The Hardest Gospel of Them All
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today’s gospel is one of the most demanding passages in the entire Bible. That’s because these words of Jesus ask so much of us, and the message is painfully personal. Jesus calls us to sacrifice like we’ve never done before. He tells us that we have no choice if we want to follow him with integrity, and not just follow him in name only.
So let’s take a look to understand what Jesus is saying in this passage from Luke’s gospel.
First we see that he’s talking to the large crowds of people who were traveling with him. Surely they saw something so attractive in this man: his ability to cure the sick, to feed so many people in one act of blessing and distribution, to teach with authority and compassion. This Jesus was one charismatic leader and they apparently couldn’t get enough of him.
So he begins to teach them what it truly means to be his follower—his disciple. This is such a hard teaching that I bet he lost a lot of followers once they considered just what he was saying.
He gives them 3 ways they must live—3 things they must do—in order to be his followers.
First—they must hate their families and hate even life itself.
Second—they must carry their crosses and follow him.
Third—they must give up all their possessions.
Yikes! Who wants to do these things? Who CAN do these things? Not too many people can really do these things literally—except those who take monastic vows and move entirely away and surrender everything. I think of the Irish monks in the first millennium who left behind their homes, families, and livelihoods and went to live on some deserted islands in the Irish Sea. They could do these things. But us? How can we possibly follow Jesus by fulfilling his expectations here?
Well--let’s take a look at what Jesus taught the crowds. We’ll try to relate the teachings to our lives and try to understand how they speak to us, here and now in the 21st century. We want to be careful, though, not to water down these demands too much. They are real, and they are steep. We want to see how we can try to live up to Jesus’ demands and still carry on with our lives, changed though they might be.
First—we must hate our families and even life itself. This cannot mean that we literally hate our families—that flies in the face of the teachings of the gospel about love and forgiveness and leading the Christian life. No, this must mean that if our families, or other aspects of our lives, get in the way of following Jesus fully, then we must put them in second or third or fourth place, so that following Him comes first.
An example: Perhaps we’ve felt pressured by parents or children to take their side in an argument about money or something else we hold dear. Perhaps we’ve been told not to forgive or to hold a grudge. Maybe we grew up in a family where we were taught to be prejudiced against people for who they are or what they look like. Here Jesus says quite clearly: “your family is getting in the way of living fully as my follower. Put them in last place now so that you may do what you know you need to do: forgive, love, open your hearts.”
And in so doing we may find that we’ve expanded the meaning of family and found family closer to us than our blood relatives. The members of the Christian community that surrounds us—they are family who help us follow Jesus by growing in love and forgiveness. At least that’s what we hope.
Jesus’ second point: Whoever doesn’t carry his or her cross and follow Jesus cannot be his disciple. Here’s a way to look at what it means to carry a cross: it means to enter into any suffering that comes our way. “To bear our cross means to obey God even in our pain and loss, in facing the tragedies, trials, and griefs of life” according to one Biblical interpreter. [Feasting on the Word, Year C, Vol.4, page 46] It means to accept the difficult stuff that comes our way, even as we may take measures to alleviate the pain. It implies a measure of Christian maturity, accepting the difficult or tragic with the easy, knowing that Jesus walks with us, even as we suffer.
And His third point: We cannot be his followers unless we give up all our possessions. Now, this need not mean we need to go sell our homes and cars and clothing and such. No, it means that if they get in the way of our following him closely, we should get rid of them. And the word “possessions” means more than the things we own. It includes “our need to acquire, our yearning for success, our petty jealousies, our denigrating stereotypes of others, our prejudices and hatreds,” -- all those attitudes of mind that we feel totally justified about and that get in the way of reaching out in love to other people. [Feasting on the Word, p. 46]
I was tested on this third point by Bishop Smith when I interviewed with him at the beginning of my preparation for the priesthood. He asked me if I tithed my income, and he made it clear that that was just a starting point for how we’re called to give to others and to give up our tight-fisted hold on our things. Tithing is a symbol of our willingness to obey. And it was easy for me to say “yes”, because I hardly had any income back then! But since that time, of course, the income grew and the temptations grew right along with it.
The church suggests the tithe, which is 10% of our income, as a minimum amount we should be giving back to God. The church is suggesting this because in her wisdom she knows that hardly anyone can give up ALL of his or her possessions. The tithe is an easy mark to hit, compared with a literal interpretation of this third expectation of Jesus.
It is a hard teaching, isn’t it?
In thinking about this very demanding gospel I was reminded of the 1981 movie called “Chariots of Fire.” It won best picture that year as well as several other Oscars. It told a true story, profiling 2 runners, Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, who trained to compete in the Paris Olympics in 1924. Eric Liddell would not take part in a race run on a Sunday, for it was the Lord’s Day, and he took the 10 Commandments seriously. He put God first--ahead of any Olympic glory. As it turned out he was able to win a gold that year in a race he hadn’t trained for. God honored the way Liddell put God ahead of his own aspirations.
Here’s one memorable quote from the movie: Liddell says, “God made me for a purpose. He also made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure.”
I think that’s the key to the whole gospel. Moving through our lives in ways that honor God’s gifts given to us is what God wants. That puts God first. Our ability to honor Jesus’ demands on our time and our priorities is what makes us true disciples.
Eric Liddell went to China as a missionary, where he was to die of a brain tumor in 1945 in a Japanese internment camp. Survivors remember him as a father figure to the children of the camp, a man who taught them to love their Japanese captors and to pray for them.
He gave it all up. And he is remembered even today for his sacrifice and his love of Jesus—for the way he honored Jesus’ demands in the gospel.
And in reflecting on the gospel, I was also reminded of the wideness in God’s mercy. How Jesus loves us and guides us even as we struggle to live as he asks us to live.
His demands are real and exacting. And they deeply challenge our commitment.
May we throw ourselves on his mercy, and try our best to live the way he would have us live, for the rewards are great and the rewards are everlasting.
Amen.
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