Proper 18 :: Deuteronomy 30: 15–20 / Psalm 1 / Philemon
1–21 / Luke 14: 25–33
This is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon,
Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, September 8, 2019.
“WARNING ORDER”
(Homily text: Luke 14:
25-33)
In
the military, there’s something that is known as a “Warning Order”. A Warning
Order tells a unit and its members to get ready to do something. It usually gives
some basic information about what the unit and its members will be called upon
to do. (A Warning Order is followed by an Operations Order, which spells out in
detail exactly what the mission will involve and how it will unfold.)
This
week, and continuing on into today and into this coming week, many military
units (Reserve units like the National Guard and Army Reserve, and active duty
units like the Marine Corps and Navy, to cite some examples) and their members
have, undoubtedly, received Warning Orders, telling them to prepare to assist
in rescue and recovery efforts to assist those who’ve been affect by Hurricane
Dorian.
Today’s
Gospel text is part of Jesus’ Warning Order, having to do with the nature of
entering the Kingdom of God. Today’s Gospel text must surely be one of our
Lord’s “Hard Sayings”. It’s hard to know if the Lord was engaging in hyperbole
(a rhetorical device which uses exaggerated speech so as to elicit a response)
or not. However, what the Lord said about leaving everything in order to follow
the Lord was the reality for many of the first Christians.
Today’s
Warning Order tells us to look ahead, and to see the changes that will come as
a result of our decision to follow the Lord.
Changes
there most certainly will be as we become mature followers of Jesus Christ. So
our Lord tells us to look ahead, to prepare to accept the changes in our lives,
to be prepared to make sacrifices in order to fully follow the Lord. “Count the
cost,” is one way of characterizing what Jesus is saying.
Some
of the changes the Lord is warning us of can be major ones. They can involve a
change in profession, or a change in living arrangements or in the place where
we are living. Those who relocate in order to attend seminary make such changes
in order to follow the Lord. So do missionaries who go to new and different
places in order to live out the Gospel.
But
other changes aren’t so major. As part of our Baptisms, we are called to say
“goodbye” to our old way of life, to set aside each and everything that fails
to honor God. We are called to embrace our Lord Jesus Christ’s way of living,
adopting the love He had and has for each and every human being. We are called
to seek out righteousness and to work for justice. We are called to speak out
against evil in any and every form in which it presents itself. These are just
some of the changes that entering into the waters of Baptism involve. Changes
like this call us to get out of our “comfort zones”.
A
true test of discipleship is the presence of change. Coming to know and love
the Lord involves change, some of which are big ones, and some of which are
smaller ones.
“If
you come to love and follow me,” the Lord says, “there will be changes.” Now that’s
a true Warning Order.
