Wednesday, November 21, 2012
November 21, 2012. Homily, Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Luke 21:5-11.
While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, "All that you see here -- the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down."
Then they asked him, "Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?" He answered, "See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he,' and 'The time has come.' Do not follow them! When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky."
The Gospel of the Lord.
This is the last week of the Liturgical Year. In this last week we contemplate the end of things. This Gospel has Jesus teaching on the destruction of the Temple. There was but one Temple for the Jews. The Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. It has never been rebuilt. To destroy the Temple was to destroy the identity of the Jewish people.
Father Dowling teaches, "To the ancient Jewish mind, time was divided into two ages, the present age and the age to come. They regarded the present age as so evil and corrupt due to human sinfulness and intransigence that it was beyond the pale of human rectification or divine redemption. God's only option, they concluded, was to destroy the present age and to start all over from scratch. The age to come they pictured as an idyllic time in which God's rule would reign supreme and Jewish nationalism would finally triumph. The transition between the two ages, however, would involve a frightful period called the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord would entail unimaginable personal suffering throughout the world and widespread destruction of nature and property on an epic scale. It would mark the death throes of the present age and the labor pangs of the age to come."
The reading is from the the Book of the Prophet Daniel where Daniel interprets the dream of Nebuchadnezzar who dreamt the collapse of a mighty statute made of precious metals, with the head of gold, the chests and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of bronze, the legs of iron, the feet of iron and tile. The statute was struck by a mighty stone, the statute crumbled, and the stone expanded to become a mountain and then to fill the earth. The interpretation was that the gold, silver, bronze parts of the statute represented kingdoms to follow Nebuchadezzar until God would set up a kingdom that would last forever.
We are reminded of the words of Percy Bysshe Shelley:
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away".
November 21, 2012. Homily, Saturday, November 24, 2012
Luke 29:27-40
Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us, If someone's brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman but died childless. Then the second and the third married her, and likewise all the seven died childless. Finally, the woman also died. Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her." Jesus said to them, "The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise. That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called 'Lord' the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive." Some of the scribes said in reply, "Teacher, you have answered well." And they no longer dared to ask him anything.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Then the Sadducees wanted Jesus to tell them who the woman's husband would be in heaven. There is a trick to the Sadducees' question. The trick is so devious that I doubt that even the Sadducees knew it was there. The Sadducees made an assumption about the nature of heaven. They assumed that people would be married in heaven in the same way that they were married on earth. Their assumption was wrong.
The Sadducees came up with this ridiculous scenario because they didn't believe in the resurrection. They wanted to demonstrate how ridiculous the idea of life after death, the resurrection, and heaven and hell all were. They wanted to back Jesus into a corner so that He had to admit that the whole idea of life after death is ridiculous. They thought they had Jesus right where they wanted Him.
Of course Jesus picked up on the false assumption immediately. The Sadducees' scenario was not ridiculous because the after life is ridiculous, but because they had made the ridiculous assumption that life in the next world is the same as it is in this world. They assumed that people would still be married in the next life. Jesus told them this was not the case. He said, "[They] neither marry nor are given in marriage."
The Sadducees in today's Gospel tried to make the resurrection of the dead seem ridiculous and they failed. Jesus not only showed them a flaw in their argument, but He then made a point of His own. He said, "[God] is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him."
Jesus not only made the point but He demonstrated it. On the Friday after He had this debate with the Sadducees, He carried our sins to the cross and there paid the penalty for them with His very life. The following Sunday, He Himself rose from the dead and paved the way for all who believe in Him to join Him in the everlasting paradise of heaven.
To the rabbinical way of thinking, since God used the present tense (I am) and not the past tense (I was), it indicates Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are still very much alive to God. Hence there must be a resurrection from the dead and an afterlife extending into eternity. Jesus then sums it up by concluding, God is the God of the living, not the dead.
While the rabbinical argument Jesus used may noit seem overly convincing to us today, who are accustomed to evidence of a more scientific nature. let us remember that Jesus went on to rise from the dead himself and appear to many of the early diusciples. We have the testimony of the Apostles that Jesus did in act rise from the dead and Jesus' word that we shall also share a similar resurrection if we remain true to him. Let us thank God for the assurance of eternal life with him and ask for the grace to live lives worthy of such a great calling.
