Consider the Cost

Luke 14:25-35 - Riley Boggs

I want to begin this morning by reading you the story from the book, “Foxe’s Christian Martyrs of the World”. Many of you might be familiar with “Foxe’s Book of Martyrs”, which is the same thing. The version I am reading from is just written in more modern English. This is the story of a man named Thomas Bennet.

“Thomas Bennet was born in Cambridge and made a master of arts there. The more he grew in the knowledge of God and His holy Word, the more he came to abhor the time’s corrupt state of religion until, hoping to live with more freedom of conscience, he left the university and moved to Exeter in 1524, where he became a teacher.

Bennet was a quiet man whose greatest pleasure was attending sermons. In his spare time, he studied the Scripture privately, not sharing his views with anyone until he was sure they felt as he did. But every tree and herb has its due time for bringing forth fruit; so did Bennet. Seeing the glory of God blasphemed, idolatrous religion maintained, and the power of the Pope extolled, he finally decided he had to speak out, even though he knew he would be punished. In October, he fastened to the doors of the cathedral a scroll that said, ‘The Pope is antichrist, and we ought to worship God only, not saints.’

As soon as the message was found, the authorities attempted to find the heretic who had posted it. Bennet quietly went about his life, attending services and teaching his students while Church and secular authorities looked for the culprit. But Bennet was such a quiet, faithful man that no one would ever suspect him of doing such a bold, dangerous thing.

After a while, when it had no success finding the heretic, the Church decided to publicly curse him or her with book, bell, and candle – considered in those days to be the most terrible curse of all. Bennet sat in the congregation and heard himself excommunicated, given over to the devil, and deprived of the benefits of the Church’s pardon for his sins. All the powers of the corrupted Church were invoked against him: the saints, the Pope, the monks and friars – everything that Bennet considered worthless, anyway.

The congregation was sitting silently, awed by this display of the Church’s wrath and hoping none of it fell on them by mistake, when Bennet, suddenly seeing the irony of the situation began to laugh. Once started, he couldn’t seem to stop, and he was apprehended as the heretic the church was damning so theatrically. When his friends later asked him why he’d betrayed himself by laughing in church, Bennet replied, ‘Who could keep from laughing at their little conceits and interludes?’ At his trial, he confessed, ‘It was I that put up those bills, and I would do it again, for what I wrote is true.’

At his execution, Bennet exhorted the people to worship and know the true God, forsaking the devices, fantasies, and imaginations of the Church. Most of the people there, including the scribe who wrote his death sentences, were convinced that bennet was a good man and a servant of God.” (Foxe’s Christian Martyry’s of the World – John Foxe)

There are so many great things about that story. But one that I just love is the scene where he is sitting in the church, hearing himself get the curse of all curses from the catholic church, and just starting to laugh uncontrollably. I love that, but there’s also a part of me that is like, “But why? If you had only kept quiet till the end of the service, there is a good chance you would have gotten away with it. You wouldn’t have been caught, and you wouldn’t have been put to death.” I mean imagine yourself in that situation. You had posted a rebuke on the door of the church, and you knew that if you were caught, you would be executed. And to avoid suspicion, you go to the service where they are cursing and condemning you, without them actually knowing it was you. You’re sitting there, heart beating hard, lump in your throat. It seems like in that moment, at least for myself, the very last thing I would do is laugh. And yet, Thomas Bennet laughed.

You know the reason that I think he laughed is because he had come to such a deep understanding of who God is and a such a deep love for Jesus that everything else paled in comparison. His desires, his fears, and even his own life were nothing compared to the glory of Christ. And I like to imagine that when he saw the corrupt church putting on their big charade, he sat there and began to consider the cost of following Jesus. Asking himself questions like, “Is it worth it to follow Jesus, even it means that I’m hated and cursed, and even to put to death?” For him the answer was an easy yes, and so he began to laugh. A laugh that led to his death, and a laugh that no doubt gave much glory and honor to God.

This morning we find ourselves in a passage that is calling us to consider the cost of following Jesus. It is calling us to think about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Answering questions like: What will our lives look when we follow Jesus? What can I expect to encounter? What is the cost?

Jesus Himself, in verses 28-32 tells us that we ought to ask ourselves these very questions before we begin to follow Him. He gives 2 examples of what this looks like in other situations and tells those present that the same principles apply when it comes to being a disciple of Jesus.

