23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time - Cycle C

“For everything there is a price.”  This idea is so ancient and so well known that there’s no one person to whom this quote or idea can be attributed.  It’s practically built into our human nature and human condition.  Put another way, there’s always trade-offs to be made when we have to make decisions.  We can’t have our cake and eat it too and those who think otherwise are fooling themselves.  There’s no such thing as a “free ride.”  When we elect to follow Christ there is a cost.  Our readings this week remind us that following the way of Jesus is not going to be easy:

The Word for the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time
Wisdom 9:13-18b
Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14-17
Philemon 1:9-10, 12-17
Luke 14:25-33

Our first reading comes from the book of Wisdom, a work that dates back to some 50 years before Christ.  Given its date and origins, we can consider this to be a contemporary work for Jesus and his Apostles.  Like last week’s first reading from Sirach (dating about 200 years before Christ), the book of Wisdom not only acts as an early catechism for the Jewish people, but it speaks very powerfully to the early Christian community in part because it was addressed to a persecuted minority (those Jews living in Alexandria under the last throws of the Ptolemaic Empire).  While the book of Wisdom is fairly clear in its teachings, there are times, as with this week’s passage, where we can get lost in the language of the text and find it difficult to discern what it is trying to teach, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t “get it” after just one reading.  Read it several times, and then see if you see what I see…

The passage opens with a rhetorical question – “who can know God’s council?”.  Not us, for as the text continues, we are just mere mortals and our human needs often cloud our understanding.  In fact, it is only “with difficulty” that we understand what the Lord wants.  This is why God sends us Wisdom from the Holy Spirit, and it is by following the Spirit’s wisdom that makes our path straight.  Put more simply, just follow what the Lord says and all will be good.  This faith in the Lord’s goodness is echoed in our Psalm when we sing “In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.”  A reminder that whenever needed, the Lord is there for us.

Trouble is, just following what the Lord says isn’t always easy.  This is exactly what our Gospel from Luke is trying to teach us.  Here we see Jesus being followed by a great crowd and he’s at a bit of a loss in understanding why.  Jesus knows his mission is going to end with his death.  Jesus also knows, as he has told his disciples, that they will face a similar fate.  So now Jesus is forced to confront the crowd and explain that they too, by following him, will have their own crosses to bear.  Jesus explains that there are costs to following him – personal costs – to being one of his disciples and it would be foolish to do so without understanding what those costs will be beforehand.  Caveat emptor:  Buyer beware.

We round out our readings with a passage from Paul’s letter to Philemon.  One of the shortest books in the New Testament and certainly the shortest from Paul.  His letter to Philemon is only one chapter with 25 verses.  The letter concerns a slave named Onesimus, whom he met in prison, converted, and is now being released.  Paul is asking his owner to welcome him not as a slave but as a “brother in Christ.”  This letter is nothing short of astounding.  With brevity and cautious language (which is uncharacteristic for Paul, who’s letters are generally verbose and bold), Paul is telling us that slavery is wrong.  That within the Church, the Body of Christ, there is no room for a cast system.  There is no master and slave, but rather we are all slaves for Christ, brothers and sisters bound in a common cause.

Final thoughts:
“Don’t start something unless you know you can finish it.”  Chances are you’ve had someone give you this advice at some point in your life.  It seems like common sense, but I have seen so many people start something only to find out that they won’t be able to finish.  Or worse, they realize that finishing is going to cost more than they thought, often going into debt without fully understanding the consequences of having to pay off that debt just so they can finish what they started (not unlike how people get in trouble with college loans today).  Put another way, “you should look before you leap.”  You should make yourself aware of the costs and potential pitfalls of an endeavor before you take that leap.  Not only that, but you should develop contingencies for those things that could go wrong.

Jesus is an extraordinary storyteller, even by today’s standards.  He will make use of contemporary situations to explain some of the deepest concepts.  This week Jesus uses two great examples:  First of the builder wanting to construct a tower, and that of a king facing an enemy in battle.  In both cases he shows how these masters would calculate their costs before engaging in the activity.  Great practical examples of putting the lessons of wisdom to work.

Jesus knows that his mission is going to end with his death.  He also knows that a similar fate will come to his disciples.  Here he’s trying to help them understand the consequences of their discipleship.  They get excited about his message without thinking of the long-term costs.  It’s a particularly potent story for those of us who work in adult initiation ministry.  During this time of year many people are looking to join an adult formation process – to connect or re-connect with the church.  Many of these seekers are thinking it’s only a matter of taking some classes (which unfortunately far too many parishes lead you to conclude).  But joining the church isn’t an academic process, it’s an apprenticeship.  It’s not a one-time thing, it’s the start of a lifelong journey and a continuing relationship with Christ, and if truly lived out, will come with certain sacrifices.  

There are always costs – personal costs, family costs, societal costs – to becoming a member of the church, to becoming a follower of Christ.  Our Christian ethic of putting others needs first and runs counter to our “me first” focused society.  In some ways it’s more difficult today than in decades or centuries past, with modern secularism preaching that we’ve outgrown our need for God.  On the contrary, we need God more than ever, echoing the refrain from our Psalm today, “in every age, O Lord, you have been my refuge.”  A true comfort as we pay the price for our following Christ.