“Luke 14:28-30”
This hotel is near the airport in Saipan. It was begun, but the owner ran out of money, so it was never completed. Scaffolding still surrounds it.
[photo and description by Wayne]
START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Luke 14:25-33
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM
OBSERVE:
What we might call Jesus’ Kingdom of God Movement is picking up momentum. Large crowds are following him — no doubt attracted in large part by the availability of bread and fish, healings and miracles. But these are only the signs of the coming kingdom.
Jesus finds it necessary to detail the cost of following him. Obviously this will be demonstrated plainly when he arrives in Jerusalem and faces the cross. Now he warns the crowds that in order to be his disciples, they must reorient themselves toward new priorities that will estrange them from their families, put their own lives at risk, and follow Jesus in the ways of sacrifice:
“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Jesus uses parables to illustrate that whoever follows him must first count the cost. Perhaps he draws on his own experience as a carpenter when he describes the business aspects of building a tower. He understands that cost estimates for building materials and labor are a necessary prerequisite to building — otherwise the builder won’t be able to finish the project!
And then a more dangerous example — the cost of going to war without the resources for weapons and troops. Outnumbered two to one, Jesus suggests, the weaker army doesn’t stand much of a chance.
Jesus is quite pragmatic about the cost of discipleship. Those who don’t have the willingness to make serious sacrifices don’t really follow Jesus.
Just in case they missed his point, he drives it home directly:
So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.
APPLY:
What does it mean to be a Christian? Does it simply mean that one has been baptized and become a church member? And attends Sunday services once in a while? Maybe even serves on a committee?
There’s nothing wrong with any of those things. In fact, I highly commend them. But they don’t make a person a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Kyle Idleman, the author of Not a Fan (Zondervan) explored the difference between being a fan of Jesus vs. a follower in an interview with CBN’s Chris Carpenter.
Click here to read Chris Carpenter’s interview with Kyle Idleman.
Kyle had discovered, in his own spiritual journey as a pastor, that he was using a business marketing model to grow his church. And he could see that while the church grew in numbers, it didn’t necessarily grow in discipleship.
I think it could be safely assumed that the crowds that were following Jesus that day when he spoke to them were fans. They loved the free concessions of bread and fish. They were thrilled to see his healings and miracles. They cheered him on when he verbally sparred with the Pharisees. And they nodded approvingly at his wise words. But they weren’t followers.
A follower gives all of him or herself to Christ. Everything that they do is potentially an act of worship or witness — at the job, in school, on the ball field, in a soup kitchen, at a food pantry, in a county jail.
The great old hymn “Take My Life and Let it Be,” captures the essence of total commitment:
Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in endless praise,
let them flow in endless praise.
Frances Ridley Havergal’s hymn continues, with the total consecration of her hands, feet, voice, her lips filled with messages about Christ, her silver and gold, her intellect, all to the service of Christ. Finally, she offers all to Christ:
Take my will and make it thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne,
it shall be thy royal throne.Take my love; my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee,
ever, only, all for thee.
The bad news is, Christ wants everything we have and everything we are. The good news is that he gives us everything he has and everything he is. That’s what the cross tells us.
RESPOND:
Everything has a cost. The discipline of following Jesus costs our whole lives. But not following Jesus also has a cost. The fan may cheer in the stadium, and then go home. The follower stays out on the field and continues to strive and press on with Jesus. The fan drives home in the traffic congestion — the follower wears the gold medal.
For example, there is a cost to learning the piano — practice, practice, practice. Sitting on the piano bench when other kids are playing Xbox. But what is the cost of not taking piano lessons? Years of regret later in life, wishing you could play that Chopin etude, or Billy Joel’s “Piano Man.”
The disciplines of following Jesus — prayer, Bible study, worship, fasting, generosity, service to others — shape one’s life and character. In a sense, we become spiritual athletes who run the race that is set before us.
The old spiritual, Do Lord, captures the essence of the cost and reward of discipleship in one of the refrains:
If you don’t bear the cross, then you can’t wear the crown
If you don’t bear the cross, then you can’t wear the crown
If you don’t bear the cross, then you can’t wear the crown
Way beyond the blue.
Lord, I am grateful for your grace — but I’m also aware that you don’t offer “cheap” grace. Your grace is costly. It cost you the cross. And following you costs me my own cross as well. I trust that as I follow you, you will be at work in me both to will and work your good pleasure. Amen.
PHOTOS: "Luke 14:28-30" by Wayne is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.
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