Luke 14:25-33, Deuteronomy 30:15-20
I’m sure you will have seen the Mastercard slogan: ‘There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s Mastercard!’ We may or may not agree with the second part, but it is certainly true that there are some things money can’t buy. And we’re talking about some of these today as our readings lead us from thinking about the cost of following Jesus to the reward that comes from following Him.
The attractiveness of Jesus – his warm and generous personality and his teaching, among many other things – can lure the unsuspecting into thinking they are in for an armchair ride, with a best friend whose main purpose is to meet all needs, solve all problems and make them happy.
In Deuteronomy 30:15-20, the cost of obeying God’s commands is high – love the Lord your God, walk in his ways, keep his commands. None of this is easy. Being a Christian can seem like following a whole load of rules, never having any time off and giving up a lot too. While it always behooves us to make every effort to always do the right thing, the burdens that Christians carry or non-Christians perceive are largely misconceptions. These are many and varied, such as: if you’re a Christian you have to go to church every Sunday; or, you have to put money in the plate when you attend church; or, you should only listen to Christian music; or, you should always look happy no matter what.
Jesus actually makes it sound way harder than that. When Jesus said, “Anyone who comes to me without hating father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, cannot be my disciple.” He was on his way to Jerusalem. He knew he was on his way to the Cross; the crowds who were with him thought that he was on his way to an empire. That is why he spoke to them like this. He wanted them to know that whoever follows him is not on the way to worldly power and glory, fame and stardom. Rather, one must be loyal to Jesus to the extent of sacrificing the dearest things in life and ready for suffering like the agony of a person on a cross.
We should realize that his words were intended to provoke a response. If we took his words literally, it would be the exact opposite of all that he preached. Jesus used what we might call “reverse psychology” to elicit a commitment from his disciples. Many came to him because he was a free doctor. They had only a passing interest or no interest at all in his teachings. Hate is a strong word but he meant that no love in life can compare with the love we must have for him. God wants full custody not weekend visits.
Jesus was trying to reach those who were hanging around him but not really taking him seriously; they were neither in nor out and they needed to make up their minds. Only by throwing their lot in with him would they gain the benefits and rewards that God would give. William Barclay tells this story: “Once someone was talking to a great scholar about a younger man. He said, “So and so tells me that he was one of your students.” the teacher answered devastatingly, “He may have attended my lectures, but he was not one of my students.” There is a world of difference between attending lectures and being a student. It is one of the supreme handicaps of the Church that in the Church there are so many distant followers of Jesus and so few real disciples.”
Calculate, can you afford this?
If we have a young person learning to drive in our car it makes no difference to the premium we pay, but if that person has an accident they’re liable for an excess of $1300. That’s if I’ve told the insurance company they would be driving the car. If the company was not pre-warned the excess is $2500. That’s the level of cost that young drivers have to consider these days. On the other hand it costs only a couple of dollars or even nothing for an app for your phone. It’s not unusual to get the phone for next to nothing as well.
In some cases, counting the cost may mean you are able to do what you want to do, such as buy the phone and the things to do on it. In other cases, it may not be possible so you have to delay doing something because you don’t have the resources for the task.
A king with 10,000 soldiers threatened by 20,000 enemy soldiers cannot do his calculations and then decline to fight. He will be attacked anyway. He has to find an answer to the challenge. Either he decides to fight with an inadequate army, or asks for terms of peace.
We know some folk who are doing some building. Before they started they got it costed so that they could be sure they had the money to pay for it.
“In the introduction to the traditional marriage ceremony the minister states what marriage is, and then says. “It is, therefore, not to be entered upon lightly or unadvisedly, but thoughtfully, reverently and in the fear of God.” First a man and woman must count the cost. Just as no one need become a student without counting the cost of learning. [And that’s more than just the student loan.] It is so with the Christian way. But if you are daunted by the high demands of Christ remember that you are not left to fulfill them alone. He who called you to the steep road will walk with you every step of the way and will be there at the end to meet you.” -Barclay (alt.)
Many of us have already made our choice to follow Jesus. For many of us that choice is way back in the past. Did you count the cost before you signed up? What cost did you count? How has it panned out? Anything like you expected?
Take the prize
What we gain as followers of Jesus is priceless. His love for us is more than we can ever imagine.
“The confessing church of American Ragamuffins needs to join Magdalene and Peter in witnessing that Christianity is not primarily a moral code but a grace-laden mystery; it is not essentially a philosophy of love but a love affair; it is not keeping rules with clenched fists but receiving a gift with open hands.”
~ ‘The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out’ (Brennan Manning)
“We must always remember that Jesus thought of the Kingdom of God in terms of a feast or a party. A gloomy Christian is a contradiction in terms. There is no healthy pleasure that is forbidden to a Christian, for a Christian is like one who is forever at a wedding feast.” -William Barclay
That is the prize that we receive in return for paying the price: life, rather than death; a blessing, rather than a curse; increase, rather than destruction. God says, ‘Choose life’, in Deuteronomy 30:19. Choosing to follow Jesus – choosing to give him everything – is choosing life