Have you ever done the right thing and paid a price for it? It is easy to imagine bad consequences for bad actions, after all that is what we are taught as children. But when negative consequences come from something we do that promotes Gospel fidelity—this is more difficult to accept. Today’s readings discuss what happens to the messenger when God’s will is faithfully proclaimed. Of course, messengers are imperfect as Jeremiah surely was, but denouncing the lack of faith in his time cost him dearly. Today we might ask ourselves what price we are willing to pay for the Gospel.
Jesus immediately homes in on the issue at stake—fear. Often there are negative consequences for living out the Gospel message. This is difficult at the best of times, but in an age when “comparative” identity reigns supreme, it is even more difficult. We largely take our identity today from a comparison with those around us. Our culture encourages us to do so, even when we have enough, are enough, and are repeatedly told that enough is never enough.
The cost of being true to the Gospel can come in many forms. It may involve risking a job for speaking up about injustice when you know those with power disagree with you. It may involve losing good friends for not acquiescing to moral choices that betray our inner voice. Choosing to love and support an “othered” person (gay, trans, migrant, etc.) can result in a rejection from our families for living according to our conscience. These are only a few of the ways a price can be paid for living a Gospel life.
I often ask my students why Jesus was killed for simply proclaiming that God is love and that we must love our neighbor? Oh, yeah, and everyone is our neighbor. They seem confused until we talk about the cost of love. Love demands something from us in terms of time, resources, security, and control. We have little trouble with this in terms of those closest to us. Yes, I will give up the new car for your college tuition, no I won’t travel to Europe because your medical bills are more important, yes, I will make you dinner because you are suffering and that is what friends do. But Jesus goes further.
We are supposed to treat the person on the side of the road with the same love and care as we treat our own family with—and that would mean a great deal of difficulty and inconvenience if I lived that out. What if helping others gets in the way of my $1.4 million retirement goal? (My sense of security rests in my Savings Account, because if I don’t take care of myself, nobody else will.) Am I supposed to use resources for others when I am planning for retirement? Do I deserve 10 years on a golf course if children are dying of hunger? (Everyone is supposed to save, regardless of the state of the world.) Should I visit the sick, homeless, or marginalized when I really want to go to that sporting event? What do I do for me? What do I do for others? These are deep questions of paying a price for what we believe.
Discernment is our capacity to choose between these “goods” and respond in the way that God calls us to. It is an imperfect art, full of our own biases and prejudices. Sometimes these discernments are easy, and other times there is a price to pay. Jesus seems to imply that being faithful to the Gospel may even require our life! I know what I want to live for, but what would I die for? These are the questions that come to my mind as I reflect on today’s readings. They are not easy.
Tom Kelly
Thomas Kelly, Ph.D. is Professor of Theology and Director of the Christian Spirituality Program at Creighton University. He has been an Ignatian Associate for 21 years and parents four children with his wife Lisa.
