Rev. Reed Lee Pedersen's
February 5th in the ELCA calendar commemorates the 26 martyrs who were crucified in Japan back in 1597. These people were killed by the Japanese government the way Jesus was crucified by the Roman Empire. They, like the many martyrs before them, were killed because of their faith. They didn’t turn away from God. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego they chose the possibility of death over turning away from our Savior, Jesus Christ. Unlike Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the 26 martyrs didn’t survive and change the heart of the king. Commemorating martyrs reminds us of the bravery which past disciples of Jesus had. It also reminds us of the deep cost their faith had on their earthly lives. They could and would be killed for believing. Nowadays that is not the case in the United States and most of the western world. You may be able to point to a small number of individual instances where people were murdered for their faith in Jesus, but today the majority of the Christians in the United States are safe. What is the cost today for believing in Jesus? I fully understand that Jesus requires nothing from us to receive his love and forgiveness. I understand that works do not enable the eternal life we have. Jesus enacted it when he died and rose from the dead for us. That is not the point of the question. More specifically, the question is this: What does it cost to be a Christian who belongs to a church today? You may be asked to help out or participate in special events, committees, and worship. Again, this is not required. The category of costs for a Christian in the United States today seems to be broken down into time, money, and effort, but you would be amazed at how low the cost actually is. The church I serve, Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church, requires at least one donation and/or one time receiving communion in a calendar year to keep one’s official membership. At Augustana Lutheran Church it literally can cost as little as a penny and/or an hour of your Sunday in one calendar year to say, “I belong to Augustana in Andover.” Jesus’ love is a free gift and it costs very little time, money, and effort to be considered a member of a church. This makes me wonder if Christianity has become cheap. It no longer has the danger it once had in the early church and in late 16th century Japan. There is no pope calling for your execution because you challenge the use of indulgences. Jesus only calls for us to love our neighbors as ourselves. So is being a Christian just some cheap country club with extremely low standards? Could this be another reason why people do not find being active in our churches worthwhile? The cost seems so low that perhaps people just don’t find it important anymore. Perhaps this cheapening of Christianity is why so many people swarm to do something else with their time, money and effort during the week and especially on Sundays. Why worry about the hour I could spend at the cheap country club on Sunday when I could get my rest? Why waste a day or evening devoted to the cheap country club when my child’s possible sports and academic career could be boosted by a different activity? Why would I ever want to be on the board or a committee of that cheap country club when I have more important things to do? I find that churches and church leaders can have a tendency to buy into this cheap mentality too. They carry themselves as if they do not matter in people’s lives. They worry about requiring too much effort because they do not want to scare away the members that are still coming to the weekly meetings at the cheap country club. I want you to know that Jesus’ love and life for us is free, but it’s not cheap. Calling the gospel cheap is like calling a $325,000 2019 Rolls-Royce Cullinan cheap because you didn’t have to pay for it. Just because it is free doesn’t mean it’s a junk car or a/an __________________ (please insert whatever you consider to be a bad car brand). How we treat that glorious and gracious gift is where we can go wrong. We live out our faith by driving the car. Driving the car, living out our faith, is done by devoting our time, money and effort to God and the world in need. Every time we do that we get to experience the power, class, and awesomeness of God’s love kicking our bodies back into the seat. If we never drive the car, don’t keep up the oil change, and occasionally take a bat to the headlights of that Rolls-Royce it can be cheapened. It is still an amazing car. It is still free. Yet, we have chosen to not use it as it is meant to be used. Christian churches are the living Body of Christ which get to celebrate, praise, and enact God’s love for the world. It is the place where we get to actually do the Work of God. It is not a cheap country club. It is a Rolls-Royce owners club. (I am assuming these exist and that they are full of rich people). The only reason the club is so easily affordable is because the Rolls-Royce was free!!!! What does the club do? The members live out their faith. They get into their cars and drive. Dear God I give thanks for those willing to sacrifice themselves for the one who gave his life for the world. Specifically, I give thanks for the 26 Martyrs of Japan who died in 1597. Thank you for the dope car of your son’s love. Please allow for your Holy Spirit to inspire me to drive this car for Your sake. When I forget how valuable my faith and my church are help remind me of the power of Jesus’ love for me and the whole world. Amen. Points to ponder:
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AuthorPastor Reed is a first call pastor at Augustana Lutheran Church in Andover, Illinois. Archives
July 2019
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