The phrase "like angels" (isangeloi) is more important than we might be inclined to notice, for it is perhaps the most definite description of the state of being that will characterize us for all eternity once we are taken to the Lord in death. Angels function wholly according to their spiritual nature; they are pure intellect and free will, and adhere to God by their own choice. Since they function unimpeded in the operations of their faculties by the attachments, alterations and distortions of passion they adhere in love unalterably to God whom they contemplate and praise in unceasing worship. Because we are destined to be the same as angels, the saintly Fathers taught we become perfect by freeing our self from the distortions of passion through discipline and by the contemplation of God in his creation This in turn leads to a loving union with God which is the only state that satisfies our deepest longings.
Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us, If someone's brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman but died childless. Then the second and the third married her, and likewise all the seven died childless. Finally, the woman also died. Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her." Jesus said to them, "The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise. That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called 'Lord' the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive." Some of the scribes said in reply, "Teacher, you have answered well." And they no longer dared to ask him anything.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Then the Sadducees wanted Jesus to tell them who the woman's husband would be in heaven. There is a trick to the Sadducees' question. The trick is so devious that I doubt that even the Sadducees knew it was there. The Sadducees made an assumption about the nature of heaven. They assumed that people would be married in heaven in the same way that they were married on earth. Their assumption was wrong.
The Sadducees came up with this ridiculous scenario because they didn't believe in the resurrection. They wanted to demonstrate how ridiculous the idea of life after death, the resurrection, and heaven and hell all were. They wanted to back Jesus into a corner so that He had to admit that the whole idea of life after death is ridiculous. They thought they had Jesus right where they wanted Him.
Of course Jesus picked up on the false assumption immediately. The Sadducees' scenario was not ridiculous because the after life is ridiculous, but because they had made the ridiculous assumption that life in the next world is the same as it is in this world. They assumed that people would still be married in the next life. Jesus told them this was not the case. He said, "[They] neither marry nor are given in marriage."
The Sadducees in today's Gospel tried to make the resurrection of the dead seem ridiculous and they failed. Jesus not only showed them a flaw in their argument, but He then made a point of His own. He said, "[God] is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him."
Jesus not only made the point but He demonstrated it. On the Friday after He had this debate with the Sadducees, He carried our sins to the cross and there paid the penalty for them with His very life. The following Sunday, He Himself rose from the dead and paved the way for all who believe in Him to join Him in the everlasting paradise of heaven.
To the rabbinical way of thinking, since God used the present tense (I am) and not the past tense (I was), it indicates Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are still very much alive to God. Hence there must be a resurrection from the dead and an afterlife extending into eternity. Jesus then sums it up by concluding, God is the God of the living, not the dead.
While the rabbinical argument Jesus used may noit seem overly convincing to us today, who are accustomed to evidence of a more scientific nature. let us remember that Jesus went on to rise from the dead himself and appear to many of the early diusciples. We have the testimony of the Apostles that Jesus did in act rise from the dead and Jesus' word that we shall also share a similar resurrection if we remain true to him. Let us thank God for the assurance of eternal life with him and ask for the grace to live lives worthy of such a great calling.
The phrase "like angels" (isangeloi) is more important than we might be inclined to notice, for it is perhaps the most definite description of the state of being that will characterize us for all eternity once we are taken to the Lord in death. Angels function wholly according to their spiritual nature; they are pure intellect and free will, and adhere to God by their own choice. Since they function unimpeded in the operations of their faculties by the attachments, alterations and distortions of passion they adhere in love unalterably to God whom they contemplate and praise in unceasing worship. Because we are destined to be the same as angels, the saintly Fathers taught we become perfect by freeing our self from the distortions of passion through discipline and by the contemplation of God in his creation This in turn leads to a loving union with God which is the only state that satisfies our deepest longings.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
November 17, 2012. Homily, Tuesday, November 20, 2012.
Luke: 19:1-10
At that time Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short of stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house." And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they saw this, they began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner." But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I hall repay it four times over." And Jesus said to him, "Today, salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost."
The Gospel of the Lord.
Zacchaeus was the principal tax collector for Jericho. Jericho is one of the oldest cities in the world. In the time of Zacchaeus it was situated on the main trade route between the East and Egypt, at a ford in the Jordan River used for crossing over from Egypt into Israel on the way to Jerusalem. Jericho was also a resort city where the rich spent the winters, and it had an abundant supply of water. As the chief tax collector for Jericho, Zacchaeus took a part of every business transaction that touched Jericho; he was sitting on a gold mine. Today, Jericho is one of the territories governed by the Palestinians, and is a dry dusty waste of a city with but one comparatively wealthy resident, a Jewish lady doctor who tends the people.
