The Cost of Discipleship - Luke 14:25-35 (Apr 28) Mark Makary

Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast.

We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the spirit of the Great Commandment.

Thanks for joining us today.

Heavenly Father, Lord, we just so thankful that we can come before you, Lord, and just sing praise to your name, Lord.

Lift up our voices in worship to you, Lord God.

We just praise you, Lord, for what you've done on the cross for us, Lord.

We just think of uh turning over to your word, Lord, and knowing that as we turn to it, Lord, it will not return void, Lord.

So I pray that you just bless your own word this morning, Lord God.

Remove any distractions or nerves that we may have this morning, Lord.

That's this your name.

Amen.

All right.

So as I was preparing for uh this message, I was in, I found myself in a conversation with Beth, and I posed a question to her.

I asked her, uh, what is something that she had to endure, knowing that the outcome would be worth it?

And without skipping a beat, she says childbirth.

Like she just was right off the cusp.

And I was thinking to myself, I'm like, okay, you know that's gonna take the cake, like I'm not gonna be able to top that answer, right?

Like after nine months of an uncomfortable pregnancy and 27 hours of labor, like I should have been a little more prepared to come up with a better answer myself, but I wasn't.

So I gave it some thought and I I concluded soccer.

Now, listen, I'm not trying to compare soccer and childbirth, but let me explain, right?

Like I've been playing soccer as long as I can remember.

In fact, I play soccer with some some of you here today.

Uh, but ever since I was young, I I played the sport I love.

In fact, I'm I'm in a men's league as we speak.

And this men's league has really taught me a few things.

For for starters, it's taught me that I'm not as young as I think I am.

Like I've come to the recognition that I'm like I'm that old guy on the field now, right?

Like that old guy that's playing with all the young guns well past his prime.

Like that, that's that's apparently me now.

And so as I prepare every week to play, like I get this infliction on my body, all this pain that I endure game in and game out, right?

Like my knees are popping, my ankles are swelling, I'm icing my ligaments, I'm popping Advil, and like I'm just inflicting all this pain.

And there's really, it's become comical in our house.

Like Beth would watch me hobble up the stairs each night before I go to bed.

And so there's really only one reason that I do this, and it's because I think it's worth the cost.

Like my love for the sport has me enduring the pain that I take on my body week in and week out.

And so, you know, in a some sense, that's kind of like childbirth, right?

Like you go through the pains of delivery, right?

Knowing that you, you know, the the new baby be would be worth it, right?

Like, right?

You can see the comparison a little.

My wife's shaking her head at me.

Good start.

But that's so true in so many areas of our life where we want a desired outcome and and we weigh the cost of pursuing it, right?

Like when we want to get in shape, we endure the cost of eating right and exercising.

When when we are considering getting married, we weigh the cost of two broken individuals getting together and doing life together because the relationship's worth it, right?

When we come to realize that the worth of the outcome, when there's worth of the outcome, we are willing to pursue it, whatever the cost.

And in today's passage, Jesus is really teaching us something similar.

He's teaching us that every person will either look to follow after him or look to follow after themselves and live life for themselves.

Whichever path is chosen, he wants us to know, it's gonna cost us.

So let's read Luke 14, 25 to the end together.

Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

For which of you desiring to build a tower does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?

Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish it, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, This man begun to build and was not able to finish.

Or what king going out to encounter another king in war will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes after him with twenty thousand?

And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that ye has cannot be my disciple.

Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?

Is of no use either for the soil or the manure pile.

It is thrown away.

He who has ears, let him hear.

See, by this time, Jesus is nearing the end of his ministry, and all along the way he's performed these miracles.

He's healed the sick, he's fed the five thousand, he's cast out demons, he's raised the dead.

And so you can imagine all this attention that is brewing around Jesus.

Like the locals witness miracle after miracle, and they've never seen such power and authority be demonstrated by such a man.

So so you could tell that the word would just go around the region, and curiosity about Jesus would grow more and more.

And so as Jesus heads towards the cross, as he heads towards Jerusalem, where he's ultimately going to be crucified, he's accompanied with a great crowd.

But Jesus knew the heart of those in the crowd.

He knew though, although the crowd was great in size, although they physically followed after him, he knew they were truly not followers of him.

Many were there just to witness the miracles for themselves.

Many were there because it was the talk of the town.

But many were there just blindly following the masses, following the crowds.

