In the gospel, we witness a perplexing exchange between Jesus and several would-be disciples. Each person gave an excuse for not following Jesus then and there. To one, Jesus replied, “Let the dead bury the dead.” To another he said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Obviously, Jesus doesn’t want us to neglect our families or leave our dead unburied. His strong Jewish formation would have impressed a better sense of values on him. So what gives? Scripture scholars tell us that Jesus’ comments are deliberate exaggerations used to drive home a point. This tool of good rhetoric is known as hyperbole and Jesus was masterful at using them to get his point across, in this case, the urgency of making real the Kingdom of God here and now. We mustn’t delay in making that happen.
To us modern day listeners, such language may still seem confusing but simply put, half-hearted disciples don’t bring about the Kingdom of God. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran theologian, noted in his book, The Cost of Discipleship, “When Christ calls a person, he bids him to come and die.” In this book, he demonstrated that following Jesus is costly and discipleship, lived fully, would indeed cost him his life.
Bonhoeffer’s own religious convictions led him to stand up to the tyranny of Nazi Germany. Implicated in a failed plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, he was sent to a concentration camp in Bavaria. The ultimate cost of discipleship was demanded of him; on April 9, 1945, he was hanged. Dietrich Bonhoeffer died for the Christian beliefs that formed his life; he was a martyr who never counted the cost.
While discipleship might force some people to decide between life or death, few of us will be asked to pay that ultimate price, but we are still expected to live in a certain way. Being Christian calls us to the fullness of discipleship, so like Bonhoeffer, we cannot count the cost.
The readings today demonstrate the cost of discipleship. Elijah left his parents. Potential disciples of Jesus were told that they too would have to leave family responsibilities behind. In a society based on kinship ties, family or tribal responsibilities are most important. Only for grave reason did one set them aside. Thus Luke is conveying the message that commitment to serving God should supersede all other valid commitments in our lives.
Obviously, not every call to follow Jesus requires leaving one’s family. For many people, it is precisely within the family that discipleship best expresses itself. Parents are expected to commit themselves wholeheartedly to their children, and adult children often find themselves in similar situations with their aging parents. The message being conveyed is that regardless of our call in life, discipleship requires an unselfish commitment to Christ.
As our life journey continues, our commitments and our relationships change. But one thing is certain; our Christian commitment must be total. True disciples must be willing to forego their possessions, make any sacrifice, and persevere in their response to Christ. Bonhoeffer considered anything less than whole-hearted commitment to Christ to be “cheap grace.” Through baptism, God calls us to be disciples, that is, to live lives of holiness. What has been your response?
Christian commitment is an action of the heart, not the head. We might give of our financial resources, time, and expertise, but if we do so only as an act of the head, then we will have reservations and constantly be counting the cost. However, if our actions are of the heart, then our commitment will be complete and we will experience the fullness of discipleship. If every Christian were willing to actually become fully committed disciples, the impact on society would be staggering.
In his letter, Paul provides us with some direction for living out our discipleship. He urged the early Christians, “…stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” Later he added, “…serve one another through love.” The whole law, he notes, is summed up in one statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”Love doesn’t mean never having to say you are sorry. Love means that we stop “biting and devouring one another.” Love means that we make peace in our families, at our workplaces, in our country and in our world. Love means that we live lives that are “guided by the Spirit.” Admittedly, this isn’t always easy but then Jesus never claimed that being a true disciple of his would be.
This week our nation celebrates its freedom. Unfortunately in the minds of many, freedom means doing whatever you want. If everyone did that, the outcome would be chaos, not freedom. Freedom is not giving in to every urge or impulse we experience. Instead, freedom means being free to do whatever you should to resist temptations and build the Kingdom of God.
In today’s gospel, Jesus demands a clear, unambiguous and total commitment from those who want to be his disciples. There can be no excuses like “but first…” “in a minute,” or “on second thought.” To be fit for the kingdom, we must keep our eyes on Jesus and our ultimate destiny, eternal life. Authentic discipleship calls us to always be involved in the hard work of making the reign of God reality, regardless of the cost to us.