Renunciation and Calculation, or How Not to be Like Clark Griswold

Homily for the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
8 September 2013

          There’s something universal in watching Clark W. Griswold continuously mess up in the National Lampoon movies. He reminds us of ourselves in those moments of lacking true thought, and when we don’t calculate the cost of what we’re planning to do. Clark has the best intentions in mind, and his heart is in the right place . . . However, his pride gets in the way, and he becomes blinded to everything else going on around him. Even though his family is trying to snap him back to reality and help him out, Clark pushes forward with his agenda as the only thing guiding him.

          Clark W. Griswold is an archetype of the way we as Americans, and even just as humans, behave.

          However, Clark Griswold is also a prime example of how we live out our spiritual lives, as well. Often times we just plow ahead, and do not heed the message that Jesus gives to us in today’s Gospel: renunciate and calculate.

          To be a disciple of Jesus Christ, one must be willing to renunciate everything that separates him or her from having that honest and fulfilling relationship with Jesus. But before we know what it is we must renunciate to have that fulfilling relationship with Jesus, we must first “count the cost” about what it is to be a disciple.

          When an average member of our society begins to count the cost in what it takes to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, that individual would create a list, including items like:

·        Prayer;

·        Worship;

·        Service;

·        Being good;

·        Being loving; and / or

·        Just trying to be like Jesus.

While this list is okay, and has some good points on it, it’s not a list of counting the cost, because “counting the cost” means that whatever it is we’re counting for is going to cost us something. What should be written on the list of items that cost us for being a disciple of Christ includes:

·        Family;

·        Friends;

·        Security;

·        Peace;

·        Contentment; and

·        Acceptance . . .

. . . to name a few items.

          This list should disturb us a little, because these are all good things in life. God doesn’t want us to lose those good things. But if we just plow ahead in our spiritual life, just as Clark Griswold did in his ordinary life, then we’re going to completely miss what it is that Jesus is truly calling us to: Renunciation of this life so to gain eternal life.

          Jesus points out how necessary renunciation is for us. But don’t take this to the extreme: We are not to turn our backs on everything God has given us. He blesses us through our relationships, through our security and peace. However, what Jesus asks of us today is to take a look at our lives and move away from anything – or, perhaps anyone – who keeps us away from loving God fully. This doesn’t mean that we give all our money and goods away or leave our families and friends to never speak to them again. Rather, the Lord calls us to recognize how we are to re-orient our lives to Him – to stop being like Clark Griswold in our spiritual lives – and to follow Him completely and whole-heartedly.

          As Christians, we are to renounce the world while still living in it. As Christians, we live our lives being faithful to the Gospel without counting the cost. We will lose family and friends. The world will hate us. But as we continue to live among the Clark Griswolds of this world, who simply barrel their wills and ways in this world without counting the cost, we continue to remain secure in the hope that the Cross of Christ will be our safety; the Heart of Christ, our refuge; and the Blood of Christ, our salvation.

          Receiving the Eucharist today, we must be willing to ask our God to remove all the Clark Griswold-like tendencies in our lives so that we may live whole-heartedly as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Receiving the Eucharist today, we recognize that our families, friends, and even the world will hate us for being a follower of Jesus Christ, but we take solace in the unity we have as the Body of Christ, knowing that our God will never abandon us.

          My brothers and sisters, we need to resolve, then, today, to not be like the Clark Griswolds of the world. We need to resolve, today, in allowing the Heart of Christ to protect us, the Cross of Christ to guide us, and the Body of Christ to give us strength. We need to resolve each day to renounce the world, and to calculate the way the Lord is calling us to salvation.

          The choice is ours each day to renew the commitment of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. If we’re serious about our relationship with God, we will choose that discipleship without counting the cost, because a relationship with our God is worth more than the world could ever give us.

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Enjoy the journey . . .