June 21, 2020 - Third Sunday after Pentecost - The Challenge of Discipleship

In this Sunday's sermon Pastor Janell spoke of what she calls the rebellions and counter-rebellions against authority that are currently going on nationally This is happening both in the release of complacency we see around us regarding systemic racism, and the gathering of large groups of people who are tired of living under restrictions that were imposed to flatten the death curve of the current pandemic. The Trump Rally in Tulsa is the example of this weariness. We are seeing real time reactions to what is perceived as unreasonable abuses of power. Then, as Pastor Janelle preached, it is far too easy for us to ignore what we do not choose to hear.

The challenge of Christian discipleship can be to shine a light on deceits of the powerful to allow the world to see, It is hard to be the one to speak truth with love. And we have so much work to truly live into what we can glibly espouse at times.

She talked about a push back to each of these two rebellions. Jesus called on his followers to realign their interests with those of the powerless, outcast and the marginalized. This call will eventually get Jesus killed. It is hard to think of this as the good news of the Gospel. We long for an easier discipleship. A great temptation in life is to go along to get along.

I recently experienced Terence Malick's film A Hidden Life. I say experienced because watched is too weak a word. The film depicts the life of Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian farmer and devout Catholic who refused to fight again, as he and his village first did, for the Nazis in World War II. One of the first requirements, as he is called again, is to swear an oath of allegiance to Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. Despite pressure from the Mayor and his farm neighbors, who increasingly ostracize him and his family, and from the Bishop of Salzburg, Jägerstätter refuses. Wrestling with the knowledge that his decision will mean arrest, and even death, Jägerstätter finds strength in his wife's love and support.

His case goes to trial. He is found guilty and sentenced to death. Despite many opportunities to sign the oath of allegiance, and the promise of non-combatant work, Jägerstätter continues to stand up for his beliefs and is executed by the Third Reich in August 1943, while his wife and three daughters survive. 

He is continually asked, besides all the opportunities and promises he is given, whether he knows that his actions will not, in the end, change the outcome of the war or the world in any way. He can only answer that question with another question "How can I choose to do what I know is wrong?"  Risks must be taken to live into our authentic selves or, in other words, to find true meaning. One way of discovering our authentic self is to experience, at a gut level, the compassion Jesus felt in last week's Gospel. This takes us out of our constructed selves. The word Jesus uses in this Gospel for peace denotes quietness, rest, and complacency more than the word shalom which Jesus normally uses that is translated as peace. I was drawn to one question asked in the film. "You say Christ said this and Christ said that. What do you say?" It is an interesting twist on what would Jesus do because, in this moment as a member of the body of Christ you will determine what is said and done next.

Pastor Janell ended her sermon with these words "When hope feels unattainable, we can praise God. Siblings in Christ - we are not alone. God loves us no matter what."

Her silence after these words were powerful, just like the sermon.