Gospel Reading for today: Luke 9:57-62
"I will follow you, Lord but..."
There is a famous saying that resonates to today's reading: "if there's a will, there's a way." Filipinos has a better version of this line with "Kapag gusto, maraming paraan; kapag ayaw, maraming dahilan."
The first follower:
In the gospel, there was one person who courageously told the Lord, "I will follow you." He didn't have any condition, any concerns, anything that he presented to God that would hinder him from following the Lord. And yet, Jesus told him that following him would not be that easy. It would be an inconvenient journey: "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." In this first scene, Jesus is purifying the intentions of the first "would-be" follower. It is as if Jesus is asking: "What is really your motivation for following me? Is it me or do you have hidden, selfish agenda for following me? Are you ready to live a life of discomfort, of uncertainty, of risks with me?"
To a person who has purified his intention to following Christ, these challenges posed by Jesus to him would be allayed by his great will to truly follow Christ --- "sa taong gusto, maraming paraan"
The second follower:
Jesus asked the second prospect, "Follow me." Yet, the response of that person to Jesus was to let him first bury his dead Father. Jesus' reply may sound a bit harsh because first of all, it is disrespectful to treat a dead loved one that way. Certainly, if that person has close ties with his dead father, he might have felt offended with Jesus' remark of letting the dead bury the dead. And he might even lose interest to following Christ. And yet, Jesus showed that NO ONE is excused from proclaiming the kingdom of God --- not even if you need to attend to the last rites of a dead father! Following Jesus starts now! Not after you have done what you have to do.
The third follower:
It was unclear if Jesus invited the third follower to follow him but it would seem that the third prospect was a more bit open to following Christ than the second one. But similarly, he had a request if he could first bid his family goodbye. For just one last time, can he say farewell to his loved ones? It might not take a long time to do it, and yet Jesus' answer was a difficult challenge that no one who has decided to follow him and still looks back at the life he has left behind is fit for the kingdom of God. It is as if Jesus is telling him that commitment to following him is detaching to things or people that will hinder him from moving forward, from doing the work for the kingdom. The one who wants to follow Christ is someone who can be present to the work, here and now, as it happens. A person undivided; and not someone who occasionally looks back at the life, the family, the friends, he has left behind. Because in doing so he forgets to be in the present, what is real now.
We can only surmise what Jesus' real intentions were in telling these people these things. But one thing is certain --- following Christ is following him NOW. We always associate following Jesus in making a radical decision, in changing lanes, in giving up something so precious to us that it makes the surrendering so difficult...yes, it may take us these things to follow Christ but what Jesus wants only from us is our YES. A yes borne out of our confidence in him; that in following him, we are moving forward the best decision we could ever make in our lives. Following Christ is following him NOW, wherever we are, whatever situations we might be in right now, whatever difficulties we might be experiencing now. There is no condition, there is no excuse. Jesus invites us to follow him and to proclaim the kingdom of God exactly where we are right now, how we are right now, and who we are right now.
It only takes a yes. That is only what Jesus wants and needs to hear. A confident yes, similar to Peter's response to Jesus when asked, "will you still go away?": "To whom shall we go? you have the words of eternal life." (John 6:68)
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Today's Gospel Reading: Luke 9:18-24
The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.' Then he said to them all, 'If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
Who would ever want to follow someone after knowing that that person will suffer greatly, be rejected by the authorities and be killed? What's worse --- to predict that after being killed would be raised up on the third day? Who would ever want to follow this person who obviously is a lost cause?
It is easy for all Christians to say now that we are ready to follow Christ because we have already known that he indeed had suffered, rejected, killed and raised up on the third day. It is easy for us to believe because all happened according to his words. And yet it was different for his followers at that time. It was different for his apostles.
It might have been difficult to chew and to swallow these words from Christ, to come to terms with his predictions of his fate and what is expected from his disciples, to deny themselves and take up their cross daily, then follow him. It must have been difficult to make that decision to follow Christ at that time. It might have been easier to just leave this man and have nothing to do with him. And yet, there was something about this Jesus. There was something different about him that the apostles, being with him for quite some time, decided to deny themselves, leave their lives (their families, loved ones, livelihood, etc.) for his sake. There must have seen something in Jesus to stick with him (at least until that Thursday night).
What would it be? Who could it be? There is only one way to find out, and that is to closely follow this man. Follow his journey, listen to his words, observe his actions. This is the only way to find out. Only after this that we would know, we would see what the apostles knew, what the apostles saw in him. This is the only way our following of Christ will be more authentic, more real, more practical. This is the only way we can respond with conviction, "Yes, I will follow you, Lord."
The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.' Then he said to them all, 'If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
Who would ever want to follow someone after knowing that that person will suffer greatly, be rejected by the authorities and be killed? What's worse --- to predict that after being killed would be raised up on the third day? Who would ever want to follow this person who obviously is a lost cause?
It is easy for all Christians to say now that we are ready to follow Christ because we have already known that he indeed had suffered, rejected, killed and raised up on the third day. It is easy for us to believe because all happened according to his words. And yet it was different for his followers at that time. It was different for his apostles.
It might have been difficult to chew and to swallow these words from Christ, to come to terms with his predictions of his fate and what is expected from his disciples, to deny themselves and take up their cross daily, then follow him. It must have been difficult to make that decision to follow Christ at that time. It might have been easier to just leave this man and have nothing to do with him. And yet, there was something about this Jesus. There was something different about him that the apostles, being with him for quite some time, decided to deny themselves, leave their lives (their families, loved ones, livelihood, etc.) for his sake. There must have seen something in Jesus to stick with him (at least until that Thursday night).
What would it be? Who could it be? There is only one way to find out, and that is to closely follow this man. Follow his journey, listen to his words, observe his actions. This is the only way to find out. Only after this that we would know, we would see what the apostles knew, what the apostles saw in him. This is the only way our following of Christ will be more authentic, more real, more practical. This is the only way we can respond with conviction, "Yes, I will follow you, Lord."
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