The Cost Of Discipleship!

 (Homily 23^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr. C)

     The three readings of today seem to have different themes:  the discernment of the Divine will which is only possible through the Spirit of God; the transformation of personal relations in Christ and the total renunciation as a mark of a true discipleship. As such, to figure out a common thread that runs through the three readings requires dexterity. Wisdom is the keyword recurrent in the liturgical texts. In the first reading, the human capacity of reasoning that is weak and uncertain, is opposed to the wisdom with which God teaches man and woman so that they will obtain salvation. The human prudence makes calculations to know if you can count on sufficient means to construct a tower or a sufficient number of soldiers to wage war against an enemy. This prudence is necessary, but in order to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, the prudence or better the wisdom that comes from God is required, as exemplified in the Gospel passage. In the second reading, the letter of St. Paul to Philemon is it not a real manifestation of wisdom learnt at the school of faith? Drawing the issue further, we can summarize the liturgical readings of today thus: The first reading and the responsorial psalm raise a question; the Gospel offers a response; while the second reading gives us an example of its existential application. As a matter of fact, in the biblical logic, the Old Testament reveals an expectation (a waiting), while the New Testament brings its fulfillment.

     The first reading (Wis. 9:13-18) presents a part of prayer which the book of Wisdom attributes to Solomon. In the first book of the Kings we see the earliest version of King Solomon’s prayer (1Kg. 3:6-9), where he prayed for understanding. In another occasion he prayed for wisdom to help him carry out his duties as a King (cf. 2Chr. 1:9-10). However, in this passage therefore, the sacred writer expatiates the point that the will of God can only be discerned through the wisdom and Spirit of God. The question emanating from the first reading with reference to the wisdom, the thought or will of God is this: “What human being indeed can know the intentions of God? And who can comprehend the will of the Lord?” (v.13). The answer is in the negative: No one! The passage tells us with much clarity that man is not capable of knowing the will of God. Man can only know the thoughts of God only if God reveals them to him, and God revealed himself to man: “And who could ever have known your will, had you not given Wisdom and sent your holy Spirit from above?” (v.17). The human person is limited in his knowledge and understanding of life. Thus, he lacks the indication of an existential scope or the sense for living, the drama is condensed in the following words of the psalmist: “All our days pass under your wrath; our lives are over like a sigh. The span of our life is seventy years, eighty for those who are strong, but their whole extent is anxiety and trouble, they are over in a moment and we are gone” (Ps. 90:9-10), before this bitter fact, the modern man falls into desperation and finds refuge in the materialistic point of view: “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die” (cf. Is. 22:13); the Psalmist as we have heard in the responsorial psalm finds refuge in prayer, he asks God the grace to learn how to count his days, to gain wisdom of heart.

     The Gospel passage (Lk. 14:25-33) consists of Jesus’ demands and the cost of discipleship. Jesus used two parables to illustrate his point on the cost of discipleship: the tower builder and the king going to war. Jesus does not force anyone to follow him, and once you choose to follow him, he must be the number priority of your life. In verse (26) it says “Anyone who comes to me without hating father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, cannot be my disciple”, the verb hate here is somewhat harsh, however, there is a suggestion that the original Aramaic language is to “love less”. But that does not really portray the real meaning therein. By that Jesus intends to teach his disciples that to follow Him one has to surrender the whole of one’s life and love Him above all others. It entails not putting anything or anyone before Him. He has to occupy the prime and first position in our life. All relationships and family ties must be subordinated to Christ. No one and nothing should be allowed to interfere in our discipleship and Christian life. Thus, there is need for an uncompromising commitment.

     Furthermore, in Chapter 10 of the Gospel of Luke when the Lawyer asked Jesus, “Master, what must i do to inherit eternal life? Jesus asked him: “What is written in the law? He replied: “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself”. Then Jesus told him: “You have answered right, do this and life is yours”. (Lk. 10:25-28). Here, we are told to love, now how do we reconcile the invitation of Jesus to hate. Jesus loving and hating reflects a Semitic idiom used to express preference. The words of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel will help us understand better what Jesus meant: “No one who prefers father or mother to me is worthy of me. No one who prefers son or daughter to me is worthy of me” (Mt. 10:37). Therefore, the use of hate here is not to indicate the rejection of something but rather a question of preference. The Semitic mind is comfortable with extremes: light and darkness etc. In the Jewish culture of that time, the family tie was so strong. Therefore, the invitation here, is not to water down the prior teaching of Jesus on love. Here, Jesus is making a call for absolute loyalty.

