You might be familiar with the term day-trader. A day-trader is a high-risk investor who jumps in and out of the stock marker often many times a day to take advantage of small price changes. Day traders usually do not have any interest in the companies whose stock they are buying. These people are simply trying to catch stocks that they think are going to rise in value and then they will sell and go looking for other quick-pick opportunities.
There are other investors who have become known as “dot-com” investors. They look for Internet companies, especially those with “dot-com” at the end of their names. They spend a little time researching the firms who have these stocks and they buy them on a marginal basis and sell them as soon as the price increases.
Within the church there are some people who can be called day traders and dot-com investors. They know a little about God in reality and many think that they can buy a small share of christianity.com without first investigating Jesus’ claim to being Lord over all of their lives.
At this point in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus has attracted a large following. He was so popular that, like a rock star, groupies began to gather. They had heard of his preaching, teaching and healing. They wanted to get close to him and experience his unusual energy. Some even thought that he would be a military-type person who would drive out the Roman army and return Israel to the glory days of the reign of King David. They were thinking to themselves, “Oh boy! Happy days are here again!”, but oh boy, were they in for a big surprise!
Jesus quickly dashed their hopes. He knew what his true mission was and what the cost would be. He asked them to consider the cost of following him, and he asks us the same question today. Jesus calls for an exclusive commitment from us. Everything else in our lives must take a back seat. This is similar to what I was told when I joined the Mersey Band over 30 years ago. At that time, I was told by the bandmaster that my priorities were to be work or school first, family second, the band third and then everything else. Now, for some members everything else takes priority over the band. We must be prepared to leave everything else behind and follow him when he calls us, just like the disciples did when Jesus called them. Faith frees us from those things which keep us from the genuine joy of following Christ.
Moses said the same thing in Deuteronomy 30:15-20 just before he died, and just before the Israelites entered the Promised Land. He was concerned that their descendents clearly knew what was in store for them. They had a choice to make: obey God and be blessed, or disobey God and be punished.
Jesus gives us the same choice today. Our decision has a cost. If we disobey God, we will be punished by eternal damnation. If we obey God, we will be rewarded by Him, but we could be punished by our world today. We may suffer rejection or discrimination. Some of our friends and/or family members may shun us. We must honestly ask ourselves if we are prepared to pay the cost.
Today, as it was in Jesus’ time, he has many followers, but few disciples. For example, look at any church record of attendance or stewardship of time, talent and substance. What is the percentage of those who put Jesus first? There are still many people who seek the blessings but they are either not counting the cost or are not willing to pay it. In other words, they want the benefits but they do not want to pay the costs. Such people seek the cheap “no commitment” blessings he does not offer. Such seeking ends in disappointment and disillusionment. That’s why lots of his followers get discouraged with him in our day, just as they did in his day.
The dangers of being Christian in a violent world have not passed. Recently a group of medical aid workers in Afghanistan were executed by the Taliban, the reason being that they supposedly had proselytizing materials in their possession. All of the victims were associated with the International Assistance Mission, a Christian organization which provided humanitarian relief and aid in Afghanistan for decades. The Taliban claimed they were killed as Western spies who were preaching Christianity; however, security forces in Afghanistan said robbery was the probable motive.
Jesus knew that just as he would be rejected, abused and killed by the world, that his disciples would also face extreme hostility and hatred. Here are the fates of his original disciples:
1. James, the brother of Jesus, and James, the son of Zebedee, were killed by mobs in Jerusalem.
2. Matthew was run through with a sword in Ethiopia.
3. Philip was hanged in Greece.
4. Bartholomew was flayed alive in Armenia. In other words, his skin was stripped off of his body by whipping.
5. Andrew was crucified in Achaia and Thomas was killed with a lance in east India.
6. Thaddeus was slain with arrows and Simon the Zealot was crucified by the Persians.
7. Peter was crucified upside down by the Romans.
8. John died alone on the island of Patmos.
Greatness means there is a price to be paid. It always has meant that and always will mean that. Jesus knew that if his disciples could reject the earthly ties that bound them to human allegiances and loyalties first and foremost, then they could focus their faith and draw their strength from God’s power, love and kingdom.
Some of you may have heard of a Baptist minister by the name of Dr. Charles F. Stanley. He is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and the president of In Touch Ministries. His church services are televised worldwide on the program “In Touch. He is also a world-renowned author. In fact, the Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible is one of the many resources that I use when preparing my sermons. His motto is “Obey God, and leave all the consequences to him”. What this means is that if we choose to follow Christ, God will give us the strength and courage to face the consequences of our decision-both positive and negative. God will give us the courage to face adversity.
