The Cost of Discipleship

Here’s a classic Dad type of question for this Father’s Day:

Dads are often concerned with questions like this aren’t they!

Before doing or buying something a Dad probably wants to know what it’s going to cost, not only in dollars but what is he going to have to give, will he have to give up something… 

I’m sure we’ve all asked this question > what’s it gonna cost me? When we plan our spending at the shops, when we plan a holiday or a trip and need to know what our budget is going to be, when our partner or our child suggests buying something and we want to know how much it’s going to set us back! What’s the damage!

What if we think about this question in terms of church…

If you’d never been to a church before it would be a fair question > say someone invites you to come along to church, you might say ‘what’s it gonna cost me?’ You might also think or ask ‘what’s in it for me?’ 

And maybe if you’ve been involved in church for many years and the young fella up the front wants to suggest something new or wants to raise some funds towards something > fair question to ask ‘what’s it gonna cost me’ or ‘what’s in it for me.’

These are fair questions, and they’re questions that Jesus doesn’t shy away from > he deals with questions like these HEAD ON!

What if you had the chance to ask this question, ‘what’s it gonna cost me,’ directly to Jesus > we’re in the crowd today, he’s here and he’s talking about the kingdom of God and he’s healing people and we’re faced with the question of is this guy for real? Jesus is offering us a place alongside him in his kingdom, and we get to ask him directly ‘what’s it gonna cost me?’

How does Jesus respond?

He runs through 3 examples in Luke 14 of just how much it’s going to cost…

Jesus says it’s going to cost you your own family. 

Jesus says it’s going to cost you all of your accomplishments and achievements.

And Jesus says this is a matter of life and death, it’s going to cost you your own life.

What do you think of that?!

Being part of this kingdom, being a child of God, receiving a place alongside Jesus sounds like a VERY expensive deal, a very high price to pay. Family, accomplishments, even your own life. WAY beyond monetary value, way beyond possessions or our achievements, as if any of them could compare to what Jesus can – and already has – achieved for us. 

Another question for you: can you do that, are you willing to pay all of that? Can you give up your own family, your own accomplishments, your own life for the sake of the good news of Jesus?? Tough ask isn’t it. 

But there’s more to unpack in all this, God has a broader perspective than we do on these things >

So it’s going to cost you your own family, but what does that really mean, how do we understand that…

If we do not HATE our own family, we CANNOT BE his disciples Jesus says. This goes back to the first commandment doesn’t it, which is that we should have no other gods, ‘we should fear, love and trust in God above all things’ (Luther’s Small Catechism). 

So it’s more about who Jesus is than who our family is here, that’s the focus of what Jesus is saying: God doesn’t expect us to hate the family he has given us, but he does want us to love him first (LSB). This goes for anything, family, money, status, reputation > if we value these things above Jesus, we cannot be his disciples. 

So what are your idols?? Not a light-hearted conversation there… That’s one for some personal reflection > what are the things you find yourself valuing more than God… is it your health, is it being comfortable in life, is it your money sitting in the bank, is it the stuff you have, often good things but God is better, he has more for us than what the world can give… I’m sure we can all think of our own idols that we continually put before God…

So that’s one cost, what’s the next one: 

It’s going to cost you all of your accomplishments and achievements.

How do we understand this? 

Nothing we could ever do will ever measure up to God, not building a tall tower > we will only end up not finishing the project, not being able to reach God no matter how hard we try.

Not winning at life, ie having all the stuff, all the money, all the power, none of that can get us any closer to God. 

We have to admit we can’t do it alone, we’re not good enough > then we might just start to hear God speaking to us…

The third example Jesus gives is how this is a matter of life and death, it’s going to cost you your own life.

He talks about a king sending an army into battle with less soldiers than the enemy… Why this sort of military-image? That’s the life and death part. This king is responsible for the life and death of his soldiers, how many is he going to lose in battle, can the battle be won or is it a lost cause…

And finally Jesus finishes with this: ‘if you do not give up EVERYTHING you have, you CANNOT BE  my disciples.’ Bit of bad news there.

