsake the gospel and Jesus’s mercy and love[14] and are forced to resort to previous forms of godliness that bring condemnation rather than liberation.[15] For Paul, you know who follows Christ when you see where they place the credit for their life, love, and liberation.[16],[17],[18]

To back up his claim and to encourage Timothy to accept what he’s confessing,[19] Paul writes, The saying [is] faithful and worthy of all approval, ‘Christ Jesus came into the cosmos to save sinners/those who miss the mark,’ of whom I, I am chief, but for this very reason I was shown mercy so that Christ Jesus might show in me first the utmost longsuffering —as an example to the ones who are about to believe in him toward eternal [his] life (vv15-16). Paul emphasizes his depravity in a way that would make many of us run to sooth him; but that’s not what Paul intends. He’s not depressed. He’s not expressing false humility. He’s, literally, calling a thing what it is, calling himself who he was and who he is now. In doing this Paul exposes the inner (and outer!) liberation he’s experienced in Christ. And this is to become the paradigm for others because this is, according to Paul, what Christ actually does through the proclamation of the Gospel that is heard in the heart and mind by faith.[20] Through Paul, Jesus Christ has demonstrated his long-suffering patience with us.[21] So, if for Paul then, yes!, absolutely for for each of us.[22] Paul’s honest self-reflection and humility bring us to the same location and posture;[23],[24] considering all that Paul did, can’t we also be a little bit (more?) honest about ourselves? For Paul, thus for us, because of what Christ has done and will do for us, there’s no need to hide behind facades of perfect and awesome or paint over all our actions—even when they are quite bad—with “good” and “right.” We can be wrong and maybe even bad and that’s okay even if it hurts, because God loves us in and through Christ and nothing will get in the way of that. Now to the eternal kingdom, incorruptible, invisible, God only, honor and glory forever and ever. Amen (v17).

Conclusion

So, we don’t need to be afraid of our “sin” and being a “sinner.” Here’s two reasons why:

  1. Jesus—literally—came to save sinners, those who are not well, who need help, who do not hit the mark, who trip and fall, who wound others and are wounded by others, who find themselves trapped in deeply problematic systemic issues (being both captive and complicit), those who grumble when it’s time for church or Sunday Education, who drive too fast or too slow, who aren’t perfect at school or think that by being perfect at school they’ll earn all the love, and those who are just truly and wonderfully way too hooman for their own good. Jesus literally came for us sinners, and if we can’t acknowledge that (honestly and personally) then we miss out on all that Christ has to offer (mercy, grace, longsuffering patience) and that means we are stuck in our indifference, death, and captivity. Being a sinner doesn’t mean you aren’t loved by God; according to Paul, to know you are a sinner is to know the love of God deeply and profoundly.
  2. By acknowledging our sin and that we are sinners, we have a story to tell to others of a God who is so loving that even at our worst God so loved us first.[25] We have a story to tell of a God who came to us when we were dead set in our ways of ignorance thinking we were right when we were terribly wrong. We have a story to share that not only positions us alongside our neighbor in humble and equal status, but a significant way to identify with them in their fear, pain, anger, and oppression. And right now, looking around, I see a world that is divided through and through because of the fractured human tendency to need to be right so to be good so to be loved and accepted, who are afraid to be wrong, who are angry at change and chaos. And what the world needs now is not more adamancy that this way is the right way or even ridiculous arguments about who is truly moral and who isn’t. What the world needs now is more people who, like Paul, can stand in the posture of humility and self-awareness and can dare to call a thing what it is even when it comes to themselves, people who can readily say “I don’t know”, those who aren’t afraid to listen to others with whom they disagree, those who can sit in the discomfort of chaos while knowing it’s bad and that God is in it with us, those who find their hope in Christ, those who can speak a substantial word into the swirling hurricane of empty words. Beloved, because of Christ’s work toward and in you, the world needs you in your honesty and humility; never forget that.

[1] LW 54:157-158; Table Talk 1590.

[2] I’m using tradition language for the author of this letter so I can just keep it simple for the audience. I am aware of the debates of authorship and dating.

[3] The precious things about both the two letters to Timothy and the one letter to Titus is that these are personal letters to persons and not churches. For all practical purposes, we shouldn’t be reading them, mining them for ways to condemn each other through biased eisegesis and baseless proof texting. We are peeking in on a relationship and as those who are peeking in, we are *not* addressed. Rather, we are the audience witnessing such a dialogue as if we had front row seats to a play. So, as we listen, we see Paul, the great and magnificent Paul, at his most humble. As he encourages Timothy in his service of the gospel, Paul tends to Timothy delicately and kindly, and (mostly) through his own personal narrative about his life and walk with Christ.

