This homily by Fr. Gene Tucker was given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois, and St. John's, Centralia, Illinois, on Sunday, September 5, 2010.
Proper 18 -- Deuteronomy 30:15–20; Psalm 1; Philemon 1–20; Luke 14:25–33
What do you make of this statement, made by Jesus in our gospel reading for today:
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”
Jesus surely has a meaning, a message, in mind as He says this, doesn’t He?
He has a meaning for His original listeners, those in the large crowd that were following Him on their way to Jerusalem. He also has a meaning for us.
So, what is the meaning?
Is it a literal meaning?
Or, is it a figurative statement, meant to provoke a soul-searching reaction?
How would you answer those questions
As you ponder that, let me welcome you to the world of hermeneutics.
Hermeneutics is the science of interpretation, especially the interpretation of Holy Scripture.
If you guessed that the word “hermeneutics” comes from the Greek, you’d be right. It is a word that gets used quite a lot in seminaries around the world. But it isn’t a word that has much usage outside the seminary’s walls.
But we all engage in the science of hermeneutics whenever we approach the Bible. Regardless of whether we admit it or not, we all bring tools with us with which to study God’s Word written, the Bible.
Even those Christians who are the most strict in their approach to the Bible, who might tend to understand what it has to say literally (at least most of the time), bring interpretive tools to their work of understanding what the Bible has to say, and what it’s importance and meaning are for us.
I cite such an example of hermeneutical analysis: Jesus says (in Matthew 5: 29ff), “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.”
Now we don’t see many one-eyed, one-handed Christians walking around.
Why?
Because Christians have applied hermeneutical tools to Jesus’ words. Even those churches whose signboards say they are “Independent, Fundamental” (also possibly they might add, “King James Bible” ) would interpret Jesus’ words about plucking out eyes and cutting off hands figuratively.
They would understand that Jesus is engaging in hyperbole.
Hyperbole, the dictionary says, is “obvious and intentional exaggeration” and “an extravagant statement or figure of speech not intended to be taken literally.”
(OK, I can’t resist: The word “hyperbole” also comes from the Greek, where it literally means to “place above”, as in HYPER = above + BOLE = to place/throw.)
So, it seems, Jesus is engaging in hyperbole.
He’s trying to wake up His original audience, which was made up (most likely) of observant Jews. The picture we get from the four gospels is that the Judaism of 2,000 years ago was perfunctory, legalistic, and formal in its relationship with God.
Put another way, the picture the Gospels give us of the Jews of Jesus’ day is that many of them were simply going-through-the-motions.
Jesus seems to be trying to shock them into a new life and a new way to relate to God.
“Count the cost,” is one way of seeing Jesus’ shock-value in action. This point seems clear in the two very short parables that Jesus tells, the one about the guy who builds a tower without counting how much it will cost, and the one about the king who goes to war without enough of an army to prevail in the coming battle.
“What’s first in your life?” is another way of understanding Jesus’ message.
Or, perhaps we ought to rephrase that last comment, and say this: “Who’s first in your life?”
Allow me to make a side trip for a moment: When a person is about to be confirmed, and as I take them through the training process that precedes confirmation, I like to tell them that the Bishop is known for being a “slapper”.
Immediately, the person who’s about to be confirmed asks, “What does that mean, ‘he’s a slapper?’”
I then tell them that the Bishop, after he’s laid hands on you, is going to slap your face.
The instant reaction to that is usually something like, “Does he hit really hard?”
To which I answer, “Well, no. I’ve seen him redden a cheek now and again, but he never leaves a permanent mark.”
By now, you can tell that I’m engaging in a bit of humor with the person, and am also teasing the person, just a little.
But after the kidding and the humor is set aside, I then tell them why the Bishop applies a light touch to the cheek as part of the confirmation process, and the meaning is this: “Being a Christian is tough stuff, and you are hereby warned that the road ahead, as you follow the Lord, will have its share of difficulties and challenges. Fair warning!”
Now we come to the central meaning of Jesus’ harsh statements, heard this morning.
The meaning is clear. We can draw these implications out of Jesus’ teaching, using the hermeneutical tools available to us as we consider Jesus’ three statements about the cost of discipleship:
- Our relationship to God, through Jesus Christ, must come first: This relationship surpasses all other relationships of family and friends. Indeed, the early Church lived this central reality out in practical, literal terms as family members renounced those who had become Christian believers. Down through history, other Christians have applied Jesus’ statement to their lives literally, forsaking all human relationships to enter monasteries and convents. So, for some, Jesus’ instruction was/is taken literally.
- Self denial leads to new life: Jesus makes a comment about “bearing one’s cross” to follow Him. What might that mean to us? Perhaps this: bearing a cross means being willing to suffer loss, shame and degradation. It means having a single-minded willingness to follow Jesus, all the way to our own, personal Calvary. But we must remember that Jesus’ road to Calvary is also the very road (the only road) to new and eternal life, for the tomb is empty! Here again, many early Christians saw Jesus’ statement in literal terms, being willing to suffer a martyr’s death (often likened to sharing in Christ’s sufferings), rather than to forsake the Lord.
- Be willing to lose everything: Jesus’ last statement has to do with “renouncing all we have” in order to be a disciple. Jesus is obviously referring to our possessions. Here again, as in other times throughout history, many early Christians either walked away from their possessions, or suffered the fate of having their possessions confiscated (Hebrews 10: 34 mentions this reality).
The plain meaning of Jesus’ words does not disappear, even though the literal meaning may not be the foremost in its importance to us today.
We are called from our haphazard ways of relating to God, into a new and vital way of discipleship with Him through Christ.
We are called to put God first. We are called to follow the way of self denial, which leads to a new way of life. We are called to be willing to put everything else aside in its importance in order to follow Christ.
AMEN.