Our decision to follow Christ will involve huge sacrifices and the spending of vast amounts of energy and resources on serving our fellow man. This has been done by ordinary people. After all, God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Jesus’ disciples were ordinary people ranging from fishermen to a tax collector. God used Billy Graham, a farm boy from North Carolina, to create one of the greatest spiritual revivals on the 20th century. God uses Billy’s son Franklin to ease the suffering of humanity through his work with the Christian relief organization Samaritan’s Purse. Billy Graham recently said that he feels called by God to preach again at the age of ninety, even if it is for one last time. Closer to home, God uses me and other volunteers, some of whom are from our own parish, to help ease poverty through the local food bank, which was started in the 1980s by the now-defunct local association of churches. God uses our rector to ease the plight of sailors on ocean-going vessels through his work with the Missions to Seafarers in the Port of Liverpool and Brooklyn.
There is a movement abroad today by people who want a very different kind of Christ. This movement is called the Prosperity Gospel. Supporters of the Prosperity Gospel emphasize that Christ wants to make his followers wealthy. A billboard for a revival by evangelist Benny Hinn promised “Business Breakthrough: Special Prayers for Your Business & Finances.” The Prosperity Gospel is a movement that started in the United States and has spread throughout the world. People find it attractive because it promises material rewards for discipleship. It tells them that Jesus will make them wealthy, BUT Jesus said, “None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.” What he meant is that we cannot be his disciples if we allow the God-space at the centre of our lives to fill up with the love of money or material goods.
Jesus does not promise that our walk of faith will be easy. To paraphrase the title of a song recorded by Loretta Lynn, Jesus never promised us a rose garden here on earth. In fact, he makes it quite clear that there will be a cost. At this point in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, and he knows that when he gets there he will be arrested, tried and crucified-a sacrifice that he has to make so that we can be restored to a relationship with God. Now God is not calling us to make this kind of sacrifice like Christians in the Third World often have to do. He is also not calling us to sell everything we have and lead a life of a travelling missionary, although some great souls such as Mother Theresa have done that in the past. Most of us have far too many responsibilities to do that, but we can take some small steps in that direction. We can do things such as donating extra clothes or furniture that we don’t need to the poor or by donating time and money to help the less fortunate in our community. For example, the local food bank has seen the demand for its services increase at a faster rate than the increase in donations. The situation has reached the point where the food bank has almost run out of money and has had to discourage people from using the food bank.
Jesus calls on us to look again at those society sees as “outcasts” and see them as valued members of society. He himself was considered by many people, especially the Pharisees and Sadducees, as an “outcast’. His life and death placed him with the outcasts. Those who believe in him and his life, death and resurrection are often considered by our society to be outcasts because they, like Jesus, choose to go against society’s rules.
When Jesus said that we must “hate father and mother”, he was talking figuratively, not literally. Good thing, because that would mean disobeying the commandment to honour our parents-a commandment that I take seriously especially with my dear, sweet mother (and especially if I want to continue living at home!). As I mentioned earlier, what Jesus means is that we must have a secondary attachment to everything in our lives except Jesus. He must be our number one priority. Even then, there will be times when we will have to make choices that put our discipleship in the line. There will be times where we will have to say “No” to what seems to be alternative or easier ways of doing things. There will be times where we will be tempted like Christ was when he was in the wilderness. Following Christ is not a guarantee of a conflict-free life. In fact, Jesus was quite capable of blistering verbal assaults and even violence when he drove the money-changers out of the temple. In the words of General Dwight Eisenhower when he addressed the troops on the eve of the D-Day invasion in World War II, “There will be no victories at bargain-basement prices”.
The most famous book on the meaning of discipleship, which is entitled “The Cost of Discipleship”, was written in the 1930s by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was a German pastor and theologian who tried to lead his church in resistance to the Nazis and was martyred in 1945 at the Flossenberg concentration camp for his part in a conspiracy to murder Adolph Hitler. Bonhoeffer wrote these words in the book, “Where will the call to discipleship lead those who follow it? What decisions and painful separations will it entail? We must take this question to him alone who knows the answer. Only Jesus Christ, who bids us follow him, knows where the path will lead. But we know that it will be a path full of mercy beyond measure. Discipleship is joy.”
Jesus does not promise us material wealth if we follow him, but he promises us a wealth beyond anything we can dream of in terms of material goods. His wealth is the wealth of the Holy Spirit and the wealth of heaven. God and Christ are willing to share this wealth with us. There is a hymn in the Common Praise hymnbook entitled, “Will You Come and Follow Me”. All we have to do to receive Christ’s wealth is to say “Yes” and follow him in faith. As a result, our earthly journey may be hard, but when we get to heaven, we will find that the streets of gold are waiting for us-and they don’t have any potholes either!
