How Much Does It Cost
11/5/2006 Ruth 4:1-6 Luke 14:25-35
How many of you went shopping this week. How many of you were able to find some good bargains? How many of you put something back on the shelf because of the price tag on it? I have a theory that there are three basic kind of shoppers. There is the person that says, “I want that and I’m going to get it no matter what.” There is the person that says, “I want that, but not at that price.” There is the person that first looks at the price, and then decides whether or not he or she wants the item.
When my wife or daughters ever went with me shopping and I was spending the money, if they asked me, what do you think of this on me? My response would be, “how much does it cost.” If they said, “it’s only $15, I’d say, you never looked so good in all your life. But if they said, “my bag it’s $150.00 I’d say, that thing really takes away from your good looks.”
One of the most deceptive things in our society is keeping people from knowing the true cost of an item. A car ad on tv will blasts out, you can have this vehicle for only 299 a month, and then very quickly they will say $2900 down due at the time of signing, tax, title and destination charges are not included. You get a credit card and they blast out 3% interest rate guaranteed, and then in the small print state this rate is good for the first three hours after you use the card, at which time your rate will be 13% and if you are late on this card for any payment or on any other card your rate will be 27% or whatever the maximum amount allowed by law. We think we’re getting a great deal, but we’re actually being ripped off.
Our wallet is not the only part of us that suffer this kind of abuse. But much of it is caused by our own failure to ask the question, “how much does this cost.” You see everyday in life we face choices. Every choice that we make, should involve asking the question how much does it cost. There is a gimmick that goes around saying you can buy this furniture and not make a payment for two years with no interests for two years.
Well the only way you avoid paying interest for two years is to pay the balance in full at the first payment. Otherwise you pay all the interests that would have been due during the two years, plus the interests you will be paying until you pay off the balance. Now the cost is twice what it would have been in the beginning. Life is full of choices that are not paid at the start of making the decision.
Let me give you some examples. How much does it cost to act the fool at school and get suspended? Some say practically nothing. You don’t know how much it is going to cost you. How much does it cost to have sex with someone you’re not married to? You don’t know the cost. You know if we could just find a way to make men pay child support payments before they have sex and get a girl or woman pregnant, we would wipe out unwed pregnancies.
Why because when they realize how much it actually was going to cost them, they would choose not to have sex. $50,000 is a lot of money for a woman you only plan to be with for a half hour or so. There is not a teenager here who can afford to have sex, and yet several are doing it. Why, because they have not answered the question fully, “how much does it cost and they don’t have the maturity to really understand it? None of us appreciate the cost fully of what sexual immorality cost us in the eyes of God.
You need to ask the question how much does dating this person cost? How much does marrying this person cost? I’m not talking about money, I’m talking about what will it cost you emotionally, spiritually and socially. Everybody comes with baggage. How much will it cost to deal with his or her baggage?
How much will it cost for you to leave your spouse and your children? How much will it cost for you to keep ignoring your own child simply because you and the child’s mother or father broke up? How much does it cost to take the job you’re considering. How much does it cost to not go to the doctor because you’re afraid they might find something. How much does it cost for you to keep hating someone? We like to think that we can get things at a discounted price, but we can’t control some of the costs that are involved.
How many have you have ever thought you were getting something at good price and it ended up costing you more than you ever dreamed it would. How many of you can look back at your life, and say, what I got out of that was not worth the price that I paid for it to happen.
In our Old Testament reading we met two guys. One guy was named Boaz and the other guy was simply referred to as the kinsman redeemer. If a family member died leaving no children, then there was a certain pattern to follow of which family member could buy the land and use it. Well a guy by the name of Elimeleech died and both of his sons had also died, so this property looked like a great deal. Boaz pointed out to the guy, look if you want to buy the property then buy it, but if not, let me know now because I’m next in line. The guy thought about the land and how much it cost, and he said, “sure I will buy it.”
Boaz then pointed out to him, that he might not have considered the full cost of the land, because with the land also came one of Elimelech’s son’s wife. Whoever redeemed the land, would also have to take care of her. The relative then thought, this land is not such a bargain after all if I have to take care of her, so he told Boaz, you go ahead and buy the land. Boaz got the land and the girl.
