August 11, 2024
• Rev. Rob Fuquay
St. Luke’s UMC
August 11, 2024
Finding Your Mountain
“Taking the Challenges Seriously”
Luke 14:25-33
How many of you believe right now you could climb Mount Everest? Okay, how many of you, if you tried really, really hard, believe you could then climb Mount Everest? Alright, how many of you, if you had it as a goal, and you trained really hard for a year, or several years, or maybe a whole decade, believe you might then be able to climb Mount Everest? And how many of you think this is a dumb question because you have absolutely no interest in climbing Everest or any mountain?
Fair enough, but hopefully you get the idea. There’s a difference between trying and training. Trying is important, but training is everything.
Apparently too many people leave it up to trying when it comes to mountain climbing. When Susan and I set about doing a trek to the Base Camp of Everest last year we chose a guide company that laid out a serious training regime. They explained all the reasons why, the toll altitude can take, the rigors of hiking 6-9 miles every day for several weeks. So they explained we needed to get ready by going to the gym and carrying a back-pack with about 25lbs of weight and going on the Stairmaster for an hour or more.
Susan made a few videos of our getting ready…1. video of rob on elliptical –
2. video of susan lifting weights – 3. picture of susan hiking –
4. pic of Rob & Susan
Even on the trek itself we had several acclimatization days where we stayed at that location and did hikes to get our bodies adjusted to the altitude. One was in the village of Namche Bazaar (pic) at 11,200ft. We stayed here three nights and did two hikes. Another was in the village of Dingboche (pics) at 14, 200 feet. We stayed here one extra night and did a spectacular hike on a clear day.
Because of these extra days and the extra focus of this company, they were more expensive than many others. Many other companies don’t require as much and they talk about getting you to base camp in as few days as possible, and because of my bent toward lower cost I would say to Susan, “What about some of these other companies?” And she said, “They don’t talk about the challenges. I want to go with someone who is serious about the challenges.”
Trying is important. Training is everything.
Jesus made this clear about the mountain he was climbing. One day he became aware of the crowds of people who were following him, people who were probably experiencing a connection to God through Jesus. But Jesus was concerned that they weren’t aware of the challenges of the path he was on. So he said to him some of the most startling words in the Gospels, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26) I think I’d be asking for my deposit back.
These have long been difficult words of Jesus to understand, especially the word hate. Its one thing to talk about leaving family to follow Jesus, that’s perhaps hard enough, but hate them? Hate doesn’t even sound like it belongs in the vocabulary of Jesus.
But Jesus wasn’t being literal. He used ancient middle-eastern hyperbole, purposeful exaggeration to make a point. Hate, in fact, did not suggest emotional feeling like we might have when we say we hate something or someone. Instead, it just meant to detach from. And while it might make us uncomfortable that Jesus seems to be suggesting that we have to detach from family to follow Him, you could also say that Jesus is just pointing out a reality about many of the mountains of our world. Many of the goals and aspirations of people for which they have to sacrifice and give their all, end up meaning a detachment from things they really do value. It’s just they don’t advertise that fact.
In the documentary, The Weight of Gold, narrated by Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympic athlete in history, various athletes talk about the cost of being an Olympian. Apollo Ohno, who won gold, silver and bronze in speedskating said, “You think and operate as if everything revolves around this sole focus…the Olympics. Everything else is secondary, your relationships, your school, your family, your other friends. Everything not catered to you performing at the highest level in sport is a nonstarter conversation.”
And then there is this clip by athlete, Katie Uhlaendar…
Every mountain requires a cost. We get upset with Jesus for suggesting that a goal should require a separation from our most noble loves in life, but he’s just pointing out a truth of our world. Many worldly goals require the same. Jesus wasn’t saying that in order to follow him we have to love our families less. Not at all. He’s just placing the importance of following him in the context of our highest loves in life. He’s saying that following Him is that important. That our relationship to Him helps define all other relationships. He’s just asking us to consider what is worth that kind of sacrifice.