See, Jesus wasn't interested in having a crowd follow him if they weren't prepared to truly follow him.

See, in this passage, Jesus is sifting out who his true disciples were.

And so he turns to them and gives like a threefold statement.

He says, if he's not gonna be uh priority over your relationships, if he's not gonna be priority over your lifestyle, and if he's not gonna be priority over all that you have, then you cannot be his disciples.

See, Jesus isn't sugarcoating his message, he's not soft-serving his message.

There's no optionality, there's no partiality.

Christ wants all of you or none of you.

There's no in-between.

Jesus is telling us to weigh the cost of following him.

Like sit down and think about it.

Don't be hasty, don't run into this decision, but consider the cost.

It's gonna cost you your relationships, your lifestyle, your possession.

That's the cost of discipleship.

And Jesus is saying, are you willing to give that up and follow after him?

See, the word disciple is used 20, two, sorry, the word disciple is used over 200 times in the New Testament.

And it has a broad meaning, but in its most basic form, it means like learner or student, right?

And you have this like student-teacher relationship, and it wouldn't be common that over time that the relationship would come to an end.

That over time, like the student would give up because it was too difficult.

Or over time, the student lost interest and just leaves it.

Or perhaps the student graduates because they've leaved this, set uh reached a sense of maturity, but Jesus is not using the general sense of the word disciple here.

He's using the more purer meaning of disciple, which eventually would become synonymous with the word Christian, little Christ.

See, Jesus is saying if you want to be a true Christian, a true disciple, it's gonna cost you.

See, we live in a society that we've foregone truth.

That that there's no longer this objective good and evil, there's no longer an objective right or wrong.

It's all about how you feel.

It's how all it's all about like what does the truth mean to you?

What's your truth?

It's becoming very subjective.

And one really concerning aspect to this line of thinking that really crept into the Christian circle is what's known as the great assumption.

The great assumption is everyone who believes themselves to be a Christian is in fact so.

See, it doesn't matter how you live your life, it doesn't matter who you live your life for, it doesn't matter your desires or your pursuits or your priorities, as long as you say you're a Christian, as long as you say it, then it must be so.

In Matthew 7, 22, it says, On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?

And the Lord says to him, I never knew you.

One of the most bone-chilling verses of all the scripture.

So it begs the question, why?

Why are so many people misguided?

Why, when the Lord returns to come take his people home, will we so many people be deceived?

Many who think they are disciples of Christ, only to be confronted by the words, I never knew you.

So what do we hold on to?

What do we hold on to for an assurance of our faith?

What do we hold on to say this is why I'm a disciple of Christ?

Is it that one day we we said that sinner's prayer, or that we responded to an altar call, or that we attend church and read our Bible?

If that's it, if that's it, then we're hanging our hat on the wrong hook.

In this passage, Jesus is teaching us what it means to be a true disciple.

The first point I want to draw to your attention is a true disciple of Christ prioritizes Christ over their relationships.

Look at verse 26 for me.

If anyone come to me and does not hate his own father and mother, and children and brother and sisters, yes, even his own self, he cannot be my disciple.

See, Jesus opens with a big bang.

He goes after the relationships that are meant to be the closest to you.

He goes after your parents, your spouse, your children.

He goes after your own flesh and blood and says, if you do not hate them, you cannot be his disciple.

See, now the the the original audience knew what Jesus meant by the word hate.

It's not how you and I use the word hate today to mean an intense dislike.

But here it's a Hebrew expression to mean love less.

It compares two things together.

Right?

We see that in in Genesis 29 between the story of Jacob, Rachel, and Leah.

We read in Genesis 29 that Jacob loved Rachel, and of course he loved Leah as well, but he loved Rachel more.

And yet the very next verse it says that God saw that Leah was hated or otherwise understood as loved less.

All throughout Jacob's life, we see that he loved the both of them, but we see that he favored Rachel over Leah.

A similar call to discipleship can be found in Matthew 10, 37, where Jesus says, Whoever loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of me.

See, this makes a lot more sense, doesn't it?

We can reconcile this understanding with the rest of Scripture.

All throughout Scripture, God tells us to honor our parents, love our wife, love one another, love our enemies.

All throughout Scripture, God is telling us to display the very love of Christ in our own life.

But in at the same time, we have to uphold the greatest commandment of them all, that is to love your Lord God with all your might, with all your soul, with all your heart.

