[stephenkhoo]

30 June 2013, 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time
DISCIPLESHIP AS GRACE AND A TASK
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1 KGS 19:16, 19-21; GAL 5:1, 13-18; LK 9:51-62

The irony of life is that when we can have things cheaply, nobody appreciates. This is true with regard to faith as well. People do not appreciate their faith because we have made the faith so cheap. We give away the word and sacraments freely, especially the Eucharist, many even receive in a state of serious sin. We do not have discipline in church with regard to proper attire and silence. Priests are practically at the beck and call of our Catholics. They can even afford to choose their priests and the churches they attend.

The truth is that cheap grace will result in complacency and indifference. Cheap grace is the cause of spiritual ennui and boredom among our Catholics. Instead of living a life of discipleship, a life disciplined in the way of Jesus and the gospel, they live the sensual life of the world, the life of self-indulgence condemned by St Paul. Indeed, this is the price we are paying today for making grace so cheaply available to all.

Conversely, the truth is that Christianity is highly regarded whenever Catholics stand up for their faith even at the cost of their convenience, comfort, rejection and persecution. As it is said, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. But when faith is openly practiced and tolerated, cheap grace produces lukewarm and nominal Catholics. Cheap grace more than sin has ruined the faith of many Catholics!

It must be said that it is a blessing in disguise when the Catholic Church is under persecution. We know that the Holy Father and the Catholic Church today have many enemies because of our stand against social injustices, marginalization, stem cell research involving embryos, same sex marriage, abortion, sterilization and the lob-sided negative effects of globalization. For this reason scandals committed in the Catholic Church take the spotlight in news coverage because they are all out to destroy the credibility of the Catholic Faith. But they are doing us a favour because this has made us more resilient and stronger, knowing that we have to face the hostilities of the world. Indeed, the many scandals have awakened the Church and called the Church to repentance and holiness so that we can be truly the Light of the world.

It is within this context that we can understand the demands of discipleship as meted out by Jesus to those who want to follow Him. In fact, today’s gospel is a spelling out of last Sunday’s gospel when Jesus told His disciples that if anyone wants to be His follower, he must take up his cross and follow after Him. Indeed, to be a Christian is to follow after Jesus. The essence of discipleship is to follow Jesus to the cross.

The gospel gives us a preview of the rejection of Jesus. At the very beginning of His journey to Jerusalem, when He was passing through Samaria, He encountered hostilities from the Samaritans who were at odds with the Jews. This provoked a retaliatory response from the disciples who wanted to curse them by asking that fire consume them. Instead, Jesus responded with compassion and understanding rather than revenge. He even rebuked them for their lack of tolerance.

When we consider the demands of Jesus for discipleship, it appears to be rather harsh and exacting. But if Jesus insists on the cost of discipleship, it is because He wants to remind us that the price of discipleship is too high for us to simply fall into or even be born into the faith. It is a choice and a conscientious decision. There is no such thing as a born Catholic! That is why He insists that we give Him absolute loyalty and commitment. No one else can have a claim on us, especially if their claims clash with the claims of Jesus. Anything less would not suffice for a place in the kingdom. Following Him is not a question of having an intellectual insight or earning some achievements through hard work, but it is a question of commitment and surrender.

If the price of discipleship is heavy, it is because the rewards of the kingdom are eternal life, true freedom and joy. For things that are eternal, for a life that is truly lived in joy and freedom, such a price is demanded. If His demands appear to be unreasonable or unrealistic, it is because Jesus is simply honest about the demands and the cost of a commitment we might make too lightly and a journey we might undertake too easily. If not, we will end up worse than before we got baptized, because then at least we still know that we need salvation. But for lukewarm Christians, they live under the false belief that simply because they are baptized, they are guaranteed salvation. To the extent we give ourselves to discipleship in Jesus, we find the life promised to us is true. If we live half-baked discipleship, we find a half-life. But if we live the full life of discipleship, then we share in the eternal life of God.

Hence, today, we are called to make our choices. Like the last two potential disciples, we are called but we need to respond to the invitation of Jesus. This response must be one of persistence, perseverance and generosity. Indeed, we have Jesus who showed us the meaning of commitment and dedication. The gospel tells us right from the outset, “Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem.” Jesus was resolute in going to Jerusalem to manifest His Father’s love and die for His Father and the chosen people. Jesus knew His journey was a commitment to conflict, confrontation and death.

Elisha also gives us such an exemplary response. He was then plowing his fields when Elijah came and threw his mantle over him. When he wanted to return home to bid farewell to his parents, Elijah told Elisha to forget it all, because Elisha had forgotten that the call of God requires total detachment. When Elisha was brought to this realization, he slaughtered the oxen that were pulling his plow. Using the plough as firewood, he cooked the oxen and gave them to his men in a gesture of freedom, and then followed Elijah to be his servant.

But making a decision for Jesus and His way of life is perhaps too daunting for us. We feel discouraged and afraid to commit ourselves to Jesus for fear that we cannot live up to the challenges of discipleship. Certainly, humanly speaking, it is difficult to give up our personal comfort and control. It is painful to be separated from our loved ones and families. It is scary not knowing what lies ahead of us each day. It is certainly not easy to be so single-minded about the Kingdom, so much so that nothing distracts us or can affect us, especially when we experience trials and setbacks.

Of course, if we rely on our own efforts, we cannot do it. Discipleship is first and foremost a grace, a calling, and not our choosing. Thus, Jesus rejected the first man because he called himself to discipleship rather than was called by Jesus. We have to view discipleship in the context of grace. Only the grace of Jesus and His love can help us to surrender our lives to Him. Without an experience of His love and fidelity to us, we cannot live in self-surrender. Yes, discipleship is not something we can do on our own. We need God’s help and His healing grace.

The cross of Jesus is the signature and epitome of grace. It is His death on the cross that reveals us to the depth of God’s love and His ultimate victory over sin and death. The cross is not a failure but the ultimate grace. So we must be resolute and persist in seeking the kingdom, but always with humility so that we can be open to the work of grace. In this way, we will be able to walk the life of discipleship and keep ourselves focused on the kingdom life, not looking back. But if we are able to do all these things and are “fit for the Kingdom of God” it is because we live in the context of Grace. It may be amazing and it may be beyond comprehension, but we know it is true. Indeed, happy are those who realize that discipleship springs from grace because only the mercy and love of Jesus can empower us to live the life of grace in discipleship.

But grace alone is not sufficient. Our cooperation is needed. If we are going to seek God and His kingdom, we too must be willing to work for that kingdom, albeit with the grace of God. We too must set our face towards the kingdom by looking at Jesus. We are called to rely on Him because Jesus will show us the way and give us the grace to complete our journey. Luke invites us to set our faces and accompany him with that same degree of resolution in living the life of the kingdom. We are on a journey – of life and learning, growth and service. Yes, we must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and to “stay the course” in following Him to the end. Discipleship is costly. It is true! But not being His disciple is even more costly because it means a forfeiture of eternal life, a life of joy, happiness and true freedom on this earth and hereafter.

Written by Most Rev Msgr William Goh
Archbishop of Singapore
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