1 July 2019 - counting to the cost

Saint Junipero Serra

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus wants us to be able to sincerely say, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." Hence he will tolerate no self-deception on our part. He knows that we speak those words at first without realizing all that is involved.

Jesus answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."

In other words, we're going to have to sacrifice comfort to some degree. We won't have a sphere of life called 'home' which is safe from our obligations to the kingdom. We won't have people, even family, whom we can choose over and against the mission.

"Lord, let me go first and bury my father."
But Jesus answered him, "Follow me,
and let the dead bury their dead."

Jesus asks us to count the cost.

Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? (See Luke 14:28).

It almost sounds like he is trying to talk us out of following him.

In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples (see Luke 14:33).

Jesus is a realist about being a disciple precisely so that we can freely choose to follow him. He is helping us to make a more genuine choice to make him the LORD of our lives. Especially in a word of vague spiritual commitments we really need his help with this. He is not content to be nice ideals or vague subjective experiences with no connection to the real external world. To the degree that he is not truly the LORD of our lives we do not have him. However, the degree to which he is LORD can transform us above and beyond expectations even if his foothold has not yet spread to our entire heart, mind, and soul.

When Jesus is LORD in our hearts we become so motivated to love others as well that we can't give up on them. We become tenacious and committed to spreading the mercy of God.

"Please, let not my Lord grow angry if I speak up this last time.
What if there are at least ten there?"
He replied, "For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy it."

Most of us are still sitting on the throne of our own lives. A lot of us might ask God to spare the cities the first time, and perhaps the second. But does mercy truly rule in our hearts? Will we push as far as we can for the sake of those who need mercy and love?

Our cities may have few in them living in accord with God's will. But certainly we can still call down protection on them if we remember to seek God's mercy. Doing so means putting ourselves aside enough to care for those who are perishing. It means loving as our LORD calls us to love.

For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.