Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, March 6, 2021
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
I don’t know…I really, really like my computer. You know, among other things. Could I give up everything I own—everything—in order to be a disciple of Jesus? At the time, Jesus’ followers did just that. They walked away from everything (in Peter’s case, even a wife) in order to follow him from place to place for months on end.
Does discipleship just look different now? I mean, how could I write and post devotions without my computer? And how could you read them without yours? Or your phone? One could make a case that some possessions are necessary.
It’s a slippery slope. I don’t think Jesus wants us to be destitute. But on the other hand, I think we are simply too attached to our possessions. And when they own us (rather than the other way around) as is far too often the case, it gets in the way of true discipleship.
Our society is a mess in large part because so many people are afraid to lose their power and possessions. They create and support policies that oppress entire communities and even nations, and that destroy our fragile environment in order to preserve themselves. And so many of us are complicit because to demand change might threaten our own power, privilege, and possessions.
I believe I can have a computer and be a disciple of Jesus. But if I am called upon to relinquish my computer so that others can have justice, I’d better be willing to do so.
Which of my possessions actually own me?
