Lk 14:25-33 Take up your cross and follow me
Jim Eliot, an American missionary who was killed on 8th January 1956 taking the Gospel to the Waodani people in Ecuador - once famously wrote in his diary on 28th October 1949:
“He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep
To gain that which he cannot lose”
Jesus said something similar in our Gospel reading this morning:
27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple
Christ is looking for dedicated men and women who are willing to be his disciples.
There are a lot of people in the UK who are believers in God – but that doesn’t make them a Christian.
A Christian is someone who not only believes in the existence of God but trusts him too.
Story: Let me illustrate this with a story.
In the late 19th century (1859), Blondin a famous tightrope walker had a tightrope placed across the Niagara Falls in the USA.
He then proceeded to walk across it with a wheelbarrow in front of him.
Having reached the other side, he stepped down to the applause of the crowd.
He went up to members of the crowd and asked:
"Do you believe that I can walk back on that rope without falling off?"
"Yes" they each replied.
"Do you really believe I can make" he asked.
"Yes" they replied. "We've just seen you do it"
"Then" said Blondin "Will you please step inside my wheelbarrow and come with me".
"Oh no" they replied "It is far too dangerous".
This is the difference between being a mere believer and a real true disciple.
God wants us to be “wheelbarrow” people.
Stepping into the wheelbarrow means we really trust him to guide us and to provide for our needs.
1. Hating one’s family
In our reading today, Jesus uses two strong images to make his point.
The first is in Luke 14 verse 26 Jesus said:
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple.
Jesus is using hyperbole here.
He is not telling us to literally hate our parents, our wives and children and our own lives - because elsewhere Jesus tells us to even love our enemies (Mt. 5:44).
The problem with Luke 14:26 comes through translation.
In Hebrew thought, there is no separate word to 'prefer less'.
So Jesus would have to use the word ‘sane’, which is translated into the Greek and English as ’hate’.
Actually 'sane’ covers the whole range of negative emotions from ’intense hatred of the enemies of God to simply something to be avoided’.
’Sane’ also means, “ to abandon, leave aside, quit, relinquish” and it is this nuance that seems to be present here.
What Jesus is in effect saying is
"If anyone comes to me and does not relinquish his ties to his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple.”
So he is not saying that we are to hate our family.
Rather what he is saying in these verses is that our dedication in following him must make our love for our family and ourselves seem in comparison like hate.
2. Taking up our Cross
Jesus uses a second strong image in our Gospel reading today and that is taking up our Cross to follow him.
In Luke 14:27 Jesus says
27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Another way of putting it is:
“In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has, cannot be my disciple.” (Lk 14:27)
We must be prepared to give up everything – even our own lives – to follow Christ
Indeed, in the first century AD that was the very option that Jews would have had to choose when they became Christians.
And among the more Orthodox Jews, they would have a burial service for the person who became a Christian.
This would signify that that person was now dead to them because they had abandoned the Jewish faith.
It cost the early disciples everything – sometimes even their own lives.
Their family and circle of friends turned on them and rejected them.
Indeed for some Christians today converting from Islam to Christianity face similar consequences today.
It can even cost their lives
For example, it is a capital offence in some Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia to convert from Islam to Christianity.
And of course there is persecution in China and North Korea as well as in Islamic countries.
Discipleship is not for the faint hearted
It is interesting that Jesus only gave the Church one commission:
Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Mt. 28:19-20)
I would like to focus on the word: “Disciple” this morning.
3 What does the word DISCIPLE mean?
The word "Disciple” is derived from the Latin discipulus meaning a pupil or learner.
The Greek word used in the New Testament is Mathetes.
Mathetes means someone who binds himself to his teacher “to acquire his practical and theoretical knowledge”.
Like an appentice in our society.
Both teacher and disciple were committed to a common goal.
3.1 The word is also very closely tied up with the word DISCIPLINE.
One definition of discipline is to " bring under control by training in obedience" - Concise Oxford Dictionary.
Story: A wise man once likened discipline in the Christian life to a river.
Where the banks of the river define its path, the river is healthy and fine. It brings life.
Where the river overflows the banks, it becomes a swamp – a place where snakes and mosquitoes infest it - and this brings disease and death.
DISCIPLINE in the Christian’s LIFE is like the banks of the river.
We cannot be disciples in the Christian life without discipline.
DISCIPLINE is an uncomfortable word today.
However the aim of our lives must be to come under the control and leading of the Holy Spirit.
Story: My father used to remind me regularly when I was younger of the words of Socrates, the great Greek philosopher. He once said to a king who wanted to pick up Socrates' learning quickly.
"There is no royal road to learning".
THERE IS NO ROYAL ROAD TO CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP
Discipleship is not an overnight job.
Just as a tree does not spring up and bear fruit overnight so we too need to grow in discipleship.
Conclusion
Discipleship is more than being merely a believer.
It affects the way we live. It requires TOTAL DEDICATION
Jesus said: “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has - cannot be my disciple” (Luke v.33)
When Jesus calls us to be disciples, he is looking for radical lifestyle.
Lifestyle built on prayer and the Scriptures. A life totally dedicated to Jesus.
The challenge I have from this passage this morning is which Trinity am I following?
1. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit or
2. I, Myself and me!
Prayer:
Father, we ask you to reveal to us what the cost of being your disciple really is. We ask this in Jesus Name. Amen