A "descendant of Abraham" is one who puts one's faith completely in God.
What is the opposite of "love"? Is it "hate"? No, it is "selfishness". Those who love others are generous to those others.
The word "house" is oft-used by Luke, important to Luke, and thus also important to Jesus.
Zacchaeus was lost and was found by Jesus.
Monday, November 12, 2012
November 12, 2012. Homily, November 13, 2012
Memorial, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, first United States citizen to be canonized, born in Lombardy, Italy, in 1850, youngest of 13 children, founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart in 1880, founded many schools, hospitals and orphanages; in 1887 with the encouragement of Pope Leo XII, she emigrated to the United States, where in the ensuing 28 years she founded some 67 schools, hospitals and orphanages in the United States and South America (Argentina, Brazil and Nicaragua). She died December 22, 1917 in Chicago, was canonized July 7, 1946. Her body is enshrined in Cabrini Chapel situated on the northern tip of Manhattan at the entrance to Fort Tryon Park. Her mosaic likeness is in the left side of the Shrine of Charity, on the north wall of the Church upstairs
Luke 17:7-10.
Jesus said to the Apostles: "Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field. 'Come here immediately and take your place at table'? Would he rather say to him, 'Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished'? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'"
The Gospel of the Lord.
We are reminded of the story in the synagogue. The rabbi comes into synagogue, kneels down, places his head on the floor, and says, "O God, forgive me for I am an unprofitable servant." Then the cantor, sees this, kneels down, places his head on the floor, and says, "O God, forgive me for I am an unprofitable servant." Then the elected head of the congregation sees the other two, kneels down, places his head on the floor, and says, "O God, forgive me, for I am an unprofitable servant." And the janitor standing in the back, seeing the three, kneels down, places his head on the floor, and says, "O God, forgive me, for I am an unprofitable servant." And the rabbi looks up and addresses his friends, "Look who is calling himself an unprofitable servant."
This parable makes clear: even if we live our lives perfectly from a human perspective, still we have no claim on God for the reward of heaven. Salvation comes from God not from humankind. It is God who saves us not we who save ourselves. Salvation is a gift freely bestowed on mankind because of God's great love for us.
My son got a job for Morgan Stanley Assets Management. Every night he would come home late, 8 PM, 9 PM, 11 PM, and every night I would be happy for I knew that the later they would have him work, the more they appreciated his work at the firm and that he would be rewarded. It was when, or if, he came home at 4 PM or 5 PM that I would worry.
Luke 17:7-10.
Jesus said to the Apostles: "Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field. 'Come here immediately and take your place at table'? Would he rather say to him, 'Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished'? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'"
The Gospel of the Lord.
We are reminded of the story in the synagogue. The rabbi comes into synagogue, kneels down, places his head on the floor, and says, "O God, forgive me for I am an unprofitable servant." Then the cantor, sees this, kneels down, places his head on the floor, and says, "O God, forgive me for I am an unprofitable servant." Then the elected head of the congregation sees the other two, kneels down, places his head on the floor, and says, "O God, forgive me, for I am an unprofitable servant." And the janitor standing in the back, seeing the three, kneels down, places his head on the floor, and says, "O God, forgive me, for I am an unprofitable servant." And the rabbi looks up and addresses his friends, "Look who is calling himself an unprofitable servant."
This parable makes clear: even if we live our lives perfectly from a human perspective, still we have no claim on God for the reward of heaven. Salvation comes from God not from humankind. It is God who saves us not we who save ourselves. Salvation is a gift freely bestowed on mankind because of God's great love for us.
My son got a job for Morgan Stanley Assets Management. Every night he would come home late, 8 PM, 9 PM, 11 PM, and every night I would be happy for I knew that the later they would have him work, the more they appreciated his work at the firm and that he would be rewarded. It was when, or if, he came home at 4 PM or 5 PM that I would worry.
Friday, November 9, 2012
November 9, 2012. Homily, Saturday, November 10, 2012
Luke 16:9-15
Jesus said to his disciples: "I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and sneered at him. And he said to them, "You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows our hearts; for what is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God."
The Gospel of the Lord.
Memorial of Saint Leo the Great: raised to the see of Peter in 440, died in 461, a true pastor and father of souls. He labored strenuously to safeguard the integrity of the Faith and vigorously defended the unity of the Church. He pushed back or at least softened the onrush of the barbarians. He has then deservedly won the title of "the Great".
