Gospel text for Sunday 4 September 2016

Luke 14:25-33       Now large crowds were traveling with Jesus; and he turned and said to them, "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, `This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

Reflection      Most of us look at the cross and see either the dark Good Friday cross with Jesus’ dead body nailed to it or the Easter Morning cross, draped in white and pointing to resurrection. But none of this has happened yet. Jesus is very much alive when he instructs us to “Pick up the cross and follow me?” He never read  the description of his death, “He (Jesus) bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2.24) Nor was he privy to the work of the bishops at the First Council of Nicea three hundred years after his death, ironing out the details of his dual nature and the atoning benefits of his sacrificial death as perfect substitute for the sin of humanity. So, what does Jesus mean, “Pick up the cross and follow me?”

One way to understand the cross is as the intersection of human and Divine life.  The horizontal timber corresponds to our temporal life journey. The vertical beam represents Divine Presence on earth. At their intersection is the present moment. Each of us is traveling the horizontal plane amidst large crowds with Jesus, headed to Jerusalem because no one gets out of life alive. All along the way the vertical dimension of Divinity crosses our path in the present moment. Whenever we choose to accept or consent to the present moment, we are aligned with Divine Presence. We have “picked up the cross to follow Jesus.”

More often than not, instead of saying, “Yes, yes,” to the present moment, we equivocate. “Well, this is not how I pictured it. This hurts, I don’t like it. This makes me feel vulnerable, puts me out on a limb, out of control. What will people think? This is not good. No way. I can’t. I won’t.”  We reject the present moment. In Jesus’ terms, we refuse to “Pick up the cross and follow me.”  Perhaps this is why Jesus counsels us to “give up all of our possessions,”  to let go of anything that is in the way of saying “Yes, yes,” to the present moment. 

Let me be clear. I do not for a moment believe Jesus wants us to give up our food, shelter or loved ones. Nor do I believe Jesus wants us to roll over and be doormats for mistreatment. Rather I believe Jesus is inviting us to dispense with our ideas about God about ourselves and about the way things are supposed to be. Jesus is inviting us to consent to the present moment and in so doing align ourselves with Divine Presence. Jesus is unequivocal. “Pick up the cross and follow me. Consent to the present moment and you will find me there with you. “

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Gospel text for Sunday 11 October 2015

Mark 10:17-31  

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: 'You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.'" He said to him, "Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth." Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." They were greatly astounded and said to one another, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible."

Peter began to say to him, "Look, we have left everything and followed you." Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age--houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions--and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first."

Reflection        Can you almost hear Jesus saying to the running man, “Do you believe you have done all of these things; following the Law of Moses by your own wit and your own will? Do you see that homeless person? that leper begging? But for the grace of God, that could be you. By the grace of God with you, you have been able to follow the law and now you need something more. You need to admit your absolute and utter dependence on God as I do.” “Of my own self, I can do nothing. I judge only as I hear, … and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the One who has sent me. (John 5.30) 

Jesus insists that in all things he is utterly dependent on God. This is “with God life.” This is eternal life. Jesus puts his faith in his relationship with God rather than clinging to conventional, or even orthodox, programs for happiness. Our programs for happiness are all the things we do in an effort to feel safe, secure, esteemed, right, in control or powerful. Things like  amassing food, property, money, weapons or insurance policies; avoiding conflict, following rules (commandments), being dutiful or failing to speak our truth in order to be liked by everyone, demanding perfection of  ourselves or others, lording it over others or striving for position or success regardless of the cost to our integrity or to other people. 

For the most part we get away with cultivating our programs for happiness during the early years of our lives. But when the time comes that like the running man, we are looking for something more, there is every chance that Jesus will counsel us, “Go, sell all that you have…go sell every earthly thing in which you put your trust because all of your possessions, all of the people cow towing to you, all of your righteous behavior, all of the privilege and power in the world will not get you “with God life.” 

There is nothing wrong with material possessions, with being well liked, following rules or being successful. It is only when we have an inordinate attachment to these things, when we identify with these things, that they become stumbling blocks because they get between us and “with God life.” So go, sell everything you have that you cannot imagine living without to make room for “with God life.” 

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