Luke 14:25-33
The Cost of Following Jesus
TEXT:
Luke 14:25-33
(NRSV)
25-27 Now large crowds were traveling with him, 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. 28-32 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. 33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.
REFLECTIONS:
What do we do with the things we value the most? We hoard and we protect, no?
What about our relationships? What do we do with the humanity of others? Isn't it the same pattern? The more valuable the person is to us, the more possessive we get.
Perhaps Jesus is trying to shock his listeners out of possessiveness, and toward something better. Maybe the point of this text isn't to get us to think about our relationships negatively, but differently. What would it mean if the thing we're really supposed to hate isn't a person, but our own ability to try to control and commodify that person according to our own desires?
Here's a cool and very casual conversation between Pete Holmes (a comedian)
and Father Greg Boyle.
PRACTICE:
Outward Mindset Application Apologize about something you need to apologize for.
Pathways Toward Centeredness Asceticism (loving the world through simplicity) Can you think of anything you own that you should really throw out? Throw it out!
Questions for Reflection What ideologies or commitments does the world need to drop in order for humanity to thrive? What ideologies or commitments do you need to drop for your relationships to thrive?