Window of the Holy Family. The Holy Family of Nazareth serves as example, guide and strength for all families of the world. St. Joseph is shown working at his carpenter's trade while Mary cares for the child Jesus. The left panel has the coat of arms of Pope Leo XIII, who occupied the chair of Peter from 1878 to 1903 (25 years, JPII was 28 years). The right panel contains the word "RERUM NOVARUM" which are the first Latin words and therefore the name of Leo's famous Encyclical on "Conditions of Laboring Men." Issued in 1891, this document is the Magna Carta of Christian social teachings, a main thrust of the Church into the industrial revolution. Upholding the dignity of human labor, Pope Leo demanded good working conditions with honest pay. The scales of justice proclaim family security to be the solid basis of family development, health and happiness. Family peace guarantees world peace. All families have natural rights to social justice. The lower panel on the left shows all families united as one in God.
What is the enemy of generosity? It is greed, the excessive desire for personal security. True generosity does not impoverish the giver, but enriches him a hundredfold! Generosity expands the soul; greed contracts it.
God is generous and superabundant in lavishing his gifts upon us. We can never outgive God in what he has already given to us. Do you know the joy and freedom of generosity and liberality in giving to others what God has so richly given to you?
Jesus concludes his parable with a lesson on what controls or rules our lives. Who is the master (or ruler) in charge of your life? Our "master" is that which governs our thought-life, shapes our ideals, controls the desires of the heart and the values we choose to live by. We can be ruled by many different things -- the love of money or possessions, the power of position, the glamor of wealth and prestige, the driving force of unruly passions and addictions. Ultimately the choice boils down to two: God and "mammon". What is mammon? "Mammon" stands for "material wealth or possessions" or whatever tends to "control our appetites and desires". There is one Master alone who has the power to set us free from the slavery of sin and addiction. That Master is the Lord Jesus Christ.
God loves generosity and he gives liberally to those who share his gifts with others. The Pharisees, however, had no room in their hearts for God. The gospel says they were lovers of money. Love of money and wealth crowd out love of God and love of neighbor. Jesus makes clear that our hearts must either be possessed by God's love or the heart will be possessed by the love of something else.
Monday, November 5, 2012
November 5, 2012. Homily, Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Luke 14:15-24
One of those at table with Jesus said to him, "Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God." He replied, "A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, 'Come, everything is now ready.' But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, 'I have purchase a field and must go to examine it; I ask you, consider me excused.' And another said, 'I have purchased five yoke of oxen and am on my way to evaluate them :I ask you, consider me excused.' And another said, 'I have just married a woman, and therefore I cannot come.' The servant went and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.' The servant reported, 'Sir, your orders have been carried out and still there is room.' The master then ordered the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my house may be filled. For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.'"
The Gospel of the Lord.
If you really want to do something, you always find time and opportunity to do it. If you don't want to do it, one excuse is as good as another. To excuse yourself is to accuse yourself, say the French: qui s’excuse s’accuse. Some of us spend a great part of the day making excuses. We even make excuses to ourselves, incredibly expecting ourselves to believe them. It would be interesting to study them as a kind of literary genre. They are a catalogue of dishonesty. An honest failure is a fine thing, but dishonesty has nothing to be said for it. So in Jesus’ story, the master sent out for some honest failures: “the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.” When there was still room, he sent out for more – from the highways and the byways.
November 5, 2012. Homily, Prayer Service, November 7, 2012
Luke 14:25-33.
Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and addressed them, "If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, 'This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.' Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. In the same way, everyone of you who does not renounce all of his possessions cannot be my disciple."
The Gospel of the Lord.
IV. v. 25-35 AN ENORMOUS PRICE
A. Lest anyone think that being a follower of Christ is cheap, Jesus makes it very plain that it is anything but cheap. The price, in fact, is more than many are ever willing to pay! (Ill. The large crowds that followed Jesus would have awed many men. However, after Jesus wooed men, He would then challenge them. It is at this point that we can safely separate the Christian from the Disciple. A Christian is one who has received Jesus into his/her heart. A disciple is one who has surrendered EVERYTHING to Jesus and is following Him faithfully, even unto death.)
B. Jesus tells us that there are 5 basic thing we have to do to be a disciple of Christ. Anyone who is not willing to pay the price and do these things may be saved, but they are not a Disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice the requirements for true discipleship.
