How difficult is it to be a Christian? Sometimes it sounds a breeze – “My yoke is easy and my burden is light” Jesus tells us one time (Mt 11:30).
But today’s gospel reading (Mt 10:37-42) seems to give us a different perspective: “whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me”. And that comes after Jesus tells us he expects us to love him more than our parents or children. This doesn’t sound easy at all!
Then the story appears to shift again. Now it seems all we have to do is give someone a cup of water. And if we do more, such as supporting a prophet (following the example of the woman helping Elisha – 2 Kgs 4:8-11, 14-16a), then we’ll get the same reward as the prophet. That sounds like a pretty good deal. This woman was well-to-do, so it was no great burden for her to provide some accommodation for Elisha. God isn’t expecting extreme efforts.
So where does this leave us? If it’s really as easy to be a follower of Jesus as he seems to be suggesting, why all the tough stuff up front?
Maybe it’s not as tough as it seems at first.
Yes it’s true that Jesus expects us to treat him as more important than anyone else. But he is! Our relationship with the God who loves us and saves us is indeed more important than any other relationship. We might naturally think that our family relationships are the most important thing in our lives – but that’s why Jesus needs to point out it’s not really so. That doesn’t do anything to diminish the importance of our family relationships, unless maybe in some unfortunate cases they are so toxic they do conflict with our relationship with Jesus. But in that case it’s pretty obvious which should take priority – for our own well-being.
Which leaves us with the cross business. If you’re like me, any mention of carrying crosses seems to cause a major brain freeze! We just don’t want to go there. But it is undeniable that we do all have crosses to bear. Some may be minor; some such as illness or disability may be very heavy. But in reality we do have to carry them. Jesus hasn’t given them to us. They aren’t some sort of punishment (despite what the Jews of his time thought and he pointed out very firmly that they were wrong). So yes we pick them up because we have no choice, as any person with a disability would tell you. And then we get on with following Jesus. What is remarkable is that those who have the heaviest burdens to carry can also be the most cheerful followers. Following Jesus wholeheartedly can actually make those burdens lighter.
Not only is the burden that Jesus places on us light and easy, following him can make our other burdens lighter. All we have to do is truly accept that he is first and foremost in our lives.