“Did Jesus just tell me to hate people?” A Sermon for the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost (9.7.25)

Sermon preached Sunday evening on September 7th for the St. Thomas Aquinas Episcopal Campus Ministry at West Virginia UniversityFocus texts — Luke 14:25-33 and PhilemonJesus isn’t really telling us to hate people, is he? I’ve got good news and bad news (that’s still actually good news). The word in the original text (μισέω) translates better into English as something along the lines of love less or prefer less. What Jesus is getting at is a sort of emotional detachment from relationships and things that may cause us to deprioritize God. Our relationship with Jesus comes first. Discipleship comes first. And we must never forget the cost of discipleship and never settle for cheap grace (Bonhoeffer). While we shouldn’t go out looking for crosses, we must be ready to accept and shoulder the burden of the crosses that do come our way. As disciples of Jesus, one of these burdens is the need to detach from that which prevents or inhibits us from putting God first.We learn something, though. Do you want to be a better child to your parents? Put God first. Do you want to be a better parent to your children? Put God first. Do you want to be a better friend or student? Put God first. Do you want to be the best you can be in your career? Put God first. When we put God first, we find that God has a way of transforming us in to the best versions of ourselves, beyond what we could ever ask or imagine.