In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
The Lord said, “But many that are first will be last, and the last first.” And I see here God talking of the Gentiles coming in to the Church of God, that many of God’s own nation fell away and new came into the community. I think this and I move on, too troubled to think more about it.
Yet, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we can apply this to ourselves. We are among “the first,” we have heard the Gospel of the Kingdom and come to believe in Christ, but our membership of the “club” does not guarantee us a place in the Kingdom. Like the Rich Fool we say to ourselves, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” Yet the Lord replies to him and he replies to us, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?” (Luke 12:19f)
So how then might we not rest on our laurels, not be content with mere membership of a club, but come into a deeper, more meaningful relationship with the living God? By placing God at the forefront of our lives.
He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
We are called to honour our father and mother (Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16) but not at the expense of honouring God. The source, the one whom we honour by honouring our parents, is God. And likewise our children, our family, our friends, our neighbours—all whom we honour and serve we do so because of the Lord. And then something amazing can happen: when we serve others, not out of a desire for personal or familial gain but for the sake of serving God, everything we do becomes an act of Communion with God. When we serve with humility and with love we acknowledge God before men and Christ will acknowledge us before the Father.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, serve your family not for their sake but for the sake of the Gospel. Serve them as an act of serving God. For when we serve them not as an act of pride—this is my family—but as an act of service to the Lord we learn the humility which comes from God and which leads us to him. “And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands,” that is to say has placed God first in all they do, “for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.”
That, together with all the saints, we may come to an ever closer union with the Father, through his beloved Son by the power and operation of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Brethren, all the saints through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, received promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and scourging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were killed with the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated – of whom the world was not worthy – wandering over deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though well attested by their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had foreseen something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
— Hebrews 11:33–40; 12:1–2
The Lord said to his disciples, “Every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny him before my Father who is in heaven. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” Then Peter said in reply, “Lo, we have left everything and followed you. What then shall we have?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. But many that are first will be last, and the last first.”
— Matthew 10:32–33; 37–38; 19:27–30