Last night during a monthly community prayer night we reflected on Matthew 10:37-39. The larger context is Jesus sending his disciples on their 1st mission trip into Israel. The smaller context is several verses emphasizing the commitment of following Jesus. 3x Jesus uses the phrase "not worthy of me" if someone doesn't love HIM more than one's father, or mother, or son, or daughter. At 1st, this phrase can bother you. It cuts like a knife and doesn't sound like the graceful Jesus who invites all people to his table. But it's meant to cut - through all the other things we depend on to give our lives meaning and purpose.
FAMILY in the 1st century represented more than it does today. It was your income as you depended on the family business or farm to provide for your life. It was your recreation as you depended on the family meal or celebrations for fun and entertainment. It was your relationships as you depended on your parents to secure a spouse for you. I.E. it was your present and future life, security, and basis for relationships, etc..
Jesus' words hit pretty hard: Do I love my job, my wife, my recreational time, and all the relationships I depend on for security and provision more than Him?
Seems rough? Almost unrealistic? Until you understand the alternative.
Jesus later says: Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
God actually has a genuine desire for us to FIND TRUE LIFE. God's offer to us in Jesus is TRUE LIFE. His alternative is actually what we've been looking for. However, you'll never experience it APART from him.
If you love anything more than Jesus, yes, you're not worthy of him - i.e. you're not really set on following him - but you're also missing out on life. However, lose your life in him - trust him fully - and you'll actually find the life you're looking for.
The path to true life isn't an easy one... it's a complete reorientation of what you depend on. Jesus' walk to the cross symbolizes it. Matthew tells us early on - 15-16 chapters early - that the path Jesus will take is the walk to the cross. The walk doesn't fit squarely with how the world works - desperately setting themselves up to be secure. Jesus' path is a complete trust in God's victory. Through humility and dependence, trusting that you will actually find the life you've always wanted depending on Jesus.
PRAYER: Lord, help me to relinquish my dependency on the security I constantly look for in my world and reorient myself to depend on you.
(Thanks to the small group out for community prayer who helped bring this reflection together. It was a collective reflection.)
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