This is where we remember the GRACE part, the costly grace part, not cheap grace but very expesnive grace as Bonhoffer talks about in his book – you might have heard of it – The Cost of Discipleship:

Unlike cheap grace, costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite (repentant, turned-back) heart. It is costly because it compels a person to give up his own life and follow Jesus (as the 12 disciples do!); it is grace because Jesus has already paid the price (edited summary)

So we’ve asked ‘what’s it gonna cost me?,’ and the answer is: EVERYTHING. 

Being a disciple of Jesus is going to cost us EVERYTHING.

But lucky for us, the cost has already been paid. The ultimate cost, the cost of our own lives, was paid for us when Jesus died on the cross. He has covered everything, he has everything covered.

We know this, but does this life-changing information actually change our lives?

The lingering question for us might be, ‘so Jesus has paid the price, but do I still have to give up my family, my accomplishments and my own life?’

Let’s think about the ‘giving up’ part of that question > 

What if ‘giving up’ our family, our accomplishments and our own lives to Jesus is more like submitting to him, giving over to him all the things we deeply care about, all the things that are important to us, right down to our very own lives? 

Putting them all in his care, putting ourselves in his care > not trying to work it out ourselves but trusting in him, fearing, loving and trusting him with every core of our being, by faith that is worked in, through and out of us by the Holy Spirit.

Our relationship with Jesus is not a transactional one, as in ‘I’ll give you this if you do this for me,’ like how we buy something at the shops or make a deal with the ‘what’s in it for me’ hat on.

It’s a living, growing, encouraging, nourishing, challenging, comforting, life-changing relationship > our lives cannot help but be changed through a personal relationship with Jesus. 

That’s where we’ve got to check the pulse of our relationship with Jesus sometimes! Are you living with Jesus, are you aware of his presence in your life, of the Spirit working that faith in your heart and calling you to way more than this life can offer?? Important to check that every now and then isn’t it! This is not a cruise-control, automatic, set-and-forget deal, this is doing life together with Jesus, with each other – and you might be aware that’s another of Bonhoffer’s books right there!

God has more for us that we can get anywhere else, and he knows it! That’s why he says come to me, be with me, I am with you and I will help you. 

To finish up today I want to leave you with three R words that help us in this walk of being a disciple of Jesus, the journey he calls us into and goes with us on, this thing we’re all in together:

The life of a disciple is a life of RECEIVING, RESPONDING, & RELAYING:

RECEIVING from our good and gracious God, who gives us new life, the forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit, all the good things we have. Who gave us his only Son to pay the price, to die in our place so we could have life, and life to the full in relationship with him. We’re CONSTANTLY receiving and re-receiving this aren’t we, it’s ongoing in our walks of faith, receiving and returning to the goodness of our God. 

And we’re RESPONDING to what we’ve received > we live out our faith we’ve received, our faith is not only for us but it is to be shared. ‘Love God and love each other,’ not only one or the other there but both of those things. As church we’re actually meant to be OUTWARD facing, not only looking in but also looking out so our faith can be shared, so more people can know this good news and receive it into their hearts too.

And finally we’re RELAYING the good news, you see how this all fits together. Jesus has done the life-changing work > we receive it > we respond to it > we PASS ON the good news to others, to our own kids, to our family members, within our community with those we know and who already know Jesus, and also for those we don’t know and who don’t yet know him.

If you get through those three what do you do next? Start again! That’s the cycle of a life lived with Jesus right there. Let’s pray.

Lord we thank you for what you’ve given us to RECEIVE, what you’ve given us to RESPOND to, and what you’ve given us to RELAY to others. We thank you that despite our lack of ability to cover the cost of discipleship, you have covered everything for us. You have paid the price, and we are covered by your grace, by your sacrificial love for us. We ask you would continue to change our hearts, to open up new opportunities to receive from you and to share what you have to give with others. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.