“Who can ever learn the will of God?” Wisdom 9: 13-18
Parables of the tower-builder and the king preparing for war. “Whoever does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple…Anyone who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14: 25-33
Today’s gospel-reading is yet another summary from Luke of one of the instructions Jesus gave would-be disciples as they accompanied him on his journey to Jerusalem. Luke used these instructions on discipleship as the milestones that mapped the route to Jerusalem that Jesus and his disciples followed.
Today’s milestone instruction is especially significant in that it reveals how Jesus cautioned those with him to stop and have a second look at the demands of being a disciple of his before hastily committing themselves to walking in his footsteps. But at this milestone stop, there is a difference in that Luke notes that Jesus was now being accompanied by great crowds and that his invitation was to all who would accept his message and commit to putting it into practice. All in that category could expect rejection, insult and even physical violence because of their commitment to him and his message. Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, where, as a demonstration of his total integrity, he would give his life out of love for all humanity. To follow in his footsteps would require a readiness to live and spend one’s life as an expression of love for others. That is a message not just for the closest of his disciples but for all who would come to believe in him and his message and put their trust in him. Doesn’t that include us?
In describing Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, Luke has punctuated it with a succession of challenges integral to discipleship of him. However, he also notes that Jesus made the point that a burst of enthusiasm is an insufficient preparation for the level of commitment needed to become one of his genuine disciples. Disciples must be much more than well-intentioned. Their commitment must be built on familiarising themselves with what exactly will be required of them. Moreover, they must be wise enough to assess whether they have the courage and tenacity to stay the course.
To underline his message, Jesus engaged in semitic hyperbole, something which is tantamount to shock tactics: “If anyone comes to me without hating his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes, and his own life too, he cannot be my disciple. Anyone who does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14: 26-27) On the surface, this seems to fly in the face of what John, in his Gospel, attributed to Jesus: “I give you a new commandment: love one another; just as I have loved you, you also must love one another. By this love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples.” (John 13: 34-35) However, here in Luke, “hating” has the meaning of avoiding being overly attached to anybody or anything. Jesus was making the point that being numbered in his disciples means getting one’s priorities right. Loving others is not about making them dependant, but about walking beside them helping them to become their best selves, loving them as Jesus loves them. In that way, we make love of Jesus and his message our top priority. What empowers us disciples to shoulder the crosses of daily life, the griefs and disappointments that come our way, the opposition and ridicule that come from naming ourselves as Christians is the loving relationship we cultivate with Jesus.
The illustrations from the world of commerce of the man preparing to build a tower and that from the world of politics of the king making preparations for war are used by Jesus merely to stress the need for adequate preparation for discipleship. It is also important for us to be cautious about applying them to the institutional Church of which we are members. We, as members of parish and church communities, need to approach our living as disciples of Jesus with the aid of discernment, wisdom and practical common sense – all God-given gifts. We rightly expect those responsible for leading our parish and diocesan communities to employ those same gifts in their institutional undertakings.
Institutions like dioceses and parishes need to establish agencies and infrastructures to address the needs of the forgotten, the homeless, the neglected and the hungry in the name of the Gospel and they have to accumulate finances to provide for their clientele. They also require offices and pulpits from which their leaders can challenge politicians and governments to respond with justice and compassion to the most needy in society. We, therefore, cannot expect our Churches and church institutions to be bereft of funds. Jesus calls us, his followers, to be wary of accumulating surplus. Instead, he expects that we reach out to the poor. In today’s gospel-reading, he warned the crowd (and us) of the cost of following him. We have to be prepared to put aside our plans for our personal comfort and our future security. and to give priority to our relationship with Jesus, evidenced in our care for the poor, the disadvantaged and the needy. Living that way will confront us inevitably with the Cross.
Jesus’ reminder to us not to overlook wisdom and common sense in our efforts to walk in his footsteps is complemented by today’s first reading from Wisdom, in which Solomon’s prayer for wisdom in guiding his people is held up to us for inspiration and imitation. This reading also assures us that suffering and misfortune are not a punishment for sin, and that virtuous living is not a guarantee of prosperity,
Finally, our second reading from Paul’s letter to Philemon, in which Paul exhorts his friend to treat his runaway slave as a brother rather than a piece of property, is a reminder to us all that love, forgiveness and reconciliation will always trump law.
Being a disciple of Jesus is, indeed, rarely a simple matter.