Our gospel this morning is a clarion call to honesty, challenging us to examine our lives, to discern what we are doing, why we are doing it, and if we are genuinely following Jesus. The primary challenge of this Gospel is the question: "What do you value above all things?" Answering this requires honest discernment and counting the cost before rushing to reply. It is important to remember that exaggeration is a common rhetorical device both in the Middle East today and in Jesus' time. (Barbara Crafton, copied) Jesus is not calling for an abandonment of family – the word translated "hate" might better be translated "put aside." In this case, Jesus is calling us to put aside our family, to put it in a different place as we center our lives on God. Further, we need not give up all our possessions, but rather put them in a different place, moving them from center to a place of using them for the Kingdom.
There is another story told by Will Willimon, Dean of the Chapel at Duke University. It has been around since the early nineties, but still holds a nugget of truth. "A while back he got a call from a very upset parent who declared: "I hold you personally responsible for this." "Me?" Will asked. The father was upset because his graduate school bound daughter had just informed him that she was going to chuck it all ("throw it all away" was the way the father described it) and go do mission work with the Presbyterians in Haiti. "Isn’t that absurd?" shouted the father. "She has a BS in mechanical engineering from Duke and she's going to dig ditches in Haiti."
"Well, I doubt that she's received much training in the Engineering Department here for that kind of work, but she's probably a fast learner and will get the hang of ditch-digging in a few months, Will testily replied.
"Look," said the father, "this is no laughing matter. You are completely irresponsible to have encouraged her to do this. I hold you personally responsible.
As the conversation went on, Dr. Willimon pointed out that the well-meaning but obviously unprepared parents were the ones who had started this ball rolling. THEY were the ones who had her baptized, read Bible stories to her, took her to Sunday School; let her go with the Youth Fellowship to ski in Vail. Will said: "You were the one who introduced her to Jesus, not me."
"But all we ever wanted her to be was a Presbyterian," said the father meekly. "Sorry. You've messed up and made a disciple." (David E. Leininger, Collected Sermons, Adapted from William Willimon, Pulpit resources, 9/10/95,
p. 45)
As Jesuit Daniel Berrigan said smiling at reporters as he was being led into a federal prison to begin his sentence for resistance to the Vietnam War: "If you follow Jesus, you'd better look good on wood." (Copied)

It is with this challenge before us that we celebrate "Welcome Home Sunday" and "The Ministry Fair" at St. Margaret's this morning. It is a joy to be beginning a new program year as we ask ourselves what we have been doing, what we would like to put aside, and what we would like to try. That is not to say that ministry hasn't been going on with vigor throughout the summer. It was classic St. Margaret's that over thirty parishioners showed up on Friday morning to support Caron Gwynn, our assistant, at her mother's funeral. However, we are given the opportunity to rethink our ministries here, and to explore new possibilities.

This is also a time to welcome newcomers to our home…to share with them the radical hospitality that was found in the early church. We are deeply committed to justice and outreach in this parish. I pray that we add "hospitality" to form a triad of goals. We do this by being warm and welcoming as people enter the church, by wearing our nametags, by helping them to maneuver our service, and by greeting them in the aisle and coffee hour at the end of our worship. Further, the data has long suggested that people come to church and stay most often not because of great preaching and music, or extraordinary programming, education and outreach…though they are all very important, but because someone bothered to invite them to come. I wonder how many of us have friends who would be delighted to come here if only they felt invited and welcomed.

We bring people in not just for practical reasons, but because we truly believe that we have something wonderful to offer and we wish to share it. This is a place of great joy and laughter as well as one that is grounded in a solid faith. Each new person brings needed gifts and talents that make us richer for them.

In our diverse society we must be careful not to act as though we have the only way, but a way, a way that nurtures us and gives us life….a way that we are eager to share. I am increasingly aware that there are many paths to the one God we all worship, and each person must find his or her own way.

Finally, each and every one of you – those present and those absent – are critically important to St. Margaret's. When you are not with us we are diminished and not quite whole. There is a wonderful story told by James Moore about a mountain village in Europe several centuries ago. "A wealthy nobleman wondered what legacy he should leave to his townspeople. He made a good decision. He decided to build them a church. No one was permitted to see the plans or the inside of the church until it was finished. At its grand opening, the people gathered and marveled at the beauty of the new church. Everything had been thought of and included. It was a masterpiece. But then someone said, "Wait a minute! Where are the lamps? It is really quite dark in here. How will the church be lighted?" The nobleman pointed to some brackets in the walls, and then he gave each family a lamp, which they were to bring each time they came to worship. "Each time you are here," the nobleman said, "the place where you are seated will be lighted. Each time you are not here, that place will be dark. This is to remind you that whenever you fail to come to church, some part of God's house will be dark." (James Moore, Some things are too Good Not to Be True, Dimensions: Nashville, 1994. pp.117-118)

Each of us brings light and love to this place, and each of us is missed if we are absent for any period of time. So welcome home, welcome home to a new year, welcome to the community that loves you, and, to all those who are new in our midst, welcome to our home. We are delighted that you are here! Let us together follow Jesus in the days to come. AMEN