Thursday, June 1, 2023

Today’s Scripture Reading
Luke 14:25–35

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. 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. “Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it away. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” (NRSV)

Reflection
The first thing I do when I encounter hyperbole in the Bible is to step back and try to see the point being made. In verses 25 to 33, I interpret Christ’s message to be that we need to focus all of our attention on his word to the exclusion of all else. I relate that instruction to the advice I got from my mother as Barbara and I were on our way to marriage.

She told me that my focus would shift from her and my father to Barbara and that Barbara would be my center, the hub of my life. Christ is telling me that important as Barbara is, Christ and his love displace her and all else in my life. I don’t believe that this passage means that everything other than the love of God is to be meaningless.

What does missing this mark look like?

It may look like conflating Christ or Christ’s instruction with something, anything, else.
It may look like segmenting one’s life into discrete elements. For example, the sabbath may be for worship and prayer and the other six days of the week for secular pursuits.
It may look like segmenting one’s neighbors into categories of almost any type and treating them differently.
- Young/old
- Male/female
- Friend/foe
It may look like failing to grow in our faith and understanding, to be the fullest most sincere child of Christ that we can be.

Christ’s direction for our discipleship may be challenging, but it is never impossible.

Prayer
Dear Lord, please help me to both understand this instruction and to live it fully. You have made us to live in community. Please help me to live into your beloved community. Amen.

Written by Blake Anderson, Member of Fourth Presbyterian Church

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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