CALLED together and SENT out | Donovan Rillion | It Comes With a Cost

And he said to all, if anyone would come after

me, let him deny himself and take up his cross

daily and follow me. For whoever would save his

life will lose it, but whoever loses his life

for my sake will save it. For what does it profit

a man if he gains the whole world and loses or

forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me

and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be

ashamed. When he comes in his glory and the glory

of the father and of the holy angels. But I tell

you truly, there are some standing here who will

not taste death until they see the kingdom of

God. Let's pray. Father God, I thank you for

today. I thank you for the salvation that we

have in Christ. I thank you for how good you

have been to us, how good you are. I thank you

for the way that you work in and through our

lives. But God, I also, I want to say sorry for

the ways that I have lived in this life, knowing

how good you are, knowing how much you've done,

knowing how much you desire to be with me. And

yet there are days where I don't think about

the life that I'm supposed to live because of

you. And so, God, I pray that this morning we

would examine ourselves, that we would find ourselves

where we are, what we've done, what we haven't

done, what we've neglected to say, where we've

neglected to go, who we've neglected to be. God,

I pray that we would see that there is a higher

calling for all of us and that there is something

more that we're supposed to be doing and saying

and being. God, help us to see that this morning.

Help us to see it and then to make the appropriate

changes. We love you. We praise you. And it's

in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Whenever I'm interested

in buying something, the first thing I look at,

hopefully you do the same thing, is the cost.

I look to see how much it costs. If I want to

buy a new vehicle, if I want to buy a... a new

toy or a new phone, a new gadget, whatever it

is, I look at the cost. I look at how much that's

going to cost, and I'll ask myself some questions.

You know, if it's too high, I immediately leave

it because, well, there are some prices that

you see on the price tag, and you just say, yeah,

that's out of my tax bracket, right? If it's

reasonable, and by reasonable I mean, you know,

I probably could pay for it. Maybe not the wisest

thing, but, you know, I may consider it. I'll

weigh if I think it's worth it. But then there

are some things that they don't they don't leave

you a choice that you don't really get to decide

if you're going to pay for it or not. You know,

you ever have a hole in your roof and there's

water coming through and you don't you don't

get to decide if you're going to fix that. Right.

You just have to fix it. They see goes out in

the middle of the summer. It's 90 degrees outside.

You don't have a choice. You just got to fix

it. There are some things that don't leave you

a choice, or at least they shouldn't. Back in

2021, I went to the dentist for just a routine

cleaning. I hadn't been to the dentist in a while

at that point, so they do all the exams and everything

and the x -rays and blah, blah. The dentist comes

back in and says, Mr. Rillian, you need a filling.

You know, whatever. So he he goes through the

potential harm of not getting this cavity filled.

And and he tells me the cost. He tells me what

it would look like if I didn't get a field and

all this stuff. And he lets me decide. Horrible

decision by the dentist, because I thought I'm

going to save some money. I'm going to save some

money because, quite frankly, we were broke at

the time. This is like fresh married Donovan

and Eliza. We've got a kid on the way and we

don't have. The money to just be throwing it

away on things like fillings, you know, like

I said, throwing it away. And so I was like,

no, I think I'm going to wait. I'm not going

to do that. So we're going to fast forward four

years. It's February of 2025. And I am chewing

on some food. And I realize it kind of hurts

to chew on the right side of my mouth. And then

it progresses to where drinking hurts. And then

it progresses to where I could just be sitting

there and my tooth would start hurting. So I

go back to the dentist. Somewhere in May, I think,

was when I went to the dentist. And not only

do I need a filling now, I need a root canal.

And something nobody ever told me is that insurance,

no matter how good it is, does not cover much

for a root canal. And then it doesn't cover much

for the crown. So I'm sitting there and I'm like,

OK, well, what's that going to cost? I'm not

going to tell you the exact number. Let's just

say it was at least four times what it would

have cost me to just get the filling four years

ago. I waited way too long. And I didn't do what

I needed to when I was supposed to. And it ended

up costing me thousands of dollars more than

it would have if I had just listened when I should

have. And the truth is, some things in life give

you time to decide until they don't. You can

choose today not to do the thing that you feel

called to. But one day that's going to catch

up to you. We saw that with Jonah. It didn't

take very long for Jonah before his neglecting

the calling caught up to him. And the thing we're

going to talk about today that we can't wait

on is discipleship. Being a disciple of Christ,

being a follower, being a student, being a disciple

of Christ does not wait. It cannot wait. It can't

take a backseat. You can't say, well, I don't

really want to do that today. I may wait until

next year. I'm going to wait until I'm older.

