Sunday, September 9, 2007 Sermon

The Cost of Discipleship:

In Luke 14:25-33, Jesus stresses the difficult and demanding conditions for discipleship. The harsh saying and the twin parables are not meant to discourage anyone from following him, they serve as a warning of the cost involved in a discipleship that leads to the Cross.

We who live in the West find Jesus’ saying to hate our dearest and nearest very disturbing and hard to accept. But that should not be taken literally, for the Semitic way of stating a preference employs the extremes of a love and hate contrast: as in “I love this and I hate that”! It is set in almost absolute terms: you can’t have both; you have to choose one over the other. To hate is a Jewish way of expressing detachment, and turning away from, or letting go. A literal interpretation of hate would go against a lot of Biblical teachings on caring for one’s family and one’s self.

But there are people with unhealthy attitudes who would use these sayings to denounce their family in the name of Christ, not because they are unwilling to forsake their family, but that they are too willing to get away from unhappy and painful situations and relationships. Many others with low self-esteem would be attracted by Jesus’ words to hate one’s own life as a sanction to self-hate. It would feed right into such mentality of a martyr complex. Hating one’s own life is not a call to self-loathing, to throw one’s body across the doorway and beg the world to trample on it as if it were a doormat. Rather, what Jesus is calling for is that those who follow him understand that loyalty to him can and will create tensions within the self and between oneself and those one loves. In such a conflict of loyalties, Jesus requires our primary allegiance.

If you find this demand for total commitment frightening, you are not the only one. If Jesus had asked, “Who wants to be a millionaire?” I am sure, no one would ever hesitate to put up their hands and yell: “Me!” Who in their right mind would want to a cross-bearing follower of Christ? Yet, we were told last week that the poor and the undesirable “street people” are all invited to the banquet with great ease. There is no demand other than to come and dine in the Kingdom Feast. Perhaps we always live in the tension between free grace and costly discipleship.

I once wrote a comparison between fans and disciples, when the Toronto Blue Jays were winning championships. Sports fans and fans of celebrity or performing artists are usually enthusiastic devotee or ardent supporters and admirers of their idols. They would spend time and money to follow their stars, whether it is going to all the ball games, film festivals or concerts, buying all their CDs, (these days downloading them from the net) and DVDs, collectible items or memorabilia. Some die hard fans will even travel many miles to see their stars performing in other cities, or in their away games. They belong to Fan Clubs; they call themselves groupies! They would know everything there is about their favorite stars, read every detail in the newspaper and websites; even memorize the statistics, and batting averages etc. We use very religious words to describe fans: devotion, dedication, and even commitment. The enthusiasm involved is quite remarkable.

Do you know that the word “fan” is really a proverbial short form for the word “fanatic”? Does that make a lot of sense? In the religious circle, mind you, that word fanatic is a dirty word. We don’t want to be called a fanatic by any means, but it is perfectly okay to be a sports fan!

However, fans are usually spectators. They may get involved in very physical ways to cheer, clap, yell and to do the wave, even singing along; but they are more than anything else spectators first. The cost of being a loyal fan could be fairly high. But other than the price of admission and other collectibles, they seldom put their lives on the line for their stars and idols. They may go to the stadiums or temple of worship: the Rogers Centre and Air Canada Centre so many times a year, but once the season is over, they still have other things to do, and their lives do not end there. There is no such thing as a serious calling, even though their behavior is fairly religious, to say the least. Their mood may swing wildly as their team win or lose, but there is usually a limit to their devotion.

Now, Christians do have a calling from Christ, we are more than just spectators coming to church once a week to cheer God on, nor are the choir cheer-leaders dressed up to cheer the crowd on. Discipleship goes deeper than all that. It goes beyond winning and losing, all the numbers game and performance. In following Jesus, the commitment required goes beyond fickle mood and feelings. It takes an active choice of the will and conviction on our part. Jesus also calls us to be more than spectators, we are to act on his behalf, as his servants, his ambassadors, his agents of love and instruments of peace in the world. It is not just callings for famous people and powerful leaders; it is also for ordinary people like you and me. Such calling is far from being boring; it is more exciting and fulfilling than anything else in the world.

The decision to be a Blue Jays fan, a Leafs fan or even an Argos fan is a much easier choice than to be a disciple of Christ. We can always opt out, especially when they are losing and no longer contenders, failing to compete in the playoffs. However, to be a real fan of Christ, a fanatic in the best sense of the word, it requires a lot more! May every time we come together to worship, we stop to count the cost, renew our commitment, go out into the world strengthened and empowered, to love and serve the Lord. Amen.