13th Sunday after Pentecost
Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Psalm 1; Philemon 1-21; Luke 14:25-33
The gospel lesson for this Sunday is worthy of [many] nightmares. No wonder my current confirmation class elected this text from Luke, the toughest of Jesus’ sayings. Pastor, does Jesus want us to hate our beloved family members? Take away our lives? Die at the cross as he did? Give up all our hopes and dreams, all the fruits of my hard work, to follow him? In a word, no. He doesn’t. Trust me. Nonetheless, it is what is written, and it’s complicated. This is one of the situations where it is very helpful to keep in mind the context of those receiving the Word for the first time in first-century Palestine.
Regarding human relationships, Jewish tradition had two words for it. One was love. God’s universal command for all God’s people. In the absence of love, there was only one other word, hate. So the word hate for the Jews of Jesus’ time would carry all the nuances of any relationship that is not based on love. Therefore, depending on the circumstance, Jesus’ audience would not hear the word hate with the same intensity that we hear today in our language. For instance, there is often someone in our lives that we say, “me and that person, we are not on the same vibe.” You and I would probably not apply “hate” to the relationship with such a person. We would say we don’t like each other. However, the people following Jesus in the gospels would say you hate someone because you don’t love such a person. Love was mandatory.
Guess what? Love for one’s family was mandatory too! However, remember that many heard the proclamation of the Kingdom of God come near in Jesus Christ, but not everybody followed. So, what happened when someone was caught up having been transformed and inspired into following Jesus but faced family opposition? There was practically no one who would be self-made. The family nucleus needed every hand possible to keep the household going. Possessions – land, livestock, etc. – were passed from father to son. Women, unfortunately, were dependent on husbands and sons for their subsistence. To cut ties with family – in this case, to hate them – could mean giving up practically everything. On top of all this, the resurrection had not yet happened for them. One could easily think twice. Was this rabbi from Nazareth for real? Would he be worthy?
This would be an exceedingly difficult decision to make, if not an impossible one. Speaking for God in Deuteronomy (vs. 19 and 20), Moses strongly suggests that God’s people make the right choice. Paul let it slide in his letter that he hoped Philemon would voluntarily choose to do what was right. The Psalmist sings, “Happy are they … who delight in the law of the Lord” (vs. 1 and 2).
Image by Jose Antonio Alba from Pixabay
Bridging Faith 