September 3, 2019
Today’s Thoughts on Scripture is Luke 14:26: "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.
Wow, Jesus, that’s some very strong language. Or as a co-worker used to say, “hate is a very strong word.”
Hate IS a strong word. Hate is a strong emotion. Hate creates tension, destructive actions, barriers, and walls. I think of fingers being pointed, looks being exchanged, hateful words being spoken, even fists being swung.
Hate kills. So why is this Jesus of love and grace so vehemently declaring that to be his disciple we must hate all those things we have been told to love - ourselves and our neighbors? This makes no sense and is too hard. We cannot do this - we are not able.
Maybe that is the point, however, that we are not able. We cannot turn from everything we know and love in order to blindly, faithfully, and without reserve commit to following Jesus and being his disciple. We cannot do it on our own. We need help - we need Jesus. And yet, we do not need Jesus only because of what we can receive from him. We need Jesus in order that we can, and will, live for others as God needs us to.
This seems quite the paradox, and a stark reminder that being a disciple of Jesus is a commitment - an “all in” commitment. Thankfully, however, it is one we don’t have to rely only on ourselves for. Thankfully!
Blessings.
No comments:
Post a Comment