1. v. 26 – The true Disciple will love Christ supremely. Every other love in our lives must seem like hate when compared to our love for Jesus Christ! This is a tall order, but it is simply the fulfillment of Mark 12:30 [the Shema].
2. v. 27a – The true Disciple will take up his cross. The cross is not a bad situation on life, it is not a disease, or some other burden. The cross is a pathway of reproach, suffering, loneliness and even death that the believer voluntarily endures for Jesus’ sake. Not all believers are cross bearers! It is possible to be saved and to leave your cross unborn. You do this by living a "nominal" Christian life. You go to church, you claim Jesus as Savior, yet your Christian walk goes no deeper. It is a surface thing in your life. But, when you decide to go all out for Jesus, you can expect to face the same level of satanic opposition that Jesus faced while here on earth. Are you bearing your cross for Christ this morning?
3. v. 27b – The true Disciple will follow Jesus – This means to be engaged in the work He did. When we are following Him, we will walk as He did, speak as He did, live as He did and love as he did. When we are following Jesus, we are demonstrating the Father to a lost and a dying world. Is it possible for people like us to live out Christ in this present day? Yes, but only so we yield to Him and allow Him to live His life through us daily – Gal. 2:20.
4. v. 28-33 The true Disciple will Count The Cost. He will weigh his worldly attachments against the demands of the cross and he will enter into the race knowing that it will cost him everything he has for the sake of Christ. His work demands that everything be placed on the altar of sacrifice. Very few are willing to pay that price, but those who are will find a grace for living that the rest never experience. They will find a peace that others cannot comprehend. They will know power with God and for God that others can only dream of. The price is outrageous to the mind of man, but when compared with the payoff, it is extremely cheap.
5. v. 34 The true Disciple will fulfill his one purpose in life.
Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and addressed them, "If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, 'This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.' Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. In the same way, everyone of you who does not renounce all of his possessions cannot be my disciple."
The Gospel of the Lord.
IV. v. 25-35 AN ENORMOUS PRICE
A. Lest anyone think that being a follower of Christ is cheap, Jesus makes it very plain that it is anything but cheap. The price, in fact, is more than many are ever willing to pay! (Ill. The large crowds that followed Jesus would have awed many men. However, after Jesus wooed men, He would then challenge them. It is at this point that we can safely separate the Christian from the Disciple. A Christian is one who has received Jesus into his/her heart. A disciple is one who has surrendered EVERYTHING to Jesus and is following Him faithfully, even unto death.)
B. Jesus tells us that there are 5 basic thing we have to do to be a disciple of Christ. Anyone who is not willing to pay the price and do these things may be saved, but they are not a Disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice the requirements for true discipleship.
1. v. 26 – The true Disciple will love Christ supremely. Every other love in our lives must seem like hate when compared to our love for Jesus Christ! This is a tall order, but it is simply the fulfillment of Mark 12:30 [the Shema].
2. v. 27a – The true Disciple will take up his cross. The cross is not a bad situation on life, it is not a disease, or some other burden. The cross is a pathway of reproach, suffering, loneliness and even death that the believer voluntarily endures for Jesus’ sake. Not all believers are cross bearers! It is possible to be saved and to leave your cross unborn. You do this by living a "nominal" Christian life. You go to church, you claim Jesus as Savior, yet your Christian walk goes no deeper. It is a surface thing in your life. But, when you decide to go all out for Jesus, you can expect to face the same level of satanic opposition that Jesus faced while here on earth. Are you bearing your cross for Christ this morning?
3. v. 27b – The true Disciple will follow Jesus – This means to be engaged in the work He did. When we are following Him, we will walk as He did, speak as He did, live as He did and love as he did. When we are following Jesus, we are demonstrating the Father to a lost and a dying world. Is it possible for people like us to live out Christ in this present day? Yes, but only so we yield to Him and allow Him to live His life through us daily – Gal. 2:20.
4. v. 28-33 The true Disciple will Count The Cost. He will weigh his worldly attachments against the demands of the cross and he will enter into the race knowing that it will cost him everything he has for the sake of Christ. His work demands that everything be placed on the altar of sacrifice. Very few are willing to pay that price, but those who are will find a grace for living that the rest never experience. They will find a peace that others cannot comprehend. They will know power with God and for God that others can only dream of. The price is outrageous to the mind of man, but when compared with the payoff, it is extremely cheap.
5. v. 34 The true Disciple will fulfill his one purpose in life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)