Measuring the Cost
Readings: 17:45
Sermon: 25:19
Readings: Luke 14:25-34, Luke 15:11-32, Psalm 91
What is the cost of following Jesus Christ?
You might hear of some of the really negative things the outside world says. I’ve heard a bunch. Following Christ makes you lame. It makes you diluted. It removes all the fun out of life. It makes you a doormat. It removes you from society and science. All of these are naturally untrue. Faith might stop us from sleeping around, drinking too much, or wildly living, but the fun and joy are way more profound and lasting. Faith in Christ may give us a lasting hope, the ability to endure hardship, which often feels delusional, but it also helps us to see the truth behind suffering and hardship so that we might see beyond the moment to God’s love and plan. Faith in Christ might challenge us to forgive and give to the point of sacrifice, but we know that you cannot overcome evil with evil, we can only overcome evil with love. It might look like we are removing ourselves from society or science, but in truth we are challenged to enter into it in a new way with the vision of our creator’s purpose and love for all living things. The world has some very misconceived ideas when it comes to the cost of discipleship.
Now you live in discipleship though. So what is the cost of following Jesus? Anyone? Our time, our money, our vision, our desires, our heart, our feelings. Ultimately, everything. The cost is that we are no longer our own. We are no longer our own masters. We know we can’t save ourselves or truly build the house we desire, or win the wars on our own, or survive in a foreign land. So, we need a greater master than ourselves.
I have attempted to share faith in numerous contexts with friends, family, and strangers, in libraries, coffee shops, schools, parks, and more. People create a whole lot of arguments and will talk around issues, and even refuse to see God when he is right there in front of them, not because they have difficulty with mental ascent or social justice or history, but because they don’t want someone else to be Lord over their lives. It takes a lot of guts and courage to say I am not my own, I cannot do it on my own, I need someone else to be in control. It is scary, not because there isn’t some amazing hope and potential, but because change is scary and we like to think we are in control, but there is nothing more delusional.
Now, we live in this faith, but as I mentioned last week, I still struggle with the cost of discipleship. I still struggle like that older brother to see the blessings I have been given, I still struggle to see that this free gift has been unfair. I still struggle to use those gifts in a way that welcomes someone as a real brother or sister, and as a fellow heir.
We are often like those that don’t measure the cost when building a house or fighting a way. We have been given a strong foundation in faith, by knowing Christ. There is this unshakable hope and life, but we too often are cheap in what we build. We build with straw or twigs and we all know how that turns out for the three little pigs. We have an army at our back, but we think that army is enough to overcome sin, or our weakness, or even God himself, but we can all do the math. Our army, our skills, our personality is not enough to overcome the strongest. We have been working the father’s land, but we think that means we deserve everything. We are still called to give up more, to serve better, to build up the things of Christ.
One of the difficulties of serving Christ in this world is that this world and culture often restrict our service, but we need to find ways to really be present for others. So where can we serve, where can we practice our faith? We might find opportunity on occasion with those that are closest to us, but we are often removed from the stranger, and the ways to serve become overly formalized or to simply donate. These are good, but they only go one step. In donating or formalized service we often remain in control, in power, we don’t have to challenge ourselves or others. Our God of relationship, that came close, that became human, that wants to know us and for us to know him, tells us that relationship, that being present is essential. I am still learning about how to do this, but one way is that I have been challenging myself to work in coffee shops and talk to strangers there or on walks. I have asked myself how can I be the light of Christ when playing soccer or going shopping or where ever I find myself or even in my times of rest. Our life is not our own, so every moment we should challenge ourselves to be a servant, a child of God.
The Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the prodigal son follow directly after the passage about measuring the cost. This tells us a lot about why we often run away. It also tells us a lot about why we come back. The truth that has been implied by most of what I have said, is that there is an even greater cost when we don’t follow Jesus Christ. The lost sheep might feel free, and able to run anywhere it pleases, but it is likely to get lost, fall in a pit, get eaten by wild animals, and more. The lost son lost the gifts the father had given him, and was at a loss when the world had nothing to give him, he slaved away for nothing, he served that which was less and so became less himself. Even the silver coin had no purpose except to just be without being in the hands of the woman. There might be a great cost to following Christ, but there is a much greater cost to not following Christ.
This is my experience too. I look back to when I was an actor. It’s not like I didn’t know Jesus or even go to church, but I too often rejected his presence and his call on my life and I felt less for it. I don’t just mean I was rejecting the call to be a priest, which I was, but I also mean the call to serve and to give and to lift up others. The interesting thing is that people looking in from the outside may have thought I had everything. I was fairly successful, I was continually invited to big parties, I had friends, and I had work, but it was never enough. I would always see the end date with every job. I would always see those that were more successful, and I would feel alone at parties and distant from my friends. As much as I would talk about my goals and purpose, I knew they were lacking and fickle. More than any of that I feel like I lost myself in it all. There are a great many reasons for this, but the truth is that coming back to Christ and committing my life to him again lead to me not only being found by God, but also lead to me finding myself. I do miss acting sometimes, and there is a lot I had to give up to be here but there is no way I would trade the life I have for the life I lived.
