Homily for the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sept. 4, 20223. The Gospel of St. Luke 14:25-43. Theme: Informed Consent
I think most of us are familiar with what is called “informed consent” in the health care world. Just to refresh your memory, when someone has a serious condition that requires medical intervention it’s required that they be told about what they will undergo. They are made aware of all the basic details, of the potential suffering involved and the positive benefits to be gained. In this way the patient can make a fully informed decision as to if they wish to go forward with treatment.
Well today’s Gospel is very much the same in regards to our spiritual health and life. It’s like Jesus seeking our informed consent about embracing Christianity, about what it means to live out our baptismal relationship with him as his disciples. He’s pointing out to us very clearly the conditions for following him and he is informing us that the benefit to be gained is the gift of eternal life.
Using exaggerated language common for his day, he is informing us that we must give our love and allegiance to him over that of our families, our possessions and even our very lives. He is not saying that we are not to love ourselves, or our families but that we are to love him more. Now let’s be careful to not confuse love here with emotional affection or blissful happiness because that’s not always how we always feel about anyone we love. Our spouses, families or friends don’t always make us feel good nor do we do the same for them. Yet we love them with all our hearts.
Love of Christ means that we commit to live in a close and intimate relationship with him even when doing so is challenging or difficult. Following Jesus and embracing the cross means suffering with him, bearing the potential pain of persecution, and experiencing possible rejection from others. Just as we do not remain quiet when people gossip about our family or friends we also speak out when Christ is mocked or Christianity is ridiculed. And it means that when Jesus is attacked, we are attacked. When social opinion or laws contradict the Gospel of Christ, we stand up for the reality of truth, for the necessity for justice and for the sanctity of all human life, from womb to tomb. We stand up to defend the ones we love.
In laying out these conditions of discipleship Jesus is actually reminding us that he is God. For no one but God can ask for, deserve and expect such a drastic re-prioritization of our lives. And it is only because he is indeed God that he can promise us with certainty the gift of eternal life as a reward for having done so. So, having been fully informed we need to each ask ourselves: are we still willing to proceed with living this way of life called Christianity? Are we ready and willing to keep Jesus as the center of our lives at any cost?
If our reply is yes, then we need to understand and embrace what Jesus means by the word, disciple, which he uses and repeats quite often in today’s gospel. “Disciple” literally means student, but it’s not exactly the way we think of being a student today. For us 21st century Americans a student is someone who attends school to accumulate information that will enable him or her to lead a successful life. It is very self-focused, self-oriented. To be a disciple in the Christian sense of the word means to be God-focused and neighbor-oriented. A disciple is someone who commits to follow a Teacher, who memorizes the Master’s lessons about God, life and relationships. The disciple observes his Teacher’s actions and tries to integrate them into his or her own behavior.
So, to be a Christian means to think and act like Jesus the Teacher. It means to enthrone him as Lord and King of our hearts and lives. It means that we take on a Jesus-way of thinking, a Jesus-way of behaving, a Jesus-way of looking at God, at life and at relationships. And then, after a lifetime of learning from Jesus, of carrying the cross and renouncing ourselves out of love for him, we can receive the reward of everlasting life. And that’s a benefit worth living and even dying for!
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