First, in verses 28-30 He gives the example of a someone building a tower. He says that no one ever begins to build a tower without first consider how much it might cost them to complete it. Because no one wants to be the person who begins to build a tower, finishes the foundation, and the realizes that they don’t have the funds to complete it. If you’re going to build anything, you should first sit down, count up the costs, and ensure that you have enough to not just begin the project, but to finish it.

The second example Jesus gives is in verses 31-32. He says that no king goes out war against another king without  first ensuring that he has the capability of winning. Jesus says that if he only has 10,000 soldiers to fight, then the king needs to make sure that he can win a battle against the 20,000. And if the king realizes that he indeed does not have the capability of winning, rather than sending his men to be slaughtered, he should send ahead of time a delegation and ask for terms of peace. In other words, a king ought to count up the costs before running off to war.

Both of these examples are supposed to give us an idea of what we must do when it comes to following Jesus. When we begin to think of whether or not we want to follow Jesus, whether or not we want to be His disciple, we need to consider the cost. We need to think about what it is going to require of us and our lives, and consider if we are willing to take that on. Because the danger, of course, is that we might say that we are following Jesus, and then we realize that the cost is higher than we are willing to pay. We say that we are disciples of Jesus, but then we come against a point of obedience and trust that is just too much for us. We say, “Jesus, I can’t follow you there.” And in that, we walk away from Jesus altogether, revealing that we had never truly followed Him at all, all because we had not considered the cost.

Jesus doesn’t want this. He doesn’t want people to follow Him halfheartedly. He doesn’t want people to think that following Him will always be an easy thing. He wants those present, and us, to consider the cost. The question, however, is, “What is the cost of following Jesus?” When you’re building something, you think through the material and labor cost. That’s easy enough. When you’re going to war, you think through your number of men and their ability and your advantages and so on. But what about when it comes to follow Jesus? What is it that we need to sit down and think through ahead of time? I think Jesus gives us multiples things in our passage, and I’ve attempted to summarize them all into 2 points. The first point is this…

1.) As disciples, we must have undivided love for and loyalty to Jesus

In verse 16 Jesus says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” Now when we read this, we have 2 options. The first option is that we can take this at face value. We can take Jesus to be saying that in order be a disciple of Jesus, we need to hate our entire family, and even ourselves. And anything less that an outright hatred for our family is an immediate disqualification from being a disciple of Jesus. That’s the first option, and it’s not the right one.

The second option is that we need to interpret this text in light of other Scriptures, and try to understand what Jesus means by this. And the Scriptures are clear that we have been called to love others, especially our families. In fact, we are even called to love our enemies, those who hate us. The Bible is full of family language, used intentionally to convey a theme of love. We have our Father in heaven who loves us, we call one another brother and sister in the church, and the church itself is called the bride of Christ.

So, when you take into consideration all that the Bible says about loving our family, we come back to this verse, and we can begin to rightly think through what it is Jesus is trying to convey. Well, what I think He is trying to convey is this, as disciples we are to have undivided love for and loyalty to Jesus. It’s not that we are supposed to hate our father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters and ourselves. It’s that our love for Jesus must be so great that even our love for those we love most on Earth pales in comparison. It’s that our love for Jesus and our loyalty to Him never falls to second place behind anyone, even those closest to us, and even ourselves.

Jesus gives this an example, I think, because he knows how much people love their families. If He would have said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate snakes and spiders, then he cannot be my disciple”, then we would hear that and go, “Hey, that shouldn’t be too hard.” Some of us, like myself, wouldn’t have to change anything. But no, Jesus speaks of hating your family because He knows how difficult that would be. And yet what Jesus is saying is that if you are  want to be a disciple of Jesus, then you need to first consider that you must have undivided love and loyalty for Him to this degree, in all of your life. That’s the cost of following Jesus.

One of the reasons that I love stories like the one I read to begin, the story of Thomas Bennet, is that we get a picture of those who considered the cost and when the check hits the table, they have more than enough to cover it. When their love for and loyalty to Jesus is pressed to its absolute limit, they don’t cower. They stand firm, they stand strong, and they remain loyal to their Savior. But as great as those stories are, and as stirring as they can be, they can be difficult for us. They can be difficult because the situations that they find themselves in feel very unrelatable and distant for us. It is true that Christians throughout the world might be facing threats on their life for the Gospel, and their love and loyalty is being put to the test. But for us, in south central Kentucky, what does this cost look like?

Well for us, I think the cost is often simple comfort. We love our comfort, and I would contend that a lot times we love our comfort so much that we let it overrule our love for Jesus. Let me give you an example of how I failed at this. When I worked at Starbucks, most of my coworkers were outspoken atheists, or believed in some version of god that was so incredibly unbiblical. But there were some Christians who worked there as well. There was one guy who I knew was a Christian, but I never really worked with because we worked opposite shifts. We’d only talk briefly when I was leaving work, and he was coming in.

