Thoughts for the Day

Now large crowds were travelling with him; and he turned and said to them, ‘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. Whoever does not carry the 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, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

We recently looked at the subject of possessions from Matthew's Gospel (19.21-22) and I challenged you (and myself) to think about whether possessions might inhibit our life as a disciple, asking how much can we give away. Now, in Luke's Gospel the last sentence repeats the call. Jesus says: "None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions".

Well that lets me out! When I retired from Carlisle I gave away my theological books including my much loved Wild Goose and Iona books. Twelve years later after helping parishes in Wales the books had multiplied sevenfold. On leaving there I ruthlessly got rid of my possessions via two garage sales, and gave away my books. Since then I have applied a 'one in, one out', policy! So why is it, that I have books everywhere and my wardrobe is overflowing?

Well unless God is calling us to be a monk or nun, giving up everything is not practical. So what might Jesus mean? Two things come to mind:

1. There are 'followers' and there are 'disciples'. The former find Jesus and the Bible stories interesting, and would probably put 'Christian' on a document. But they're too busy for anything else. Disciples want to learn more, and within the church community they try to live out the life that Jesus advocated.
2. Jesus calls His disciples to count the cost of discipleship, which will be different for each of us. It won't be easy, we may not be killed for our faith, but we may experience prejudice or ridicule, or struggle in some other way.

So we should have an annual clear out of our possessions, re-evaluate our commitment to Jesus, and turn to the Holy Spirit for help!

Holy Spirit, Power of God,
we your loving disciples
sometimes find ourselves flagging.
Help us to be aware that there is a cost
to following Jesus.
Strengthen our determination to work
with others to reinvigorate our worship;
to increase our learning about our faith;
and to put that faith into action.
Amen.