10-06-21

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHING
October 6, 2021
As I was preparing for last week’s sermon, I was reading further in Luke’s Gospel and came across the words of Jesus, “Whoever comes to me and doesn’t hate father and mother, spouse and children, and brothers and sisters—yes, even one’s own life—cannot be my disciple. Whoever doesn’t carry their own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” As a kid, there were plenty of times when I’m sure I would have said I was fine with Jesus encouraging us to hate our brothers and sisters. I was the youngest of four, and that’s probably all I need to say. Today, I have a really good relationship with all my siblings, and so I find those words much more challenging, even upsetting. Of course, some are quick to explain these words away as a metaphor or Jesus shaking things up. Either one of those might be right, but I also hear him speaking to how no relationship should come above the life of discipleship, a life of self-sacrificing love. Maybe we are to feel the tension, the struggle he presents. In the end, it leaves me asking, “What am I willing to give up, what am I willing to sacrifice to follow him?” I remember the old Meatloaf song, “I Would Do Anything For Love,” but then there is a line that follows: “But I won’t do that.” Though I’m taking the song out of context, I believe most of us have echoed those words in our own faith journey. And maybe journey is a good way to think about it – we are on a life-long journey of growing into what we can and will do for the love of God.

Holy God, I do not wish to be satisfied with where I am today in my life as a disciple. Keep me stretching and struggling toward a great understanding of the love revealed in Jesus. Amen.

---

---

via WordPress https://ift.tt/3BcmzIa