St. Thomas’ Church, Owings Mills MD
September 4, 2022
Year C, Proper 18: The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Jeremiah 18:1-11
Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17
Philemon 1-21
Luke 14:25-33
The Cost and the Blessing of Discipleship for Philemon and for Us
In today’s Gospel lesson, we’re told that, “large crowds were traveling with Jesus.”
I suspect that these large crowds were following Jesus because they had seen or heard about his healings, maybe even his Sabbath healings, like the time Jesus set free the bent-over woman and she stood up straight!
Maybe these large crowds were following Jesus because they wanted to see more of these wonder works, or maybe they longed for healing for themselves or for those they loved.
Or maybe the large crowds were attracted to Jesus’ parables, the strange and challenging stories that opened new ways of looking at the world and new ways of thinking about God, stories that must have kept people scratching their heads for days.
Now, most normal religious leaders, present company included, would want to hold onto these big numbers – to keep growing the church, let’s say.
But, as we heard today, rather than trying to please the crowd, rather than sugarcoating his message, Jesus instead offers some hard words, some difficult teaching.
Jesus warns that there is a cost to following him – a cost that should be carefully calculated before making the decision to follow Jesus.
Now, it’s true that God’s grace is free – there’s nothing we could ever do to earn or buy God’s grace.
But there is a cost.
The cost is how we respond to grace.
There is a cost to putting Jesus first, ahead of even our closest family attachments, ahead of all our worldly goods.
There is a cost to keeping our baptismal promises – a cost to proclaiming the Good News in word and example – a cost to loving our neighbor as our self – a cost to striving for justice and peace among all people – a cost to respecting the dignity of every human being.
Grace is free, but there is a cost to following Jesus – a cost for us today and a cost for disciples two thousand years ago.
Like, for example, a man named Philemon, who, as we heard in today’s second lesson, once received quite a remarkable letter from St. Paul.
In this short letter, we get a glimpse of Paul conducting some business. It’s a personal - but not quite private – letter. Paul addresses it to Philemon and to others in his household.
It’s a letter that was valued and saved and shared by early Christians and eventually ended up in the New Testament.
And, it’s a letter that gives us a glimpse of the cost of following Jesus.
So let’s try to unpack what’s going on here.
Paul is writing to a man named Philemon and he’s writing about one of Philemon’s slaves, Onesimus – a name which means “useful.”
Now, before I continue, I want to mention that unlike the way slavery was practiced in our country, slavery in the ancient world was generally not a dehumanizing institution. Slaves were very much still seen as people and some even rose to prominent positions. Slaves were not necessarily slaves forever. But, having said that, it was still better to be free than to be a slave.
So, as we read Paul’s letter – and, of course, unfortunately we only have one side of this correspondence – we learn that Philemon’s slave Onesimus has been serving Paul while the apostle has been in prison.
Notice the wordplay on the name Onesimus. Paul writes, “Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me.”
We’re not told how or why Onesimus ended up serving Paul.
Maybe Philemon had loaned out his slave – or, maybe, Onesimus had run away and gone to Paul for safe harbor.
We just don’t know how it all went down, but the slave Onesimus has been with Paul, and he has become a Christian.
And now Paul is writing to Philemon – who is also a Christian - with a big ask.
But, because Paul is being so indirect we don’t know exactly what he’s asking.
It could be that Paul is asking Philemon to let Onesimus stay with him indefinitely.
It could be that Paul is asking Philemon to forgive Onesimus whatever he’s done and welcome him back.
Or, it could be that Paul is asking Philemon to free Onesimus – to welcome him back not as a slave but as a beloved brother in Christ.
So, we don’t know exactly what’s going on but we know it’s a big ask because Paul lays it on pretty thick. Listen to this again:
“…though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty, yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love – and I, Paul, do this as an old man, and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus.”
And there’s this:
“So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has wronged you in any way, charge that to my account.”
And, finally:
“Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.”
And, that’s it.
We don’t know how Philemon responded.
But, we do know that Paul’s appeal to either forgive or free Onesimus forced Philemon to face the cost of discipleship.
So, the other day someone asked me how I was doing, after just a little more than a year as your rector.
I answered that I feel like the most fortunate priest in the Episcopal Church.
There are a lot of reasons why I feel so blessed, but the most important one is that so many of you – so many people here at St. Thomas’ - are so often willing to pay the cost of discipleship, with God’s help, of course.
Two examples:
Since before I arrived, Bob Kenyon has been eager to overhaul our church website, generously willing to use a lot of his own time and expertise to get the job done.
A few months ago, Bob and I put together a small committee with Margaret Green and Sana Brooks, along with Sara Hollands, who has added parish communications to her children and youth responsibilities.
Week after week we met, poring over every word, learning new technology, carefully choosing each picture, prayerfully striving to create something both beautiful and useful, a site that would let hungry people out there know that we’ve got the Best Food right here, and they are all welcome to feast with us.
When you visit the website, I think you ‘ll see and feel the love and the care and the time and the effort – the sacrifice - that went into creating it.
The cost = and the blessing - of discipleship.
Second example:
One day about a year ago, Louis Hogan and I were having lunch. Our conversation turned to the chaos then unfolding in Afghanistan, as people – especially many people who had assisted our country – desperately tried to flee.
We might have just left it at sadness and disgust, or even talked about donating some money to organizations that were trying to help these people. But instead, Louis wondered if maybe we could actually welcome Afghan refugees here, sacrificing some of our own space, sacrificing some of our own comfort, to do something really generous for at least a few people who had lost so much.
Well, many of you know what happened next.
We assembled a group of talented parishioners who looked long and hard at the assistant’s house. Others, especially Betsy Wilmerding and Page Seville, spent countless hours learning the byzantine rules of refugee resettlement. We made friends and formed partnerships with people in other organizations and congregations.
And we hit more obstacles than we can or would ever want to remember.
So much time, talent, and treasure.
So much patience and faithfulness.
So much sacrifice.
And now, after nearly a year of planning and waiting, a young Afghan man, sponsored by us and our partners, will be arriving in our community on Tuesday afternoon.
The cost – and the blessing - of discipleship.
Amen.
But, wait, don’t you really want to know what Philemon chose to do?
Well, there are two tantalizing clues.
In the Letter to the Colossians, a Christian named… Onesimus is mentioned in passing. We’re told he’s on his way to Colossae.
And there’s also a very old tradition that Onesimus was not only freed by Philemon, but went on to become a bishop in the city of Ephesus and later gave his life for his faith.
Do we know any of this for sure?
No, we don’t.
But, since Paul’s letter was saved and made it into the Bible, I like to think that, yes, at least in this case, Philemon was willing to pay the high cost of following Christ – that he accepted the cost – and received the blessing – of discipleship.
May the same be true for us.
And, now, for real this time: Amen!
Posts
