LUKE 6: 39-45
WE HAVE come to the end of the Sermon on the Plain. Jesus concludes his speech by summing up and emphasizing what is really important for the people to remember. He stressed out that as disciples we must learn to be true to ourselves in words, thoughts and action. He uses everyday people and images as example to point out what he wants us to know: a blind leader, a master and his disciple, the tree and its fruit. An encounter with Jesus should lead to a life transformed by His radical message -that is what bearing fruit is about. This is true discipleship and leadership.
What is true discipleship and leadership?
1. A blind leader. In the context of the gospel of Luke, the parable is talking about community leaders who consider themselves to be masters of truth, superior to others. Because of this they are blind guides. Further a leader has vision - but a spiritually blind leader does not see beyond himself. He does not see the way forward. A leader should have the same vision Jesus has for his people and holds the same values Jesus promotes: sharing oneself to others and love of enemies.
2. A master and his disciple. To be a true disciple requires us to meet Jesus as much as we can. Even more radical is to live with Jesus like a master and disciple does - apprenticeship. Normal teachers do not live with their students. He only teaches them lessons. The Master or Lord does not teach lessons, he lives with his students. His subject content is himself, his life witness, his way of living the ideas that he teaches. Living together with the Master, the Lord has three aspects: (a) Jesus, the master is the model or example to be imitated, (b) the disciple not just reflects and imitates the master but commits to follow the same path the master took - including all the trials, persecution and death. Eventually the disciple not only imitates the model, he not only commits, but also identifies himself with Jesus: “I live, but it is not I who live, but Christ lives in me!” (Ga 2, 20) - this is the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
3. The tree and its fruit. How do we know if our encounter with Jesus brought transformation in our lives? The final test for Jesus is the fruit we show in our daily lives. Every tree produces its own fruit - one tree cannot bear the fruit of another tree. In the same way when become true disciples of Christ and take on his way of thinking and loving - the way we live our lives changes. We begin to live what we believe. And people will see the fruits of a close and intimate relationship with Jesus.
In one essay Fr Jaime Bulatao SJ describes a type of Christianity called the “Split-level Christianity” - “as the coexistence within the same person of two or more thought-and-behavior systems which are inconsistent with each other.” Accordingly this is someone who at one level professes faith as a Christian but on another level possesses convictions that contradicts the values he considers to be very important. We are a Christian nation but Fr. Bulatao gave examples of inconsistency of values with behavior from how Filipinos dealt with pornography, infidelity and corruption. Split-level Christians include us priests, religious, and church workers too.
The struggle is real. We struggle with these inconsistencies in our lives which prevent us from being truly who we are - disciples of Jesus. We go to church everyday but when we return to our homes we return to our selfish and self-promoting ways. We do not pay our workers the wage they deserve. We cheat during exams. All day we can praise Jesus and at the same time hate and despise our neighbors. When the time comes we do not struggle it means we do not make the effort or do our part to be what we believe. To be disciples of Jesus means to be consistent and bring unity between our faith and our lives.
In our gospel today Jesus points out we need to watch how we live. Why? Because the quality of your life and the destiny of your future lies in how you live now. The Lord cares about the quality of your life. The Lord wants you to live life to the fullest, experiencing fulfillment in the gifts and callings that are unique to your life. People are watching you. They want to know if Christ is real and Christianity is real. Are you what you say you are?