Luke 14:25-34 (NRSV)

The Cost of Discipleship

²⁵ Now large crowds were travelling with him; and he turned and said to them, ²⁶‘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. ²⁷Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. ²⁸For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? ²⁹Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, ³⁰saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.” ³¹Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³²If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. ³³So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

The text this morning is written in Luke 14, verse 26:

²⁶‘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. 

Jesus was on the road to Jerusalem and he knew that he was on his way to the Cross, but the crowds that were with him thought that he was on his way to establishing an empire. The Galilean crowd were keen to see Jesus as a victorious Messiah so that they could bask in his reflected glory. This is why Jesus spoke to them in such a stark and vivid way possible – using hyperbole – because he had to show that that the ways of God are not like the ways of the world – where power and glory are what are sought after.

The way of the Christian is following the path of their Lord, whose way was the way of the Cross. Jesus needed recruits and not spectators and so he had to make sure that the people knew what would be expected of them if they were to choose to become one of his disciples. He needed his congregation to realise that being a Christian is more than just receiving the benefits that are obviously ours; being a citizen of the Kingdom of God makes certain demands on us.

Barclay states that “We must not take his words with cold and unimaginable literalness. Eastern language is always as vivid as the human mind can make it.” Caird explains that the Semitic mind is comfortable only with extremes; their way of saying I prefer this to that would be to say ‘I like this and hate that ...’

This passage often creates a stir because of the use of the word ‘hate’ in some translations, not least some of the most recent e.g. NRSV and REB. While this is a correct and literal translation of the Greek, it hardly conveys the original meaning which is more accurately captured by the translators of the TEV which reads ‘… unless they love me more than they love …’ Jesus expands on what he means by saying that those who would wish to follow him might even have to carry the cross and follow him – indeed they would need to be prepared to do this even if they were never called upon to do it.

This is vital. It is too easy to say to people today that if they are to follow Jesus, all their problems would be resolved. Indeed, I have heard some people – in attempting to evangelise – expressing this heresy. Being a Christian is not always easy; in fact it is often the most difficult thing in the world. People like Maximilian Kolbe, Martin Luther King (and Vernon Johns before him) and countless others bear testimony of this. In effect, Jesus is saying that nothing – not even the ties of kinship - must get in the way of absolute commitment to the kingdom.  

Jesus’ audience would have understood what it meant to carry the cross. They had witnessed the Romans using this cruel form of execution on many of their fellow countrymen – forcing them to carry it to their place of death. The implication here is that there was no place for superficial commitment – following Jesus is a serious business that might even lead to death. This is not what Jesus wanted for his followers – but he knew that this was a real possibility in a fallen world - and he wanted them to be prepared for what might lie ahead of them.

He explains further using the metaphor of a builder. When a builder does not count the cost, or works it out inaccurately, the building cannot be completed. The builder Jesus is referring to in the parable was probably going to build a vineyard tower. These were used to protect the vines from thieves who were intent on stealing the harvest. An unfinished tower was considered a great humiliation. Jesus wanted his followers to know wholeness and this would only come when one counted the cost of what it meant to be a disciple.

This parable is not meant to put people off becoming a disciple, instead it is just using vivid imagery to make the point that this is a most important enterprise and, as Caird explains ‘... deserved as much consideration as he would give business or politics ...’ Caird continues:

‘... nobody can be swept into the kingdom on a flood-tide of emotion; he must walk with clear-eyed deliberation ...’

Most Christians do not have to face severe suffering and premature death. For some discipleship is still difficult to deal with because it involves facing the loss of social status and wealth because some have to give up money, time, a career and even separation from family in order to be obedient to what God has called them to do. These things might happen, but most often do not. The question is – are we prepared to pay the price if it is called for? This is what it means to love these things less than our love and commitment to Jesus our Lord. It is better to know this at the outset.

Why then, would anyone bother? Because, it is in following Jesus that a human becomes fulfilled and can know what it means to have ‘life in all its fullness.’ Jesus is the God that created us. This is made plain in the opening verses of John’s Gospel. As our creator, he knows what is best for us. He knows the secret to life – after all he came and lived it to show us the way. Even though his life ended in persecution, suffering and death – it also led to wholeness and eternal life. This is what he wants for you and me, but his love for us compels him to prepare us for the way ahead.

Barclay reminds us that a person can be a follower of Jesus without being a disciple. It is my experience also as a teacher that there can be some young people who attend my lessons, but never become my students. It is a problem for the church that there are sometimes many distant followers of Jesus, but few genuine disciples.

We have seen that it is a Christian’s duty to count the cost of following Jesus. Building a tower is a big project and is expensive and waging war is the most serious thing anyone can do, and while most of us will never be asked to make massive sacrifices – as Miller suggests – ‘... one must be willing deliberately to face both costliness and danger as Jesus’ disciple ...’ Tinsley adds: ‘It requires something like the careful costing of a building scheme or preparations for a military operation ...’ But when making the decision, a decision to experience the real meaning of life, we must never forget that God never calls us without also equipping us; we are not left to face the cost alone. As Barclay comments: “He who called him to the steep road will walk with him every step of the way and be there at the end to meet him.”

I close with an illustration taken from James Moore’s book entitled, Some Things Are Too Good Not To Be True (Dimensions: Nashville, 1994. pp. 117-118, see, www.sermons.com )

Several centuries ago in a mountain village in Europe, a wealthy nobleman wondered what legacy he should leave to his townspeople. He made a good decision. He decided to build them a church. No one was permitted to see the plans or the inside of the church until it was finished. At its grand opening, the people gathered and marvelled at the beauty of the new church. Everything had been thought of and included. It was a masterpiece.

But then someone said, "Wait a minute! Where are the lamps? It is really quite dark in here. How will the church be lighted?" The nobleman pointed to some brackets in the walls, and then he gave each family a lamp, which they were to bring with them each time they came to worship.

"Each time you are here'" the nobleman said, "the place where you are seated will be lighted. Each time you are not here, that place will be dark. This is to remind you that whenever you fail to come to church, some part of God's house will be dark"

That's a poignant story, isn't it? And it makes a very significant point about the importance of our commitment and loyalty to the church. The poet Edward Everett Hale put it like this:

I am only one,
but still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do the something I can do.

What if every member of our churches supported the church with wholehearted commitment; what kind of church would we have? What if every single member served the church, attended the church, loved the church, shared the church, and gave to the church; what kind of church would there be?

Jesus challenges us still today with the words:

²⁶‘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. 

Amen.