That's exactly what Jesus is teaching us, isn't he?

He's telling us that our love for him must be the greatest, that he will not share the throne of our heart with any other person.

That he will not be surpassed by any other love.

Everything we're obligated to love, our parents, our spouse, our children, ourselves, should not stand in the way, not even our closest marital or relational status.

There are parts of this world where they would disown you for your conversion of faith.

There are parts of society today that your conversion of faith, that your profession of faith would be an utter severance of a relationship with your family.

Relationships that are meant to be the closest to you, suddenly disowning you, seeing your faith as a betrayal to the family.

There may be some in this room that have experienced that cold shoulder, that loss of relationship because they profess to be a Christian.

There may be some in this room that is struggling with pleasing friends and family with following Christ.

See, Jesus is teaching us to deny all relationships that hold you back from Him.

That the cost of discipleship, the cost of following Him will cost you even your closest of relationships.

But if ever our love for our family is pinned against our love for Christ, then we must choose Him.

So let me ask you what relationships do you have that you put before Christ?

That has you compromise in what He commands of us?

See, practically speaking, that may be accepting the disapproval of your family members as you pursue your relationship with God deeper.

That may mean ending friendships that have you being pulled back into your own sinful habits.

That may mean ending dating relationships that aren't Christ-centered.

This doesn't describe a radical Christian or a Christian that's reached this next level of maturity.

John MacArthur says it well when he says Jesus is not calling for a makeover.

He's calling for a takeover.

He's calling to become sovereign Lord, divine dictator, ruler, controller, and king of your life.

Jesus is saying that this is a must for anyone to be a disciple.

This is a must for anyone, and this is the cost of discipleship.

The second point I want to draw to your attention is a true disciple of Christ prioritizes Christ over their lifestyle.

Look at verse 27 for me.

Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

See, the crowd understood what Jesus was asking of them when he said, Bear your own cross.

There was no misunderstanding to what Jesus was asking of them.

See, the cross was an instrument of brutality and shame.

The cross was the most visible sentencing by the Roman Empire reserved to punish the most and worst criminals in the most public and painful manner possible.

It was to be used as an example for all to witness who the supreme ruler was of the land.

And so when one was declared guilty by a judge and sentenced to death by the cross, as a public display of their guilt, they had to carry their cross beam to the site of execution.

They had to do this like endure this death march as they walk towards the place where they'll be crucified.

And as they walked to their place of crucifixion, their guilt was on display for all to see, to all to witness.

They were made a spectacle for all to judge.

See, today we've diluted what it means to bear one's own cross.

We've kind of simmered it down to a saying.

Right?

Like when things aren't going our way, when life is getting a bit too difficult, well, that's our cross to bear.

Right?

When work is difficult, or I have a difficult boss or a difficult coworker, I say, well, that's my cross to bear.

Right?

When my kids aren't obeying and listening and doing as I exactly as I say, well, that's my cross to bear.

Or if I'm taking care of an elderly parent or family member, and it's just consuming my every minute, well, that's my cross to bear.

See, like each one of these circumstances are no doubt super difficult.

No doubt can be taxing and refine our character.

No doubt needs to have godly advice and prayer over each one of those.

But that's not what God meant by bear your own cross.

I remember several years ago, this is a true story.

My grandmother, she was like one of the first founders of establishing a ride-sharing model, like before Uber was ever a thing.

That's like the Silicone Valley Giants ripped off my Teta, okay?

At any point of time, my Tata would pick up the phone and say, Mark, come pick me up.

I want to go to the mall.

Mark, come pick me up, I want to go to the hair salon.

And it didn't matter where I was, it didn't matter I was out of the country, it didn't matter that I was at work.

The expectation was I'd drop everything I'm doing and go drive her from place to place to place.

So you can see how like insignificant this is, right?

Like, of course I love my Tate and I'm happy to drive her from place to place, but truth be told, there were times where I thought like this was my cross to bear.

But like this is like this is like an insignificant example, right?

Like you can see how this compared to what Jesus truly meant to bear your own cross, it cannot compare.

See, when Jesus calls us to bear our own cross and follow him, he's calling us to die to self.

He's calling us to accept our guilty state and endure a death march.

He's he's calling us to carry our own cross beam.

But instead of a march that leads to our physical death, he demands this march to be a continual putting to death of the very lifestyle that sentenced us to death.

