Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

On this Independence Day Weekend, instead of looking back east to Valley Forge and Philadelphia, I’d instead like to challenge us to look to the deep south, to San Antonio, Texas. You all, I’m sure, have heard the phrase “Remember the Alamo.” You’ve all heard it, but do you know what it means?

The Alamo, today located on the edge of San Antonio’s very popular “River Walk” entertainment district started out as a Spanish mission, a place not unlike California’s own missions, a place of worship. But after Mexico won independence from Spain, Texans wanted to be liberated from Mexico and join the United States, so the Alamo went from being a mission to being a fortress and Texans took their stand within her mighty walls. The Mexican dictator, Santa Ana, marched toward the Alamo to crush the rebellion. Only 188 men were inside the Alamo, but they included such legendary names as Davy Crockett and Sam Bowie. Those 188 brave men held off nearly 4000 Mexican troops for almost two weeks. All 188 men were eventually killed, but their resistence gave Texans the time to assemble an army that would eventually defeat Mexico and give Texas its independence.

That story about the Battle of the Alamo is fairly well known, especially to those of you who are from Texas, but there is another story about the Alamo that is not as well known, a story about what happened inside the Alamo. The leader of the brave Alamo men, Colonel Travis, gathered them together and told them they had a choice. They could leave the fort while there was still time or they could stay put and meet certain death. Then Colonel Travis unsheathed his sword, drew a line in the dusty Texas ground and said these words, “Those prepared to give their lives in freedom’s cause, come over to me.” Without hesitation, every man except one crossed the line. The one who didn’t cross the line was Colonel James Bowie, inventor of the Bowie Knife. He was sick with typhoid pneumonia and couldn’t physically walk across the line, but instead asked for his bed to be carried over.

That was the dedication that was necessary for freedom. As we are still learning even today, freedom and liberty do not come without sacrifice, without men and women standing up for their beliefs and for the freedoms and liberties of others.

There is a very interesting correlation between what happened at the Alamo in San Antonio and what we read in our Scripture readings this morning. Years and years before the Alamo, both Elijah [1 Kings 19:9-21] and Jesus Christ [Luke 9:51-62] said basically the same thing as Colonel Travis. They both drew lines in the sand and invited their followers to cross over, but challenged their followers that once they crossed over, there was no turning back and there was no looking back.

However many similarities can be found between what was said at the Alamo and what was said particularly by Jesus Christ, there are also some differences. Colonel Travis called his men to sacrificial dedication for the cause of freedom – their own and others. Jesus Christ calls His disciples to the same sacrificial dedication for the cause of freedom, not really for their own freedom – because that would be won for them by Him on the Cross – but for the freedom of others. Colonel Travis called his men to hole up in a fortress and defend it and that fortress itself would become the sign and symbol of freedom: “Remember the Alamo!” Jesus Christ calls and deploys His disciples not to be in a building, not to defend that building, not to have that building become the sign and symbol of freedom, but to be the Church in the world, to daily live as His disciples, to stand firm in their freedom won by Him, to daily live out the fruits of the Holy Spirit, that the eternal freedom of others would be won not by our dying, but by our daily living. Daily living defines us as disciples of Jesus Christ. Can you say that along with me? Daily living defines us as disciples of Jesus Christ. That’s our uniform in today’s world.

You see, a big problem in today’s Church is undisciplined disciples. That term in and of itself is an oxymoron – undisciplined disciples – but I couldn’t think of a better term. The Church as a whole has a whole mass of people who, for some reason or another, respond to the call of Jesus Christ and cross over the line, but who slowly or quickly, again for some reason or another, cross back over the line. Elijah found that with Elisha. Jesus found that with the three men He called to follow Him. That looking back or crossing back over the line is bad enough in and of itself, but what makes it even worse is that so often these folks cross back over the line, but still want the identification and the benefits of being disciples. They want to be disciples – they want to bear the name “Christian” – they want to wear the gold crosses – they want to know that Jesus died for them and that they’re going to Heaven – they want their names on a church roster for when they need to arrange a baptism or a marriage or a funeral – but that’s all it is to them. They don’t want to be disciplined disciples. They don’t want Jesus Christ, or anyone else for that matter, to tell them how to live. To them, they’re independent, free people and don’t need anyone – not even Jesus – to disciple them, to “limit” their freedoms.

Truth be told, freedoms are found in daily living as disciples of Jesus Christ. St. Paul issued the clarion call: “Stand firm and don’t let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” [Galatians 5:1]. What is that yoke of slavery? It’s not daily living as disciples of Jesus Christ. It’s not living the fruits of the Spirit. Instead, the yoke of slavery is what the devil has power to exercise in our lives when we’re not in daily prayer and in daily study of God’s Word. It’s what the devil has power to exercise in our lives when we’re not in Bible study and worship on a regular basis, when we don’t regularly receive The Lord’s Supper. It’s what the devil has the power to exercise in our lives when we as the people of God see something that God wants us to do, but leave it for someone else to do. There is absolutely nothing better that the devil loves in this world than undisciplined “disciples,” “disciples” who view Jesus not as the source of their freedom but as the limitation to their freedom, “disciples” who are too busy providing for themselves, too busy burying family, and too busy saying goodbye to family to have any time for Kingdom work.

Today we set out on a new adventure, adding Pastor Gómez to our staff as Associate Pastor for Hispanic Outreach. Jesus has drawn a line in the sand and crossing over requires some dedication, some commitment and some sacrifice. It’s easy to listen to the devil about how we don’t have the money, or that the money we have should be used for something else or that we as Historic First Lutheran don’t need ministry in Spanish – that we all speak English. The devil would love for us not to do this work because it would mean that the Name El Señor Jésus de Cristo would not be pronounced week after week, because it would mean that our Spanish-speaking neighbors would not be getting baptized, as one did last Sunday, because it would mean that our Spanish-speaking neighbors would not be confirming their faith, as six young people did three weeks ago.

But our Savior Jesus says, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the Kingdom of God.” Colonel Travis said a very similar thing: “Those prepared to give their lives in freedom’s cause come over to me.”

Remember the Alamo? Wouldn’t it be great one day to hear people say, “Remember Historic First Lutheran” and then proceed to tell stories about how we fought for the eternal freedoms of others by being disciplined disciples of Jesus Christ.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Pastor Christopher Schaar
Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena