He Who Has Ears
It is interesting that in this Gospel from St Luke, we find the same opening and closing context as in the parable of the Sower from the same Gospel. Again, there is a description of the great crowd which is accompanying him. It can be clearly understood that the teaching in this passage is directed to these people because we find that Luke says that the Lord turned and spoke to them.
And the passage ends with that phrase: “he who has ears to hear, let him hear”. This seems to indicate here, as elsewhere, that the message is spoken to many, but only a few really hear and receive the word into their interior being. There is more to the Christian life than hearing with our ears, participating in the outward rituals of the Church, even having a mental assent to the doctrines of our Orthodox tradition. This is no more than what might be said of the crowds around Christ, those whom saw miracles performed, heard intriguing and often incomprehensible preaching, and ate the bread and fish that the Apostles distributed. Yet the majority never really understood what it all meant and it never became a opportunity for transformation in their inner self.
They saw, but never perceived, heard but never understood, and ate but were not nourished. And this particular passage from the Gospel must have been one of those difficult sayings which cause some to turn away altogether. In the context of those who come to Christ seeking to be one of his disciples, he warns that it is necessary to ‘hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters-- yes, even his own life’. It is hard to find a way around this word. It is the Greek verb miseo which means to hate or detest. Looking at the use of this word in other parts of the New Testament, it always seems to be used negatively: either a call to hate sin or a condemnation of those who have hate in their hearts.
Yet in this passage, we cannot understand it as saying that we should hate our parents and families, not least because other passages teach us to honor our parents and indeed to love even our enemies. There must be a sense in which these shocking words of Christ are describing the relative position which family, friends and even self should have in comparison with Christian discipleship. And the next verse is also shocking, calling the followers of Christ to take up their cross; it is directed towards those whom wish to be disciples. In the ears of those who heard Christ speak in such a way, it must have been as if he had said that his followers must take up their own gallows or electric chair.
This is not an easy message to hear. Yet those who would be disciples of Christ must hear it and heed it. We are not being called to abandon family and friends or even to have no consideration at all for our wellbeing. But, Christ must come first and the disciple must be prepared for those times when doing the will of God means putting our family, friends and self second. Indeed, this challenge does not mean always being in Church or putting service in the Church before family or friends. It does not necessarily mean obedience to bishops and priests before service to family and friends, but it always means service and obedience to God first and before all others. Sometimes perhaps, our priest will be disappointed because we believe that on some occasion, God wills us to serve our wife or parents or children. On other occasions, perhaps our wives or parents will be disappointed because we believe that we must serve God in some ministry in the Church or outside of our family. The Christian life of discipleship is often experienced as a constant juggling act between different and competing demands. Yet for the disciple – Christ comes first.
The rest of this passage is an explanation of the need to take account of this cost of discipleship. Many people have become Christians with a false idea that the life of faith is one of ease and comfort, and that there will be no more adversities or trials. But if the Christian path of discipleship is one of life through death to self, then those seeking to set out upon such a path must take account of the cost.
Jesus uses two examples, of the builder whom must plan his construction carefully so that he does not run out of resources, and of the King who must decide whether his military strength is powerful enough to overcome an enemy in battle before he engages in conflict. This is not an easy message by any means. We are rather used to simplifying the Gospel and hoping that those who become Christian in some degree will become more committed later on. But here, with the crowds round about him, Christ seems to be doing his best to drive away as many as possible.
He asks of prospective disciples if they are willing to put family, friends and self second at all times, if they are willing to be like dead men walking on their way to the place of execution, if they are able to say farewell to all the things that mean most to them. This is not because Christ will always demand all of these things and take them from a Christian; but rather, if they are not given up truly to Christ with the inner intention of a disciple, then that person has not yet become a disciple at all. That person is rather following Christ on his own terms.
The message of God is not always easy to hear and it must have been even harder for those who gathered round him when it was spoken, since they would not have been able to reflect on all that we know of the wider message and meaning of the life of Christ. But this central message remains. We are called to be disciples, not simply hearers. And discipleship demands an absolute abandonment of all that we are and all that we have to Christ.
May we have ears to hear.
