Let us pray: O God of love and glory, on this day we come to you asking that your Spirit might be with us as we consider the important decisions in life that we all must make. Lord, in these moments, may we feel your presence among us. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
The major issue of the 1992 presidential campaign was the state of the American economy. Bill Clinton, George Bush and Ross Perot all offered different solutions to the problems of stalled economic growth and unemployment. It was the American people's deep sense of uneasiness over what economist Adam Smith would call "the wealth of the nation" that ultimately prompted them to vote for a change in our national leadership.
The campaign was unusual in some respects, but similar to other presidential elections in one significant way. As a major weekly magazine suggested, rarely did the candidates offer "a sustained emphasis on healing the country or forging a consensus for sacrifice." The main reason is that the question, "What's in it for me?" has a higher priority for most voters than healing or sacrifice.
James Wall of the Christian Century has noted this, and observed that the general tone of the debate in that campaign was that of selfishness. I believe that this observation could be applied to elections at all levels over the past 20 years. Wall comments that we "do not expect our presidential candidates to be frank either about 'sacrifice' or 'fairness,' at least not until after November 3. That is the sad, but realistic state of our democracy."
However, while the words "sacrifice" and "fairness" are rarely heard in political campaigns, they must be heard in the governing of the nation. As Mr. Wall suggests, the churches can play a role in making this happen. He argues against those who think that religion must be restricted politically to the realm of private moral decision-making.
He uses this example to help us understand the dilemma. Two thousand years ago, in the time of Christ, a regular assignment for a Roman schoolboy would be to write an essay. In that essay he would be asked to think of himself as an historical person at a time of economic and political crisis. Marius among the ruins of the ancient city-state of Carthage in North Africa was a favorite subject.
This would be like asking one of our youth here at the church to write an essay on the German bombing of England during World War II. This exercise was not only a good way to teach history, but it forced the schoolboy to place himself both outside and inside the character of another person in another place and time in history.
Mr. Wall believes that the proper role of religion is to fight against the struggle of selfish interests. True religion should fight against the perspective that nothing but the private self exists, and that life is a Hobbesian struggle of selves against each other. The question, "What's in it for me," is the end result of that philosophy of life.
On a much deeper level, true religious feeling encourages us to respond to God's identification with our pain and the pain of others. Furthermore, religion should help us to empathize with the pain of others. Because it is through this caring for the pain and suffering of others that we can rise above the debilitating limits that selfishness places upon us.
If we try to view the world from the perspective of another person, as the Roman schoolboy was asked to do, then we can discover the importance of sacrifice and fairness, and begin to appreciate its fundamental role in the foundation of democracy and of our country.1
I found this essay titled "The Language of Sacrifice" to be very interesting as I reflected upon the scripture lesson for the morning. Because what Jesus' parables of the tower builder and the king contemplating a military campaign are all about is the willingness of men and women to make sacrifices in order to gain that which is greater, that which is most precious in life.
Jesus asks his audience this question: "Who among you would begin to build a tower without first estimating the cost of completing it?" The tower of which Jesus spoke was most likely a vineyard tower. Vineyards in those days were often equipped with towers from which guards could protect the harvest from thieves who might steal the grapes.2
The point of the parable is that the wise man will carefully consider whether or not his resources are sufficient to complete a building before he lays the foundation. The man who does not do this runs the risk of being ridiculed and regarded as a failure in life.
The image of an unfinished structure was a familiar one to Jesus' audience. Indeed, even today, what is more embarrassing than a building that has not been completed, a job left unfinished? Perhaps you have heard the jokes about the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" in Pittsburgh. In the community where we lived prior to coming to this appointment, people would shake their heads as they drove past a proposed parking area that one church started, but lacked the funds to finish.
Yes, when we think about it, things left unfinished in life can cause us great pain and sadness. That is why we are saddened when a young man or woman's life is cut short by illness or accident before the biblical three score and 10 years. It is sad because we know that this is a life that has not been completed. This is why we almost always consider an early death to be a tragedy, while dying at an advanced age is often considered a blessing. And this is perhaps what causes the greatest pain in divorce -- because something good that was started in love has not been completed and fulfilled.
So it is. As Jesus' teaching reminds us, anything that is worthwhile in life has a cost. There is indeed a high price to be paid for anything that is really worth having. There must be sacrifice. There must be a fairness that requires the giving up of our selfish inclinations. In order to live life fully and happily, we must be people who are able to count the cost in almost every area of living.
