Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?

 Now great multitudes went with Him.  And He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.  And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.  For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it -- lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'  Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to met him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  Or else, while the other is a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.  So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

"Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

- Luke 14:25-35

In yesterday's reading, Jesus was sitting at table in the home of a leader of the Pharisees.  It was a Sabbath, and the reading began, really, on Saturday, where we read that they all watched Him very closely.  He healed a man with dropsy, and then taught those present about humility and graciousness, saying, "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  In yesterday's reading,  He also said to him who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just." with Him heard these things, he said to Him, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"  Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.'   But they all with one accord began to make excuses.  The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it.  I ask you to have me excused.'  And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them.  I ask you have me excused.'  Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'  So that servant came and reported these things to his master.  Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.'  And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.'  Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.  For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.' "

 Now great multitudes went with Him.  And He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple."  My study bible says, "God has commanded man to love and honor, not to hate his father and mother.  The word 'hate' here represents a Semitic expression used in reference to ultimate commitments.  A follower of Christ works for loving relationships toward all but his commitment to God carries absolute priority over family ties."  I think it's important that we see here that Jesus doesn't just name other people, but puts His saying in an entirely different category when He says that a disciple is also to hate "his own life."  We're in a territory of priorities, as my study bible says, and discipleship to Christ comes first.  If you think about it, He's the great leveler and reconciler, and relationships -- even with ourselves -- are healed in Him, made right and just.  He calls us always to be discerning; thereby false, deceitful and harmful relationships are also subject to His mediation in all things.  Discipleship becomes something that "leavens" our whole lives, even our relationship to ourselves.

"And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."  To bear one's cross is to allow this process of discipleship to unfold and to continually do so in our lives, to allow His cross to help us make the choices we come up against in life. For some of us, it may mean difficult separation from people we love, or perhaps from things we personally are fond of in our lives, things we've always believed or wanted.

 "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it -- lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'  Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to met him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  Or else, while the other is a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.  So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple."  My study bible notes, "Jesus gives several examples of what it means to carry one's cross, the cost of discipleship.  To be a disciple means to count the cost, and pay it." He compares discipleship here to great endeavors; we are building something, embarking on something tremendous.  We have to be prepared to follow through, and as my study bible frames it, to make the commitment.

"Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  A note tells us, "To recover lost flavor, the true quality of discipleship, is not easy.  Without it a disciple becomes as useless as salt without seasoning power."

Luke goes from Jesus' teachings on humility to the Pharisees to teachings on true discipleship to the great multitudes who go with Him.  We have to remember, in this reading, that Jesus is on His way toward Jerusalem, toward the Passion, and His death on the cross.  In His Resurrection, He will be the first fruit; in His Passion and death, He will be the first example of discipleship to the rest of us, to the cost even of His own life.  So what can we say about the Kingdom then?  What can we say about discipleship?  It may take from us, and ask of us, a whole new way of life or at least a way of thinking, that separates us from the past.  It may ask us to re-evaluate all that we hold dear or precious, and give it new meanings and make new choices.  Often, I find, relationships in which we surrender or compromise a certain good value, a way of respecting ourselves or others, will undergo a change in Christ's light.  Down to the simplest of things, seemingly, we make great choices and none of them are easy.  But Christ's discipleship is the way of the Cross, although that may take different forms depending on our lives and situations.  What we give up, however, is less valuable and meaningful than what we gain.  As we explored in yesterday's reading, life in this shape of discipleship is one of exchange -- we give up one thing (even ourselves) for another, for the currency of the Kingdom.  Count the cost and pay it.  The victory is worth it; the salt of the kingdom gives true flavor to who we are.