But one day we were scheduled at the same time, and we were working, and he looked at me and asked me a very simple question. He asked, “What is your testimony?” Now this question by itself wasn’t intimidating. I knew how I came to know Jesus and how I have grown in my walk with Him, and I had shared it many times before. But, when I heard this question, it really caught me off guard for a few reasons. First, I didn’t really know this guy yet. We had only had the most surface level conversations you could have, I didn’t know anything about him, and he didn’t know anything about me. But he knew I was a Christian and so this was one of the first questions he asked me. The second reason it caught me off guard is because around us were several coworkers who I knew were unbelievers, and a few nosey customers who were standing nearby.

I remember him asking me that and truthfully I think I felt a bit embarrassed. I think I mumbled through a shortened version of my story, trying to act like I was too busy to really engage. It was a total failure on my part. See what I had done is I had elevated my love for comfort above my love and loyalty to Jesus. My job had been pretty peaceful and not awkward so far, but it seemed like the moment I started talking about how Jesus had saved me, all that was gone. I wanted to follow Jesus, but I didn’t want it to cost me. I wanted my 9-5 to be a place where I made money and nothing easy. I wanted it comfortable.

In the grand scheme of things, that is no cost at all. There have been and are and will be Christians who face real cost. They will literally have to choose between their family and their Savior. They will have to choose between their own life and their loyalty to Jesus. Maybe that will come to us. But regardless, as disciples, we need to consider this cost, and ask that the Lord would give us the strength to stand firm in that day. We need to foster a love for Jesus that is so great that all other loves seem miniscule. This is what Jesus is saying to those who desire to be His disciples.

But that isn’t all He says. He also gives another cost that we must be ready and willing to pay. Our second point…

2.) As disciples, we must be willing to sacrifice and suffer for Jesus

I think that we can see this point in 2 different places. The first place is in verse 27 when Jesus says, “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” For us, we often think of the cross only as this glorious symbol of hope, and rightfully so. We associate the cross with the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord. We see the cross and think, “Praise be to God, for by it we have been saved.” But for the people that Jesus is speaking to, the cross would not have conveyed the same message. For them, the cross was a picture of suffering and death. And not only suffering and death, but a very shameful suffering and death. There were no redeeming qualities about the cross for these people.

And yet, Jesus looks at them and says, if you aren’t willing to bear your own cross and follow me, you can’t be my disciple. You can imagine people hearing that and thinking, “Bear my own what? My cross? Jesus why would I ever do that? Bear it? I want to flee from it. I want to be as far away as possible.” But see that is exactly why Jesus says this. Remember Jesus is heading to the cross in this very moment. Though the crowds don’t realize it, as He makes His way closer and closer to Jerusalem, He is, step-by-step, getting closer to the cross. So what Jesus is saying is this, “If you want to follow me, you must be willing to go where I am going, and I am going to the cross. I am going, willingly, out of obedience to the Father, to my certain suffering and death. If you want to be my disciple, you need to first consider whether or not that cost is too high. Don’t follow now and unless you are willing to follow then.”

Jesus continues on this same line of reasoning in verse 33 after explaining what it means to consider the cost, He says this, “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” Jesus doubles down here. If you are going to be a disciple of Jesus, you must be willing to renounce absolutely everything. I think all of this can be summed up like I have worded for second point. As disciples, we must be willing to sacrifice and suffer for Jesus.

Now I’ve tried to word this carefully so that it contains all that Jesus intends here. I think the key word I want you to remember is the phrase “be willing”. Jesus doesn’t say, “Hey, if you want to be my disciple, then when you have to, bear your cross.” He doesn’t say, “Hey, if you want to be my disciple, awesome. Oh and hey, if you’re forced to renounce some stuff, it’ll be okay.” That’s not what He says. He says that we must proactively, and willingly, take up our cross. We must voluntarily renounce all things for Jesus. This isn’t just about doing what must be done at the end of the day. This is about planning ahead of time to do these things out of love for your Savior. It is about knowingly and joyfully following Jesus to places of sacrifice where you know it will certainly cause you Earthly suffering. Intentionally and voluntarily entering a place of sacrifice and suffering.

