Reading 1 Wis 9:13-18b
Who can know God’s counsel,
or who can conceive what the LORD intends?
For the deliberations of mortals are timid,
and unsure are our plans.
For the corruptible body burdens the soul
and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns.
And scarce do we guess the things on earth,
and what is within our grasp we find with difficulty;
but when things are in heaven, who can search them out?
Or who ever knew your counsel, except you had given wisdom
and sent your holy spirit from on high?
And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight.
Reading 2 Phmn 9-10, 12-17
I, Paul, an old man,
and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus,
urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus,
whose father I have become in my imprisonment;
I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you.
I should have liked to retain him for myself,
so that he might serve me on your behalf
in my imprisonment for the gospel,
but I did not want to do anything without your consent,
so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary.
Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while,
that you might have him back forever,
no longer as a slave
but more than a slave, a brother,
beloved especially to me, but even more so to you,
as a man and in the Lord.
So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me.
Gospel Lk 14:25-33
Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and he turned and addressed them,
“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.
Which of you wishing to construct a tower
does not first sit down and calculate the cost
to see if there is enough for its completion?
Otherwise, after laying the foundation
and finding himself unable to finish the work
the onlookers should laugh at him and say,
‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’
Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down
and decide whether with ten thousand troops
he can successfully oppose another king
advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
But if not, while he is still far away,
he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
In the same way,
anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple.”
The gospel of today contains some statements which many of us may consider somewhat harsh.
Jesus says to be his disciple:
- We must hate our parents and siblings. How so?
- We must carry our cross- no one really wants to carry a cross, right?
- We give up all our possessions, but how can?
How do we understand all these?
From the two parables that Jesus gave in the gospel, it is clear to us that he wants us to understand what it means to be his disciples before making any commitments.
Following Jesus closely is the way to true peace, in Him, we can find the true meaning of life, the truth we all search for is in Jesus and in Him is the hope of eternal life for every one of us (John 14:6).
However, not everyone can follow him and many indeed started and fell on the way. To follow Jesus, the readings of today tell us each in its own way what we need. Let’s take a point from each reading.
- Understanding (first reading).
Ignorance is an obstacle in discipleship. To grow in our relationship with Jesus, we must grow in our knowledge of him. The first reading tells us that this is only made possible by the Holy Spirit. Many Christians are zealous today but ignorant. Proverbs 19:2 says Zeal without knowledge is dangerous.
To be a good disciple we must be open to the Holy Spirit and make a sincere effort to grow in our understanding of the things of God and the teachings of the Church. This is so because every disciple is not just a learner but also a teacher of the faith.
- The cross (second reading).
Discipleship entails the cross. The cross must not necessarily be persecution, hardship or sickness or any of that, it comes in different ways. It may be having to surrender our wills and desires to accept God’s will and the process could be painful in some instances.
Example today is Philemon. A rich man in Colossae who loved and trusted Onesimus his slave so much. As it turned out, Onesimus stole his money and ran away to Rome. There in Rome, he was converted by Paul and today Paul sent a letter to Philemon not just to forgive him but also to accept him back not just as a slave but as a brother.
You will agree with me that this could be very tough. Many of us are still battling with the whole challenge of forgiving someone. That may be the cross you are called to carry. For some it may be saying no to the passion to revenge an ill done to us, to resist the inclination of pride, to deal with our selfishness, greed, lust and illicit relationship, ungodly affairs or even to end a dubious means of making gains.
Sacrifice and surrender our will to God’s will and renunciation of self are sometimes heavier crosses than outright persecutions.
- Detachment (The Gospel)
No one can follow Jesus except we love him more than every other thing and person and are able to risk the loss of every other thing for his own sake. This is the meaning of hating one’s parents and giving up one’s possession.
Matthew 10:37 renders this less shocking but still very vivid- it says “if you love mother or father more than you love me, you are not worthy of me.”
Our love for God will be thoroughly tested and must be proven before we can gain the ultimate reward of discipleship, which is eternal life in God’s kingdom.
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Okami on September 8, 2019.