How to Be a Disciple
The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 7, 2025
Pastor Josh Evans
St. John’s Lutheran Church
Albany, NY
Did Jesus really just say that?
“Whoever…does not hate father and mother,
wife and children,
brothers and sisters,
yes, and even life itself,
cannot be my disciple.”
Is this really the same Jesus
who heals the sick,
mingles with outcasts,
and dines with tax collectors and sinners,
who proclaims release for the captives and freedom for the oppressed,
and who – just verses before –
told a parable about how there’s a place for everyone
and everyone has a place at God’s banquet table?
“Whoever…does not hate father and mother,
wife and children,
brothers and sisters,
yes, and even life itself,
cannot be my disciple.”
That doesn’t sound very Jesus-like.
In one sense, we’re accustomed to the kind of hate
that we casually throw around:
I hate green beans.
As if to say: I detest them and avoid them at all costs.
In a far more sinister way,
it is this sense of hatred
that pervades our world –
everywhere from church pulpits to the Oval Office –
except we’re talking not about the vegetables we detest,
but the people who are subject to this hate,
our fellow human beings
who are queer and trans,
black and brown,
foreign and undocumented,
who speak a different language than we do,
who look or believe or vote differently from us.
To be perfectly clear:
This kind of hatred is
incompatible with the reign of God
that Jesus is all about.
So what, then, does Jesus mean
when he suggests we need to “hate”
our parents, siblings, partners, children,
and even life itself
in order to be his disciples?
In another sense,
the word Jesus uses for “hate”
has more to do with how we prioritize people and things.
Ranking our priorities necessarily means
that some things are higher on the list than others.
You can’t have ten “number one” priorities…
but it also doesn’t mean that priorities #2-10 aren’t important either.
This is about the moral choices that we make
that stem from our values
about where we invest our time and energy.
And by extension, it also means rejecting those things –
racism and bigotry and all the various phobias and isms –
that are incompatible with the reign of God.
Jesus isn’t advocating here
for hatred and hostility.
Instead, he’s urging us to consider
what and who we value most.
“Whoever values anything else
more than you value following me,
cannot be my disciple.”
Jesus’s directive sounds harsh,
but this is hyperbole.
It’s an exaggerated extreme
to get a point across.
Jesus wants our full attention and allegiance.
You’re either “all in” or you’re not.
No one can serve two masters.
Just because Jesus demands our full attention,
it doesn’t mean our community –
parents, siblings, partners, children, friends –
isn’t important.
Just the opposite.
Following Jesus –
who healed the sick,
mingled with outcasts,
dined with tax collectors and sinners,
and called for the liberation of the oppressed –
will necessarily demand
a shifting of our priorities
to advocate for the safety and well-being of the community,
especially those who are most vulnerable,
until all have a place at God’s banquet table.
That’s a tall order and a daunting call.
The late theologian James Cone puts it this way
in a quote I turn to time and time again:
“If you are going to worship somebody that was nailed to a tree,
you must know that the life of a disciple of that person
is not going to be easy.”
“Whoever does not carry the cross
and follow me
cannot be my disciple.”
“Whoever does not bear the burden
of bearing their siblings’ burdens,
of standing in solidarity with those
whom the world hates,
cannot be my disciple.”
You might think there’s no way
you can live up to that calling.
You might even want to run
as fast as you can in the opposite direction.
But here’s the thing:
Because Jesus wants our full attention,
he also invites us to bring our full selves –
the best and the not-so-great.
Jesus didn’t interview his disciples before he called them.
He called them from where they were, as they were.
Jesus calls us
from where we are, as we are, too.
Jesus calls broken and flawed people,
who are also beautiful and uniquely gifted,
and he calls us together
to this holy and important gospel work.
Jesus calls us now
to the work of justice
that prioritizes the reign of a God
who prioritizes the least of these –
for that is where God themself is.
Jesus calls us:
“Whoever has love for me
and for those whom I love,
whoever carries the cross
and shares with me in the burdens and tears
of all this hurting world,
is indeed my disciple.”
