DO YOU ALSO WISH TO GO AWAY?

Sunday's Johannine lection resonates with a theme that permeates the Gospels: discipleship. It reminds those of us who call ourselves Christian that following Jesus of Nazareth has never been--and will never be--a picnic nor a walk in the park. The cost of discipleship is very high.

The cross that Jesus talks about does not refer to the challenge of being married to your spouse, nor the responsibility of taking care of elderly relatives, nor the burden of pastoring a metropolitan church, nor to any of the other metaphorical "crosses" we have come up with.

The cost of discipleship is very high. It's completing the tower. It's winning the battle. We don't go build without finishing. We don't wage war in order to lose.

Thus, upon realizing the difficulties involved in following Jesus, many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. Prompting Jesus to ask the Twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?"

Many among us want to go to heaven, but are afraid to die. Many among us want to be resurrected, but are afraid to be crucified. Many among us want to see a new day, but are afraid of the night. We cannot have one without the other.

My friends, we cannot trully follow Jesus unless we are ready to carry our cross. Salt melts away. Light burns out. A grain of wheat dies... When Jesus calls us, he bids us, "come and die."



*art, "The Cost of Discipleship," from maplecreekchurchcom.