[4] Philip Towner, The Letters to Timothy and Titus, TNICNT, ed. Gordon D. Fee (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006), 134. “We discover not only that his gospel is the paradigm of sound teaching, but also that his own experience of coming to faith provides a blueprint for measuring the authenticity of any who would oppose him.”

[5] Towner, Timothy, 134. Verses 12-16 form a tightly knit unit. “Paul blends personal history with salvation history in a way that sets him as an apostle squarely into God’s plan. His calling to be an apostle is authenticated, and his own experience of mercy and salvation become the paradigm for all believers.”

[6] Towner, Timothy, 136. “Gratitude is the dominant and opening note of this testimony…”

[7] Towner, Timothy, 134. “This section corresponds to the thanksgiving sections of other letters The present needs created by opposition to Paul’s authority, message, and mission determine the selfward turn of Paul’s gratitude.”

[8] Towner, Timothy, 138. “…[Paul] is probably much more intent on attributing his calling to Christ than he is of making trustworthiness the condition of appointment.”

[9] Towner, Timothy, 141. “in contrast to Paul, who sinned before coming to faith in Christ, the false teachers are portrayed as believers (or those who profess to believe) who by their sin have rejected their faith…”

[10] Towner, Timothy, 138. “There, as here, the issue is of Paul’s teaching a correct view of things, and the condition of being ‘trustworthy’ (the same ‘faith’ word that occurs here) is linked to the Lord’s mercy…”

[11] Towner, Timothy, 142. “…the phrase defines Christian existence by bringing together the fundamental act of God in Christ that begins the relationship, the ongoing present mystery of union with Christ (in the Spirit), and the sense of new and renewed status that results. In other words, the phrase expresses a dynamic existence that is eschatological, relational, and existential.”

[12] Towner, Timothy, 141. Not only mercy, but grace expands, “‘Grace’ overwhelmed his sin. ‘Grace’…refers to God’s kind intention toward humanity.”

[13] Towner, Timothy, 139. Ethic device “it supplies a contrast between two ways to life with the focus on the Christ-event as the moment of change.”

[14] Towner, Timothy, 142-143. Opponents have departed from faith and love, thus “Paul employs this phrase as n identity tag of authentic believe in the apostolic gospel, and that in doing so he excludes those who reject his gospel and supply another (legalistic and Torah-based) standard of godliness.”

[15] Towner, Timothy, 143. “In Paul’s thinking, the direction taken by the opponents back into Torah and Torah speculation is retrograde. Not only does it nullify ‘faith’ as the basis for salvation and holy living …but also in terms of salvation history it marks a retrograde step.”

[16] Towner, Timothy, 138. “Paul is not arguing that Christ foresaw that in spite of his sin Paul would prove himself faithful; rather, the sense here is of the potency of divine calling to achieve certain results in human lives. As Paul reflects on the process, his argument is that his ministry to this point has demonstrated the effectiveness of Christ’s choice in appointing him apostle to the Gentiles.”

[17] Towner, Timothy, 139. “This personalizing of the eschatological transformation will serve two purposes. It prepares the way for Paul’s presentation of himself as the pattern of salvation….It also links his conversion To God’s plan to reach the Gentiles.”

[18] Towner, Timothy, 141. “Authentic Christian existence bears unmistakable marks…and Paul’s personal experience of grace bears testimony to that reality.”

[19] Towner, Timothy, 143. “Its stable form….however, suggests it is either widely known or will be perfectly understood. Its purpose is to authenticate Paul’s immediate expression of the gospel as apostolic and to be accepted as true. … the expansion ‘that deserves full acceptance’ emphasizes the need for hearers to make an appropriate rational response to embrace and esteem what is said and to act accordingly.”

[20] Towner, Timothy, 151. “…If Christ can reach and enlighten the zealous persecutor, he can reach others who hear the gospel, and this need not exclude Paul’s opponents if they repent.”

[21] Towner, Timothy, 148. “But with an immediate shift of actors, form Paul to Christ, the perspective on the human dilemma shifts under the new christological lens. From this new vantage point Paul’s experience becomes a (salvation-historical) spectacle, a ‘display of the immensity of Christ’s patience.’”

