Teenagers!

Have you ever had a teenager tell you they hate you? Were you a teenager telling your parents you hated them? When my kids (sort of) said that, I had to learn to take it in stride. I realized that what they were doing is what all of us need to do at some point, and that is define ourselves as separate and different from “mom and dad” and what they want for us. So, when mom wanted me to be preppy in Junior High, I had to figure out how to “rebel” somehow. When my son Eric only wanted to wear black t-shirts, it was his way of wanting to be himself and not what I wanted him to be. (Even though it bugged the heck out of me…). 

           Jesus in the Gospel reading this Sunday says, “Unless you hate (!) father and mother you cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:25). That’s strong language! I think his bigger point is that his call will mean defining ourselves in relation to him more than our families. My parents were skeptical of me going to seminary, but I did not “hate them” in order to follow that call. I DID have to “separate” myself from what they wanted. It was very hard. I knew there would be conflict, tension, disappointment, and misunderstanding—basically a “cross” to bear.  But those things were going to happen when me following Christ’s call—when my “discipleship”—became my own. Especially when I went to Boston on internship, fell in love with a Yankee, and then moved to Michigan for my first call. However, all that did NOT mean I cut myself off from my family! It is hard to be your “own person” and connected to family at the same time. 

           Jesus is inviting us into a kind of life that only he can offer. Freedom and forgiveness, love and second chances rooted in God’s amazing grace, is incomparable. It’s resurrection! Jesus reminds us, however, that it comes with a cross, and asks if we are willing to carry it. He did.

Peace,

Pr. Christian