This past week one of the true saints of the church died.  Dan Erlander was an ELCA pastor, theologian, campus pastor at PLU and Holden Village.  He wrote countless books and pamphlets that are widely used.

One of the books is entitled, “Tales of the Pointless People” – essays that underscore the fact that God created us not to be scorekeepers, but as people living a grace-filled way of life devoid of earning points – hence “The Pointless People.” 

But, if truth be told, it is very difficult to be pointless.  Whether it is keeping track of your moral values, your retirement account, your grade-point average, your batting average, evaluating your neighbor’s yard upkeep, or how many toys you have in your basement, points seem to matter. 

Jesus said, “None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”  He could just as well have said “points.”  Give up all your points.  That’s a tall order. So, when I hear it, I begin to squirm.  There are times in my life when I’ve wondered if I am really a disciple of Jesus or just a wanna-be fan of his, trying to be just nice enough to earn a few extra points.

I squirmed several years ago when attending a Minnesota Twins game at the old Metropolitan Stadium. I was a sophomore in college. Twin’s player, Larry Hisle, was up to bat.  He hit a foul ball high into the air on the first base side, second deck…right where I was sitting!  I reached up and caught the ball.  My first ever foul ball at a Twin’s game!

Shortly thereafter, a little kid came down the steps from behind and sat down next to me – starring at the ball.  Finally, he said, “Mister, can I have that ball?”  I looked at my cousin, Tim, sitting next to me.  He gave me no advice – just a smirk and a look that said, “How ‘ya gonna handle this?”  Finally, I turned to the boy and said, “I’ve been attending Twin’s games all my life and this is the first ball I’ve ever caught.  So, I tell you what.  Why don’t you go back to your Dad and ask him to keep bringing you to ballgames and someday you might catch one, too!”

I have to tell you, I’m not so proud of that moment.  But, I was almost bailed out a couple innings later, when another ball came to me.  The only problem was that I couldn’t catch it because I had the other ball in my hand.  It bounced behind me and into another fan’s hand. 

And guess what?  The little kid went and sat by that man, too!  Not sure what he said to the boy, but he didn’t give up the ball. Or should I say the ball didn’t give up on him – or me. Possessions have a way of possessing us. 

And Jesus presses home the point when he says, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.”  It’s one thing to be talking about material possessions – and have the internal debate about what to keep and what to give up, but hold on a minute.  Now we’re talkin’ about some people who are very dear to my heart. 

So, let’s take a closer look at the word “hate” – a Semitic expression meaning “to turn away from, to detach oneself from.” This verse is not advocating intense hostility toward kin and life, but, rather, is promoting the steadfast refusal to allow something less valuable to displace something more valuable. This Greek nuance of distancing or detachment from Jesus – in any way, shape, or form – leads to attachment to other things, ideologies, and people.  The chasm formed turns us inward.

The danger, of course, is the tendency to isolate, cocoon, or begin believing it’s my way or the highway.  Independence out-duels interdependence. The detachment leads to viewing God’s creation as expendable – whether it’s in the animal kingdom, natural resources, or humanity – anything that interferes is dangerous. Scapegoating other races or cultures, book burning, blaming, etc. can result. 

LeAnn and I visited two concentration camps this summer – Sachsenhausen, north of Berlin, and Dachau, just outside of Munich.  The result of Hitler’s Nazi distorted and evil ideology was a direct result of detachment, fear of the other, and delusions of power.  People believed his lies and were empowered by prioritizing isolationism, turning away from humanitarian efforts and towards murderous schemes. They claimed their freedoms were being violated if anyone or anything cost them their power – so they turned to violence and murder.

What was really sobering is that many of the Christian churches went along with this lie.  Nationalism and Christianity became so linked that neither could see the forest for the trees.  “God Bless Nazi Germany” seemed to be sentiment. The cost they counted was only for self-preservation.  

Counting the cost was something Jesus mentioned in today’s reading. He gave a couple examples of people counting the costs – the tower builder and the war king.   Any credible contractor would calculate the cost of building a tower before embarking on the project, since he wouldn’t want to end up with half a tower and become a laughingstock of the community.  He would lose credibility and therefore business in the long run. 

Then there was the war king who, if he had any sense at all, would do the math and figure out that an army of ten thousand was no match for an army of twenty thousand.  Embarking on such a war would only lead to unnecessary casualties.  The loss of life would not be worth waging a war to merely feed his ego.  Instead, he would make the decision to send a delegation to hammer out terms for peace.

Now, while there is never a guarantee of any action taken, Jesus seems to be saying that there is some wisdom in counting the costs, of considering every angle, of anticipating the reaction and advice of others when diving headlong into something. 

And, of course, his main reason for using these short stories is to drive home the point that when they decide to follow him it will not be an invitation to an ice-cream social.  No, the radical positions he would take in regard to compassion for the poor, challenging the status quo, confronting prejudice, and caring for the voiceless would cause disruptions in families and social circles. 

The question is what is the cost of our possessiveness?  What is the cost of ignoring our fragile environment in order to extract finite resources?  What is the cost of ignoring a changing global climate, threatening life on this planet?  What is the cost of demonizing refugees and immigrants – mostly people of color – in order to retain power over them?

And Jesus says, “Give it all up if you want to follow me!  Count the cost of your commitment to love, justice, and peace! ” 

But, don’t only count the cost.  Count the benefits as well. 

The benefits of being a disciple of Jesus is being part of a body that extends our arms to all and embraces diversity.  The benefits are being a part of a body that is humble, compassionate, loving, forgiving, peaceful – and in Dan Erlander’s words – fun and frolicking!  The benefits are not having to keep score, but being the “pointless people” open to the call of Jesus and the breath of the Holy Spirit. 

AMEN