25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he
said: 26 "If anyone comes
to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and
sisters--yes, even life itself--such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their
cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you
first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to
complete it? 29 For if you lay
the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will
ridicule you, 30 saying, 'This
person began to build and wasn't able to finish.' 31 "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another
king. Won't he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand
men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a
delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of
peace. 33 In the same way, those
of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
So, ok… this is a difficult text. There are a couple of
things making it difficult. The first is the immediate context. The flow of
Chapter 14 of Luke’s Gospel is that Jesus is on his journey to Jerusalem to
suffer and die for the sins of the world. Commentators tend to call that entire
portion of the gospel “the travel narrative.” The travel narrative can be seen
as a metaphor for the Christian life. We too are journeying with Jesus; it’s a
journey of faith; it’s a journey of growth in understanding; it’s a journey
that may entail suffering or loss due to the demands of the faith; it’s a journey
that will end in our death (we all die), but like our Savior, death will not
have the last word over us. Ok, fine.
Looking more closely at chapter 14 itself, it begins with
last week’s gospel reading about dinner at the Pharisee’s house where Jesus says
don’t invite people who can reciprocate, rather, invite the poor, lame, and
hopeless, etc. In the next section (vss 15-24) he tells the parable about the
unworthy citizens who were invited to a banquet and didn’t show up. Vss 21- 23
are the climax of that parable: 21
"The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of
the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the
streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind
and the lame.' 22 " 'Sir,'
the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.' 23 "Then the master told his
servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so
that my house will be full.
So, timeout. An invitation was extended but refused. (many
see this as Israel’s rejection of their own Messiah). So, the invitation is
expanded so that my house will be full
(vs 23). But now picking up with this week’s narrative, we see large crowds traveling with Jesus (vs 25). Is
not vs 25 a fulfilling of the desire mentioned in vs 23? Isn’t the house well
on the way to being full? Yet, Jesus turns around and immediately (seemingly)
says things intended to drive people away.
Another difficulty has to do with theology. Our hymns talk
about “God’s free grace and favor.” St. Paul talks about salvation being “the
*gift of God,” (Eph 2). Yet, the free-grace-gift that Jesus talks about seems
to cost quite a lot. If forced into a corner, we must choose him over family,
self (up to and including our own life), and everything else! Is this some sort
of used car sales ‘bait & switch’ tactic? Come get the free gift of
salvation, all it costs is everything?
As I ponder all of this, to me it boils down to a matter
of perspective. If you’re the sort of person who sees ALL ‘requirements’ as
LAW/RULES or an infringement on your personal liberty, then Christianity in
general, and Jesus specifically, will always seem to be talking out of both
sides of their mouths.
But there IS such a thing as “gospel requirements.”
Imagine driving down I-290. There’s a million other people out there with you
and you’re all doing 80+mph. We do this all of the time—so much so that it’s
easy to forget the immense danger that’s always seconds away. Yet, while out
there, if we should doze off and drift just a matter of a couple feet in one
direction, it could mean DEATH. OR, if we should doze off and drift just a
matter of feet in the other direction, that too could mean DEATH. We **MUST**
therefore, stay on course. Is that a RULE? Is that LAW? Does that mean that the
‘free’ invitation to come and travel along I-290 is a phony invitation? Should
we become indignant and say, “Aha! I knew there was a catch! You call this a “free-way,”
but turns out it’s not so free after all! I have to stay in my lane or I might
get killed. What a sham! What a false offer!”
Gospel requirements are all over the place—both in life
and in the Christian faith. Jesus is life. I
am the way, the truth and THE LIFE, he once said. What that means is that
in order to stay on course with him and the ultimate life he offers, we may
have to choose: steer toward him and away from family; steer toward him and
away from our own selfish ambitions; steer toward him, and away from everything
else that would distract us from him and the ultimate life he represents.
Cheers,
TM
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