Dylan's lectionary blog

Proper 8, Year C

Luke 9:51-62 - link to NRSV text

"Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:60).

A while ago, someone asked me for a collection of verses showing Jesus' and Paul's teachings on the family, as he wanted to create a bible study for young people on "family values." I said that this verse was a key one for Jesus' perspective on the family, but that the proposed study probably wouldn't go over very well with the parents. The thing is, Jesus and Paul both weren't big on "family values," at least as defined by their culture or ours.

In Sunday's gospel, a man called to follow Jesus responds that he first must bury his father. That doesn't mean that the father has already died and is just awaiting burial. In Jesus' culture, children -- especially sons -- are the only social security. If you have sons, they (and their wives and children) are expected to stick around to take care of you until you die, and then to make sure you get a proper burial. The least you can do to "honor your father and mother" (Exodus 20:12) is to take care of them when they grow old.

But Jesus says, in effect, "let 'em rot." You have absolutely no obligation toward an earthly father; your obligation is to your heavenly Father. But why not do both -- honor your biological father AND God? The answer is that it's just not possible to do that in Jesus' culture, at least as Jesus defines what honoring God means. For starters, Jesus calls people to drop their nets and their plows, leave their villages, and follow him. You just can't do that with your parents and children in tow. Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Chuza (Luke 8:1-3) are happy enough to provide for the other disciples and Jesus from what they've saved, but they just don't have enough to support everyone's extended family too. And even if they're fit to travel, how fair is it to drag them into the kind of shocking behavior you've been called to engage in as you follow Jesus?

This is called one of Jesus' "hard sayings," because it says that, at least under some circumstances, if you do your duty toward your family, that will entail serious compromises in how you follow Jesus. That's especially hard in a culture which -- like Jesus' culture, or for that matter like ours -- having a family and working hard to take care of them are what anthropologists call "redemptive media," things that our culture says we should do if we want to be considered good people.

In some ways, it's easier to follow Jesus if you don't have much respectability to lose. That's probably part of what's behind Jesus' saying, "Honored are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God" (Luke 6:20). The difficulty we respectable folk have following Jesus is compounded by our "mainstream" culture's tendency to equate the phrase "being a Christian" with "being nice" or "being good."

Lord, deliver us from the temptation of seeking respect when we should be seeking your voice.

Proper 8, Year C

Luke 9:51-62 - link to NRSV text

"Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:60).

A while ago, someone asked me for a collection of verses showing Jesus' and Paul's teachings on the family, as he wanted to create a bible study for young people on "family values." I said that this verse was a key one for Jesus' perspective on the family, but that the proposed study probably wouldn't go over very well with the parents. The thing is, Jesus and Paul both weren't big on "family values," at least as defined by their culture or ours.

In Sunday's gospel, a man called to follow Jesus responds that he first must bury his father. That doesn't mean that the father has already died and is just awaiting burial. In Jesus' culture, children -- especially sons -- are the only social security. If you have sons, they (and their wives and children) are expected to stick around to take care of you until you die, and then to make sure you get a proper burial. The least you can do to "honor your father and mother" (Exodus 20:12) is to take care of them when they grow old.

But Jesus says, in effect, "let 'em rot." You have absolutely no obligation toward an earthly father; your obligation is to your heavenly Father. But why not do both -- honor your biological father AND God? The answer is that it's just not possible to do that in Jesus' culture, at least as Jesus defines what honoring God means. For starters, Jesus calls people to drop their nets and their plows, leave their villages, and follow him. You just can't do that with your parents and children in tow. Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Chuza (Luke 8:1-3) are happy enough to provide for the other disciples and Jesus from what they've saved, but they just don't have enough to support everyone's extended family too. And even if they're fit to travel, how fair is it to drag them into the kind of shocking behavior you've been called to engage in as you follow Jesus?

This is called one of Jesus' "hard sayings," because it says that, at least under some circumstances, if you do your duty toward your family, that will entail serious compromises in how you follow Jesus. That's especially hard in a culture which -- like Jesus' culture, or for that matter like ours -- having a family and working hard to take care of them are what anthropologists call "redemptive media," things that our culture says we should do if we want to be considered good people.

In some ways, it's easier to follow Jesus if you don't have much respectability to lose. That's probably part of what's behind Jesus' saying, "Honored are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God" (Luke 6:20). The difficulty we respectable folk have following Jesus is compounded by our "mainstream" culture's tendency to equate the phrase "being a Christian" with "being nice" or "being good."

Lord, deliver us from the temptation of seeking respect when we should be seeking your voice.

Comments

Proper 8, Year C

Luke 9:51-62 - link to NRSV text

"Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:60).

A while ago, someone asked me for a collection of verses showing Jesus' and Paul's teachings on the family, as he wanted to create a bible study for young people on "family values." I said that this verse was a key one for Jesus' perspective on the family, but that the proposed study probably wouldn't go over very well with the parents. The thing is, Jesus and Paul both weren't big on "family values," at least as defined by their culture or ours.

In Sunday's gospel, a man called to follow Jesus responds that he first must bury his father. That doesn't mean that the father has already died and is just awaiting burial. In Jesus' culture, children -- especially sons -- are the only social security. If you have sons, they (and their wives and children) are expected to stick around to take care of you until you die, and then to make sure you get a proper burial. The least you can do to "honor your father and mother" (Exodus 20:12) is to take care of them when they grow old.

But Jesus says, in effect, "let 'em rot." You have absolutely no obligation toward an earthly father; your obligation is to your heavenly Father. But why not do both -- honor your biological father AND God? The answer is that it's just not possible to do that in Jesus' culture, at least as Jesus defines what honoring God means. For starters, Jesus calls people to drop their nets and their plows, leave their villages, and follow him. You just can't do that with your parents and children in tow. Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Chuza (Luke 8:1-3) are happy enough to provide for the other disciples and Jesus from what they've saved, but they just don't have enough to support everyone's extended family too. And even if they're fit to travel, how fair is it to drag them into the kind of shocking behavior you've been called to engage in as you follow Jesus?

This is called one of Jesus' "hard sayings," because it says that, at least under some circumstances, if you do your duty toward your family, that will entail serious compromises in how you follow Jesus. That's especially hard in a culture which -- like Jesus' culture, or for that matter like ours -- having a family and working hard to take care of them are what anthropologists call "redemptive media," things that our culture says we should do if we want to be considered good people.

In some ways, it's easier to follow Jesus if you don't have much respectability to lose. That's probably part of what's behind Jesus' saying, "Honored are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God" (Luke 6:20). The difficulty we respectable folk have following Jesus is compounded by our "mainstream" culture's tendency to equate the phrase "being a Christian" with "being nice" or "being good."

Lord, deliver us from the temptation of seeking respect when we should be seeking your voice.