Twelfth Sunday after Trinity (Parish Eucharist and Baptism)
“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”
Overview
Ouch! At first glance this does not seem like a very appropriate reading for a baptism. Isn’t meant to be all about love? Yet here Jesus, Luke 14:25-33, tells us we cannot follow him unless we hate our own family! It is important then to look at the use of “love vs hate” in the gospel. It is meant to indicate what happens when we choose one path over another: if you follow one master you are unable to follow another. When we become part of the family of God, that family takes priority. We can no longer consider just the needs of our own household, our own aged parents, our own vulnerable little ones; our concern necessarily expands to all aged parents and all vulnerable little ones. Love is no longer privatised, it is set free to embrace those God embraces. Jesus then goes on to tell the story of a man building a tower and a king going to war; neither have the resources to finish the job. We will never have the resources to love the entire world, no matter, God is a God of abundance, when we take our place in the economy of God’s love we receive much more than we are able to give.
GOSPEL READING
Luke 14:25-33
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.
