As was announced at our Ash Wednesday service, our Lenten theme for this year is "Companions on the Journey". Companions suggests a traveling buddy, family members, and friends with whom we share food and drink along the way. Journey suggests we are on the way somewhere. For us, the Lenten journey suggests that we are moving from a sense of our own mortality, we have been reminded that we are dust, to the promise of sharing eternally the resurrected glory of Jesus.

Our Lenten focus will be on practicing better discipleship, toward being a follower of Jesus. I understand the irony of today’s sermon title…we would be disciples. After all, aren’t we already? Most of us in the room have been baptized or have placed our membership here, we are followers of Jesus, we are disciples. And we are members of a denomination that calls itself the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and we call ourselves Disciples. But there is more than the name of a fellowship of Christians committed to being a "faithful, growing church, that demonstrates true community, deep Christian community, and a passion for justice."

We follow Jesus as his companions on this journey of faith as people who are disciples not because of the church we belong to, but because we have been captured by the love and hope of Jesus. That is what this Lenten series of sermons will be about. The scripture texts from these sermons are taken from a little study book called, "On the Road Again: A Faith Journey" by James W. Moore, and like the faith journeys of Abraham whom God sent on a trip with no map (Genesis 12), and Moses whom God sent to lead his people through the desert wilderness (Exodus 1), like the journeys of some of you who have moved from one place to another, the trip will not always be easy. Luke tells us that everyone who says they want to be a disciple of Jesus will not be able to go the whole way with him.

They would not have made Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ (9.18-24). When Jesus said that a requirement of discipleship is that

we take up our cross daily, that we accept a share of suffering for the sake of a greater share of the glory of God, that if necessary we face persecution and death for his sake, they would have run the other way as fast as their legs could carry them (9.23-27). The transfiguration would been unbelievable to them, the healings would be occasions for exploitation – "look, at what our boy Jesus can do! Can your teacher do that? For a few dollars I can make sure he heals you too." Talk of death would be too depressing, they would argue for a seat next to his, and not get the point about humility and service (9.46-50). And they would have been ready to fight at every sign of rejection (9.51-56).

But Jesus has wants all of who would be disciples not to just talk the talk, and to walk the walk of faith. Now we join the journey as Jesus continues to travel to Jerusalem for the final time. Along the way, he will meet three men who want to be his traveling companions on the journey, but they are not quite ready to be his disciples.

They will tell him they would go all the way with him, they really want to, but they have too many reasons, good reasons why not. The first says he will follow Jesus anywhere. The second will follow him after he buries his father, and the third after getting his affairs in order and saying goodbye to family and friends. One writer describes them like this.

"The first seems determined enough, but Jesus confronts him with the insecurity and homelessness of life with the Son of man. With the second, Jesus takes the initiative and sharply responds to his excuse about family obligations. The third professes commitment but couples it with a delaying tactic. Jesus’ words with all three are unambiguous. Discipleship places heavy demands on followers. The way Jesus takes involves an unprotected mission, a clear choice about priorities, and a clean break with the past (Texts for Preaching – Year C. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994, p.409).

I know Jesus words to the man who only wants to bury his father seem harsh. Here is what is really happening.

We are the ones who will follow Jesus when every thing else is taken care of. In his case after he buries his father. James Moore explains what is going on. "Let the dead bury the dead" seems harsh, but here is the thing:

"If the man’s father were already dead, what’s this man doing here on the roadside? His obligation would be to stay with his family. What this man is really saying is this: ‘I will follow you after my father has died.’ That might be a year or five years from now, or ten or twenty or thirty. Jesus realized that this man had missed the urgency of it all, the urgency of the moment, the urgency of the call.

"Only a short time before, Jesus had ‘set his face to go to Jerusalem.’ At the very moment of this encounter, Jesus is on his way to the cross. This is serious business not, and Jesus senses that this man is not really ready to commit himself totally, completely, and unswervingly. Jesus somehow senses that this man does not really understand how important, how crucial, how urgent the whole matter is" (James W. Moore. On The Road Again: A Faith Journey. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2006, p. 12-13).

We feel for this man and his two companions because we are them. The first one was caught up in the excitement of being with Jesus – ready to go anywhere with him without realizing that sometimes following Jesus means giving up some of the comfort we know. It is not just having no permanent place to sleep, it is about offering a message of hope and healing, service and sacrifice that people don’t want to hear. The realm and reign of God is not about the latest celebrity shenanigans or clergy scandal, or act of religious hypocrisy. It is about declaring a time of peace and hope in every way life, without regard to race, or gender, or age, ability, and that every one of our lives matters because it is a life created in the image and likeness of God. It is a life loved without condition, an so a life with all the promise and potential for serving God, and making a home wherever we are.

The second man hears the invitation but then thinks of reasons not to…"I would follow you, but I have got things to do right now. I’ll be at church when I can, when I get my life together, when I am secure financially, when my children are raised."

Jesus is interested in would be disciples, people who are willing and able to follow him. He has no interest in wannabe disciples. Wannabe disciples can talk the talk of faith, but they cannot walk the walk. They know all the moves, the hymns, the prayers, when to sit and when to stand, but they do not know the real meaning of discipleship.

Jesus wants to be clear with these three men and with all of us that discipleship comes from a place of deep commitment to him. It is because we are followers of his that we worship and work, and serve and perform acts of charity and justice. It is absolutely true, of course that people work and serve and do acts of charity and justice simply because they are good people who care about people and the state of the world. But we have the motivation and privilege of being followers of Jesus whose life was about living and dying for God and as he did, he helps us form the values and beliefs that shape our lives.

We are the ones who will go with Jesus after first going home, selling all that he will not need, and enjoying a great good bye party. But Jesus is on the road, and invites us to join him as a companion along the way now.

When we practice discipleship we stand with the people of Israel we heard about in the reading from Deuteronomy. We bring the first and best of our labor to God, we bring our spirits, our gifts, our love for God. We bring our memories of how God has kept us and delivered us from a time of wandering into a marvelous journey with Jesus. We bring our gratitude, our worship, our hospitality as we throw open our doors and let others in.

It is about not making excuses, even good ones, or finding reasons to delay answering the call from Jesus to follow him. Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is about commitment and devotion lived out in commitment and devotion to him and to those who serve in his name. The commitment must be total because this journey will end in chaos – with confusion and anger and a trial and judgment, a death sentence, and an execution.

Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is about following him from the time we say, "I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God" until we see him in heaven. We follow his teachings, his healings, his life and his death, his resurrection, and the promise of his return. We are followers of Jesus Christ in triumph and in tragedy, in sorrow and joy, in life and in death.

We are invited to be disciples on a journey with Jesus and since our lives are not yet complete, neither is the journey. In the church, we know that discipleship is about our desire to follow Jesus because there is not else that will feed our spirits, calm our fears, give us hope, make us whole, and send us out like he can.

In this season of spirit and hopefulness, Jesus still calls us, still holds out a hand to us, still invites us to take up our cross and follow him. He still goes with us, and because he does, his journey of ours is a journey of hope and joy that helps us to hold on.

As we do, we will see that God will write an ending to the journey to Jerusalem that will lead to eternity. In the meantime we join Jesus as companions on the journey. Thanks be to God. Amen.