The Extreme Jesus

"Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?  Will you go where you don't know and never be the same?  Will you let my love be shown; will you let my name be known; will you let my life be grown in you and you in me? (John Bell,"The Summons" verse 1 lyrics, 1987, WGRG The Iona Community, GIA Publications, Inc)
Do you hear Jesus summoning you to follow?  The "Extreme Jesus" demands your all in order to follow him surrendering all that would separate you from making Jesus your #1 priority.  The "Extreme Jesus" is NOT:  "My dearest darling, I love you more than anything in the world.  I would climb the highest mountain and swim the widest ocean just to be at your side.  I will see you Saturday night if it does not rain.  Love always, John." (ministrymatters.com)
Just as "John" uses hyperbole and exaggeration to describe his love, so Jesus uses hyperbole when he says the cost of discipleship is hating father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even life itself. (Luke 14: 26)  But in contrast to the above letter, Jesus' hyperbole is to grab our attention as Jesus marches toward the cross and crucifixion and challenges us to take up the cross of faithful following.  While we don't take such a challenge literally, I believe we must take it seriously.
Quite the opposite of the so-called prosperity gospel, in Luke 14: 25-33, Jesus cautions us to count the cost to ensure that we're not following with unexamined or naive enthusiasm.  Just as we calculate the cost of building our house or estimate the cost of sending troops into Syria, Jesus warns us that following him demands our all - our total commitment.
"Will you leave yourself behind if I but call your name?  Will you care for cruel and kind and never be the same?  Will you risk the hostile stare should your life attract or scare?  Will you let me answer prayer in you and you in me?" ("The Summons," verse 2)
What do you find hard to let go of?  What sort of things (material possessions; values; prejudices; other commitments; time; energy; doubt; grief; loss) cause you to hesitate in following Jesus fully?  In acknowledging the need to surrender all such obstacles, Jeremiah 18: 1-6 reminds us that we are created/formed/made by God who cares and provides for us.  It is God's faithfulness to this covenant of care that enables us to live sacrificially and to persevere when we can't make it on our own.  When we open up our clenched fists and let go of all that we cling to other than Jesus, our hands are free to be transformed and to receive God's grace.

Thanks be to God.
Pastor Shelley