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FAITH AS RADICAL OBEDIENCE Rev. John M. Buchenan
February 4, 1968
Mark 1:14-22;2:13,14

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{ there is a certain justifiable aversion for the word "radical*.:In
the idiom of the 1960's "radical" has become synonymons with "extremism",
and conjures up images of wild irrationality and fanaticism] Radical scens
to be a good word to describe the ghetto dweller who wants action immediately
and is willing to burn and destroy in order to get it. "Radical" fits the
angry young Christians who would abandon the institutional church and all
its traditionalism like a sinking ship. Politically the word "radical" is
employed to describe the extremists of both left and right. In short, we
are threatened by the word "radical" because by its very nature it stands
in opposition to the sttatus-quo. To us the radical is "“way-out" -— the opponent
of stable sanity, order and reason.

ea yet "radical" is a good, albeit corrupted, word. Webster
defines radical as that which is ..."%..fundamental, reaching to the center or
ultimate source; affecting the vital principle or principles." That is to
say, a true radical is one who gets directly to the heart of the matter without
much concern for the peripheral.

In this sense, radical is a good Christian word, a very appropriate
New Testament word. For, if we take that document at all seriously, it be-—
comes obvious that Christian Faith is best described as radical obedience to
Jesus Christ.] Radical obedience is precisely what we see happening between
Jesus and_his disciples.

(Think about the New Testament lesson read this morning. From his
period of testing in the desert Jesus came to Galilea, and walking beside the
sea he encountered two fisherman plying their trade. Simon and Andrew were
their names, and the encounter is brief and to the point. Jesus said “follow
me' and they put down their nets and followed.

A little later he found two more - James and John ~ mending their
nets. Again "Pollow me" and they left all behind and followed. Still later
he passed a tax office and saw Levi, or latthew as he is better know. “Follow
me"“sse."And he rose and followed him." }

Mark adds to his account the pregnant commentary that the people of
Capernaum were astonished at this display of authority -— and well they
might have been, for it is a rather remarkable sequence of events. [The call
of Christ was radical ~ direct, without adornment or explanation. The response
was equally radical - immediate, without justification or rationalization.
But more important, this whole tableau is radical in that it is fundamental: it
focusses directly on the heart of the matter. I+t says that Christianity
begins with the call - "Follow me"; and that faith is born when men do just
that, and that alone - when they get up and follow.

It's uncomfortable to be this honest with the New Testament. The
idea that Christian faith is radical obedience to Jesus Christ is an alien
and perhaps repugnant idea to us, not only due to our aversion toward the
word radical (and obedience) but because our entire conception of the word
faith ~ our entire way of dealing with Christianity is based on a different
set of premises. Time has watered down the radical thrust of the Gospel:
Christianity has become a respectable religion with creeds. and traditions.
And obedignce to this blunt call of Christ simply isn't in the picture.

rE the drama of the New Testament lesson this morning were being
written Today the sequence might be something like this: the initial
encounter would be much more gentle, the story would be softened: instead
of a call to "get up and follow’ we would begin with a theological
presentation of our belief that Jesus Christ was the son of God. This would
be followed by a persuasive argument detailing the merits and validity of
the Christian claim. There would ensue an extended period of thought and
discussion — perhaps weeks or months, during which time it is hoped that
"faith* will happen: that the prospective disciple will be able to accept

intellectually the thesis before him and gvadually begin to feel its truth.
The next step is to join the Church - but still we must proceed slowly;
it takes quite a while to learn all about this Christianity business, and
the new disciple is granted another extended period of time for growth and

nurture. Through all of this we hope that the new disciple will come to have
a firm faith and ultimately become an. enthusiastic and satisfied Christian.
Through all of this runs the common conception that faith is something we
feel and understand :@ftef a gradual, soft sell. Obedience — Radical obedience +
these abrasive terms are best ignored, at least until the disciple gets
his feet on the ground.

Simon, Andrew, James, John and Matthew wouldn't have recognized
any of this. This isn't the same thing at all: for them the sequence was —
confrontation - call ~ response. They either obeyed the call or disobeyed.
It was as simple as that. It's difficult for us to accept - but the fact is
that Christianity began with no confession, no creed, no theology, no
arguments, no persuasion -— just a man: a confrontation with other men: a
call: a ay |

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his excellent book The Cost of Discipleship,
uses this passage as the foundation for his argument that the radical Gospel
of the New Testament is best described today as a Gospel of "cheap grace".
He points out that the modern man simply cannot accept the story of the
disciples as it is told. They must have known him before: surely they had
heard him preach and had been thinking and praying about what he said. When
the call came they were prepared. By hook or crook we find it necessary
to insert something between the call and the response — some period of time
that would allow faith to grow, a faith corte Piabin to get up and walk

away from the tax table to follow Jesus Christ onhoeffer pinpointed this

as the fatal error of contemporary Christiani When we begin to make
obedicnce dependent on faith: when we expect men: to first find faith and then
obey Christ - we eliminate the possibilities of faith altogether. In a

now famous phrase he put it this way: "...there is no road to faith or
discipleship, no other road — only obedience to the call of Christ.” hi

The abrupt sequence of events in the New Testament is of the greatest
significance.

I believe, very deeply, that Bonhoeffer had hold of something
important here. I believe the Christian faith is not very vital, not very
meaningful to us precisely because we have reversed the sequence. By blunting
the sharp edge, by making faith a vague emotional/intellectual capacity that
must precede obedience we effectively rule out the possibility that
it will ever happen.

