The Mission

The scriptures referred to are Luke 14:25-33.

Anyone going to war could rightly consider the whole thing a suicide mission. The point is to achieve an objective even if the effort leads to your death. But, of course, the majority of personnel and indeed the majority of combatants do survive. Otherwise there might be a lot less wars. But within the overall war effort, there are certain critical missions that select groups are sent on where the risk is so high that the deaths of some or all is considered likely. Being a radio operator for the French Underground during World War 2 was such an assignment. They rarely lasted a month. Likewise being a double agent, say, in Nazi Germany or in the Soviet Union, carried with it the near certainty of death should the spy be discovered. James Bond was based on several men that author Ian Fleming knew when he worked for British Naval Intelligence. That's why every mission Bond goes on is considered a suicide mission, though Bond himself seems to be unkillable.

We love stories of people sent on suicide missions. 300, The 7 Samurai, The Guns of Navarone, and Saving Private Ryan are all movies about suicide missions, though usually someone survives. Except Rogue One, the rare movie where all the heroes, including the droid, die. We realize that sometimes people have to sacrifice themselves so that others may live. In fact, it has become the mark of the true hero: that he is willing to die for others or for a good cause. One time I had a skeptic ask me why Jesus had to die and I told him, “Think of his coming to earth as a suicide mission.”

When sending people on a suicide mission, those in command certainly don't hope that their operatives die; they just accept the fact that it is highly likely and that the mission is so vital that it has to be attempted regardless of the cost. God did not want Jesus to die; he just knew that should he take human form and present his radically different teachings on God and his kingdom and his identity be made known, his son would die. Life was cheap, then as now. Herod and the Roman emperors did not hesitate to kill their own offspring, should they pose a threat to their power. They would not balk at murdering someone who claimed to be God's son and thus present a threat to all human authority.

But if Jesus' mission could be expected to end in his death, then what of his disciples? When he passes on his mission to them, could they expect a different end? No. And Jesus was not going to lie to them. So in today's gospel he says, “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” In essence he is saying, “If you follow me, consider yourself under a death sentence.”

And that gives us the context to what he says before that. Right before talking about us carrying our cross, Jesus says, “Whoever does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” That sounds harsh but remember he is telling a large crowd that to follow him, they must be prepared to die for the gospel. And how will that be seen by their families? “You're putting your mission for Jesus ahead of us? Don't you love us any more?” They would also seem it as a rejection of mainstream Judaism and their whole way of life. They would probably react as Jesus' own family did. His mother and brothers thought he was out of his mind and came to collect him. When told they were outside the house he was in and could not get to him because of the crowd, Jesus says, “Who are my mother and brothers?” And looking around him he says, “Here are my mother and brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:21, 31-34) Would that not have seemed to his family as a slap in the face? Might they not have said that was a hateful thing for him to say? Yet as soldiers who live and work side by side famously start to think of themselves as a “band of brothers,” Jesus encourages us to look to each other for the support one normally gets from family, should family fall away when one gets serious about following Jesus.

Matthew's version of this is less harsh: “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37) Jesus is still asking a lot. But as C.S. Lewis points out, this is not saying we must love our parents or children less, but that we must love Jesus more. It's not diminishing any love but putting our loves in the proper order of priority. Police officers, firefighters, and battlefield medics would not put their lives on the line to save others if they put their families first. Because their families don't want them to risk their lives.

We often confuse pleasing people with loving them. But that's not true love. You can please your kid simply by letting them do whatever they want. But love has to do with doing what's best for them. Just this week a medical journal published a story about a 19 year old who went blind because all he has eaten since elementary school was French fries, potato chips, white bread, ham and sausage. Period. He wasn't overweight but his lack of all the other nutrients one usually gets from a balanced diet caused optic neuropathy. As one researcher put it, “Be sure to feed yourself and your loved ones a diet that's rich in fruits and vegetables...and whole grains.” (Story here.)  As any parent knows, sometimes love means doing things that displease those you love for their own good. And sometimes you have to do things for the common good.

Because Jesus considered discipleship as tantamount to a suicide mission, he told his disciples to travel light. When he sent out the Twelve on a missionary trip, he told them, “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt.” (Luke 9:3) They were to trust God to provide for them. And for our journey through this life we are to jettison stuff we don't need: unnecessary possessions, of course, but also attitudes and behaviors that get in the way of our mission.

First of all, we must give up all ownership of ourselves. Jesus says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23) The Greek word translated “deny” could also mean “disavow, disown, refuse” or simply “say no.” We are to say “No” to ourselves and our habit of prioritizing what we want over everything else. Again this is something a parent knows all too well. We just want some “me time” but our kid wants to play with us. We want to sleep but the baby needs feeding. We want to watch TV but our child needs help with her homework. We put their needs before ours. And to follow Jesus, we need to put what he wants us to do ahead of what we want to do.

Which also means saying “No” to other habits we have which divert or hinder us from following him. You don't drink while on a crucial mission or sleep with everyone you encounter. How many times has James Bond been betrayed by a woman he bedded? Whereas Patrick Dalzel-Job, one of the real life commandos on whom Ian Fleming based his spy, was a modest man who said, in contrast to Bond, “I only loved one woman and I'm not a drinking man.” That's who you want on a mission; someone who will not get sidetracked or compromised. We are not to let our desires take control of us or weaken our resolve. We are not to indulge in things that harm our physical, mental or spiritual health. That means giving up stuff like recreational mind-altering substances, activities that are needlessly risky, and words and actions that are intended to sow disharmony between us and others. You don't want disunity in your mission team.

