By Rev. Canon David B. Tabo-oy
25Once when large crowds of people were going along with Jesus, he turned and said to them, v26″Those who come to me cannot be my disciples unless they love me more than they love father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and themselves as well. v27Those who do not carry their own cross and come after me cannot be my disciples. v28If one of you is planning to build a tower, you sit down first and figure out what it will cost, to see if you have enough money to finish the job. v29If you don’t, you will not be able to finish the tower after laying the foundation; and all who see what happened will make fun of you. v30’You began to build but can’t finish the job!’ they will say. v31If a king goes out with ten thousand men to fight another king who comes against him with twenty thousand men, he will sit down first and decide if he is strong enough to face that other king. v32If he isn’t, he will send messengers to meet the other king to ask for terms of peace while he is still a long way off. v33In the same way,” concluded Jesus, “none of you can be my disciple unless you give up everything you have.
-Luke 24:25-33
This part of Luke’s gospel is entitled, “The Cost of Discipleship,” and for good reason because Jesus took faith and commitment to another level. He requires complete devotion from us, which means we cannot elevate ourselves or our immediate family above Him. A large crowd follows Jesus with various motives. Aware of this Jesus turns to the crowd and tells them what is involved in a true commitment.
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We live in a market driven society, so it is not surprising that we feel the urge to “sell” Christianity in the marketplace of competing ideas and ways of life. The social media, particularly Facebook is deluged with this brand of Christianity. Some posts say that if you say “Amen” or forward such certain prayer would make you a child of God or a follower of Christ. Yet, when Christian mission is shaped toward the “sell” mentality, it more often than not becomes a “low-cost” and “low-risk” commodity. How else will we persuade others to receive the faith, if not by coming in with a lower or better offer? But is the Christian faith really a low-cost, low-risk endeavor? Our gospel lesson this Sunday offers a challenge to a market driven approach to Christian mission. The text begins with two discipleship sayings that require absolute allegiance to Jesus (14:25-27). Then Jesus provides two brief stories or parables to illustrate the importance of “counting the cost” and giving up all for Jesus (14:28-33).
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The demands that Jesus makes upon those who would follow him are extreme. Christianity is not a Sunday morning religion. It is a hungering after God to the point of death if need be. It shakes our foundations, topples our priorities, pits us against friend and family, and makes us strangers in this world. We learn in today’s text that a large crowd was traveling with Jesus. Now, in large crowds you will have many motives. Some, in this crowd, are following because they have seen Jesus feed a multitude of people and they are waiting to be fed. Some are following because they have heard of Jesus’ ability to heal and they are waiting for an opportunity to approach him and be healed. Still others are following for the excitement. It is safe to say that only a few are truly committed to this itinerant preacher’s teaching.
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Andrew died on a cross
Simon was crucified
Bartholomew was flayed alive
James (son of Zebedee) was beheaded
The other James (son of Alphaeus) was beaten to death
Thomas was run through with a lance
Matthias was stoned and then beheaded
Matthew was slain by the sword
Peter was crucified upside down
Thaddeus was shot to death with arrows
Philip was hanged (eSermons.com)
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Discipleship is defined by following Jesus and “carrying the cross.” This phrase indicates that giving up self-interest and competing loyalties are central to discipleship. Neither of these sayings of Jesus lend themselves to an “easy believism” or a “low-cost” form of faith. Instead, they stress the high cost of following Jesus. To carry your cross, means to fully put your trust in God amid the storms and battles in your life. It means that although you may be in an extremely difficult or painful situation, you always trust that God is with you in the midst of your suffering. As Christians, we try to live our life according to the will of God.
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Jesus clearly tells us what the cost of being a disciple is: giving up everything you own. Jesus uses this parable to tell us that there is a cost to being a disciple. We must lay down our lives if we want to follow Jesus. Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.”
The call and the cost of Christian commitment are heavily emphasized in this gospel where the life of discipleship and its qualities are laid out before us. There is nothing about being a follower of Jesus that does not demand effort. As all existing responsibilities have to take second place, discipleship is not something to be entered into casually. The world is full of wishful thinkers who dream and talk but never succeed because they are unprepared to make an effort. While addressing a large crowd who are eager to join up and be his disciples, Jesus bluntly dampens their enthusiasm by challenging them in a way that is off-putting.
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Jesus is not interested in gaining a large following by softening his words and watering down the requirements needed, so he leaves his listeners under no illusion about the cost of discipleship. Nothing short of total commitment, even life itself, is required. In fact he is saying something like this: “If you want to be disciples of mine, you have got to think seriously. Do not act on the spur of the moment or on impulse because it’s not for the starry-eyed. Give careful consideration to what it’s going to cost because I have no time for half-hearted recruits. I’m not inviting you to walk in my foot-steps for a day, a month or even a year but for a lifetime. What’s more I am looking for followers who will measure up to my expectations.” (Desmond Knowles)
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Jesus teaches that whoever desires to follow him and be his disciple should first decide whether he or she is prepared to pay the cost. The cost of real discipleship is to give up all relationships and possessions, i.e., all that we have: material things, family, our own lives, desires, plans and interests. This does not mean that we must reject all we have, but that all that we have must be placed at Christ’s service and under his guidance. Salvation in Jesus is not merely a transaction. It is, at heart, a covenantal relationship. And no relationship lasts without loyal commitments and actions. Because the one who redeems us also calls us into costly discipleship, Jesus’ command to “Follow me” is both gift and demand.
Let us pray.
Grant us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts; for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.**
