July 1, 2007
Pentecost V

Commitment

Our journey as Christians involves many choices and a great commitment. When it comes to choices, we do a great disservice when we only compare our Christian faith against unworthy or easy choices. The choices that we face in this journey are real and not only of good versus evil. Our Christian conviction calls on us to choose against those things that seem best in human wisdom, insight and emotion; we are challenged to remember that the very good is the worst enemy of the best.

We are called into a relationship between a master and a disciple; this is much more than simply signing up for a course; it is a lifetime of commitment, a deep and lasting relationship that fundamentally changes the master and the disciple. That's the relationship into which Jesus invites us. The Gospel reading presents us with three potential disciples and three disturbing questions; at the end, the important part is what we hear Jesus saying to us and this is what I hear:

1. The price of discipleship is too high for us to simply fall into or even be born into faithful living. Following carries a cost, have we considered that cost?
2. Jesus will accept no higher loyalty than his own. Regardless of how long-standing or good or respectable or beneficial the claims of society might be, if they conflict with Jesus' claims, they are not acceptable; are we willing to choose him even though the neighbors might stare or judge us?
3. Jesus will allow no voice to speak more loudly than God's. Following him is not an intellectual insight but a difficult, creative, consuming task, like plowing a field by hand; are we ready for that degree of commitment?

Jesus is not harsh or unreasonable or unrealistic; he is simply honest about the demands and the costs of a commitment we might make too lightly and a journey we might undertake too easily. He believes we can choose the best over the merely very good. Are we ready to follow?

Silito

Take a look at some of the previous messages from the Rector