9-8-13 St. Michael’s
- 1st Reading – Wisdom 9:13-18b
- 2nd Reading – Philemon 9-10, 12-17
- Gospel – Luke 14:25-33
Throughout the Liturgical year, we have Sundays with particular names, Easter Sunday, Pentecost Sunday, Gaudete Sunday. I propose that today be called “Tough Gospel Sunday”. Or maybe we can find some Latin word to make it sound more interesting. Jesus’ words seem awful harsh.
If I recall correctly, doesn’t the fourth commandment say to “Honor thy father and thy mother.”? And throughout his ministry, doesn’t Jesus teach a Gospel of love? “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” “Love one another, as I have loved you.” So, what are we to make of today’s Gospel reading?
“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” And likewise, at the end of the Gospel reading,” “Anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” Is this really what God wants of us? I don’t think so. I don’t think that he’s suggesting that in order to follow him we have to abandon those we love. Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Luke, but perhaps the same story from the Gospel of Matthew may make a little more sense: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” That helps us understand the story a little better. Most biblical scholars agree that the words from Luke’s Gospel are probably more real to what exactly Jesus said. He’s giving his disciples a reality check. Asking if they are willing to pay the price. Jesus, in talking to his followers, was simply stating what the cost of discipleship might be. Are you willing to give up everything? He wasn’t one to sugarcoat the harsh realities. He didn’t beat around the bush. He gave it to you straight up, right between the eyes. Jesus would have made a poor politician in today’s world. But what he is talking about here is priorities. He’s saying that we cannot allow anyone or anything to stand in the way of his calling for us to follow him. No person or persons can take the place of our number one priority, which is God. Occasionally, hopefully, very rarely, it may be a family member that comes between us and our call to follow Christ, but usually it’s a matter of becoming so involved with our family obligations and responsibilities, so caught up in the joy and pleasure of our mutual sharing that we unintentionally turn our backs on God. We forget that the ultimate source of meaning and purpose to our lives is God, that the ultimate source of all that we have is God. But there’s no way we can follow Jesus unless we make our relationship with God the number one relationship in our life and let it shape our whole attitude and approach to how we live. And when our primary loyalty and commitment is to God, who is the source of all love, we will become much better at living out, in a more loving way, our loyalty and commitment to our families. In other words, when we love God first, we become better at loving our families.
So, we have to take inventory of our lives; and take a look at what our priorities are, who, or what, comes first in our lives. Sometimes it’s our possessions that become an obstacle to following Christ. Hence, the last line of today’s Gospel, “Anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” As my wife, Annie, and I found out three years ago, after a house fire, there are no earthly possessions that one cannot absolutely live without. Although I’ll admit it made life difficult for a while; and there are some things we do still miss. But that’s nothing compared to what our Christian brothers and sisters are going through in Egypt right now, and other parts of the middle east who are living in a constant state of possible martyrdom. They truly understand the cost of discipleship.
If we are to follow Jesus, we must be prepared to carry our own crosses. He expects us to stand up for and live by his values rather than societies’; even if that means rejection, ridicule, and hatred; everything that Jesus encountered on the way to his crucifixion. Jesus warns us that if we are committed to him, we cannot avoid this cross. But it’s not to be feared; if we trudge along following his footsteps, he’ll be there with us.
The book of Wisdom, where our first reading comes from promises that as much as we are weighed down by worldly concerns, our lives will be put in good order if we allow ourselves to be filled with the Spirit of God. Jesus maintains that if we put the love of God before everything else in our lives, and not just on Sunday mornings, but every minute of every day, He will send the Spirit upon us and put our lives in order. The cost of following Jesus may be high, but the eventual cost of not following is much, much higher.