church

INI
19th Sunday After Trinity
October 19, 2002
Ascension Lutheran Church, Tacoma WA
Paul Naumann, Pastor

COUNTING THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP
Matthew 16:21-26

To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has
made us kings and priests to God and His Father, to Him be glory and
dominion forever and ever, Amen. This morning's text comes from the 16th
chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, beginning with the 21st verse, as follows:

From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to
Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began
to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to
You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an
offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of
men.” Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let
him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to
save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For
what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? So far the Holy Word.

In the Name of our Savior Jesus, Who bids us take up our crosses and follow
Him, Dear Fellow Redeemed,

Are you a bargain-hunter? I am. I do the best I can to squeeze the most out of
our family’s shopping budget while parting with the least amount of cash.
Today’s high-tech store receipts help a lot – they even tell you the exact
percentage of your savings when compared with the shelf price of the items you
bought. But I don't think I’m unusual in that - all of us are bargain hunters, to a
certain extent. No one would pay full price if there was a bargain to be had. Can
you imagine a shopper who walked into a store and carefully selected his
purchases, taking every conceivable factor into consideration except cost? It’s
silly. No one would do that. For most of us the cost of an item is the most
important factor.

But I wonder how many people in this world don't approach Christianity in
exactly that way! They think about being a Christian, but they never consider
the cost. I wonder how often people have said to themselves something like
this: "You know, that guy Bob who lives next door is a Christian, and it sure
seems to give him peace of mind. He faces every day with a smile, he seems
equal to any challenge or adversity. Maybe I'll become a Christian. What can it
cost me? An hour of my time on Sunday morning, a couple of bucks for the
collection plate, and I'll be all set! What could be cheaper?!" People like that
want to make the purchase without really looking at the price tag, which we all
know is impossible to do.

Now it's true that the forgiveness of your sins, your admission into heaven,
doesn't cost you a thing - that's been paid for. But following the One who paid
for it - that's expensive. It's by far the biggest investment a person could ever
make, and God wants us to consider the cost of such an investment. Jesus told
His followers, "Whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be
My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down
first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it; lest, after he has
laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all who see it begin to mock
him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'" -- Luke
14:27-30. On the basis of Jesus' words in our text, I'd like you to consider with
me the theme:

COUNTING THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP
I. By earthly standards, it's very expensive.
II. By eternal standards, it's a tremendous bargain.

Yes, by earthly standards, following Jesus is indeed very expensive. But there's
one thing we have to get straight right away: it's not the forgiveness of sins - our
justification - that costs the Christian so much. If you think you're helping to
pay for THAT by following Christ, you're going to run into some very serious
problems. No, your justification was entirely paid for, in blood, by your Savior
Jesus. That's what Jesus was trying to explain to the disciples when He told
them how He would have to go up to Jerusalem, to suffer and die. And that's
why Jesus came down so hard on Peter, when Peter said, “Far be it from You,
Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get
behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the
things of God, but the things of men.” Christ knew that we sinful human beings
desperately needed forgiveness, and He wouldn't allow anything detour Him
from the long road of suffering that led to our forgiveness. He could have
avoided all the pain and sorrow. No doubt He was tempted to. But in John
chapter 12 we hear Jesus say, "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?
'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour." --
John 12:27. Specifically for the purpose of saving us from the damnation that
we deserved, Jesus DID go up to Jerusalem, He DID pick up His cross and
carry it, and He DID die on that cross to free you and me from the death-grip of
sin. And now that THAT is accomplished, He calls us to pick up OUR crosses
and follow Him. That's the "expensive" part.

And let’s face it - from one point of view, being a Christian IS a very expensive
undertaking. Then why be a Christian? -Let me draw an analogy. Everyone
knows how the cost of surgery and hospitalization is skyrocketing these days.
But if you ask a person who, for example, has just had a heart transplant that
cost half a million dollars - BUT SAVED HIS LIFE - you know what he's going
to say- he'll say it was worth every penny! In the same way, being a disciple of
Jesus can be very expensive, earthly speaking, but often those happy disciples
don't even realize that they're sacrificing anything.

A Christian does make sacrifices, though. What does it mean when Jesus tells
us to bear our crosses? Simply speaking, a "cross" is anything bad that we put
up with in this life specifically because we are Christians. It's something that we
bear for Jesus' sake. The early Christians often had to bear the cross of actual,
physical persecution. They were thrown to the lions and burned at the stake.
The crosses that we bear in this country, now, in the year 2009, aren't as
obvious as that. And from one point of view I think that can make them even
harder to bear up under. For instance, nobody's going to throw you in jail if you
talk openly about your faith at work, but you may suffer some sneers and jokes
behind your back; and those can really hurt! I remember talking to a group of
young adults once the Christian experience in public universities. A lot of us
were able to describe how it felt to be treated like idiots in school if we ever
mentioned God, or the Bible, or creation or our Christian faith. People treat you
with a condescending sneer, as if you had just told them you still believe in the
tooth fairy or the Easter bunny. Not long ago we were talking about how open
antagonism of Christians seems to be becoming more acceptable and
commonplace in our country. Every day now you see bumper stickers and car
ornaments that ridicule the Christian faith. Recently I heard a liberal talk show
host propose a new law that would make it illegal for parents to take their
children to church before the age of twelve (he said it was brainwashing). After
a while, that sort of thing can begin to wear on a believer. It's one example,
anyway, of a cross that we bear because we are Christians.