I'm going to wait until I'm wiser. I'm going

to wait until I have a little bit more money.

I'm going to wait until responsibility actually

means something to me. Discipleship doesn't.

Wait, or at least it shouldn't, because at some

point, every follower of Jesus has to decide.

Will I pay the price to follow Jesus fully or

will I settle for something cheaper? I can remember

when I was nine years old, I'm at camp and I

hear this lesson and I go forward. I want to

be baptized and I study with my youth minister

and we talk about it and we talk about receiving

salvation. One thing, and I love him to death,

and I don't think he meant anything by this.

It just didn't happen. We didn't talk about discipleship.

So I got baptized at nine years old. I didn't

become a disciple of Christ until I was 15. Now,

what happens to me or to you if we give our life

to Christ today and we say, well, I'm going to

wait until I become a disciple. And in the time

that we're waiting, we don't get the chance.

To become the disciple. All we did was get baptized.

And we came out of the water and we just lived

life the same way. Discipleship can't wait. I've

got four points that I want to go through this

morning. And in each of them, I hope that it

challenges us with something. We're going to

look at Luke chapter nine, what we just read

from, but we're also going to look at Luke chapter

Luke 14 · chapter mention

14 a little bit. And the first point that I have

for you is the call comes with a cost. The second

point is consider before committing. The third

one is devotion to Christ above all. And the

fourth one is discipleship could cost everything.

Notice I didn't say will cost everything. The

first point, the call comes with a cost. Looking

at Luke chapter 9, verses 23 through 24. If anyone

Luke 9:23–24

would come after me, let him deny himself and

take up his cross daily and follow me. See, Jesus

isn't asking for fans. He's not asking for followers,

at least followers in names only. What he's calling

us to do is to die to ourselves every single

day. When he says you should take up your cross.

What he's saying is, is take up this thing that

is ruthless. Take up this thing that brings pain

and suffering and all it knows is harm. Take

that up. Bear it daily. It's not something that

you get to pick and choose when you're going

to do it. I'm going to be a disciple today, but

tomorrow I'm just going to live my life. It's

not one of those things that you get to just

pick and choose when and how and what you're

going to do with it. It's not something you just

wear around your neck or you paint on your eye

black for the football game. It is a thing that

you take with you every single day. If you are

a disciple of Christ, it is a daily habit. It's

not something that happens at baptism. It's not

just something that you come forward in the emotional

moments after a worship service. It is a daily

surrender. It's not just a change in my name

or my title. It is a change in my lifestyle.

I no longer belong to myself. I belong to Jesus.

And we have to ask ourselves this question. What

does it cost? What does that cost include? Well,

it includes some things that we really value,

right? Like comfort. It requires you. To say,

I'm going to maybe pull out of what I feel safe

in. I'm going to walk away from what is familiar.

I'm going to stop doing the things that I like.

I'm going to stop doing the things that I know

best. You know, I can remember when I was in

high school. Before, like I said, I became a

disciple at 15. So this is sophomore year of

high school. Well, before that, I had a mouth.

That like to say what it like to say. You know

what I mean. And I had some fists that like to

do what fists like to do. And I was somebody

that felt comfortable in what I knew. And what

I knew was say what you want and do what you

want. And so at 15, I start realizing that I've

got to make some changes. And so two of those

things that I was comfortable with. And two of

those things that I knew really well. I had to

let go of. And that wasn't easy. It wasn't easy

when somebody said something to me that I didn't

like for me to not say what I wanted to say back

to them. It wasn't easy for me to not do what

I wanted to do. And even today, if you pull out

in front of me in traffic, I may revert back

to old habits. I don't like that person. And

I try to leave him in the water. But sometimes

the remnants come up with us, right? Because

they're comfortable. But being a disciple, being

someone that says I have murdered my flesh is

someone that says I'm going to let go of what's

comfortable. It also costs you your plans. Being

a disciple may redirect your dreams. It may reshape

your goals. And sometimes it will even make you

take on a new career. It may move you to new

places. It may bring you to new people groups.

