June 22 - Cost Effective Discipleship

In last Sunday’s gospel, Jesus sent the disciples out to continue His work. Very ordinary guys are given His authority and power so they can do what they’ve seen Him doing.

We too are called and sent to do His work. We are the only body Christ has in the world. To be a follower of Jesus is to participate in His mission to love and bless others. His mission comes to us and flows through us. Our task is to share the love of Christ in word and deed.

A Methodist bishop said that most of his preachers paint a picture of a Jesus who is so innocuous that everyone thinks he looks like them. And this mild and loving Jesus makes no demands and only supports and encourages. Of course, if Jesus was really like that, why were so controversial?

Jesus announces the kingdom of God is coming among you - the rule of God is beginning to be realized. It’s easy to forget that the kingdom Jesus is proclaiming is radically different. Because it’s a whole different view of life - one in which the last shall be first - where the poor are favored over the rich - where it is even better to serve than to be served. A radical reversal.

When cold arctic air moves down from Canada and meets the hot, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico, along the edge of the encounter a front forms, often marked by thunder storms and heavy rain, maybe tornadoes and volatile weather. Jesus states that an encounter between the new order and the old - between the kingdom and the world, will be fraught with some conflict and division.

We’d like to think that somehow we can find a way to follow Jesus without being inconvenienced - without it costing any thing

But Jesus is up-front in telling us that there is a cost to being his disciple. It’s going to be inconvenient.

We’ve heard Jesus preach on forgiveness of those who have wronged us. He told us we should love all, even love our enemies. And Jesus keeps giving us advice on how to hang together - to maintain the unity of our community.

So it is a bit of a surprise to hear him say that if we follow his words there will be separation and division.

Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword. Matthew 10:34

Jesus, who at Christmas we hailed as the Prince of Peace, now says I came not to bring peace, but a sword. He speaks of even causing divisions in families.

A pastor was teaching an adult class on the ten commandments. This week they were discussing the prohibition against murder: “Thou shalt not kill.” there was widespread agreement that most could never imagine taking another person’s life.

“Unless of course my family was threatened, then I would kill someone to defend them.” said one young man. Again widespread agreement in the class.

It’s interesting that our family, for all of its positive value, would have the power to render us into killers. Such is the power of our loves. What we love determines how we act and what we do. And we have few loves that are deeper than the love for our families.

But Jesus makes what seems like almost an impossible demand on his followers - on us.

Whoever loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 10:37

Actually he’s said that before, but in a less specific way. The first and greatest commandment is that You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind. Of course that echoes the first of the ten commandments. You shall have no other gods before me - I, the Lord come first in your life.

What does it really mean to say “Jesus is my Lord?”

Simply, that Christ comes first - that he is your master and your guide.

In the family, that means Christ is the head-of-the-household. His way and His love governs the household.

Divine love does not operate on the theory that there is only so much love to go around. Loving Christ does not diminish the love we already have for our family. By loving Christ more, we learn His kind of love and His love is poured into our hearts. That raises the love available and refines our love into a more unselfish love, especially for those we hold dear. Loving Christ more - putting Him first - makes it possible to love your family more.

This ideal for the Christian family is not always achieved in practice. Maybe family members don’t share your faith or are indifferent to it. Even so, showing Christ-like, unselfish will still enrich family life.

Yet your allegiance to Christ can create dissension in your family. Because Jesus is your Lord you sometimes may have to take a stand. So Jesus says that while sometimes he brings peace, at other times a sword. Allegiance to him has a cost.

A disciple is not above the teacher... It is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher. 10:24

Jesus tells us to be like our teacher and master - and warns us that we will not be treated any better than he was. Don’t expect life to smooth and easy just because you follow Jesus. It won’t be.

Then Jesus assures us of His love and concern.

Even the hairs on your head are all counted. So do not be afraid, you are of more value than the sparrows 10:30,31

Do not fear because God knows and cares for each of His children. If he cares for the sparrows, how much more will he care for you. He whose eye is on the sparrow watches over you. So you should not fear, but rather put your faith and trust in God. He loves and knows you so well that even the hairs on your head are numbered.

Okay, I know what you’re thinking - That’s an easy job in my case - and Bernie’s.

But unlike Bernie, I’m not bald - I’m just taller than my hair.

Whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 10:38

The cross was the price of Christ’s obedience to God in a rebellious world - it was suffering for having done right - it was loving where others hated -- overcoming evil with good.

And finally the cross led to resurrection and life.

Those who lose their life for my sake will find it. 10:39

Jesus is clear. Attempts to secure our live through the means offered by the world are doomed to failure. If we are to find our lives, we must be prepared to give them to Jesus.

The cross we are asked to take up is obedience to God - to Christ’s way of love. Christ-like love for others may not be appreciated - may be understood or rejected.

Jesus never said if we just keep smiling everything will turn out all right. He knew the cost of such unlimited love.

There is a cost to being a disciple, but it is a very worthwhile investment. For the pay-back is to find life - to find it in abundance.

We are saved by grace through faith in Christ. There is nothing we have done to earn this. We have been set free - but freed for a purpose.

God sets us free from having to worry about “getting saved” by being good enough or by doing enough, so that in freedom we can love and serve others As Luther said, we are set free so that we can serve.

Everything God does for us, God does so that we can do for others - so that we can be more like the one in whose image we are made. We are to imitate Christ.

You were called to freedom, brothers and sisters, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become servants of one another.

Gal. 5:13

Be like Christ, who in his freedom, emptied himself taking on the form of a servant.

We are called to comfort the sick and feed the hungry, to stand with the marginalized and speak the truth, to overcome the barriers that divide us from each other and to welcome the stranger - and to tell others about Jesus. We are called to be his witnesses in word and deed - in the places where we live and work, in neighborhoods and classrooms.

We are all called to service,

our purpose is the same,

to touch the lives of others

with God’s surprising grace,

so everyone may feel God’s warm embrace.