If.... Counting the Cost

 One Sunday morning, Billy & Bob went out on the lake, anchored & began fishing. The fish weren't biting, & they soon began to feel guilty. Billy said, "I should've stayed home & gone to church this morning." Bob replied, "I couldn't have gone to church anyway. My wife's sick in bed." Billy & Bob may have anchored, but they weren't anchored deeply. What does it take to anchor deeply? That's what Jesus talks about in Luke 14:25-33. Let's look. 25aLarge crowds were traveling with Jesus. Most want something from Him. Satisfy curiosity? Free bread? Healing? Something. Few want to learn from Him. So, Jesus 25bturned to them. 26"If anyone comes to me & doesn't hate his father & mother, his wife & children, his brothers & sisters-yes, even his own life-he can't be my disciple. Yep. Sure-fire recruitment, right there! In reality, it's a paradox. Only if we love Jesus 1st & foremost can we really love others. 27And anyone who doesn't carry his cross & follow me can't be my disciple. It's the opposite of anything we'd ever put on a recruitment poster. But it has drawn all peoples to Christ. Once we've met Him, we understand why. But the bottom line is the same. There's a cost to discipleship. That cost is really a paradox. To become Jesus' disciple will costs us everything. All we have. And all we are. Surrender it to Him. After all, He's the one who owns all Creation. What we'll really do is face the truth. All we have & all we are is already His. We were created to be His stewards over all He entrusts to us. Adam & Eve were created to be Earth's stewards. Same with us. The cost seems heavy. But the reality? In Mt 11:28-30, Jesus invites us to come & give it all to Him. V. 30 shows us the paradox. Surrender our burdens. Take His yoke. Once we do, what looked like a heavy burden is effortless. 30His yoke easy, & His burden is light. Jesus is challenging us. Want to be His disciple? Putting Him 1st, 7x24, every day, is a marathon. Make sure we can finish. That's what He gets at next. 28a"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Want to be Jesus' disciple? 28bWon't he 1st sit down & estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? Can we keep putting Jesus 1st? Every moment? Every hour? Every day? Can we give up all our 1st loyalties-to ourselves? Our families? Our friends? Our stuff? Can we keep putting Jesus 1st? It's a marathon, but it's also a war. The enemy doesn't want us to finish. Jesus is saying to make sure we can finish before we start. Why? 29If he lays the foundation & can't finish it, all who see it will ridicule him. The ridicule? 30'This fellow began to build & couldn't finish.' If he doesn't start, no one will know he considered it. But if he starts & can't finish, embarrassment will be worse than if he hadn't. Jesus' point? Don't start the path of discipleship & fall away. If we do, it'll be worse than if we hadn't started. Doesn't that raise a question? Whenever Jesus talks about being His disciple, it's always IF. 'If you want to be my disciple.' So, can we still go to heaven if we choose not to be His disciple? Jesus answers that question with His next parable. 31a"Suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Who's who? The 2nd king is God. Who's the 1st king about to go to war? Us. Paul helps us see it. By the logic of Ro 5:10, if we aren't reconciled to God through the death of His Son, we're still His enemies. How are we reconciled? Accept Christ. Unless we do, we're still God's enemies. (Isn't it wonderful God found & gifted us a way to be reconciled?) And in Col 1:21, Those alienated from God are His enemies. The truth? We're either God's children or His enemies. There's no in-between. And God is a stronger King than we are. 31bWon't the weaker king 1st sit down & consider whether he's able with 10,000 men to oppose the one coming against him with 20,000? God comes against His enemies with countless legions of angels. What are the odds against just one? Now, failure means destruction, not embarrassment. 32If that 1st king isn't able, he'll send a delegation while the other is still a long way off to ask for peace terms. God's enemies better do the same. The gospel's good news is this: God already provided peace terms! Even more, He gave His only Son's life in exchange for ours. God does NOT want anyone to perish. 33Any of you who doesn't give up everything he has can't be my disciple. There's nothing to give up, anyway. It's His. We're only stewards. Are you still wondering how Jesus answered the question if being a disciple is optional? To help us see it, let's ask another question. What's a disciple? What's a believer? What's a Christian? Are they different? If so, how? The answer has to do with when in the NT story we see the word. At 1st, there were only 12 disciples. The 12. They were 1st to wear the name. Later, in Lk 10:1, Jesus sends out 72 others. "The 12" are still The 12, but now there are 72 other disciples. Acts 1:15 shows that by Pentecost, there are 120. Notice that they're now believers. On the road to Damascus (Acts 9), Saul became a believer. He then went to Jerusalem to meet the disciples there. Acts 9:26 shows that disciple & believer are different names for the same thing. And starting with Acts 11:25-26, from then on believers are Christians. See it now? Believer = Christian = disciple. They're different words for the same thing: one who accepted Christ as Savior & Lord & now follows Him. One more thing. Remember the Great Commission in Mt 28:19-20? Jesus says Go, making disciples of all nations, everywhere. There, Jesus uses disciples to emphasize the learning aspect. True believers are always learning to obey everything He's commanded us. There's no easy "believism." Discipleship isn't optional. We all face 2 questions. Have we counted the cost? Are we ready to pay it to be Jesus' disciple? Can we afford not to? Are we ready to recommit to following Jesus? To be His disciples? If so, we face another question. How can we endure the marathon? How can we finish well? An old Christian sat with a dog on his porch. They gazed at a beautiful sunset. A new Christian came up. "Sir, most Christians decide for Christ & chase Him passionately for a while. But they lose their passion. Before long, it's church only on Christmas & Easter. You aren't like that. People say you've sought the Lord fervently your whole life. They see something in you they don't see in most 'Christians.' What makes you different?" The old man smiled. "One day my dog & I were sunning ourselves. A large white rabbit jumped out & ran by us. My dog jumped up & took off, hot on the trail. He kept barking, loudly. Other dogs heard him & joined in. That pack of dogs ran barking thru' thickets & thorns, across creeks, & up steep embankments! But one by one, the other dogs dropped out. Soon, my dog was alone in the hot pursuit. Young man, that story is the answer to your question." The young man sat silently. "I don't get it. What's the connection to seeking God?" The old man replied, "You don't understand because you didn't ask the right question. 'Why didn't the other dogs stay on the chase?' They were just joining for the excitement. They hadn't seen the rabbit." Unless we've seen Jesus, discipleship will be too hard. We won't have the passion to finish our race. But once we've seen Jesus, no sacrifice is too great. Want to finish well? Fix our eyes on Jesus. He's the goal & the prize. He's given us His Spirit to help us endure. Let's go back to our starting question. What does it take to anchor deeply? It all depends on where we anchor. More specifically, Who we anchor to. If it isn't Jesus, it won't last. If we're anchored to Jesus, nothing in heaven or earth can move us or shake us. How do we anchor deeply? Count the cost. When we're ready to pay it, become His disciple, a true believer / Christian. Keep our eyes on Him. Keep putting Him 1st, over all else. Let's pray. If... Counting the Cost - Luke 14:25-33 Page 1 of 1