It may make you do things and say things that

you didn't want to, that you had never planned

for your life. But because of Christ, it changes

everything about you, including your plans. It

also may just change your relationships. You

may face rejection. There may come points where

because of the lifestyle that you've chosen to

take on, there's a rub and there's a tension

in your friendships. There may come loneliness

because the place that you're in doesn't exactly

fit the lifestyle that you're wanting to lead.

And so your family, they start to walk away and

your friends, they start to walk away. And now

you're trying to figure out who you are and who

you belong to and where you fit in. It may cost

you your reputation. Faithfulness to Christ might

get you labeled in a certain way. It might get

you in a place of being misunderstood. Because

now the world doesn't understand why you live

and why you speak the way you do. Why you make

the choices you do. Why you don't do certain

things with your money because you have other

responsibilities for it. And it may cost you

your habits. See, discipleship calls you to leave

behind sin, to leave behind self -centeredness,

to leave behind laziness. And here is, I think,

the key to all of our struggles in life. Being

a disciple of Christ calls you to leave behind

your pride. Everything that you value about yourself.

Everything that you feel confident in. Everything

you feel good about. About you. About yourself.

About what you do. And about what you say. And

where you go. And what you are. Everything about

that gets left behind. Because your pride is

no longer in you. It's in Christ. You know that

it's not your talent, your ability, your charisma

that gets you far in life. It is Christ. It's

not anything you're capable of or anything that

you are equipped with. It is Christ. Being a

disciple causes you to leave behind your habits.

Sometimes the cost is dramatic. Sometimes it's

really drastic and it's something that when you

do it, everybody notices and you notice this

big, massive shift in your life. But other times

the cost is just daily obedience when nobody

is watching. And here's the truth. I mentioned

the cross necklace earlier. The cross isn't just

a decoration. For so many of us, we put crosses

on our walls in our homes. We get it tattooed

on us. We wear the cross necklace and we use

it as this decoration to say who we belong to.

But really what the cross is, is it's a death

sentence. It is a symbol of what we are and whose

we are. It is a death sentence for the old me

and a reminder of who I am now. And this is why.

I bring up point to consider the cost before

you commit. See, in Luke chapter 14, Jesus brings

Luke 14 · chapter mention

up this cost of discipleship topic again. And

in verses 28 through 30, what he says is for

which of you desiring to build a tower does not

first sit down and count the cost. You ever sign

up for something and then after the fact, find

out what your responsibilities are or you sign

up for something and. Then after the fact, you

find out exactly what you signed up for. Any

married people realize, don't raise your hands.

After you got married, who your spouse was and

what you signed up for and how many personalities

you're going to have to put up with in one person.

You didn't really count the cost before you committed.

You didn't really consider everything that what

you committed to entailed. Maybe you signed up

for the PTA and you thought it was just going

to be bringing juice boxes every couple of weeks

to school. But really what it is, is now you've

got to serve at every ball game in the concession

stand. Whatever it is you signed up for without

understanding exactly what it was that you were

getting into. And maybe you got into it and you

realize you're not cut out for this or you realize

it's not as easy as you thought it was going

to be. And being a disciple is what. We have

to consider this morning. Are you prepared for

what you're signing up for? Jesus isn't trying

to push people away when he says this. He's not

trying to scare people off. What he's doing is

he is warning them that they have to be honest

with themselves. You and I have to be honest

with ourselves. Are we ready to say yes to what

Jesus is calling us to do? Because too many people

say yes. They get in the water. They give their

life to Christ. And then when they get into the

weeds of it, they realize I'm not good for this.

I'm not ready for this. Or flat out, I don't

want this. And then they walk away because it's

too hard. Or because it just doesn't really fit

with their idea of what a good life looks like.

What Jesus is saying is don't start something

that you're not willing to finish. Sit down and

weigh it. Is it worth it? Is it true? Is it of

value enough to pay that price? Following Christ

is free. And I want to make sure that that doesn't

get misunderstood in this. This is not about

what you bring to the table. Following Christ

is free, but it will cost you everything. You

can't just follow him halfway. You don't just

carry a cross in your pocket, wear it around

your neck or or hang it up in your house. It

is a total life shift. So you're working with

college students in Montgomery. I had the honor

and the opportunity to work with some really

cool kids. And one of my favorite kids that I

got to know over the last couple of years. He

was a part of our college ministry and he went

to a Christian college, but he came from a Muslim

family. And so we'd study with him and we read

through books and passages of scripture and we'd

pray with him. And this kid, I could tell that

he wanted Christ. And he got to a point where

he would tell us he believed. He believed that

Jesus Christ was the son of God, that he was

the way to salvation, that he was the only way

that we have access to eternal life. He believed

that. And he was ready to give his life to Christ.

