Little Sins, Big Consequences: Half-Heartedness
Little Sins, Big Consequences: Half-Heartedness by Rev. L. John Gable
March 15, 2020
Little Sins, Big Consequences: Half-Heartedness by Rev. L. John Gable
March 15, 2020
At some point in every task, in every project we undertake, in every relationship which is important to us, we are asked to make a decision as to the level of our commitment, and more often than not it comes at a point of struggle or difficulty. When I meet with an individual who is going through the struggle of a life change, I try to explore with them their level of commitment to seeing that change through to completion. When I meet with a couple who is struggling through a difficult time in a marriage I ask them to declare their level of commitment to making the marriage work. Whether we are talking about marriage or parenting or a relationship, a business proposition, the pursuit of a talent or an opportunity, at some point we are called upon to make a decision as to how much of ourselves we are willing to give to it. And more often than not that decision alone will ultimately determine its success or failure. Recent studies have referred to this as the GRIT factor.
Admittedly, total commitment does not guarantee success in any venture, but something less than total commitment nearly always signals failure. So we are asked to decide… will we fish or cut bait? Will we hold or fold? Will we cut our losses and get out, or will we commit to seeing things through, no matter what the cost?
Interestingly enough as I was writing this message we were also being faced with the decisions of how best to address the Covid-19 “pandemic.” Do we cancel services and activities or simply scale back? Either way, for how long? Not easy decisions to make, but health care professionals and governmental leaders are calling for “drastic” measures, “whole hearted” measures if you will, because anything less than that will not really do anything to mitigate the spread of the virus.
For so many it is the half-hearted commitment that seems to spoil life. It is our failure to see things through to completion. We start strong, and then peter out. I listen to Matt play the organ and piano and think to myself, “I wish I could play like that”, and I’ll bet you do to. I have never met an adult who said, “I wish I hadn’t taken so many piano lessons when I was a child”; but I’ve met many who, like me, have said, “I quit too soon.” I gave up piano lessons when it got hard. It was shortly after Mrs. Pretzler said, “OK, John, now let’s try playing with the left hand, too.”
The story is told of the woman who rushed up to the famed violinist Fritz Kreisler after a concert and said, “I would give my life to play as beautifully as you do”, to which he responded, “I did.”
So many of the failures and disappointments in our lives come from the plain and simple fact that we give up too soon; we give up when things get difficult. We give up before we get to that point of competence or success when things start to become enjoyable. This is true in many aspects of life, and it is particularly true for many in their spiritual lives. G.K. Chesterton put it well when he said, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and so not tried.” Which brings us to our topic for today, that of “half-heartedness”, one of those little sins that has big consequences. Whether we consider this topic from the perspective of husbands and wives, parents and children, neighbors and friends, individuals and communities, followers or would-be followers of Jesus Christ, at some point we must ask, “How much of myself am I willing to commit to those people, and things, and causes that I say are important to me?” Is my devotion whole hearted, or only half?
In our Scripture lesson this morning Jesus rather bluntly says to His disciples, “Anyone who puts their hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” Rather a hard-sell approach under any circumstances, but the context in which Jesus spoke these words is critical for our gaining some better understanding of them. Scholars tell us that verse 51in Luke chapter 9 is the turning point in Jesus’ ministry. Here we read, “When the days drew near for Him to be taken up, Jesus set His face to go to Jerusalem.” This is the moment of decision in Jesus’ ministry. From this point on He is on a journey and the destination is Jerusalem where He knows He will suffer and die. From this point on there is a sense of resolve and determination that only intensifies. This is His point of no return. The path has been chosen. The die is cast. From this point on Jesus is a man on a mission, no pausing, no distractions, nothing will keep Him from fulfilling His God-appointed destiny in Jerusalem and candidly, I can see why He didn’t want or need any “half-hearted” followers to distract or discourage Him as He moved forward. So, in effect, Jesus is saying to His disciples, “I offer you no bargains because I am going to Jerusalem to die for the sins of the world. What are you willing to do?”
The philosopher Fredrick Nietzsche said that what is needed in order to make life worth living is “a long obedience in the same direction.” This is exactly what Jesus had. “When the days drew near for Him to be taken up, He set His face to go to Jerusalem”, and He insists that any who walk in His way do the same. Earlier in this same chapter, He says, “If any want to become My followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily, and follow Me.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German Lutheran pastor who was martyred by the Nazis at the end of World War II, rephrases this, saying, “When Christ calls a person, He bids them come and die.”
