Hatred of Self, Not Others

Gospel: Luke 14: 25-33

What does it mean to follow Jesus? We have invented all sorts of abstractions and vicarious practices to indicate what that means.  All of them curiously enough are centered on the self.  They involve the idea of saving oneself, earning merit for oneself, and the like.  And when today's Gospel reading comes forth, the idea of hating others comes quite easy to a certain segment of those who claim the name Christian, an idea so central to their identity.

But what we are hating, in reality, is not others but our selves, our egos and self-interest.  The possessions and the particular relationships noted here are representations of the self, things and people we love not for themselves but because they are tied to our egos and self.  When we do battle with our egos and self, we can then love others as Jesus loved them - as children of God, as fellow brothers and sisters created in God's image.  

To follow Jesus is to do what he did: to provide healing, liberation, and nourishment for others without discrimination, turning no one away.  To do this work involves a total rejection of the ego and the self.  It requires complete love of others.  To bend down and wash the feet of others is to put aside our own comfort and our own selves for the love and care of another.  This is what it means to follow Jesus entirely.