And not was, he is. I mean, he's so alive, he

wants to accept Christ. But he's weighed the

cost. And he's not sure he can pay it. In fact,

before we moved here, there was a baptism while

we were still in Montgomery. And this young man's

sitting there in the pews watching the baptism.

And he's got kind of teary eyes. He leans over

to one of the other college students sitting

next to him and he says, I want that. I want

to give my life to Christ. But maybe you know

this about people that come from different religious

heritages. There comes a family cost. Because

if he gives his life to Christ, what happens

with his relationship with his Muslim parents

and his aunts and uncles and cousins? What happens

to the community that he was raised in? The kid

lives at home. So is he going to have anywhere

to live if he gives his life to Christ? He doesn't

drive. His parents drive him where he needs to

go. And so if he gives his life to Christ, how's

he going to get to school? He wants so badly

to become a disciple, but he's afraid of what

it costs. And that leads us to our third point.

Devotion to Christ has to come above all else.

Above family. Above friends. Above careers. Above

communities. Above countries. Devotion to Christ

has to be first. In Luke 14, Jesus continues.

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own

father and mother, even his own life, he cannot

be my disciple. I think about my buddy. He loves

his parents. He loves his family and the community

that he knows. But he wants Christ so bad. And

my prayer for him all the time is that he'll

get to the point where he realizes that Christ

is worth it. That Christ is worth the cost. It

doesn't sound easy. It doesn't sound right, but

it's true. And I want to also clear something

out or clear something up. When Jesus says you

have to hate your own father and mother, what

he's not saying is that you actually have to

hate them. He's not promoting hatred. This is

a Jewish idiom of comparison. What Jesus is saying

is your love for me should be so complete, so

exclusive, so. First and foremost in your life.

That every other love you have. Feels like hate.

In comparison. To your devotion. To Christ. Charles

Spurgeon once said. It is only in a comparative

sense. And not literally. He's talking about

that passage. That the term hate. Can possibly

be used. And to make this very clear, Christ

even said that we are to hate our own life. He's

not saying that you just give up on everybody.

He's not saying that you rebuke them and you

walk away. What he's saying is, I need you to

be devoted to me, to value me, to want me more

than anything else, including your own life.

He's asking you to. prioritize him above all

and here's what that means it's not just about

our family but if following christ puts you at

odds with your parents choose christ if your

friends don't quite understand your choices and

it may strain the relationship choose christ

if your job your school your community your country

pushes you to compromise choose If your own desires,

your own dreams, your own goals, they conflict

with his commands, choose Christ. Discipleship

means there is no competition for your and my

loyalty. And hear me say this because it's very

important. Christ is asking for your devotion.

He's asking for your intention. He is not, nor

has he ever asked for your perfection. Because

there will be times where you fail to put him

first. There will be times where you choose your

desires, your goals, your wants, your needs over

him. And he doesn't strike you down because you

failed to choose him first. But he is asking

for your desire to be him above all else. See,

Peter even denied Christ. Three times, actually.

But grace restored Peter. And Jesus still was

able to use him in a very powerful way. Do not

confuse the call to commitment with a call to

flawless performance. Because if you do, you

will find yourself very disappointed every day.

When it comes to paying the cost, living a life

of sacrifice, God is gracious and merciful. But

still, we have to continue with this fact. Discipleship

could cost you everything. It could. Up to your

life. In Acts chapter 7, we see Stephen, a deacon

Acts 7 · chapter mention

in the first century church. He's stoned to death.

And Stephen, he preaches the truth. He stands

firm in his faith. And it costs him his life.

What Acts chapter 7 says is, but they cried out

Acts 7 · chapter mention

with a loud voice. And stopped their ears and

rushed together at him. Then they cast him out

of the city. And stoned him. Peter preached the

truth. Not Peter. Well Peter did too. But Stephen.

