Informed Consent from Jesus

From the Catholic Liturgy for the 22^nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, September 3, 2017. Mt 16:21-27 . Theme: Informed Consent for Following Christ   Every time I come across today’s Gospel reading I can’t help but think of what we in the health care world call “informed consent”. Before you have any kind of serious medical procedure, the physician is required to inform you all about it, so that you can make a good solid decision. You are informed about the basic details, the requirements, the risks and the benefits of the procedure you will undergo. That way you cannot say “I had no idea of what I was getting myself into!” Well today’s Gospel from Matthew is very much like Jesus giving informed consent to each one of us about being and living as a Christian, a disciple of Christ. So, let’s take another look at it from this point of view and see what he is telling us…

The basic details of Christianity, or the overall picture of discipleship, are found in his words “follow Me.” To follow someone in Bible language doesn’t mean to simply walk behind them in their footsteps. It means to take on their attitude towards life and relationships, to live life from their viewpoint. So, to be a Christian means to think and act like Jesus, which is quite the opposite from how our culture tells us to live and act. It means to take on a new way of thinking, a new way of loving, a new way of looking at life and relationships.

The requirements of Christianity are spelled out for us by Jesus when he says: “deny yourself and take up your cross.” In other words, once a person chooses to live life as a Christian, the priorities of life change from what our culture tells us. Daily, the media of all sorts, assures us that we must think of ourselves first and live so as to meet every one of our personal desires. Then, if it doesn’t cost us too much, we should think of others. As for God, well… look long and hard and you will never find him entering into the equation of life in the outlook of secular society. But the informed consent that Jesus gives us to be Christians tells us that God must come first in our lives and relationships, and our neighbor second. He tells us that we must place ourselves last just as He did.

And this brings us to the risks and benefits of Christianity. The huge benefit with eternal results is that in forgetting about ourselves in a selfish way, we actually come to discover who we really are as children and images of our God who is Love.  By living out our baptism, we become one with Jesus in death and resurrection and thus have victory over sin and death. We discover a new kind of inner joy and peaceful serenity that fills our hearts even in difficult times. And because we have tried our best, with the help of God’s grace, to be like Jesus and to be of service to others in this life, we are guaranteed the eternal life of Heaven.

So, that’s the huge benefit but what about the risk? Should we decide, however, to use our free will to reject this invitation to Christian discipleship, Jesus informs us that we will lose our lives eternally because we have chosen to be left on our own. We have freely decided that we do not want to participate in His victory over sin and death. We do not want to be like Him or take up his way of living. All we will have is the 80 or 90 years we are given on this planet, and they might well be full of pleasure and riches and temporary joys, but then it will indeed come to an end. No one can avoid that conclusion.  God loves each of us immensely and desires our salvation, but love is a free choice, and he respects the choices we make…even if it saddens his heart.

So, all of this is the informed consent that Jesus gives us in today’s Gospel. What is your choice? How will you respond to Jesus today about following Him? What is your heart telling you to do? He is waiting for your reply and is hoping with all his heart that you say YES!