And of course there are many investments involved in being a Christian,
besides the sort of sacrifices I've just described. That's why one person called
Christianity "the most expensive religion on earth." A follower of Christ finds
himself devoting not just one hour a week to his faith, but hours and hours of
time. Time for church meetings and Bible classes. Time for family devotions
and personal Bible study. He takes time for prayer, and he often takes a lot of
time to tell others about Jesus, and explain his faith to them. He gives his time,
his dedication, his love, and often a lot of his money to help his fellow believers
and to serve Jesus. Now, from an earthly point of view, that may seem like a lot
to spend. But a person who's had his sins forgiven, for Jesus' sake, is like that
guy who's just had an expensive heart surgery - he's likely to say, "Who cares
about the money? I'm going to live!"

And that gets us down to the real issue. People will either view Christianity as
very expensive, or as a tremendous bargain. It's either a total waste of time, or
it's the only thing in this world that is NOT a waste of time! Believe it or not, it
all depends on how you define one simple word: life. In our text, Jesus uses this
word two times in the same passage to mean two completely different things.
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life
shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. This is a
paradox. It's a statement that seems to contradict itself; it doesn't appear to
make any sense. However, I'd like you to listen to a parallel passage, John
12:25. Here Jesus says the same thing a little differently, and His meaning
becomes perfectly clear: "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his
life in this world will keep it for eternal life." -- John 12:25. Aha! There's the
answer: Jesus is talking about two different kinds of life!

To deny yourself. To pursue eternal treasures, even if it means giving up
earthly wealth. To be willing to sacrifice aspects of your earthly life for the sake
of life eternal; that's what Jesus is talking about here. And I have to tell you – if
that’s how you are and that’s how you live, that is definitely going to leave you
the odd person out in this world in which we live today! Did you ever think
about that? Did you ever consider how different you are, as a Christian, from
the people who live around you? What’s their life about? It’s mostly about stuff!
Most of their efforts are bent upon making their life here on earth a success.
They want money, a good job, a nice house, a nice car. Some people’s goals are
slightly broader: they want power, or comfort, or security. Basically they want
happiness for the sixty or eighty years that they're alive on this planet, and that's
it. The Christian is looking far beyond that. His goal is not an imperfect
happiness that lasts sixty or eighty years -- but a perfect happiness that will
stretch on forever and ever. In short - happiness for eternity, in heaven, with
God. The final stanza of the hymn, 'Amazing Grace' talks about heaven and
says,

When we’ve been here ten thousand years,
Bright shining like the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise,
Than when we’d first begun!

Think about it. That’s why Christianity is such a bargain. Because in order to
collect that eternal life, you have only to meet one condition: righteousness.
“Oh no!” you say, “Don’t make me meet any conditions! And especially don’t
make me measure up to the pure and holy righteousness that God expects! I’ll
never make it!” And it’s true, you wouldn’t. So what does God do? Through
Jesus, He hands you that righteousness you need as a free gift! Thousands of
years ago already, God was offering this tremendous bargain to bankrupt sinners
like you and me. He said, through the prophet Isaiah, "Ho! Everyone who
thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." -- Isa 55:1.
Not that your salvation doesn't cost anything...it doesn't cost you anything. It
cost Jesus plenty! He bought you back from hell, and He paid the highest price
imaginable to do it. Peter tells us, "You were not redeemed with corruptible
things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from
your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot." -- 1 Pet 1:18-19.

Your salvation is accomplished. It's complete. We have peace with God on
earth, and the promise of everlasting peace in heaven. And you know, that
makes people act kind of funny! People who have this forgiveness through Jesus
actually seem to consider it a pleasure to devote all that time and money and
effort to God. It's not a "payment" or a "duty" at all. It comes naturally. It's the
fruit of faith. So you see, if you look at it from the eternal point of view,
Christianity is the most tremendous bargain in the history of the world!

A newspaper reporter was once sent to interview a famous clergyman who had
made a name for himself as a wise man and a brilliant preacher. The reporter
was astonished to find him living in a one-room apartment containing only
books, a table and a bench. "Sir, where is your furniture?" he asked. "Where's
yours?" replied the clergyman. "Mine?" asked the puzzled reporter, looking
around. "But I'm a visitor here. I have no furniture - I'm only passing through!"
"So am I," said the preacher.

Why don’t you and I pay a little less attention to the fixtures and trappings of
this earthly life, and more to the furnishings of our heavenly home. Let us
consider carefully the words of Jesus when He says, "Do not lay up for
yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves
break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither
moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. "For where
your treasure is, there your heart will be also." -- Mat 6:19-21. God grant that
our treasures and our hearts may always remain with our Savior, in heaven.
AMEN.