Theme: Christianity Isn’t Cheap!
First Reading: Wisdom 9:13-18b/Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 90:3-4.5-6.12-13.14.17 (R. 1) Second Reading: Philemon 9b-10.12-17/Gospel Accl.: Psalm 119:135/Gospel: Luke 14:25-33
Once upon a time, I went to a typical African market to buy a pair of trousers. As expected, none of the items on sale had price tags. At the back of my mind was the mentality that the one with the highest bargaining power carries the day. So, when the seller gave the price, I started to bargain with him till at a point he said to me: “My friend, this pair of trousers isn’t cheap. It is of higher quality!” As a matter of fact, it was of good quality, and I could not but pay the exact price given by the seller. Today, in no uncertain terms, Jesus wants us to understand and to accept the fact that following him is not an easy task, not a cheap venture or a child’s play; that, it demands our all! Therefore, Jesus recommends for us to count the cost before undertaking the journey of becoming his disciples. The cost of discipleship is renunciation and detachment, and this is not easy. Be that as it may, we are assured that, that is what brings out the best in us and qualify us for candidacy in the heavenly banquet. Let us explore the readings to get a sense of this topic.
Today’s Gospel provides a movement from detachment to attachment and vice versa. Jesus tells his followers to detach themselves from three things in order to attach themselves to only one thing. They are to detach themselves from their families, possessions and their personal selves. Having done so, they are to attach themselves to the person of Jesus in the school of discipleship. In effect, this detachment has the goal of attachment. Hence, attachment to Christ must lead to complete and genuine detachment from certain things. Also, detachment from such things must ultimately lead us to opt for Jesus alone! This does not come easily but with grace and effort.
Consequently, in the Gospel, Jesus teaches: “If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple… So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Lk. 14:26, 33). This, according to some commentators, is the most demanding, strongest and extreme statement of Jesus on renunciation of self and wealth. To ‘hate’ one’s family, material goods and self is not hatred per se, as one may think of it in the literal sense, but detachment in order to attach oneself to Christ alone. It means that no love, no loyalty even to the closest and dearest affiliations in life can compare with the love and allegiance for Christ. Thus, the true disciple of Christ is the one who radically places Jesus over and above everyone and everything else. Hence, every other person and all other things become secondary!
Certainly, such a teaching (Jesus’ summons) may be regarded a difficult and unacceptable one by our secular, materialistic and consumerist global culture, since it thinks in human terms! Perhaps, those operating purely on the rational level may consider Jesus’ utterances unphilosophical and unreasonable! Nonetheless, this is the only condition, the counsel that can make us authentic disciples of Christ. Unfortunately, many distant followers and not genuine disciples, many nominal Christians and not witnesses of Christ, have flooded the Christian church, and observe their own traditions and standards! This creates a different and negative image of Christianity. This has to stop if we are to remain faithful to Christ. Consequently, to appreciate this divine condition of renunciation requires divine wisdom which comes from above! In the light of this, the sage asks in the first reading: “What man can learn the counsel of God? Or who can discern what the Lord wills? …Who has learnt your counsel, unless you have given wisdom and sent your holy Spirit from on high? (Wis. 9:13, 17). Truly, human wisdom has limitations, but not divine wisdom! We pray God to endow us with this wisdom so as to follow him always.
Furthermore, Jesus encourages us to learn to count the cost of being his disciples. He wants us to always consider the stark truth that the Christian journey is full of high and uncompromising standards obliging all adherents with none excepted! We do not have to pick and choose which one to follow or not to follow as we do in a cafeteria. Like a balanced diet, Christianity has its menu – sometimes tasty, other times sour – but we need both experiences. Yet, we are never left alone to fulfil those standards. We never walk alone for God’s grace is available to us. Jesus, who is Emmanuel, God-with-us, is with us always on our journey to the very end (cf. Mt. 28:20).
Furthermore, it is quite didactic and revealing to learn that when Jesus made those statements in the Gospel, he was already on his way to Jerusalem – the place where he was to suffer death on the cross! By this, Jesus is telling us that we are not on the way to worldly power and glory, but in the words of William Barclay, we “must be ready for a loyalty which would sacrifice the dearest things in life and for a suffering which would be like the agony of a man upon a cross.” Unfortunately, what pertains in our modern dispensation is that, some individuals, the so[1]called men of God, make Christianity cheap and in the bid of doing so, empty it of the cross. However, a cross-less and a cafeteria Christianity whereby we pick and choose what suits us is not to be associated with the teaching of Jesus! As a matter of fact, Jesus is quite clear on this!
So, how can we model our lives after the teaching of Jesus Christ? We need a rethink – to reflect on why the cross is still the symbol of Christianity. We need wisdom from above in order to accept the crosses or sufferings which come our way. Paul accepted his own cross when he was put in prison around 61-62 AD for witnessing to Christ (cf. Phlm. 9b). Having understood the importance and necessity of the cross in the life of a Christian, Paul writes to Philemon to exhort him. He encourages Philemon to ‘embrace’ his own cross by being charitable in forgiving and treating his legal slave Onesimus (a name which means ‘useful’), no longer as a slave but a beloved brother (Phlm. 10-17). By Paul’s exhortation to Philemon, it is admissible to state that the former, while respecting the social system of slavery, is requesting the latter to detach himself from the mentality of slavery and the material and social ‘benefits’ associated with it. In this regard, he sends Onesimus back to his legal master, Philemon, and recommends to Philemon to treat Onesimus “as a man and as a brother in the Lord” (Phlm. 16). By this, Paul makes important contributions by reviewing social relationships in the light of the Christian message.
Beloved in Christ, our own response to Jesus’ invitation to renunciation must be that of a ready, willing, trusting, obedient, hopeful and prayerful loyalty. We must unite ourselves with the Psalmist and pray deeply and fervently: “Then teach us to number our days, that we may gain wisdom of heart” (Ps. 90:12). Let us remember that God has been and continues to be our refuge from generation to generation and will give success to the work of our hands if we persevere (cf. Ps. 90:1, 17). If Christianity is not cheap, then surely, we will face difficulties, but if we endure to the end remaining steadfast in the Lord and reliant on his grace and mercy, we will receive the invaluable crown of glory! May the Lord strengthen us in our resolve to be his true disciples. May he also bless us abundantly. Happy Sunday! Remember: #Christianity-Isn’t-Cheap#