Of course, it is extremely difficult to define faith: to say what
it is and who has it. And yet I think we can make the observation that,
whatever it is, it is in short supply. I think we can look around us and
observe that Christian faith is a rather minimal addendum to our common
life: that there is little enthusiasm, little commitment. I think we can
observe perennially empty pews in this sanctuary, and all others, and
deduce that there is a vast difference between the going conception of
faith today and the conception that the New Testament proclaims. I don't
think it is unfair to characterize the average churchman, and I include all
of us in this, as a well intentioned agnostic, who in varying degrees is
committed to the church as an institution, who periodically wrestles with
questions of theology ~ looking to the church for answers, who nurtures
the undying expectation that someday through all of this - "faith" will
somehow happen to him. He is one who is quite willing to give himself
generously to a good cause — but — he wants to understand i+ first, he
wants to be captivated, to feel it in his heart, to experience its urgency.
Put another way, he wants to have faith first and then he will obey. In
the case of Jesus Christ, he needs to know who he is and what he's all
about, and then - perhaps ~ he can be brought to a position of obedient
commi tiven t.

find it rarely happens, and the reason it rarely happens is that
faith and obedisnce converge: you cannot have one without the other. Faith
simply does not happen to a man — truc faith — until he answers the call of

Christ. There's no other way.

There is a rather simple analogy here with human relationships ~
particularly a loving relationship. We do not understand a person first
and then love him. Love comes first - and out of love understanding is born.
If we reversed this procedure, if we examined each other in depth, if we
weighed the pros and cons of another's personality before committing our-
selves in love, it is doubtful that love would ever happen.

So itis ‘with faith: it just doesn't happen. It tegins in obedience -

in that cxtremely personal, extremely radical act of following Christ. One
man cxpressed it this way: "Who is this who asks us to follow? We want to
know who he is before we follow him, and that is understandable enough
excep’ that the truth of the matter is that it is only by first following
him thatye can begin to find out who he is."[2]

[ina De T. Niles speaks the same word even more clearly: “The New
Testament speaks of it (Christian TAith) as a race to be run, a war to be
waged, a wrestling to be undertaken.... The only way to understand what it
means to run a race is to train for it and to run it. The only way to
know what it means to engage in a fight is actually to fight. The only
way to lmow what wrestling is, is to meet one's opponent is a wrestling
match. To be a Christian is to engage in an ac tivity, recognizing that
by such activity alone will understanding also come as to what the Christian
faith is 2i[3]

ve have not learned that, obviously. For many of us it is still
a waiting game, waiting for understanding - waiting for faith — and there
will be end to our wait - until we get up and follow.

Unen Christ came to the tax office, Matthew had no faith:no
understanding: no program for the future. Christ called and Matthew followed;
that is, he obeyed — he got up and took a step that put him in a new nlace
where faith was possible. ] Is it that we have not heard the call? Ts it
that the Church has come™to us as a salesman, with a case full of creedal
statements and organizations and committees and dinners and the nebulous hope
that the man Jesus Christ is somehow behind it all? If that is so, Goad
forgive the Church. For the task of theChurch ~ the task of preaching —
the celobration of the Sacraments — all of it exists only to present this
man — and to articulate the call - "follow me"

Se follow where? Matthew saw a man and a road ahead — he heard
and looked into piercing eyes and perhaps felt a kind of love he didntt
know existed. Matthow was there - we are here — Follow where? I think
that question answers itself when we begin to see that faith and obedicnce
converge at the same point in our lives I think several obvious answers
might sound like this: "Worship God regularly —- because the worshipping
community of Christians is the body of Christ and he dwells in their
midst. Give yourself - gencrously, sacrificially. Love someone you can't
bear to love. Do something you know is right and good but which will hurt
you to do. Extend a helping hand to a child, a neighbor, a friend or a
strange: — when it is unnecessary and inconvenient to do so. Cet up and
follow ~ for the direction of the journey becomes clear once we have decided
to take it." Paith happens when we follow: faith happens when we obey the
call of Jesus Christ and not before.

Christianity has fallen on hard times, there can be no doubt about
that. % is called the "post Christian era and the obituary is already
being written for the Church of Jesus Christ. And T believe the reason is
totally that we have reversed the procedure: the Gospel is watered dow:
there is nothing radical about it. Instead of a man — we present to the

—4-

world a program. Instead of his call - we very carefully speak an inoffensive
philosophy. There is no adventure, nothing to inspire - and nobody much
interested.

Paul Scherer, a great professor and preacher, reminds us that:
",.elong years ago the sailors of Sir Francis Drake used to sit on the
rocky coasts of England tclling the country lads, not about the pleasurcs
of the sca, but of its dangers: they talked of highways and stout winds
and gallant ships riding out the storms, until those country boys wanted
it so much they would run away from home to become part of it."[4]

There is something like that in the Gospcl of Jesus Christ. Where
is something like that in the call, "Follow me".

And there is something deep down in every one of us that longs
to make response — to get up and follow.. Amen.

Ll] he Cost of Discipleship, p. 49, Macmillan, New York, 1949

[2] irederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat, p. 98, The Seabury Press

4
Hew York, 1966

L3] The Power at Work Among Us, pe 10, Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1967

4] interpreting the Times, p. 32, National Council of Churches, 1967

quoted by George Peters