We hear words such as these and they confuse us and offend our sensibilities. Why does the demand need to be so great? One would-be disciple comes to Jesus saying, “I will follow You anywhere”, and it seems that Jesus rebuffs him, saying, “Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Hardly the guidance offered by Dale Carnegie of the best way to win friends and influence people. To another, who asks what seems to be a reasonable request to first to go and bury his father, Jesus says, “Let the dead bury their own dead, as for you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.” To still another who wants simply to say good-bye to his family, He says, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God.”
Isn’t there a softer, kinder, gentler way for Jesus to answer these inquiries? Of course, there is, but to answer in any other way is to radically change the message. Jesus here is challenging our every priority against the absolute claim He makes on our lives. He asks us to choose not only the good over the bad, the godly over the evil; anyone can do that, but to choose the better over the good and the best over the better. He asks us to declare the level of our devotion and insists that anything less than wholehearted commitment is unacceptable.
We could well argue, and I’m sure we do, that these other commitments Jesus is asking us to abandon in order to follow Him are worthy of our devotion as well, commitments to family and friends and professions, and that is true. Yet, Jesus asks us to make our commitment to Him as a first priority, our highest priority, which forces us not to abandon but to put a new value, a different ordering, on all of the other priorities in our lives. In Matthew’s Gospel we hear Jesus say, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (6:33). We like the sound of that. We put that on bookmarks and magnets for our refrigerator doors, but the message is really no different than the one we hear here in Luke. In both passages Jesus calls for whole-hearted devotion, rather than half-hearted attraction. The call is clear for us to reprioritize your life to “Seek first the Kingdom of God.”
There is a certain “truth in advertising” here. Jesus is spelling out in no uncertain terms what it means to “take up your cross and follow.” Such honesty up front saves us from saying, “Lord, I didn’t know what you were really asking when I signed on with you.” It also keeps us from procrastinating or making excuses about our decision. “Yes, Lord, I want to follow you, and I will, but first let me finish school…get through college…find a job…get married…have children…become financially secure…retire so I’ll have more time, then I’ll do whatever You want me to do.” To each of these Jesus says, “Follow Me NOW and those things will become part of your life in Me.”
At times I wonder how we would respond if Jesus were to come to us today and say, “Come, follow Me?” Would we drop everything we are doing and follow, or would we say, “First, let me check my Day-planner (sorry, I still use a paper calendar). Let’s see, I have an opening next Tuesday at 10:00. No wait, that doesn’t work. What does the week of the 22nd look like?” What answer would we expect Jesus to give to such a half-hearted response to His call to discipleship? Surely one not unlike those He gives here. Jesus calls us to single-minded devotion without the distraction of shallow impulses, or mixed motives, or conflicting values and duties.
Elton Trueblood, one of the great Christian thinkers of this age, who for many years taught at the Earlham School of Religion, speaks to this issue of half-hearted devotion when he says, “It has become clear to me that mediocrity is a heresy and a sin. To be less than we could be is to frustrate the divine purpose. To anyone who really understands this, ‘Be all that you can be’ becomes a practical motto. Consequently, I have tried over the years to encourage people to raise their sights concerning what God is calling them to do and be.” So, rather than hearing Jesus’ words as a stinging condemnation of our half-hearted efforts, we should hear them instead as a clear call to whole-hearted devotion.
I am inspired by the words of Phillips Brooks, the great 19th century preacher, when he says, “Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger people. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.”
In 1904 William Borden, heir of the Borden Dairy estate, graduated from a Chicago high school a millionaire. His parents gave him a trip around the world as a graduation gift. Rather than delighting himself with all the riches that could one day be his, traveling through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe gave Borden a burden for the world’s hurting people. Writing home to his parents, he said, “I’m going to give my life to prepare for the mission field.” When he made that decision, he wrote in the back of his Bible two words: NO RESERVES. Returning to the states he attended and graduated from Yale University, but rather than accepting any of the high paying jobs he was offered, he remained committed to his calling and wrote in the back of his Bible two more words: NO RETREATS.
Completing his studies at Princeton Seminary, William Borden sailed for China, stopping first in Egypt for some additional preparation before entering the mission field. While there he was stricken with cerebral meningitis and died within a month. A terrible waste of an incredible life of opportunity, some might say, but not so William Borden. In his Bible, underneath the words NO RESERVES and NO RETREATS, he had written the words NO REGRETS.
No reserves. No retreats. No regrets.
That is what Christ calls us to in our service to Him and the purposes of His Kingdom. He calls us to whole-hearted commitment to the things of God, for anything less is a little sin that has big consequences.