      In this passage Jesus speaks of the necessity of hating one’s relatives and one’s life, in order to be able to take the Cross and follow Him. He admonishes his disciples to check very well their strength and capabilities before embarking on the journey of his discipleship. As such, Jesus gives instances of the man who started the construction of a tower but could not finish it and the King who engages another King in a war and is incapable of winning. Thus, we can say that Jesus is telling us, before you come to me, think about it very well, but it is somewhat surprising, that the Jesus who said: “Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt. 11:28), and now apparently in this passage he gives us a somewhat discouraging admonition. But that is not the case, in order to understand the meaning of these words, we need to identify whom they were addressed to, they were addressed to the disciples, those that have already said yes to Jesus and to the Gospel and they are following Him. So they are not in doubt on whether to follow Jesus or not, but on how to follow Him. What are the exigencies of the sequela Christi? Accepting the Kingdom of God is indeed a hard nut to crack, it is a decisive choice. However, many a times some of the disciples of Jesus lack awareness about the seriousness and the radicality of the call of Jesus. Maybe they thought like in the mentality of that time, that to follow Jesus, the Messiah, entails grabbing every form of triumphalism, even though they must have understood that following Jesus is something important, but not to the point of renouncing oneself. As such, the passage of this Gospel gives us some indications or conditions for following Christ and to be his disciple: ● Whoever wishes to follow Christ must give precedence to Christ in everything. He has to occupy the first position in our life. ● To be a disciple of Christ entails following the Master and carrying one’s cross daily, it involves the ability to “follow the Lamb wherever he goes” (Rev. 14:4). A cross is a symbol of decision making, sometimes we say I have come to the crossroad, we must be decisive. ● To follow Christ one must detach himself or herself from earthly riches. ● It requires the consciousness that being a disciple of Christ or being a Christian is serious and demanding, little wonder, Jesus expects whoever wishes to follow Him to ponder over it properly. In all, Jesus blows hot against all prosperity Gospel preachers, the cross is at the heart of Christianity. Christianity without the cross is like the gospel without Christ.

     As a mater fact, the heart and bedrock of Christian wisdom is the choice of Christ, and it is an existential choice, in that, it changes our mentality, the way we perceive the world, the way we live and the way we interact with others. This helps us to understand better the conclusive words of Jesus’ discourse: “So in the same way, none of you can be my disciple without giving up all that he owns” (v.33), thus, renouncing all for Christ means not putting anything before Him. There is incompatibility in the choice; it is a fundamental option that determines all other choices. Jesus and his message of salvation have to be the priority of the disciple.

     Indeed, it is indispensable to read the passage of this Gospel without reference to the preceding verses, that is the parable of those invited to the banquet (cf. Lk. 14:15-24). Also it is necessary to read this passage in the light of the successive verses (cf. Lk. 14:34-35), this equally speaks of the disciple who have not understood that he has become lukewarm, and that he is just moving ahead for inertia. The same words used to reproach the Christian community of Laodicea can be addressed to some Christians today: “I know about your activities: how you are neither cold or hot. I wish you were one or the other, but since you are neither hot nor cold, but only lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Rev. 3:15-16).

     In the second reading (Phil. 1.9-10.12-17) we see the story of Onesimus, a slave who run away from his master Philemon, a Christian of Colossae, who had joined Paul in prison. When Paul was writing this letter he was already old, but also in prison under chains in Rome, as a result of his fidelity to Christ. The interesting part of this story is that through the influence of Paul, Onesimus was converted to Christianity. After his conversion to Christianity, Paul mediated between Onesimus and his Master, Philemon. In sending Onesimus back to his Master, Paul commended him as no longer a slave, but a dear brother in the Lord. However, through this wonderful intervention of Paul he did not in any way abolish slavery, which would have been impossible in the ancient world. But at least he succeeded in transforming the relationship that existed between them, from a master-slave relationship to a brother-brother relationship. Paul maintained that in Christ there is no longer anyone like a slave, rather we are free sons and daughters of God. Behold, at the heart of this passage is the message that our faith as Christians does not encourage barriers, divisions and discriminations of any kind. Our Christian faith teaches us to recognize all as brothers and sisters, thus sons and daughters of the same Father.

     Behold, the pivot on which revolves the message of this Sunday is on divine Wisdom as opposed to human prudence or wisdom. Jesus is the One who reveals to us the sapiential vision of life, for He is the wisdom of the Father, incarnated and made visible. Therefore, following Him, “Way, Truth and Life” entails walking on the path of that Wisdom that comes from above. And whoever that walks on this path is endowed with divine Wisdom, just as St. Paul. The presence of the divine Wisdom in him was manifested in his brotherly and affectionate intervention in the matter bothering Philemon and Onesimus. It is by means of divine Wisdom that the status of Onesimus was raised from a slave to a beloved brother. No doubt, to be one of the disciples of Christ, one needs the Wisdom that comes from above, capable of transforming a person’s heart, to a heart that sees and feels.

     Dear Jesus give us this Wisdom that comes from above so that we may be enabled to love you more, to love our brothers and sisters sincerely and to follow you more eagerly. May our pains be converted to our gains. Amen!!

(Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)