The next thing to realize is that the greatest thing we get from following God is a relationship with him. Its not the bounty or the joy or the peace, those are all a byproduct. We get the most loving, intimate and powerful relationship when God is our master. Just like with the prodigal son, look at what happens. He goes to the father thinking all that he can do is be a servant, but the father’s reaction is restoration, sonship and joyous celebration. More than the son could have hoped for.
So we should measure the costs of discipleship. It is a great call that God has on our life. It is and will be a challenge to continually live into the amazing hope and reality that is having Jesus as our Lord and Master. What can you do right now to grow even more into that reality? What can you do to serve God in your midst? We should also count the cost of not following Christ in all ways. We cannot build this house on our own, we cannot win the battle without him. What are we missing for not following Christ with everything we are? What comfort, what bounty, what love, what welcome, what hope, what strength, what purpose, what world, what a relationship we are missing for not giving everything up to God? When I measure the cost, I find the cost is far greater when not following Christ.
Bible Study Questions
Luke 14:25-34, Luke 15:11-32, Psalm 91
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+14%3A25-34%2C+15%3A11-32%2C+Psalm+91&version=NRSVA
Luke 14:25-34
Vs. 25-26 How does Jesus respond to his popularity?
Why would these things stop someone from being a disciple? Have you ever experienced someone or something you want getting in the way of your faith?
What do you think Jesus means by hate here? (Relate this to Matthew 5:21-22 and the two most important commandments)
The whole gospel Jesus has been showing us that we are not to abandon people, but what kind of changed relationship is Jesus looking for?
27 What does it mean to carry a cross? Jesus carried a literal cross, but what did that mean?
Have you or do you have any crosses you need to bear for Christ?
How is carrying a cross truly being Jesus’ disciple?
28-30 Have you ever started something you couldn’t finish?
Have you ever experienced that in your faith? What does it mean to build a foundation of faith, but not build on top of it?
What are you trying to build in this life? Can you do it on your own?
What does this ridicule mean to faith in Christ?
31-32 Jesus uses the image of a battle. What are we/could we be battling against? (Spiritually and physically)
What wars don’t we want to fight? (Spiritually and physically)
When is a delegation or treaty important? What could it mean?
33 How does giving up everything relate to being able to finish a whole building or win/settle a war? What does this teach us about discipleship?
34 What are the uses of salt? How does being Christ’s disciple relate to the uses for salt? Why would not following Jesus make us less salty?
What does all of this tell us about our capacity without Christ? What is the cost of following? What is the cost of not following?
Luke 15:11-32
What is the context for this story?
Vs. 11 Who could these two sons symbolize?
Vs. 12 What does it mean for a child to say to their parent that they want their inheritance now, while the parent is still alive?
Vs. 13 What did the younger son want with his life? What did he and didn’t he care about?
Vs. 14 What does this show us about our trust in wealth and its limits?
15-16 Why would the younger son do this? Are there other options? What does this tell us about our own need?
Pigs were considered unclean (Jewish people were not allowed to eat them), what does it mean spiritually for this man to be serving a citizen of another country by feeding pigs? What was the result? What does that tell us about serving anyone that isn’t God?
17-19 What did it mean for him to come to his senses? What were the important things he realized?
Why did it take until this moment for him to realize? Why is it often easier for the tax collectors and sinners to follow Jesus?
20 What was the father likely doing that he saw his son when he was still a far way off?
What does the father’s response tell us about feelings and desire for his son, even after he treated him as dead, ran away, and wasted everything?
21-24 Notice the son doesn’t get to finish his prepared statement. What does this tell us about when we come to Jesus as a servant?
How does the father treat him?
The son treated the father as dead, but now we hear that the son was dead and lost. What does that mean? How does that relate to our closeness to God and our life without him?
25-32 Why is the son angry? Do we ever feel a similar way in this world? Why does it feel unfair?
What is the older son’s situation when he refuses to God back in? What is happening inside vs. outside?
What does the older son not see about his situation? Do you think he really was never given a young goat?
How was the older son actually more blessed than the younger? Why is this unfair?
Compare how the father uses the wealth/bounty vs. how the youngest son does. What does that tell us about what we have been given when gifts are used without God vs. with?
What does this passage tell us about the cost of following vs. not following Jesus?
