September 4, 2022, Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Today’s readings are about wisdom, about knowing the way of the Lord and acting accordingly if we are to attain salvation. Of course, this is something which is not easy to understand and do as humans.

We begin with a prayer from King Solomon in the book of Wisdom (Wis 9:13-18b). At one point in Israel’s history the people demanded that their leader, prophet, and judge, Samuel, appoint for them a king like the other nations. Samuel was very reluctant to do this because he knew that a king would impinge on the rights of his citizens. He would take their daughters to become cooks and take the best of their fields and vineyards. He would demand a tenth of their produce and confiscate their servants and livestock. And he would make all of his subjects into slaves (1Samuel 8:13-19).

But the people were obstinate, so God allowed and instructed Samuel on how to appoint a king for them. Solomon became Israel’s third in succession after King Saul and Solomon’s father, King David. Solomon was considered to be the wisest of all the kings throughout the history of Israel. For when God told Solomon to ask for whatever he wanted, Solomon asked only for wisdom. He said, “Give your servant a listening heart to judge your people and to distinguish between good and evil. For who is able to give judgment for this vast people of yours?” (1Kings 3:9). God was so pleased with Solomon’s selfless request that He also granted him riches and glory among all kings.

We hear a sample of Solomon’s keen insight in a prayer recited by him in the book of Wisdom for today (Wis.9:13-18). Here he recognizes that corruptible people are so weighed down with their earthly responsibilities that they can scarcely recognize the way things are in heaven. But when given God’s wisdom and counsel, along with the Holy Spirit, clarity is gained so that they might walk the straight paths of the Lord here on earth.

Unfortunately, even with all of his wisdom, Solomon’s knowledge and perception eventually dissipated as he destroyed the God-given gift of wisdom he had received upon his coronation. Solomon’s reign took a downslide as his prudent leadership turned into poor judgement and bad decision making. He became the tyrant of a king about whom Samuel had earlier warned the people, assuming a luxurious lifestyle and overtaxing the people to pay for his extravagant living. He broke the laws of intermarriage, taking many foreign wives, and building shrines to their gods, turning to idolatry and pagan worship. Because he neglected and ignored the ways of God, making the Lord less important in his life, God raised up enemies against Solomon, eventually causing Israel to become a fallen kingdom.

Solomon’s disregard for God’s ways, making God secondary in his life, is exactly what Jesus teaches about in the Gospel for today (Lk. 14:25-33). As usual Jesus is traveling with a large crowd following him and he soon begins to give a lesson on discipleship. Three times within his speech Jesus repeats what one has to do to be his disciple. It seems to suggest that the crowd is not grasping what they must do, or must give up, to be his follower. They are more concerned about their daily lives, lacking the wisdom about the ways of Jesus.

First, they fail to understand that they must come to “hate” their families, their fathers, mothers, children, and brothers and sisters. This seems like harsh language, but in biblical terms it does not connotate hate in the normal sense of the word. Rather the love/hate dichotomy is a metaphor for loyalty. And the prudent person would know that they cannot be loyal to their families unless they are first loyal to the Lord.

Next Jesus describes a person who decides to construct a tower. He might immediately begin to build the tower and lay the foundation, but soon after discover that he is not able to finish the construction. Jesus suggests that a sensible person would first “sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion” (Lk. 14:28). One must recognize that this is the pragmatic thing to do.

Lastly, Jesus speaks about a king who haphazardly marches into battle without first considering the number of troops which might be needed. What he should do first is to determine if ten thousand troops can successfully defeat an army of twenty thousand. Or if it would be more sensible to try to negotiate for peace.

What Jesus is considering in these three scenarios is the rational concept of priorities. One would have to be very pragmatic and reasonable considering the cost of a building project before beginning or the danger of war against thousands of troops instead of making a rash decision. In the same way, nothing in believers’ lives must take precedence over their commitment to Christ and their relationship with him. If a believer is forced to make an either-or choice between anything on earth and God, loyalty to God must prevail, even if it comes to the extreme of having to give up all of one’s material possessions, or having to sever relationships with people who stand between the believer and Christ.

But one realization will bring solace to us within this harsh mandate. That is the consideration that there is no cost you can pay in following Jesus that won’t be made up a thousandfold in the resurrection.