Even unto death. Stephen is the first recorded

Christian martyr. But in his dying moments. Stephen

looks up and he sees Jesus standing there at

the right hand of God, welcoming him home. And

can you imagine knowing that your life is coming

to an end, knowing that all the memories you've

made, all the people you've loved, all the relationships

and the families and the communities that you've

been a part of, all of those things that you

have just been blessed by in your life, all of

that is coming to an end because you preach the

truth. And instead of being sorrowful in that

moment, you're able to rejoice because you know

that the king of kings, the creator of the universe,

the giver of life is welcoming you home. In spite

of the sorrow that you could feel, all you can

do is rejoice because you know who holds your

life in his hands. I think about my friend. He

wants to give his life to Christ. But he can't

fathom what might happen if he does. That's the

extreme. And the truth is, for most of us, it's

not that bad. So what? You can't do the things.

That the rest of your friends get to do. You

can't go to the parties that they go to. You

can't spend the money on the things that they

do. You can't say the things that they say. You

can't act like they act. Man, how easy we have

it. And how little the price we pay. When Jesus

calls you to give up everything and to follow

him. For most of us, he's not calling us to a

physical death. But even if he is, so be it.

Because we know who welcomes us home in the end.

You see, Stephen's story reminds us that this

isn't a game. This isn't just dress up and come

to church on Sunday morning, sit in a chair and

sing pretty songs. This is not something we get

to pick and choose for. Following Jesus is not

always safe. And what I imagine, you know, the

person who writes the book of Acts or records

these acts of the apostles in the first century

church is Luke, who also recorded the gospel

that we read those two costs of discipleship

passages out of. And I can imagine Luke as he's

recording the book of Acts. He's just remembering

what Jesus said as he's thinking about Stephen.

Being stoned to death as he's thinking about

Paul being arrested and put in chains and chased

out of cities. As he's remembering those moments,

he's remembering exactly the words of Jesus.

The cost. For some, the cost of discipleship

is included being mocked, losing family, losing

freedom, even losing their lives. And the question

we have to ask. Is are we willing to lose those

same things too? Most of us will not be called

to physically die for Jesus. But we are all called

to live for him. And living for him might be

even harder some days than others. And so we

ask the question that we started with. What is

the cost? And is it worth it? Because it will

cost you. But the reward, and we'll talk about

this more next week, because the price is steep.

But I want to leave you with hope this morning

that the promise is far superior. What God has

promised is so much greater than any price we

pay here on this earth. We may be losing a little

here. We may be losing a little now, but we gain

an enormous and infinite lot in eternity. And

to foreshadow next week, I just I want to leave

you with this. Whoever loses his life. Well,

I thought I had it somewhere. Anyways, I'll say

it. Whoever loses his life for my sake will save

it. The life we gain from a life with Christ

is worth it. It is. There's so much that we gain

from just saying, I'm going to die to myself.

I'm going to give up on my wants. I'm going to

give up on my needs, my desires, my choices,

and let Christ do the leading. Hold on to that.

We'll talk about it a little more next week.

But for today, I want to also remind you, you

can't buy salvation. If anybody ever told you

you could pay a physical price for it, they lied

to you. You cannot buy salvation. You can't earn

it. You can't do enough good deeds. You can't

say enough good things. You can't pray enough

prayers to receive salvation. You can't earn

it. It's a free gift that you simply, that I

simply just have to give up myself in order to

receive it. Isn't that something? All I've got

to do is just say I'm going to put Christ first

and then actually live like that. And I receive

salvation. I receive eternal life. And so this

morning, maybe you've been halfway in. Maybe

you've been baptized. Maybe you've received salvation,

but you never became a disciple. You'll notice

I pray a lot. We want to be disciples that make

disciples that make disciples. Well, you can't

make disciples if you yourself are not one. And

so this morning, as we're talking about what

our calling is, and that is to go out and make

disciples, the first thing we have to figure

out is, am I one? And if I am, then I'm paying

the price daily. If you haven't been, today is

the day to commit, to put the down payment on

and start making those daily payments towards.

Following Christ. If you haven't ever. Decided

to accept Christ. It's a good day to do that.

Because you just never know. You never know if

you'll get a chance. To even pay for the root

canal. Go ahead and make the changes necessary

today. If you need to accept Christ and put him

on in baptism, if you need to just have the prayers

of the church so that you can have the strength

and the courage to bear your cross daily, we

offer you an invitation now to come as we stand

and as we sing.