OT XXIII: Wis 9:13-18b; Phlm 9-10, 12-17; Lk 14:25–33
Many of us may have had the experience of starting into something and not being able to see it through. This can happen for many reasons. If a project turns out to be more expensive than was planned for, and people don’t really have the money to finish it. Or if a task we began took much longer than we had expected, and found it hard to sustain the interest to keep at it to the end. Or we can begin a project with enthusiasm, but our health takes a turn for the worse and, as a result, we just do not have the energy to complete it.
The two parables that Jesus speaks in today’s gospel reading have to do with people starting a project and not being able to finish it. In the case of both the builder and the king in those parables, the basic problem was a failure to think through what they were entering into. The builder did not calculate his costs correctly, and the king underestimated the strength of his enemy. Jesus speaks those two parables in the context of highlighting the demanding nature of being his disciple. At this point in Luke’s gospel, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, where crucifixion and death await him, so he does not mince his words about what following him really means. Hence, the two parables call on people to think it through carefully before committing themselves to becoming his disciples. Jesus is saying that this is not a decision you can make casually; you need to be aware of what you are letting yourself in for.
Indeed, it could be said that many of us never really had to think through becoming a follower of the Lord; we were born into it, as it were. We were certainly baptized into it at an early age; it came natural to us, to some extent. It was a gift that came our way from our parents and we have been grateful for that gift ever since.
Being a Christian, being a Catholic, always requires a certain amount of thinking things through and figuring out what is to be done. For example, various options will come our way in life; some of them will be compatible with the Lord’s way, others may not be. We will often find ourselves asking, ‘Can I do this and be faithful to the gospel?’ At other times, some demand may be made of us and our natural instinct might be to shirk it. Rather than going with our natural instinct, thinking it through may bring home to us that the Lord’s call is present in this demand.
This is the situation that we find unfolding in the second reading. Paul writes a short letter to Philemon from his prison cell. Philemon was a reasonably wealthy person whom Paul had baptised. He had a house large enough to provide a space for the local church to gather, and, so was a leader of his church. As a person of wealth, he had slaves. One of them, Onesimus, ran away and made his way to Paul. While he was in prison Paul brought him to faith in the Lord. Paul refers to himself as Onesimus’ spiritual father. Paul sends Onesimus back to Philemon with this letter. Slaves had no rights and Philemon could have had Onesimus put to death for running away. However, Paul called on Philemon to receive Onesimus back, not as a slave, but as a brother in the Lord. Having both been baptized into Christ by Paul, they were now spiritual brothers with one heavenly Father. Paul was asking Philemon to do something very difficult. To receive his runaway slave back as a brother, as an equal, meant that Philemon would be going against what his social peers would have expected of him, and probably members of his blood family as well. Yet, Paul was saying to him, ‘If you are to be faithful to your baptismal calling, you have to do what I am asking, even if it is going to cost you a lot, in terms of your standing in society and in your family’.
Philemon’s dilemma can be that of any one of us. We find ourselves having to work out for ourselves, ‘What is the right thing for me to do in this situation?’ Our decision will depend on how much we have given ourselves over to Christ.
Jesus says ‘If anyone comes to me without hating his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, he cannot be my disciple’. In the language that Jesus spoke if you wanted to say that you preferred one thing to another, you said you loved the one and hated the other. Jesus is really saying that we are to prefer him to everyone else, to love him with a greater love than we love even our own family members. Soren Kierkegaard said that there are a lot of parade-ground Christians who wear the uniforms of Christianity, but few who are willing to do battle for Christ and his kingdom. When it comes to doing battle for the Lord, too many church members are just sitting on the sidelines instead of “standing on the promises of God.” Jesus does not want a large number of “half-way” disciples who are willing to do a “little bit” of prayer, a “little bit” of commitment, a “little bit” of dedication, a “little bit” of love. Jesus wants disciples who are truly committed to prayer, to discipleship and to being ruled by him as their king.
Jesus’ challenge of true Christian discipleship can be accepted only if we practice the spirit of detachment and renunciation in our daily lives. Real discipleship demands true commitment to the duties entrusted to us by life, circumstances, the community, or directly by God Himself, and by loving acts of selfless, humble, sacrificial love offered to all God’s children around us. Let us remember that all this is possible only if we rely on the power of prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