To bear one's own cross is to put to death the lifestyle that is enslaved to sin, a lifestyle that enjoys the pleasures of the world, that craves the things that stand against Christ, that are self-seeking, self-satisfying, and self-centered.

Galatians 5, 24 makes this very clear to us.

It says, and those who belong to Christ, Jesus, have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

So what's it mean?

What's it mean to be crucifying the flesh with its passions and desires?

What's that look like?

What about our time?

The most valuable currency in this world is our time.

It's not it's not the Canadian dollar, it's not the US dollar, it's not certainly not cryptocurrency.

It's our time.

See, time is something that cannot be taken back.

How we chose to spend our day yesterday is final.

We can't undo it, we can't redo it, we certainly can't add to it.

None of us here know how long we'll be here on earth.

So, how are we using the currency that is constantly depleting?

How are we using the time that God has given us here on earth to do?

This may come to you as a shock, but no one at the end of their life, on their deathbed, on their final moments of life, turns and says, Man, I wish I worked more.

It just doesn't happen.

See, time is a revealer of priorities.

Whatever you spend your time on the most outlines to you how much priority you've placed on it in your life.

So let me ask you, what fills our schedules each day?

What have we allowed to consume our most valuable currency?

Is it our careers?

Do we pour everything we have into our careers?

That by the end of it, by working 10, 12, 14 hour days, issue after issue, meeting after issue, problem after problem, that we're done.

We have nothing more to give.

We can't give time for our families, our kids, our church, our small group.

We just want to shut it off.

Listen, I'm not condemning working hard.

In fact, we are called to work, so let's do it well.

But I'm saying, where's the line?

Where's the line?

Have we drawn it too far forward that it's become an idol in our life?

That to bear your own cross is to put to death the priority that you've placed it, placed work on your life.

Listen, I preach this to myself first.

I work in the corporate world.

There were seasons that I worked 14, 15 hour days.

There were seasons that I have so much work to do that I just I didn't sleep.

I went I went or worked right through the night.

So I know what it means to be consumed by it.

I know that.

Perhaps you can relate to the same excuses that I made for myself.

That it won't get done unless I do it.

That I don't have a choice.

It's only for a season.

I'll miss out on that promotion.

It pays the bills.

But let's get to the heart of the matter.

Like, have we stopped and contemplated why we do what we do?

Like, I feel like we get wrapped up in life so much that we we never just stop and think, like, why are we doing this?

We're just so focused on the what and we're doing the what and keep going on the what, but never stop and say, why?

Why are we doing what we are doing?

Yes, you're called to work, so let's do so faithfully.

But is our ambitions pure?

Like, are we pursuing a career so we can achieve that fancy title, so we can bask in its glory of my self-accomplishments, my self-made self?

Are we pursuing that promotion so we can get paid more?

So I don't have to think about another bill ever again, that can eat at the nice places or have a bigger home or a nicer car?

Does our careers take away from the kingdom work required of us?

To bear your own crosses, to rid ourselves of any selfish desire or pursuit.

In today's society, career is number one.

Maybe it's not career for you.

Maybe it's children, maybe it's your kids.

Maybe your evenings and weekends are so consumed by dance recitals and soccer practices and hockey practices and games and academic pursuits that again, in and of itself, is not a bad thing.

But when then when they occupy your every evening and every weekend, they can come become an all-consuming focus in your life where that's the priority and nothing else.

Perhaps it's not your career or your kids, but it's something else.

Something else that is competing with God for your time.

See, whatever it is, the worst part about idols.

The worst part about idols is we never see the idols in our own lives.

I can see your idols, but I can't see mine.

I don't have any.

And that's why it's so important to have a community of believers such as this, to hold us accountable, to point out the areas of our life that we have to repent from.

To be plugged into a church like this.

Jesus is teaching us unless you bear your own cross and come after him, you cannot be his disciple.

He demands a daily self-denial of your pursuits, your priorities, your desires.

He demands that you have a growing hatred, you have a growing hatred for the sin in your life and a growing love for the things of God.

So let me ask you, as a follower of Christ, what sacrifice in your life is being made because of your faith?

Dietrich Bonhoeffers quoted, when Christ calls a man, when Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.

The final point I want to bring to your attention is a true disciple of Christ prioritizes Christ over their possessions.

Let's turn to read verse 33.

