To be Disciples

By Deacon Thomas Stephenson

September 08, 2019

Imagine, having a love so deep, so strong, that any other love is only a shadow in comparison. Imagine the joy of having a love that profound. That is the love we are to hold for God. When Jesus was asked which is the greatest commandment, He replied “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, you shall love your neighbour as yourself.” Why, then, does He tell us in today’s Gospel passage that we must hate our close relatives, and even our own lives, if we want to be His disciples? Part of the answer is that, in the Semitic languages used in Israel at that time, ancient Hebrew and Aramaic, there was not a good way to make comparisons of degree. The language did not allow for the nuance we have in English. Having a preference for one thing over something else could be expressed by using the word best translated as “hate”. So, what Jesus is saying is that we cannot prefer anyone or anything to Him. The meaning, then, is quite consistent with the commandments to love God completely, and love our neighbour – with the provision that we do not have loves that surpass our love for God. Of course Jesus is not encouraging hatred of anyone, much less of those close to us. Our love of God does not displace our love for others; rather, it is the foundation for the love found in any of our other relationships. When we put the love of God first, the light of that love is reflected in all our other loves. It is through God’s love for us, and our love for Him, that we are really able to love others.

Following Christ, being a disciple, living our lives putting the Lord first, loving Him above all, is not always easy. To successfully, truly, be His disciples, we must prepare ourselves. We must plan, we must follow through on the plan, and we must always pray.

Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean we should create some kind of formal structure, like we might at work, or school, or in some other areas of our lives. We should, however, thoughtfully consider what we need to do in order to become the best disciples we can be, and at the very least to have some outline in our minds and hearts to guide us in the steps which will help us grow in our faith. We must have an awareness of what we are doing. We also should identify any parts of our lives that may be, or become, obstacles to our holiness. Being a disciple will cost us in some way. Like the king who needs to consider his options before battle, or the man who calculates the cost before beginning to build a tower, it is necessary that we assess our resources and gather what we require to follow Jesus. Not physical or monetary resources, but emotional and spiritual resources, relying on our faith and on God’s grace, particularly through the sacraments. We must pray; pray for wisdom, pray for strength, pray for a deeper relationship with the Lord. Once we decide to be disciples of Christ, we must be able to finish what we begin. But, there really isn’t any other good choice, is there?

All of this is easy to discuss, but usually not easy to put into practice. Following Jesus, actually living our faith, may put strains on our relationships with people we care about. We are all aware of situations, in our own lives or the lives of people we know, where being a disciple causes division between friends, or within a family. Losing friends is difficult; dissension between family members is painful, even heartbreaking. This is particularly a problem when there is such a great difference between the believer and the spouse, or the children, or the parents, that there is open hostility toward the believer’s relationship with God. Jesus recognizes, and we must recognize, that one cost of following Him, one inevitable result of our discipleship, will be the alienation of some of those we love. In the Gospel we heard a few weeks ago, Jesus told us of the divisions that would develop within families, because of some people choosing to follow Him and other family members not accepting that choice. We may also encounter opposition and hostility from acquaintances, or co-workers, or others in our communities because our faith does not always align with the current views of the world, but rather with the teachings of the Lord.

Our first reading today tells us: “The reasoning of mortals is worthless, and our designs are likely to fail”, but also “people were taught what pleases You, and were saved by wisdom”. If what the world is saying conflicts with what the Lord has taught us, it is our responsibility to follow the Lord. We must listen to Him.

When we experience divisions because of our faith, the people separated from us remain our brothers and sisters in Christ. They continue to deserve our love – and our prayers. Depending on the relationship, we may need to persevere in that situation, hoping that through our example, through our faithfulness and devotion to Christ, we may eventually bring those people closer to Him.

Being a disciple of Jesus has its costs, not only in our commitment to Him, but in the sacrifices we must make, in the crosses we must carry. We may be hesitant to embrace Christ because of what we must let go. But, as Pope Emeritus Benedict once wrote “If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful, and great. Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide…Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and gives you everything.” We may lose the approval of others, friendships may be broken, there may be tensions with family members…yes, there certainly is a cost to following Him. But what we lose may be considered as nothing compared to what we receive from Him. This can be really difficult, because we experience our loss right now, and our gain may not be realized far into our future. Are we willing to sacrifice what we should toward the cost of discipleship? It is up to us to set our priorities in ways that will lead us to grow in our faith, to grow in our relationship with God, loving Him above all. Let us pray for the grace, the wisdom, and the love to make the commitment required of each of us to truly be His disciples.