What did his audience make of such extraordinary statements? What are we to think? He tells us to love our enemies, now tells us to hate our loved ones. Jesus who gave us the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus who enjoyed his good friends, Mary and Martha, and wept over the death of his friend Lazarus, now makes these extraordinary demands.

 

One perspective is that if we are to follow him we must accept totally his way of seeing life and then putting that into practice by the way we live.

 

However, for some of us, there are times when the teachings of Jesus bring out a kind of lukewarm compromise in us. Maybe such times occur when we do not want to stand up for what we believe by our faith in him because it will cause divisions in our families. Maybe there are times when standing up for the Lord will mean standing outside of the popular circles.

 

For many Christians have lifestyles largely dictated by the surrounding culture with goals set by those standards. You know the drill here--gobbling consumerism, and materialism—loss of identity at the price of owning –right?

 

It can be so tempting to slip into secularism with all that surrounds us. Maybe at times we will not try to fit in certain aspects of Christian living—if inconvenient. Or not stand up for the teachings of the Church if unpopular. But it is precisely such lapses that Jesus is addressing.

 

It is obvious from the life and death of Jesus that he does not mean for us to hate our parents, brothers and sisters. Nor does Jesus literally mean us to hate our own lives. Hate and anger produces violence and are the product of fear. On the contrary, we are called to have love and compassion for every single person, no matter who they are or what their relationship to us. We are called to love our lives and see them as sacred –created in the image of the Divine, and to uphold all life as such—no compromises.

 

What Jesus is saying, is that those who are truly his disciples recognize that we are all children from one God, we all belong to one family, that we are all sisters and brothers to each other. The only status that counts is one's relationship with God and based on how we relate with other people; regardless of race, religion, profession or class. If there is one thing Jesus preaches over and over it is universal fellowship.

 

For we know that our Christian status calls for a strong inner security, which is independent of human social status or position, or opinions—in fact very often countercultural. To be Christian is not a popularity contest or an election.

 

When we do not live as God created us, one family of sisters and brothers, we fail in being disciples of Jesus.

 

 

He never promised us easy. And there can be painful experiences - when we would have to stand against the beliefs of family members, co-workers, social groups, and not join in on behavior that is harmful --unjust or unloving to others. We cannot support family members who cheat their way through life; those who practice racism- or other forms of bigotry. Showing our concern for their wellbeing we try to explain why we disagree—not in a way that is condescending or self righteous, but in ways that can help them understand.

 

We seek to be with Jesus so that we can be more like him—it can’t be just lip service—that would make us one thing he almost always speaks against—hypocrites.

 

As followers of Jesus family members are obviously included but so are all others—fellowship; he never promised us easy.

 

Happy Laboring in His vineyard, Fr. Gordon