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

See, the Lord has set his terms to be his disciple.

He has set his terms to be a true follower of Christ.

And at this point, the crowds would have been devastated by the words that Jesus has spoken.

Although the crowds were great in size, only a few would follow him after these words.

See, God is not interested in the size of his ministry.

He's not interested in superficial following.

So he has turned to each one of us.

And has placed little to no thought on the cost of following him.

And he says, if Christ must be over your every relationship, your father, your mother, your spouse, your children, and your siblings, and yes, even yourself, you must be over your lifestyle choices.

You must bear your own cross.

And if that wasn't clear enough, he then ends it saying, He must be over your every possession, renounce all that you have.

Jesus is teaching us that being his disciple will cost us everything.

So you may think this language is extreme.

Or that it's for radical Christians or Christians that have reached some next level of Christianity.

But let me ask you, what did the Father hold back when he gave his son to die for us?

What wrath was held back when the Father poured it out on judgment on his son at the cross?

What was held back to pay the penalty for our sins that we may be justified?

See, this language isn't extreme, but necessary.

So what is it then?

What is it in our life that we hold back from God?

What is in our life that we say, I'm willing to be a disciple, I'm willing to follow you, just don't touch this.

Just don't take away my health.

Don't take away my house, not my kids, not my career.

What is it that our faith is conditioned on?

So yeah, of course we don't say these words, do we?

At least not out loud.

Right?

But in our heart of hearts, as long in our heart of hearts, we know what we hold back from God.

Jesus calls us to renounce all that we have.

I'm reminded of the story of the rich young ruler who essentially interrupts Jesus and says, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

And Jesus responds to him says, Well, don't commit adultery, don't murder, don't steal, don't bear false witness.

Honor your father and brother.

And the and the ruler was so happy, he's like, Jesus, I've been doing that since I was young.

I've been keeping your commandments ever since I was a child.

So Jesus turns to him and says, There's one thing you haven't, one thing you've kept back.

Go sell all that you have and give it to the poor.

And the the treasures of heaven will be yours.

Come follow me.

And these words devastated him.

See, the cost of discipleship was too great for this man.

This man did not want to part from his earthly treasures, and he left extremely sorrowful.

See, we count the cost of discipleship based on what we truly treasure most.

We will not part with what the what captures our heart.

Luke, Luke 12 says, For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

So what is it then?

What is it that we treasure more than the creators of the heaven and the earth?

What what what creation do we treasure more than the creator himself?

Being a disciple of Christ will cost me everything.

I guess we have to answer the why.

Why am I gonna be willing to give up everything for Christ?

I think John Piper's quote says it the best.

Conversion means discovering Jesus is a treasure of such surpassing worth that joy enables a new disciple to leave everything and follow him.

Let me read that again.

Conversion means discovering Jesus is a treasure of such surpassing worth that joy enables a disciple to leave everything and follow him.

So we begin to understand that Jesus is the greatest treasure when we begin to recognize.

That it is he who provides purpose in life when we're feeling the emptiest inside.

It is he who shines light in our life when we're feeling and going through the darkest of moments.

It is he who provides us the peace of God, no matter how big of a sinner or how deep of a fall.

It is he who loves and forgives and cares for us.

It is he who paid the penalty for our sins because all has fallen short of the glory of God.

See if we understand who he is, then we'll be like that man who found a great treasure and sold all that he had to purchase that field.

Let's close in prayer.

Lord, you have sent your son to die on that cross for our sins, Lord God.

We could not attain you, we could not earn you.

It is you who paid that penalty for our steads.

Lord, it was through the work of the cross, Lord God, that we can turn to you, Lord God, in prayer.

As you draw us in, Lord, we just think of the cost of discipleship, yet we think of the cost of the cross.

Lord, you have called us to renounce all that we have, Lord.

I pray that you just search our hearts.

Remove anything that impedes a growing love to you.

I pray that we have a growing hatred towards the sin in our life.

I pray that we renounce any relationships that we have that are impeding our walk with you, that are preventing us from approaching your throne, Lord.

I think of our lifestyle and how the work of the cross has cleansed us of our sins, Lord God.

I pray, though, Lord, that we take that daily march, a continual putting to death of the very lifestyle that sentenced us to death, Lord God.

Lord, I know your word will not return void, and so I pray, Lord, that you bless your word this morning.

Amen.