CUPC
September 8, 2013
Sermon: “The
Cost of Discipleship - An Estimate”
Let’s pretend I’m running for
office. Most elections in this country
seem to be popularity contests, and more and more it’s become obvious that to
get elected all you have to do is tell people what they want to hear. I’m running as the candidate of a new party
called the Decaf Party. We’re strong
with Presbyterians because we do everything in moderation, decently and in
order!
Here’s what I’m
offering: hate your family, give up your
possessions, allow people to ridicule you and get ready for a hard way to
die. Isn’t that everything that you ever
wanted? If you want to elect me, that’s
the road we shall travel!
A friend of mine is seeking a
call as a new pastor. He tells me that
almost every information form that he reads says that the every church wants
their new pastor to be responsible for bringing more people into the church;
for making the church grow. They want
mission activities that double as marketing activities.
What do you think? Would my sales pitch bring in many new
members? It’s probably a good thing that
Jesus didn’t have to keep a congregation going and growing. It’s probably a good thing that He never had
to keep a building in good repair. His
message, his invitation to discipleship, was pretty demanding and the outcome
might not be what everyone is looking for.
But He wanted to make certain
that everyone understood the possible costs of becoming His disciples.
The key to understanding this
apparent reorientation of “family values” is found in the verses that follow: the
story about the tower and the story about going into battle. The man who said to love God and love your
neighbor is not now telling us to hate people.
He’s telling us that there is a lot of work ahead of us and we’d better
have a good estimate of the possible costs before we commit to the project. We’d
better have a pretty good idea of what the job will cost us because if we don’t
we’re likely to be unexpectedly overwhelmed and drop out.
A few minutes ago, as part of
the commissioning service, I said: The
call of Christ is to willing, dedicated discipleship. Our discipleship is a
manifestation of the new life we enter through baptism. Discipleship is both a
gift and a commitment, an offering and a responsibility.
I don’t want to upset anyone,
but according to scripture Jesus never said: “Worship me.” He said: “Follow me.” He said that His life, the love He showed to
everyone, His scrupulous worship and prayer practices, His willingness to give
up everything so that we might see the possibility of God’s kingdom in our own
lives, that patterning our lives on His would put us on the road to the lives
God had always wanted for us.
Look very closely at His life
– and death. Following Him may lead us
into that same place. And the very least
we must be aware of that before we start down that road. We must believe that everything that He
promised us would be there waiting for us at the end of that road. We must have faith that gives us the strength
to follow Him.
Faith in Jesus Christ isn’t
about our personal salvation. Let me say
that again: faith in Jesus Christ isn’t
about our personal salvation. Faith in
Jesus Christ is the only source of the courage needed to follow Him in our
journey here and now. Faith in Jesus
Christ will lead you to care more about the redemption, the transformation, the
salvation of the world than about anything that’s meant to personally satisfy
you or your desires. If you don’t think that you need courage to follow Him
then you haven’t looked clearly at the cost of discipleship.
Now you may be saying to
yourself, “But we can’t all go out into the foreign mission field and face
bodily danger for our faith.” You all
know the story of Zacchaeus, the “wee little man.” Jesus didn’t tell him to quit his
occupation. Jesus congratulated him on
his repentance, that is, in the way he turned his life around.
It’s dangerous to be a
follower of Jesus right where you are.
Sometimes it’s dangerous to be a follower of Jesus in the church, just
as it was dangerous to be a follower of Jesus inside the Temple. Wherever you are, whatever your job, whatever
status or prestige you have, are you willing to put yourself at risk to help
the oppressed around you; to bring comfort to those who are sick or mourning
around you; to act as a peacemaker in this very community; to challenge someone
who uses hateful language or recommends bigotry as a proper way of life; do you
support steps that bring economic justice to the working poor, some of whom
work two and three jobs just to make ends meet? You don’t have to leave this
community to be a disciple – a follower – of Christ, you simply have to turn
over to Him all that you are so that whether or not people support you or
revile you they will know that you are a follower of Jesus.
This is a day when we
celebrate starting our new program year and the resuming of our Christian
Education program for all ages. We are
called to form disciples in our midst. We are called to raise up our children so that
they will choose to follow the way of Jesus.
If you have thought through the cost of discipleship and recognize how
all-encompassing our commitment to it must be; if you have chosen to follow
Christ in an effort to continue His mission of redemption and transformation
for the whole world, then you must also be prepared to raise your children up
into that same faith, a faith that puts a claim on all that we are, all that we
have, and all that we do.
Thanks be to God, to whom
belongs the glory!
Amen.
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