[22] Towner, Timothy, 149. “…the converted Paul was a living illustration of divine patience.”

[23] Towner, Timothy, 149. “The purpose of Christ’s display in Paul was to provide an ‘example [pattern, model] for those who would believe on him [Christ] and receive eternal life.’”

[24] Towner, Timothy, 151. “Thus the apostle is as an example or illustration. His experience of Christ’s immense patience, his conversion, and knowledge of his gospel form the pattern for those to whom his mission reaches.”

[25] Towner, Timothy, 154. “But built into the gospel message, rooted as it is in the OT promise to bring the whole world, is the centrifugal thrust that reaches beyond the church. We today are invited to view the Pauline ‘pattern’ and to replicate it. Our own experiences of conversion and calling contain promises for those around us who do not yet know Christ’s mercy. Yet they will come to know it only if the gospel is communicated meaning fully to them—if we resist our own tendencies to become absorbed in what we already have instead of reaching out with what others need to have.”

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Consider the Cost

“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[1]

Introduction

American Evangelicalism and Western Christianity writ large, have done a huge disservice to Christianity broadly speaking. This morning I’m speaking not only as an observer of our socio-religio-political landscape, but as one who came to faith in it. It has been both my experience and observation that much of American Evangelicalism and Western Christianity conceives of the life of the disciple of Christ that is both comfortable, easy, and aligned to traditionalist conceptions promoted within society. The Jesus peddled therein reflects American Evangelicalism and its ideologies rather than the Jesus the gospel and epistle authors took pains to paint for us.

I remember—specifically—that my faith in and obedience to Jesus was going to make my life easier; that I would find myself in states of existential comfort and bliss. I’d be ushered into the spiritual realm, no longer afraid of where I’d end up in death while (intentionally) remaining indifferent (ignorant?) toward the issues of the world because why worry when Jesus is gonna come back and fix it all? Faith was to make me perpetually happy, nice, and too blessed to be stressed. My only two obligations were evangelism and obedience: I was to be a good Christian which meant telling people about Jesus and how great he’d made my life and obeying my authorities in all things which was God’s will. You might be burning in hell (temporally) or heading towards it (spiritually), and that was none of my business really because that was all your choice. My sins were forgiven and that’s all that really mattered, that was the goal of the gospel and of Jesus’s mission in the world. I was just lucky—blessed!!—enough to have decided to find Christ when I did!

But none of this was true. Like a sports car sold to someone suffering the malaise and banality of midlife, I was sold a saccharine Jesus, having little power and agency in the world because he was so conformed to it, embedded (buried?) in the ideas of yesteryear. Becoming Christian was going to solve all my problems; turns out, becoming Christian created more problems than it solved. Here’s why…

Luke 14:25-33

Luke tells us that Jesus addressed the many crowds that were coming together around him (these many crowds were composed of “neutral” people who may become disciples[2]), and he turned and said to them, “If someone comes to me and hates not their father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yet even their own soul, they are not able to be my disciple (v26). Luke’s emphasis here is implied: those following Jesus must know the cost of following.[3] The “cost of discipleship” is not only the burden of the disciples; it’s the burden of any/all someone/s coming to Jesus.[4] There is no way around the reality: to follow Jesus is to also participate in the mission of God in the world as Jesus does; obedience to God by faith and following Jesus necessarily means that they will be confronted with performing intentional acts of disobedience within their private.[5] In other words, it aint easy being Christian.[6] Not even family ties—a vital component of ancient Palestinian life—can get in the way; the follower of Christ must not even let family loyalty hinder them from pursuing God and God’s mission in the world.[7] (This is what the “hate” means in this verse; it is not about having a feeling of ill will or malevolence.) Not even loyalty to one’s own life/livelihood can get in the way of following Christ.[8]

Luke then tells us that Jesus said, Whoever does not carry the cross and comes after me that one is not able to be my disciple (v27). While we may think of this statement through the lens of Good Friday, it isn’t actually about “suffering”; it’s an equivalent thought to hating the family and oneself and broadens the scope of disobedience: it won’t be just private, it will be public and against the established authorities (ecclesiastical and political) who have power to punish you and take your life because of your disobedience.[9] In other words, the whole life of the follower of Christ will be exposed to the potential ramifications of following this man who is God. Everything is up for grabs.