Marriage is one of those institutions which demands a high personal cost. The church's wedding ritual begins with these sobering words, words that are so often taken too lightly. It says, marriage is "not to be entered into unadvisedly, but reverently, discreetly, and in the fear of God." Each person makes a covenant to love, comfort, honor and take care of the other in sickness and in health. That can be a difficult commitment to keep if a spouse becomes critically ill or severely disabled. The husband and wife agree to stay with each other "for better, for worse, for richer for poorer ... till death do us part." A man and woman must count the cost of what they are getting into in marriage.
So it is also with having children. Did you see a recent letter to Ann Landers in the paper? It struck a chord with this expectant father heading toward his 40th birthday. The writer was talking about the mixed blessings of raising children in your 40s and 50s. It is true, I think, that an older father is more patient, and in a way, more appreciative of children.
However, as this letter-writer rightly suggests, raising children at a later age is also more difficult in many ways. Men or women in their 40s and 50s generally have a lower energy level, so taking the kids to Little League, attending PTA meetings and so forth tires parents much more.
Indeed, there are tremendous physical, emotional, and financial costs to raising children. Before having them, a couple should count the cost. There are just too many lonely and neglected and deprived children out there with parents who have not done so.
In the scripture lesson, Jesus makes his point again with another illustration. He asks his audience, "What king, preparing to go to battle against another king, would not first sit down and consider whether or not his army of 10,000 men would be able to fight successfully against 20,000?" This is the mistake that Saddam Hussein made against the Coalition of Nations, which opposed his invasion of Kuwait. Hussein was crushed, because he did not carefully count the cost of his aggression.
The point that Jesus is making in these parables is that the life of faith in God also has a price. As the great German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer has put it so directly, there is a "cost of discipleship." There is no such thing as "cheap grace." If we want to know God, and if we want to receive the gift of eternal life from his son Jesus Christ, then there are some things that we must do in order to gain these gifts.
The life of faith is one that demands sacrifice and fairness toward others. The life of faith means that we must once and for all renounce the curse of selfishness in our lives. This is the way that God expects us to live in the new age that has been inaugurated by the life, death, and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ.
A missionary by the name of Viv Grigg writes about his personal search for God. When Mr. Grigg was nine years old he had a dream about being a missionary in the Brazilian jungle. The next day, for a class "what-do-you-want-to-be-when-you-grow-up assignment," he wrote that he wanted to be, of all things, a missionary.
At age 16 Viv Grigg picked fruit in the summer to save money for his university education. He lived in a dormitory with the other workers, mostly poor alcoholics and prostitutes. The destitute people and back-breaking labor were in sharp contrast to his middle class life in Dunedin, New Zealand. Yet instead of shrinking from his co-workers, Mr. Grigg loved them; he introduced them to Jesus Christ.
When he was 23 this remarkable young man fulfilled his dream and moved to Manila, the Philippines, where he spent his first term as a missionary. However, he was shocked to learn that many of his fellow missionaries lived in fancy homes, far removed from the slums of that city.
He knew that the Bible made it clear that the most effective way to reach the urban poor was to live among them, just as Jesus did. And so for the next 15 years Grigg helped to start churches in some of the most squalid cities on earth, including Manila, Calcutta and San Paulo.
Viv Grigg says this about the search for God. "Most people want the power of God but are not willing to walk the way of the cross. Knowledge of his power and the Holy Spirit is a very quiet thing that creeps up on those who work with the poor as God works with them. Work with the poor grants us the reward of walking with God."
Grigg acknowledges, of course, that not all people are called to live among the poor. But, he adds, "all Christians are called to a forsaking lifestyle and giving to the poor."3 If we are truly seeking God, we will direct ourselves toward living lives of sacrifice, fairness and justice for all. In John 12:26, Jesus says, "Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will be my servant also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor."
My friends in Christ, we are indeed called to give of ourselves to God and to other people. That is the central and most difficult teaching of the Bible. It is the way that God expects us to live in the Resurrection Age.
But although the costs of discipleship may be high, the good news is that even greater still are the rewards of a life of faith. Because our faith in Christ, which is expressed and nurtured in the church, is that which brings joy, peace and happiness to troubled hearts that are in search of purpose and meaning. It is our faith that opens the door to everlasting life. Our faith is indeed our hope both now and forever.
My prayer for you this day is that you may make your investment in a life of faith this day. May God bless you now and always with his love and his peace.
Benediction: Gracious and eternal God, we have come together this day as friends to worship you and praise your name. We have heard something of what you expect from us as your disciples. As we go from this place, may we take the hope and peace of Christ with us in all that we do. 32
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you now and always. Amen.
1. James Wall, "The Language of Sacrifice," The Christian Century, October 14, 1991, pp. 891-92.
2. William Barclay, The Gospel of Luke (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975), p. 197.
3. Viv Grigg with Tamera Marko, "Living Among the Poor," World Vision, October/November 1992, pp. 19-20.