Cost of Discipleship

457.doc

Scripture: Lectionary 457: Nehemiah 2:1-8. Psalm 137: 1-2.3-4.5.6 Luke 9:57-62:

Discipleship demands total sacrifice and commitment. The three proverbs Jesus offers us are not to be taken literally. They have more force when they force us to think more deeply than on the surface. In Jewish Mysticism (the Zohar writings) the Scriptures have four senses and the reason the literal sense is not enough is that it does not go deeply into the inspired word of God. Jesus loves to use parables and proverbs to bring home to us the cost of our discipleship. Though the word itself has a type of mystical romanticism for many it is anything but that. The demands are costly to those who live in comfort and have strong relationships that support them.

In the first example, Jesus challenges us to leave aside our attachment to things, to comfort zones, and to dependence on the latest things that come out. He, as a poor human, had no comfort of even laying his head down on a bed that belonged to him. Perhaps, by thinking of the street people we can garner and go deeper into the text and its meaning.

The second example calls us to always make God, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus first in our lives. This requires prayer and detachment from clinging on to those who love us and those whom we love. Discipline is required of a disciple; not dependence. We often get too concerned about what our families should have and we always tend to want more for them than the poor have. There are also demands on us when we lose someone we loved very much through their death. Do we tend to blame God for the loss? Do we see their death in the light of our faith in the resurrection? Discipleship makes demands that are most difficult to follow but Jesus has showed us the way. Do we meditate on his sufferings, death, and resurrection?

The third example is only found in Luke and it shows us that the cost of following Jesus is even greater than that of Elisha the prophet who desires to follow Elijah. We are called to go beyond that by not looking back on the plowing and sowing we have done. Forward progress is demanded of us. The German exegete Joachim Jeremias in his book on the parables explains the imagery behind the plow and not looking back: “This primitive kind of plow needs dexterity and concentrated attention. If the ploughman looks round, the new furrow becomes crooked.” And Robert Karris, O.F.M. comments on this pericope: “Jesus uses hyperbole or exaggeration to jolt listeners out of their staid way of ordering their universe and to view existence from an entirely new angle—that of discipleship in response to the kingdom of God preached by Jesus. To literalize these proverbs is to strip them of their power.” To understand the cost of discipleship we have to “think outside of the box.” Amen.