Luke then tells us that Jesus provides a moment of reflection for those listening,[10] For who of you, willing to build a tower, does not (at all) after sitting down estimate the cost whether he has [enough] to complete [it]? So that, lest while he has laid his foundation and is not having power to finish, all those who gaze at it will begin to mock him, saying, `This person began to build and had not the power to finish.’ Or what king, going to come together in war against another king, will not (at all) after sitting down deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand troops to encounter the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? Now if he cannot, while the other is still far off, he sends a delegation asking for the terms of peace (vv28-32). The follower of Christ is not headed toward some sort of comfortable and pleasant and easy life; they must think about the cost, likely conflict and confrontation, and what the end will look like.[11] it’s not going to be easy, in fact, it will be hard; and “hard” may be the lightest way to say it. For those who follow Jesus—according to Luke—they will feel the anguish of the decision deep in their bones as their choice begins—at times—to feel unbearable, lonely, and profoundly demanding in terms of forgoing material glory and honor and forsaking the creature comforts of fitting in and following along, including family and friends.[12] According to Luke and Luke’s Jesus, the Christian will be the one who stands out and not because they are so righteous but because they are so hated by the kingdom of humanity. “Authentic discipleship”[13] will force the follower of Christ into a spotlight and will paint a target on their back not because of their obedience to traditionalist conceptions of society and religion but specifically because of their disobedience born from their new life in Christ[14] marked by new ways of being in the world[15] that grate against the status-quo.[16] Participating in God’s mission of the divine revolution of love, life, and liberation will do that; never forget that Good Friday was more than a spiritual event.[17]

Therefore, Luke tells us, that Jesus concluded this discourse with,Therefore, in this way, all of you who do not take leave of all the things that are at hand are not able to be my disciple (v33). This last bit isn’t a new command to sell things but, rather, to loosen one’s grip on all that they have. The disciple of Christ, the follower of the Way, the participant in God’s mission and divine revolution of love, life, and liberation in the world cannot have loyalties placed anywhere else; their only allegiance is to the reign of God, forfeiting their status and position in the kingdom of humanity.[18] For the disciple of Christ, this is not about being intentionally poor, friendless, and rejecting one’s family. Rather, it’s about holding on loose enough that when conformity to the status quo of the kingdom of humanity is demanded—publicly or privately—the disciple of Christ can let go and proceed on the way of the reign of God, to glory of God and the well-being of the neighbor.

Conclusion

The Christian life is hard; this has been the consistent theme of Luke’s presentation of Jesus these many weeks. It’s not easy. It’s not comfortable. It’s not the sure-fire way to be “successful,” popular, or famous. It will not allow you always to be nice to others, always fun to be around, or always good-vibes-only. It will not be the fool proof way toward material blessings in this world or to acquiring favor of the rich and powerful. To follow Christ means to be intractable when it comes to the kingdom of humanity’s tendency toward not only rejecting but violently attacking God’s reign in the world. Christians, according to Luke’s Jesus, cannot side with nation over Christ, cannot side with the status-quo over the laboring of God to bear something new into the world (stress on new, not a retreat to something old), cannot participate in the captivity of our neighbors over fighting for their liberation, cannot become familiar with indifference over feeling the risk and demand of love, and cannot advocate for death over life.

The Christian—the one who follows and is to be as Christ` in the world—is the one who finds themselves at the intersection and epicenter of the temporal and spiritual realms, with a will conformed to God’s will, hands and feet ready to bring God glory by bringing wellbeing to their neighbor, and an eye keen on spotting and a voice ready to call out the violence and destruction of the kingdom of humanity. It’s not about self-righteous, holier-than-thou, clean and pure, self-imposed glory and boasting; it’s about the radical love of God that is the revolutionary love of neighbor. And while I want to comfort you by reminding you that God is with you—for surely God is with you, Beloved—I can’t solely tell you that in good faith and with a good conscience because the Christian walk is hard and I must tell you that. The world would have me sooth you to sleep (back to sleep?), telling you sweet nothings that let you off the hook. But it’s my job to participate in the prophetic calling of God to wake you up. Luke’s Jesus doesn’t want sleepers, but those who can stay awake, call out the discrepancies between what is and could be, and who dare to step disobediently into the void to protect the love, life, and liberation of the neighbor from the aggressive overreach of authority (ecclesial and political). Beloved, this is what it looks like to follow God; consider wisely the cost of such discipleship.

[1] LW 54:157-158; Table Talk 1590.

[2] Green, Luke, 564. “Often in the Lukan account, crowds are presented as pools of neutral person from whom Jesus might draw disciples, and this is clearly the case here.”