Again, in our context this can often look very mundane. Often times it simply means obeying God even when it seems to not be in your best earthly interest. It’s choosing to continuously be in the Word and in prayer. It’s choosing to gather with God’s people and trying to meet their needs. It’s choosing to raise your children until the Lord and guard their hearts. It’s choosing to honor the Lord in things you do, the people you date, and the media you consume. It’s choosing to do all of these things willingly and sacrificially, no matter the cost. The enemy often says that the cost is too high. He’ll say, “If you don’t date this unbeliever, you’ll be lonely forever. If you don’t skew the numbers here, you’ll never have the money you need. Hey, this isn’t actually a big deal, it’s just good fun.” But the enemy lies. Obedience is always worth the cost. Whether it be physical, emotional, financial, or all the rest. When it comes to obedience versus no obedience, since you have considered the cost, you choose to obey. This is what Jesus is saying to those who desire to be His disciples.

Now there’s one part of our text this morning that we haven’t addressed, the final 2 verses. In those verses Jesus says this, “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? 35 It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” The salt that you have in your homes and the salt you use in restaurants today isn’t exactly like the salt that would have been known at this time. The difference is that the salt we have now has been purified into just the salt part that we enjoy. But in this time the salt wouldn’t have been purified, but instead was a kind of mixture of several things that were gathered when mining for salt. What this meant was that that when that mixture was exposed to moisture, all the saltiness would leech out of the mixture, leaving you with a mixture with no saltiness at all. What Jesus is saying here is that when that happens, when the saltiness leeches out, you are left with a useless “salt”. It is good for nothing.

The question is, what does this have to do with what Jesus was just saying about considering the cost of following Him. I think it is this, our final point…

3.) The costs of following Jesus should remind us that we are His disciples

I think what Jesus means here is that when our lives are void of any cost that comes as a result of following Jesus, that isn’t a good sign. The saltiness in this example, I think, are the costs that we are going to encounter when we are disciples of Jesus. It’s what makes us disciples of Jesus. Our undivided love and loyalty for Jesus, and our sacrifice and suffering for Him is what shows us that we are His disciples.

Or more positively, like I have it framed for our point here, the costs of following Jesus ought to remind us that we are His. And if we live lives that don’t have any of these things, we are like salt without saltiness. We are disciples who might use the name disciple, but the truth is that what makes a disciple, a disciple is absent.

And I think when we begin to think through these things, it should lead us to one of two places. First it could lead you to a place where you realize that following Jesus has never really cost you anything. You realize that you’ve never obeyed God to such a degree that is has led you to places of sacrifice. If that’s you, it is good for you to ask why? Ask yourself why it is that being a Christian is really no different than being a non-Christian, other than simply coming to church. And if that’s you, today is the today to begin to lean into obedience all the way. Begin to take up your cross daily, fleeing from sin, and seeking to obey God entirely. And no doubt when you do that, the costs of following Jesus will present themselves. Which is not a bad thing, but a good reminder than you are indeed a disciple of Jesus.

The second place this could lead you is to a place of comfort. And that really is my hope for those here who are following Christ and are experiencing the many costs that have come because of that. Just the other day in Sunday School someone asks how to balance a very difficult thing. They asked, how do you love someone in your family who is in unrepentant sin while at the same time guarding your family from their sin? That is a difficult thing. Do you have them over for Christmas? How much of yourself do you give to them? Where’s the line between grace and the call to repentance?

I know many of you have lost sleep over things like this. Whether it be situations like this or the endless other things that you are doing to try to obey God entirely. And what I want you to hear, on the authority of the Word of God, is that that is a good struggle. The very fact that you are weighing these things and are experiencing hardship because of them are a sign that you are disciple of Jesus. Don’t let these things weigh you down, let them be a sweet reminder from the Lord that you are His and that these are indeed the costs He told you that would come. And not only that, but He Himself subjected Himself to all of these costs as a man. He understands, truly, and He takes delight in His disciples who have considered the cost and have chosen to follow.
             

When Jesus says that we are to bear our own cross, He is calling you to a place that the world sees as very shameful. But is it really? Of course in its time it was. But what is the truth about the cross as it pertains to Jesus? Jesus was despised and rejected even to the point of death on the cross. And yet, the cross is where redemption took place. It is where victory began. It is where forgiveness was bought. It is where hope was born.

So this morning, for those here who are following Jesus, let me encourage you to bear your cross. Let your love and loyalty for Jesus be undivided. Live for Jesus even when it leads sacrifice and suffering. Do it all, and know, that cross you bear is not one of shame, but one of victory. The cross you bear is not one that earns your salvation, but is a reminder that salvation is yours because of the One who died on the cross, and you are His disciple. Follow Him. He is worth it, no matter the cost.