Biblical Texts: Deuteronomy 30v15-20; Psalm 1; Luke 14v25-33; Philemon 1-21

You may remember when the first Matrix film came out. At the time it was groundbreaking. A movie with an intriguing plot coupled with mind-bending special effects, the legacy of which we still see in films today.

But aside from the effects, one part of the film is particularly memorable. When Keanu Reeves’s character Neo discovers that the world around him is not as it might seem, he’s presented with a choice. Morpheus sits in front of him and offers a red pill, or a blue pill – the former will open his eyes, to “see how far the rabbit hole goes,” and the latter will allow him to live on in a state of delusion. But the choice is his.

It reminds me of a quote from Barbara Ehrenreich, who said, “delusion is always a mistake.” Neo chooses red, and goes on to find a world far stranger, and far more real, than he ever could have imagined.

It can be hard sometimes to see how lectionary readings fit together, but maybe not so tough today. There are a few themes running throughout our readings, and one of those themes is ‘choice,’ or more specifically, ‘choosing well’:

• In our reading from Deuteronomy, God presents Israel with a choice between life and death, good and evil. “Choose life,” God says.
• Psalm 1 paints a picture of the difference between the one who chooses to walk in God’s way, and the one who does not. “Blessed is the one who walks not in the way of the wicked…but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law meditates day and night.” The point is clear, choose to walk in the way of the Lord.
• And in just 21 verses in Philemon, Paul presents Philemon with a choice between keeping his slave Onesimus or sending him back. It’s obvious which choice Paul thinks Philemon should make.

Finally, in our gospel reading we hear Jesus speaking in perhaps uncomfortable tones about the cost of following him. It’s an odd passage in many ways. Jesus is growing in popularity, followed by crowds itching to hear him speak. And yet he seems to be almost discouraging people from following him. These are not words you would expect to hear from someone in his position.

We need to take Jesus’s words on hate in the context of his words elsewhere. He is not calling us to hate our families or ourselves…he exaggerating to make his point. But it is clear that the gospel, the good news Jesus brings, is costly. It will require change. That will be different for different people, but it will still be costly.

As a slight aside, a few days ago I heard again the words of Hebrews 12v1. After recounting a long list of heroes and heroines of the faith in chapter 11, the writer encourages us to “lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely” and to “run with perseverance the race that is set before us.” What strikes me there is that some of what we might have to let go of, to run this race well, may not be sin…but simply weights that are dragging us down. Again, that will be vary for different people. For example, the church has recognised that Jesus’s call to give up all possessions is not a blanket statement. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13v3, “If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”

Jesus’s words in Luke prompt us to think carefully about what he is asking of us, and not to take it lightly. Jesus wants us to make our choice without being deluded. Scripture is clear that we cannot hope to claim “Jesus is Lord,” and remain as we are. Once we have made that choice, we can count on the love of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit, to help us continue in it. As the saying goes, God loves us just as we are, and he loves us too much to leave us that way. And that is both a scary and wonderful realisation.