What Does it Cost? – March 14, 2021

Psalm 150, Luke 14:25:33
March 14, 2021

Last week, we read the about Jesus dining with the Pharisees.  And if you remember, it was there he told them “The Parable of the Wedding Banquet.”  And as I said, there were probably other people observing that banquet.  And I’m sure they heard the story Jesus told about the master who invited to that banquet the poor and the maimed and the blind and the lame.  And I’m sure many of them thought, “Hey, that’s us!”

So now, as we begin our reading for today, they crowds were following him!  As I said, they had heard what he said in that story, and they had to be thinking to themselves that maybe they were to be part of that banquet!  And I think that’s what the multitudes loved about Jesus.  He made them feel like they were important, like they were part of his kingdom!  So they followed him that day thinking, “Maybe we’re in!” 

Well, Jesus knew what they were thinking, and so he turned to them, and said, “It ain’t that easy!”  And he offered them some of his greatest challenges.  Sometimes it seems a bit random when Jesus did that.  But I don’t think Jesus ever did anything randomly!  I think here he felt like these people were ready, they were “ripe,” for a higher challenge.  So he gave them this “teaching,” which my Bible entitles, “The Cost of Discipleship.”

That’s what was happening here.  Jesus gave the people a realistic picture of the kind of consequences that being his disciples might cause.  This is serious stuff!  In the previous chapter he told them, “Think not that I have come to bring peace.  I have come not to bring peace but a sword!”  He told them how houses would be divided over him – which I’m sure they were.  We know the religious council was divided!

Then, he tells them these things we read today.  And I want you to see here that Jesus is using “hyperbole.”  Maybe you can remember that from your High School English class – or at least maybe you saw it on Jeopardy!  The answer is “Hyperbole.”  What is “Exaggeration to make a point?” Alex.  That’s what that word “Hyperbole” means!  “Exaggeration to make a point.”  “If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times!”

Jesus says, “If anyone comes to me and doesn’t hate their family, he cannot be my disciple.”  Now, knowing his teachings about love and acceptance, do you think Jesus really meant that he wanted people to hate their families?  Of course not!  (Though there are many people in the world who have family troubles, and who would welcome that kind of justification!)

But that’s not what he meant!  Jesus was telling the people that being his disciples was serious business, and that some would be called to choose loving and following him above the love of family!  He would say, “Yes!  Love your families.”  “Love your neighbors as you love yourselves.”  “But love your God, even more!”  That’s right out of the first commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God what all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”  That’s what Jesus was saying here!

Then he takes it further, and he says, “Whoever does not bear his own cross and follow me, cannot be my disciple.”  And remember this is before the crucifixion!  Later on, the cross would be seen as a symbol of the love of God!  But it wasn’t now!  It was a fearsome and hated thing to those people!  So, was he saying that he wanted people who were ready to go willingly to their deaths?  Again, this is hyperbole.  In this exaggeration, the point he was making was that he wanted them to consider a high commitment to his kingdom.

Then he gives them two examples of how they should count “the cost of discipleship.”  He tells them about building a tower, and meeting an enemy in battle.  “Count the cost,” he says.  Make sure you are able to complete building the tower.  Consider carefully whether or not you are able to win the battle!

And I think this applies well to our faith!  We can say we’re committed to Jesus Christ, but have we thought about the cost of being his disciples?  That’s something I believe we need to do every year during this season of Lent!

We count the costs of things all the time, don’t we?  We do so when we’re “buying something.”  Maybe it’s that dream home, or a new car, or taking that vacation, or whatever we may be thinking about in our consumer world.  We count the cost for those things.  We save up for those things.  Or at the very least, we give some thought, or we should give some thought, about the impact of buying those things on credit!  That’s where too many people don’t count the cost!

But think about it.  We live in a credit oriented society now.  It used to be that our Social Security Number was the most important piece of information about us in our world.  Now I shudder when I think that the most important piece of information we have is our credit score!  It’s all about how well equipped we are to be in debt!

Lent calls us to ask ourselves, are we equally as concerned about the cost of our faith?  You’ve heard me say before that too many want to do only what I’ve called “the minimum of faith.”  “What’s the least I can do and still make it to heaven?”  Because some think that’s what faith is all about.  It’s just about getting to heaven.  But Jesus says faith is about how we live this life God has given us!  It’s how we love God and each other, and it’s about how we enjoy this life!

Then we have this last line here.  And this is almost like a “tag” at the end.  Jesus says, “Therefore, whoever of you who does not renounce all that he has, cannot be my disciple!”  Wow!  I’ll bet we’re all hoping that was hyperbole!  But notice he doesn’t say, “give up” all that we have.  He says “renounce.”  That doesn’t mean “giving it up.”  It means “renouncing the authority” it has over our lives!  The cost of discipleship is high like that.  It doesn’t mean you don’t have, or you don’t maintain what you have, or you don’t plan for having.  It does mean you give thought to its importance.

And giving thought to the importance of things is always important.  If you remember, the Good Lord, had the wisdom to add “Covet” to the Decalogue – that is, to “The 10 Commandments.”  “Thou shalt not steal,” yes.  But “Thou shalt not covet.”  That’s something else, isn’t it?  Last week, we read from Jesus, “Beware of all covetousness.”

That goes more into the question of why someone would steal?  And there are lots of reasons.  Some steal for survival.  That’s an interesting reason.  And I don’t want to get into the morality of that!  But some steal because they covet!  That means more than the act of stealing.  It means “the desire to have.”  That’s what Jesus warned the people about.  It was what was in peoples’ hearts that he was concerned about.  And he still is! 

That’s what Lent calls us to consider.  It calls us to think about what we do, and why we do it.  It’s about introspection, in other words, inner reflection.  It’s thinking about what’s in our hearts, and what’s truly important in this life.  It’s taking an honest look at ourselves, and seeing where we stand in God’s kingdom.  It’s determining how we might grow closer to God, and striving to follow more closely, Jesus Christ, our Lord.  And it’s thinking about the call to be his disciples and asking ourselves, “What does it cost?”

Prayer

Eternal God, we are continually amazed at your Grace and the price you paid for our redemption.  Help us to know what it truly means to be your people, and to know the cost of discipleship.  Help us to draw closer to you, and to follow more closely, Jesus Christ, our Lord.  For this we pray in his name, Amen!