In the Gospel of Matthew this weekend we see the beginning design of Jesus’ Church: personally Jesus can only reach so many people so He needs disciples to continue and expand His personal mission and ministry into the world, thus He will need His disciples to travel in His Name and proclaim His Love to the world, continuing to this very day calling us—you and me—to be His disciples. Thus the gospel is meant to be read closely and taken to heart.

The gospel begins with 3 difficult statements to hear, paraphrased: if you love your family—father and mother, daughter and son, more than you love God—then you are not worthy of God; if you won’t pick up your cross and follow God, you are not worthy of God; and, whoever finds his own life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for the sake of Christ will find real life.

We find these statements difficult today in our era of fierce personal independence so imagine living in the ancient world at the time of Jesus when dependence upon family was of the utmost importance—no social welfare state, only families to help in difficult times. Spiritually and practically, these discipleship requirements of Christ are hard to follow, hard to accept. The question we must ask ourselves is—what’s the investment return? Eternal Life in the Kingdom of Heaven.

After the above three difficult statements made by Christ about discipleship, we hear of 3 simple acts of hospitality that have so much value: welcome a prophet, welcome a righteous person, welcome a little one; but let’s not be confused here thinking that all we have to do is a “good act” once in a while. No, real discipleship is much more than simple kindness and compassion. The discipleship Christ describes in this reading is about authentic, true and long-lived discipleship. It requires a change not only in our hearts but a change in our lived-lives. Christ is telling us that real hospitality and compassion, like real discipleship, will require us to
readjust our priorities and walk headlong into a real commitment to “loose our own life to truly find life in Christ.”

As we listen to and explore today’s gospel in terms of faith lived out in the world around us—we can replace the words “hospitality and compassion” with “justice” in terms of how we not only treat others in our daily activities of life but how we want our society in which we live to treat all peoples—with charity and dignity and justice. Will we simply continue to offer simple acts of compassion and hospitality on the street, say holding the door for the other or saying hello as we pass by people on the curb. Or will we be committed to real change—and that means change in our own lives as we open up the privileges of life we all enjoy. By seeking good schools in poorer communities, demanding appropriate changes to the welfare system so as not to hold
people in cycles of poverty but rather lift them up to new opportunities of personal freedom and dignity. In that way, when we “lose our (way of) life, we shall really find life, for us all.

The Word of God is indeed alive—though it may be written in black and white on the pages—His Word is alive and made present in and through us all and our lived experiences. This is how we know it is God’s Word—because the ancient and absolute Truths may be applied to all times  and places. Let us take this up in prayer.