It means taking on habits that are healthy for our bodies, minds and spirits. It means taking in things that help us grow. Physically, that means practicing proper nutrition so we get and stay in better shape. Mentally, it means learning things that make us grow smarter. Spiritually, it means inwardly digesting scripture so we will grow wiser.

Exercise is also important. Physically, that means activities that builds flexibility, strength and stamina. Mentally, that means using our minds in ways that make our thinking clearer, our perceptions more acute and give us plenty of techniques to tackle a variety of challenges. Spiritually, it means praying and worshiping regularly, as well as moving out of our comfort zone in expressing our love for others, especially people unlike us.

Rest is crucial. Physically, mentally and spiritually, it means taking breaks regularly, like the Sabbath. Withdrawing from our frantic 24/7 world and replenishing yourself on every level is important if you are to be fit to carry out your mission.

Disciples are also, as Jesus says, to “take up their cross daily...” (Luke 9:23) There is a misconception of what this means. Many people think this is simply referring to the burdens we already have in life. I have my illness; you have your difficult job; she has her difficult mother. The problem is that everyone has such burdens. It's simply a condition of life. Paul never called his problem his cross but a “thorn in the flesh.” Notice that Jesus is saying that we who follow him must “take up” our cross. It's something one can refuse. Which makes sense. The analogy is what Jesus did. He could have kept his mouth shut and lived. In The Last Temptation of Christ, that is the temptation: to have a normal, unexciting, undangerous human life. But he stayed on a path that he knew would make him run afoul of those in power and he knew what they did with those who defied them. He took up his cross voluntarily.

And he took up that cross, not for himself but for us. He was saving us. So our crosses are not what we do for ourselves out of necessity, but what we do for others voluntarily. As Paul put it, “Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2) This is the same principle that is behind Jesus saying, “If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” (Matthew 5:41) This is probably a reference to how Roman soldiers could force subjects of the Empire to carry things for them, like, say, their packs. And we see them do this when they force Simon of Cyrene to help Jesus carry his cross. (Matthew 27:32) In fact, the word used for “force” or “compel” is a Persian loan word that is the technical term for this practice. And in the entire New Testament it is only used in these two passages. Simon, whose sons Alexander and Rufus were known to and probably members of the church, literally helped Jesus with his burden of the cross. (Mark 15:21; Romans 16:13) Our cross is the burden of others that we take on ourselves.

So you really can't be a Christian hermit. That became popular when Christianity became legal and being a martyr was no longer possible. So people who wanted to do something spectacularly spiritual, influenced by Eastern contemplative traditions, withdrew from society and focused inward on their own perfection and salvation. And this has been reinforced by the later Pietist movement, which again, tried to make Christianity into a private, mostly inner religion. But while Jesus did take time alone to pray, usually in the morning, he then got down to his mission, which involved touching, healing, feeding and talking to other people. He gave it everything he had. And he expects no less from us.

We may not face physical death for our faith, as did Christians for the first 3 centuries of the Common Era. Or as more than 200 million Christians still do in places like North Korea, Pakistan, Nigeria, Mali, Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and 42 other countries around the world. But we can make ourselves “living sacrifices,” as Paul puts it. (Romans 12:1) We can dedicate our lives to God and to those whom he created in his image and for whom Jesus died.

Jesus said that we are to take up our cross daily. We are not Christians for one hour on Sunday and one hour during the week when we come together for choir practice or Bible study. We are always Christians, just like those of us with kids are always parents. No matter what, you are on call. And you are expected to give all.

This week in the Bahamas, as the winds of Hurricane Dorian roared at 185 miles per hour with gusts up to 220 miles per hour, Brent Lowe and his neighbors who had lost their homes hunkered down in his bathroom and prayed. When the storm tore the roof off his house, they knew they had to seek safety elsewhere. So they left the house and descended into the chin-deep waters covering their neighborhood. It was difficult and terrifying, but more so for Lowe. Because he was blind. And he was carrying his 24 year old son with cerebral palsy on his shoulders. He and his neighbors held hands as they fought the current for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually they made it to another neighbor's house and safety.

I cannot think of a better metaphor for the church than what Brent Lowe and his neighbors did: clinging to one another as we brave the storm, walking through the flood, blind and yet carrying those who cannot help themselves. Out of love. That is what following Jesus is. Not this “every man for himself,” “I've got mine; you get yours” crap we hear some supposedly Christian leaders say. Christians do not turn away the disadvantaged. They do not leave behind people whom others see as inconvenient burdens. Brent could have left his son. Carrying him could have caused him to sink and drown. His neighbors could have left Brent and his son behind because they probably slowed them down and made the hazardous trek to another house take longer than it needed to. But, no. Brent hoisted his son on his back and his neighbors grabbed his hands and they went into the maelstrom together, to live together or to die together. But always together.

In the very first book of the Bible Cain asks “Am I my brother's guardian?” And the rest of the Bible says again and again “YES!” Jesus throughout his whole life and in his death said, “YES!” If we truly follow him, everything we do should say, “YES!”

We all die. We can try to ignore or flee or hide from the inevitable. We can become a person whose passing will hardly be noticed. We can become a person whose death will provoke a general feeling of “Good riddance!” Or as Mark Twain said, “Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.” We can acknowledge that we are on a suicide mission, deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow in the footsteps of Jesus, using the life he gives us to save the lives of others. And when the deafening roar of the storm of life is passed and the veil is lifted from our eyes, we will hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” And we will see that it was his nail-scarred hands who clung to us and guided us home.