In today’s gospel Jesus employs hyperbole when He uses the dreaded word “hate” regarding discipleship and our relationships with family and friends. Of course He is not asking us to hate anyone; rather He is asking us to rightly order our priorities in life with regard to God and everyday life. In fact we are being called, as the late German (Lutheran) theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer called it, to know “The Cost of Discipleship.”
So why a parable about building projects and faith, you may ask? Some modern scripture scholars speculate that Jesus’ adoptive father, Joseph, thought by many to have been a carpenter may have been more of a “craftsman” or construction worker. These modern scholars speculate that the Greek word, “Tekton,” used in the gospels to describe Joseph’s trade carried the meaning of “craftsman” and so this parable. Perhaps Jesus worked alongside Joseph at the construction sites of palaces being built along the seashore, not too far from Nazareth, during his lifetime. If true, then this curious speculation adds to this gospel parable’s impact.
No matter the exact profession of Joseph, the gist of today’s gospel uses the construction project motif to remind us that similar to a construction manager needing to know his true “budget” or overall costs of a project before he lays the foundation, otherwise he might not have enough resources to complete the project, we too must know our faith’s “construction budget” before we embark on a lifelong spiritual journey with Christ so that we may complete the journey? As we seek to know and love the Lord will we may run out of steam when we are distracted by the anxieties of daily life or challenged by the tribulations of being a Christian in a secular world? Do we know what we actually believe—the real meanings of our teachings—in order to defend them in conversations with family and friends? Will we be able to withstand the “storms” of personal or public rows when faith is tested around us?
Rightly ordering our priorities of life will cause us to understand the “big picture” of faith and to consider what it is that we truly want from this life? A so-called peace in the here-in-now—at all costs—or the gift of Eternal Joy after a life of knowing, loving and living-out the faith given to us by Christ Himself? The cost of discipleship surely is different for each of us: In China it might literally mean our freedom; In the Middle East, perhaps our life’s breathe; In the corporate setting, it might mean our silence as we give up authenticity; or something as simple as deciding what is really import on a Sunday morning, the Bread of Life or the extra hour of sleep, cheering on the soccer, hockey or baseball team or praising the Lord? Free Will is a wonderful gift of Love which does not control us but rather offers us to prioritize life—the choices both in the here-and-now and Eternally are in my hands. And as one who does not enjoy math, I guess it time to brush up on my “accounting” skills. Better late than never!