Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dominica XXIII per Annum C
4 September 2022

 The Lord gives a clear and stark lesson in today’s gospel: Calculate the cost of the project of following him.  The lesson is stark because Jesus tells us to hate even valued family relationships and our own life.  To come to him without such hate means we cannot be his disciple.  If we had one of those street-side church message signs it might be cheeky to play off of this Gospel passage by displaying the message: “Jesus says: Hate others.”  Yeah, it’s probably a good idea that we don’t have one of those message signs, right?  I’d do nothing but get myself in trouble.

 I have been calculating costs, and looking at our parish budget needs as I prepare some remarks on stewardship in a few weeks from now.  I will admit it is hard to maintain a spiritual focus and an awareness of Christ’s presence when crunching budget numbers.  It seems like such a drudgery and far from faith and the things of the Gospel.  Should we then assume that calculating and counting costs is foreign to the faith?  Not according to this Gospel.

  Who experiences a cost to being the Lord’s disciple?  Don’t we usually sort of act as if it is only the martyrs, or the apostles, or great saints – in other words, a select few – who pay a cost, while the vast majority of us live a less costly form of being Christian?  But the gospel doesn’t let us get away with that idea.  Notice Jesus’ words today are not a private lesson for a select few of his disciples.  Rather, the gospel is clear that Jesus addresses this lesson about cost to everyone for he is speaking not to a select few but to “great crowds.”  That’s what makes Jesus’ words so stark and all the more sobering.  You know what that means?  You and I are to experience a cost to following Jesus and choosing him above other relationships, above possessions, and even above our earthly life.  If we refuse to experience that cost then we are not in fact being disciples of Jesus.  And if we are acting like disciples in name only while refusing the cost, then we are as foolish as a tower builder who starts a project but doesn’t have enough money to complete it.  We would be as irresponsible as a king marching in to battle with fewer troops than necessary to win the battle.

 Now at this point I have let that word “hate” hang in the air long enough without comment or explanation.  It is meant to be shocking.  The word in Greek that St. Luke places on Jesus’ lips does literally mean “to hate”.  But the context is important to understand shades of meaning.  Looking at the context we can say that Jesus is using hyperbole in telling us to hate other relationships in order to be his disciple.  In fact, the way to understand this hyperbole is that the Lord is saying we cannot prefer father, mother, wife and children, brothers, and sisters, and even our own life ahead of, or before, him.  To be his disciple means that he is preferred above all else and that our relationship with him is the primary one that defines our life.  You can look at other parallel passages in the other Gospels to help you understand the meaning.  So, in this case, if we look at the parallel passage in St. Matthew’s Gospel (cf. Mt. 10:37) where the Lord gives this same lesson we find this wording: “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”  By comparing these two passages we can see how it is a very similar teaching but it is less hyperbolic in St. Matthew’s version.  So, don’t walk away this weekend thinking you are being instructed to literally hate others, much less those closest to you.  But you also don’t get to walk away preferring those relationships to the Lord, not if you want to call yourself a disciple.

Do we admit a cost to following Jesus?  Or do we operate as if there is no cost to discipleship?  The Gospel today can inspire a type of examination of conscience.  What does belonging to Christ totally, belonging to him completely, belonging to him first before all else, mean?  What does it cost you in your family and with friends?  Does it mean you live life in public and at home more intentionally as a Christian?  Does it mean you live differently than those who say, “Lord, Lord,” on their lips, but who don’t follow the Lord in their actions?  Among family and friends how is it visible that the Lord is your primary relationship?  Does it mean you are intentional about prayer time at home for yourself and also together as a family?  Can you calculate the hours spent on TV, entertainment, video games, and social media and draw some conclusions about how that might reveal some things are being placed ahead of the Lord?

 Continuing this examination of conscience, what does being true to Jesus first cost you in a dating relationship or in marriage?  Does it mean you will foster a sacrificial love that seeks and places the good of the other ahead of your own pleasures and self-interests?  Does it mean avoiding the popular secular mindset that leads to cohabiting, living together before marriage?  Does it mean forming a habit of praying out loud together as a couple?  Does it mean guarding and observing chastity before marriage and, once married, observing chastity by being open to the gift of life?

 In this examination of conscience we might ask, what does being a disciple cost you at school or at work?  Does it mean letting yourself be known as a follower of the Lord in the halls of your school or work?  Does it mean you shun crass jokes and the use of the Lord’s Name in vain, a shockingly common and grave sin these days?  Does it mean trying to redirect conversations away from gossip?  Does it mean finding ways to bring up faith and the Church among friends and acquaintances?  Does it mean taking notice of someone at school or work who needs you to bring the compassion and heart of Christ to their burdens?

The Scriptures indicate that following Jesus does and must cost us something if it is authentic.  A discipleship, a Christianity, that costs little or nothing is, when it comes down to it, a fantasy.  To be a disciple is to carry one’s own cross and come after Jesus.  We don’t get to claim to be disciples if we won’t carry a cross.  In the light of today’s Gospel we can ask ourselves: What crosses do I need to carry?  In what areas of life do I need to accept hardship for the Gospel?  How ought I to live differently than the rest of the world lives?  Calculate the cost!  Have we calculated ANY cost?  If following Jesus doesn’t cost me anything, who am I really following?  Does following Christ cost any time?  If so, do I give that time?  Does it cost any talent?  If so, do I use my skills and abilities willingly to serve?  Does it cost me anything financially?  If so, do I sacrifice for the good of this community, for my parish, for my neighbor?  What does get my time, my talent, and my finances?  Does it cost me relationships?  If my friends and acquaintances seem to enjoy living in sin, acting entertained and amused by sin, or living apart from Christ, do I go along because I don’t want to take a stand and carry the cross?  If we go along with false attempts at being disciples, what sort of tower would we be left with?  If we attempt to take the cross out of following Christ what sort of troop losses would be scattered across the battlefield of life?  When we try to convince ourselves of a cheap, cost-free discipleship the first reading reminds us that God’s wisdom, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is above our ways and that “the deliberations of mortals are timid.”  We must be renewed in the message of today’s psalm that we adopt a heavenly wisdom to learn how to count our days: “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart.”