[3] Justo L. Gonzalez, Luke, Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible, eds. Amy Plantinga Pauw and William C. Placher (Louisville: WJK, 2010), 183. “…[Jesus] warns those who would follow him of the cost of discipleship.”

[4] Green, Luke, 565. “‘Disciples’ does not refer narrowly in this instance to a select group of Jesus’ followers but…to all who, following him, identify with his missions. Such persons are characterized, first, by their distancing themselves form the high cultural value placed on the family network, otherwise paramount in the world of Luke.”

[5] Gonzalez, Luke, 183. “Discipleship requires radical obedience. Love of family must not stand in the way.”

[6] Gonzalez, Luke, 183. “Now he turns to the crowds around him. It is not only Jerusalem and all it represents that should take heed of the danger of disobedience; it is also this entire crowd that travels with him. If Jerusalem must be disabused of the notion that it will be easy to be the people of God, now this crowd of followers is also disabused of the notion that it will be easy to be a disciple of Jesus.”

[7] Gonzalez, Luke, 183. “…to ‘hate’ the family does not mean to have evil sentiments for them, but rather to forsake them for the sake of the kingdom. A disciple of Jesus will not use supposed family responsibility to avoid obedience.”

[8] Green, Luke, 565. “…in this context, ‘hate’ is not primarily an affective quality but a disavowal of primary allegiance to one’s kind…Jesus underscores how discipleship relativizes one’s normal and highly valued loyalties to normal family and other social ties.”

[9] Gonzalez, Luke, 183. “And this is then paralleled by the saying about carrying the cross. Taken in context, this not just a call to sacrifice, as we often think. The cross is an instrument of legal punishment and torture. So to take up the cross is parallel to ‘hating’ the family. A disciple of Jesus must be ready to carry the burden not only of tensions in the family, but even of civil disobedience to the point of legal punishment.”

[10] Gonzalez, Luke, 183. “Pointing to this idea, Jesus uses two brief parables about counting the cost.”

[11] Gonzalez, Luke, 184. “Likewise, one should not become a follower of Jesus without considering the cost, the opposition, and the final outcome.”

[12] Green, Luke, 566. “What outcomes are proposed if resources prove to be deficient? In both cases, the repercussions are tragic—the one resulting in mockery, the other in surrender; hence, a premium is placed on the inadequacy of one’s resources. By extrapolation, then, Jesus insists that such assets as one’s network of kin, so important in Greco-Roman antiquity, are an insufficient foundation for assuring one’s status before God. Dependence on the resources available to a person apart from ‘hating’ family and ‘carrying the cross’ cannot but lead to a tragic outcome. What is required is thoroughgoing fidelity to God’s salvific aim, manifest in one’s identity as a disciple of Jesus.”

[13] Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 564. “As Jesus turns to address the crowds traveling with him, he lists allegiance to one’s family network and the shackles that constitute one’s possessions as impediments to authentic discipleship.”

[14] Green, Luke, 565. “As in 9:23, so here Jesus is calling for the reconstruction of one’s identity, not along ancestral lines or on the basis of sone’s social status, but within the new community oriented toward God’s purpose and characterized by faithfulness to the message of Jesus.”

[15] Green, Luke, 567. “This ‘leaving behind’ is cast in the present tense, demarcating this condition not simply as a potential for which disciples must be constantly ready, but as a characteristic feature of the disciples.”

[16] Green, Luke, 564. Luke “…reminds us that the new practices counseled by Jesus in vv 7-14 are not isolated behaviors but, from Luke’s perspective, must flow out of a transformed disposition, reflecting new commitments, attitudes, and allegiances. That is, the conversion that characterizes genuine disciples is itself generative, giving rise to new forms of behavior.”

[17] Green, Luke, 565-566. “…bearing the cross is used as a metaphor of discipleship—indeed, as a requirement for one’s identity as a disciple. Such persons would live as though they were condemned to death by crucifixion, oblivious to the pursuit of noble status, finding no interest in securing one’s future via securing obligations form others or by stockpiling possessions, free to identify with Jesus in his dishonorable suffering.”

[18] Green, Luke, 567. “As is generally the case in Luke, one’s basic commitments are manifest or symbolized in the disposition of ‘all one has.’ Accordingly, the distinctive property of disciples is the abandonment with which they put aside all competing securities in order that they might refashion their lives and identity according to eh norms of the kingdom of God.”

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