The Ultimate Cost

A Reflection on the Gospel for September 8th, 2019:
Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

​Luke 14.25-33

Large crowds were travelling with Jesus; and he turned and said to them, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate their father and mother, spouse and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even their life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry their 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, whoever of you does not give up all their possessions cannot be my disciple.”

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​Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on a minute there, Jesus! Hate the people I love? Hate my life? Give up my hard-earned possessions? Are you crazy Jesus?!? If it sounds like a nutty request now, imagine being a part of the large crowd that was traveling with Him? They’ve probably already sacrificed aspects of their lives to follow this itinerant preacher. Now He’s asking for more? I’m sure that got their attention. It certainly has mine.

This is Jesus’ aim: to get our attention. But He wasn’t looking for attention for His own sake, to increase his “brand” or be the next big celebrity, though some may have treated Him that way. He was not wanting all the attention to come to Him. Rather, He’s calling those who follow Him to pay attention to themselves. Jesus came into the world because the world -- the people in it -- needed to change, and making a true change has a cost. The people needed to remember what it was they were created for and for Whom they were created. The Covenant God made with His chosen people through their ancestors (Abraham and Moses) probably felt like ancient history to the people of Jesus’ time. The promises of God and the promises God’s people made in return were less fresh in their memories. They needed a reminder; a nudge to shift their way of being and doing things; a means to find their way back to the Father. Enter Jesus… and all His crazy talk. 

"Jesus came into the world because the world -- the people in it -- needed to change, and making a true change has a cost."

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Crazy talk gets your attention. Just as Jesus was calling His followers then to pay attention, He is calling me to do the same. Am I possessed by my possessions -- be they people or things? Do they take me away from my relationship with Christ? Guilty. But I don’t want to be. Today’s consumeristic culture wants me to “treat yo self”, bad grammar and all. And I buy into it -- literally and figuratively. I am willing to spend the cost to be who and what society dictates, but what about the cost to my discipleship, my relationship, with Christ? I need to step back and remember not just who I am but rather Whose I am. I belong to God and He’s possessive of me. So much so that He sent his only Son to witness this unfathomable love and bring us back to right relationship with the Father. God wants nothing but good things for me, but sometimes I choose what those good things are, rightly or wrongly, because I forget. Because I am human. Because I lose sight of the fact that I am more than the people and things that I surround myself with. I am a child of God who was wonderfully and marvelously made for greatness. I know this when I actively grow my relationship with Jesus and center my life around Him. After all, He paid the ultimate cost, so that I wouldn’t have to. That crazy Jesus.


​Aurea Sadi

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