Salvation is free but discipleship costs us everything.

On this Labor Day weekend, summer ends, school begins, and Notre Dame wins another football game.  Not wanting to have summer end so soon, we want to resist the cycle of nature in which the days are getting shorter and the weather begins to gradually change.  We gather to give thanks to God for the blessings and the fruit of labor.

From last Sunday’s Gospel, Peter had just confessed Jesus to be the Messiah, the Son of the living God.  In response, Jesus said to Peter:  “You are rock, and on this rock I will build my Church.  And I give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.”  Peter’s leadership in the early Church was clearly established.  Peter voiced the Church’s foundational faith.

Now In the next very important step of discipleship, Jesus confides to his disciples what it means to be the Messiah.  Jesus’ explanation of discipleship did not compute with Peter.  He was clearly looking for a “no-pain” version of Christianity.  Peter strongly objected to Jesus’ prediction of his passion.  Jesus contradicts Peter’s no-pain version of Christianity not only with “Get behind me, Satan!” but also with the oft-quoted statement “Those who wish to come after me must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me.”  For Peter in his discipleship, it is not enough to talk the talk in declaring Jesus to be the Son of God.  He must also walk the walk in following Jesus to his passion and death.

The cross was central to who Jesus is as our Messiah and Lord.  This is what Peter must learn.  And likewise, this is what we too must learn in our path of discipleship.  The cross does not have to be a fearful component of life.

But we need to ask ourselves honestly how are we like Peter and prefer a ‘no-pain’ version of Christianity?  What happens when you or a member of your family is given the test results that scare you?  What happens when life doesn’t seem to be fair?  Why me?  I didn’t deserve this.  Why did God allow this to happen to me?

All of us, have we not, asked the question “why” when the results have not been what we wanted.   Why do bad things happen to good people?

None of us get a free pass from the cross in life.

Today’s First Reading catches the prophet Jeremiah in a moment of weakness.  His intimate lament contains some of the strongest language of doubt found in the Bible.  “You duped me, O Lord, and I let myself be duped…All the day I am the object of laughter; everyone mocks me.”  Preaching God’s Word has brought him only derision and reproach.

Jeremiah felt that God was not standing by him.  There was a side to Jeremiah that was not willing to deal with the cost of discipleship.  This is similar to Peter’s objection to Jesus’ prediction of his passion.

Yet God does not deceive – and Jeremiah at his core knows this.   But the cross is the cost of discipleship for us who are the followers of the crucified and the risen Christ.  In ways we often don’t understand, the cross is the path to our deeper trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Following Jesus demands a new way of thinking that goes against conventional wisdom that says we need to avoid suffering and death at all costs.  Doing God’s will is to find how we too share in the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus.   This means taking up the cross and knowing it will be the path of resurrection for ourselves.  This journey can lead us to a deeper life in Christ.

What Jeremiah learns, Jesus states explicitly in today’s Gospel.  To follow Him is to take up a cross, deny yourself – even to denying your priorities, preferences, and comforts.

 In our time of suffering, may we discover the inner strength that comes from God who is within us to trust that God’s love for us is unending.  Yes, in your life and in mine, stuff happens that we don’t like -- illness, death of one we love, relationships that have gone wrong, life is unfair at times.  The cross challenges us to change our view of reality.

How does the cross affect our spiritual journey?  This is the question of Jeremiah, the apostle Paul, and Peter in the Gospel.  This is the question of a mom and a dad in dealing with their child’s serious illness.   This is the question we face when a family member dies much too young.  This happens when our chosen career path doesn’t work out. 

We experience suffering personally, and we experience the suffering that happens to us nationally and globally as well.  The homes and the possessions of too many people in Texas and Louisiana have been ravished by the fury of hurricane Harvey.   We have been watching on television the unspeakable destruction caused by the flood waters from the hurricane.  But we are inspired by the courage and service and the compassion of our first responders and all who are committed to helping each other in this moment of national solidarity.

As we seek to make sense of our personal and national and international crosses, Jesus wants us to judge as God and not as humans do.  God desires a Church that is forgiving.   God desires a Church rich in mercy and compassion.  The prayerful Gospel question is:  what is the cost of discipleship for me to be a follower of Christ?  As did Peter we have to learn that the cross was central to our discipleship of the Lord Jesus.  Our spiritual path is to be a disciple of the crucified Lord.  In walking the walk of discipleship, we must be willing to embrace the cost of discipleship.  We must ponder the truth that salvation is free but discipleship costs us everything.

In your spiritual journey, how do you talk to the Lord in facing illness, death, relationships that have fallen apart, in dealing with depression and loneliness?  Do you experience frustration, anger, and abandonment from a God who is supposed to be taking care of you?

Can you experience a God who accompanies you in moments of darkness as well as moments of light? Can you experience a God whose love for you is unending even amidst the trials of life?  This was the question Jeremiah, Paul, and Peter experienced in today’s Scripture readings.  Paul prays that we will be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God.

In the Gospel, Jesus summons us to follow him  --  follow him in refusing to make wealth and power the ultimate meaning in life;  follow him in dying to our own egos so that we may more fully trust in God’s unending love for us.

God is good – all the time.

Have a blessed day.