He goes on to use two interesting analogies. He says, who would build a tower without first sitting down and carefully estimating the cost. Otherwise, you start to build and come up short and not able to finish. Or, what king would go to war without carefully evaluating the size of your army versus your enemy? In both examples Jesus is talking about counting the cost and preparing adequately, yes, but he’s also talking about things that are unfinished, incomplete. There are someone mountains we give everything to climb, but they can leave us incomplete.
To be honest with you I had a little sense of that in our arrival at Everest Base Camp. Months and months of training and getting ready. Medications and vaccines we had to get. What we endured to get to Base Camp. The last 2 hours were not easy walking. It was cold and cloudy. We couldn’t see Mount Everest nor most of the high peaks surrounding it. When we arrived there was just a small area where we were allowed to walk at the iconic rock that has the words “Everest Base Camp “ on it. We took pictures and stood there for a few minutes and then we said, “Well, I guess we go back now.” And it was honestly a little letdown except for one moment.
My wife really didn’t think she could do this. As hard as she prepared she felt she won’t make it. I had been too dismissive saying. “You are more than ready. You’ll be fine.” But inwardly she caried a lot of fear over not making it, and when she got to that rock…well, you take a look…(video of susan touching rock at basecamp)
You know what I hold onto about Everest Base Camp is that moment. All of my training and getting ready was for an experience I didn’t realize I would have. And for both Susan and me it let us know that the training pays off. We realized we could make it, and we would be okay.
Turn that idea in a spiritual direction. Think carefully about what describes the result of counting the cost as Jesus illustrates it. A man counts the costs and prepares to build a tower so he can finish the job. A king carefully weighs out a battle so he can have victory. What describes both of those outcomes? I would say it is the word confidence. In counting the cost and doing what it takes to get ready, both people have confidence.
That’s what training does for us in the spiritual life. It gives us a confidence.
Now you could substitute other more spiritual words: peace, trust, assurance. But the idea is still confidence; confidence that life is going to turn out okay. Confidence that no matter what happens, things will be alright. God is in charge.
A week ago Saturday we celebrated the life of Carver McGriff, former senior pastor here at St. Luke’s from 1967-1993. Carver had an amazing way of relating to people when he preached. On the 60th anniversary of the church in 2013 Carver preached. That morning he recounted some of his trials in life. Being wounded in battle in World War II and becoming a prisoner of war. Later failing as a business leader. Experiencing the death of a brother by suicide. Losing his first wife in a tragic car accident. Going through a divorce. Battling cancer. But then he talked about he had learned though all these things and how his faith got stronger. Finally he made this statement that left me and still leaves me pondering. He said, “I believe we will understand that God answers all our prayers when we see life from God’s perspective.”
Now what do you call that? I call it confidence. Confidence in the goodness of God. And there’s only one mountain in life that offers that, the mountain Jesus was climbing. And when we follow Him that is where it leads. That doesn’t make all the other mountains in life unimportant. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t want gold medals, and successes, and fulfilment in relationships. It just means that when we keep the mountain of following Christ the most important one, the tallest one, it allows us to see all the other mountains and enjoy them in their proper place.
You don’t just try for that kind of life. You train for it. So what does spiritual training look like?
It looks like grounding ourselves in regular prayer routines. Meditation. Worship. Scripture reading. And, of course, fellowship. Connecting ourselves with other people where we can share what’s going on in our lives, pray for each other, encourage each other. God becomes most real in those experiences.
This is a great time to talk about this, because coming up on August 25…
I think about young families taking kids to school now. Very quickly life will pick up with lots of practices and rehearsals and other activities on top of school. And before you know it feels like life is on a treadmill, and you’ll have to ask yourself, where does all of this lead? Now this is not meant to make parents feel guilty. These activities are important. This is not about church or soccer! Jesus didn’t say “Unless you hate soccer and band and football and place him above all others…” No. But what other practices can you place alongside those that helps keep everything in life in perspective?
One family in our church has a routine of everyday driving to school asking the question, “How have you experienced God today.” Its become a neat little spiritual training.
Our children’s ministry offers lots of resources to give parents spiritual practices to do with your kids…