Dearest e-votees-
Q: What does it cost to be a true disciple of Jesus?
A: EVERYTHING!!!
Peace,
Karl
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25 Now large crowds were traveling with [Jesus]; 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. 27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 For 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? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' 31 Or 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? 32 If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. 33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”
When I used to teach high school there were times that students would try to test the limits. They would push against boundaries and expectations to get a sense of what might happen if they kept moving in that direction. That was fine. That is part of the larval stage we call human adolescence. Some pushing was more playful some was a little more nasty in nature. My standard response that was sometimes more playful and sometimes not so much was “Don’t start something that you are not prepared to finish!”
What we start shapes where we are going. Sometimes we start things that can’t be unstarted. The world watches us to see what we might start and what we might finish. Our world thrives on ridiculing those who can’t finish well what they started. We take a little too much joy at eager but musically challenged contenders on American Idol. We spend a little too much time luxuriating in the flameouts and self-destructions of celebrities. We savor a little too much the scandals that ensnare prim and self-righteous preachers and politicians.
Jesus lays it out pretty plainly here. If we want to be Jesus’ disciples we need to give up everything. Our family relationships and the shape of our lives are dramatically impacted by the shadow of the cross on our lives. What we own and what we do with what we own are profoundly reallocated when the shadow of the cross falls over our portfolios. Our very lives are extracted from our control as the call of the cross comes to bear.
What does it cost to be a disciple of Jesus?
EVERYTHING!
The real question is: “Are we mindful of who is calling us and what gives him the right to stake such a claim on us?”
Jesus knew what he was starting and how it would finish (at least in his mortal frame)—in the shape of the cross. Jesus was separated from his Father as he dangled dying on the cross. Jesus embraced the spectacle and the shame of the cross. He endured the ridiculing and the mocking of the Romans and religious leaders. Jesus had everything and spent it all to bring the message of the cross and the hope of the empty tomb to us.
Jesus started something in us in baptism. Jesus doesn’t start something that he is not prepared to finish. The grace and forgiveness found in the font stake a claim on our relationships. They stake a claim on our vocations and our avocations. They stake a claim on our stewardship. They stake a claim on the entirety of our persons.
We were bought with price. It cost Jesus everything.
God, teach us to give all of ourselves to you. You have good and gracious plans. Help us to grow into those plans—all to your glory. Amen.
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