You know when you make a purchase, consider everything. If you’re going to marry someone with children, recognize the children come with the person. If you’re not willing to be loving to the children and open to the idea of providing for them as you provide for your own, then keep on searching for someone else. Don’t ruin other peoples lives because you’re not willing to pay the cost. Let somebody else make the purchase whose willing to pay the full price.
We are so use to discounts, sales and bargains, that we forget there are some prices that are firm. I hate going to car places where you are expected to haggle down on the prices. I want the price on the sticker to be the actual price of the car. There is a verse in Proverbs that speaks of a buyer who is arguing with the seller saying the thing is worthless, until he gets the price down real low. After he buys it, he then goes and brags to others about his great deal.
With all the changes in prices depending on how well you haggle, we have come to think that our relationship to God can be handled in a similar fashion. We even come up with our own lists of do’s and don’ts and consider ourselves in a right relationship with God. We think there is such a thing as a 100% Christian, a 90% Christian, a 75% Christian and a 50% Christian and a 2% Christmas and Easter Christian. Somehow we all love God and we will all go to heaven somehow, someway by saying we believe in Jesus. Now this would be a pretty decent strategy if it were not for Jesus. I keep telling you Jesus is the worst enemy of our desire to make it to heaven at a discount.
Here’s how Christianity works. All of us have disobeyed God. All of us deserve hell and are on our way to hell as punishment for our sin. If we do not get off that road headed to hell, we will end up there. Nobody has to do anything for us to arrive. God loved all of us so much, that he made a detour off the road to hell to a right relationship with Him. God will not make anyone take the detour. It is a choice.
How do we get on the detour to get on the road to a right relationship with God our Heavenly Father. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” If Jesus is lying, then it doesn’t matter what you do find a detour. If Jesus is telling the truth, then you need to know what he said about that road.
Jesus could never pastor a very large church, because he kept turning people off with his message. Jesus could have had large miracle crusades for weeks, with everybody being healed but he didn’t. He could have told everyone how to become wealthy, but he didn’t. He could have fed every homeless person in the country but he didn’t. His church would have been huge if he had let others handle the ministry for Him. He spent his time telling people to count the cost to follow him. Most of us think it’s free to follow Jesus. Jesus is saying, you just don’t get it do you. He said, let me give you an illustration of what I mean about counting the cost.
Suppose a person wanted to build a large tower or a house. Would he just go get his money and start building it or would he first see if he had enough money to do the job? If he just goes out and start building, he may get the foundation laid and a few walls put up, but that’s it. That building will be a complete waste of time, energy and money. Others will come around and laugh at him, because they will say, this guy started building and didn’t even have a plan on how he was going to be able to finish it off. He did not count the cost.
Jesus says, let me put it another way. Suppose a king is about to go to war with another king. Now if the king knows he only has 10,000 soldiers and the king coming against him as 20,000 soldiers and there’s no way he can beat the 20,000 men, wouldn’t it be a good idea for him to sit down and count the cost. The best thing he could do is to send a delegation to the other king, while he is still a long ways off and ask him for the terms of peace. What do we have to do to peacefully surrender. We’re stuck in a war with Iraq all because our leaders did not listen to this very simple illustration by Jesus. We did not count the cost.
I want you to imagine Jesus being surrounded by hundreds and thousands of people. Jesus looked at the large crowd running after him, and he knew they were looking for a religion on the discount. One that could change as they changed depending on how they felt on a given day. Jesus then puts the cost of being his disciple out in front of them. He does not say it really fast as the commercials do. He did not throw a bunch of words on the television screen that are one long paragraph with all kinds of disclaimers in it which you could not read in the 3 seconds they are on the screen.
He says to the crowds, listen to this, those of you who are wondering what is the cost to be one of my disciples. Here it is. Luke 14:26-27
"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. [27] And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”
You could have heard a pin drop when he said that. Somebody no doubt was thinking, “what kind of a fool would make that kind of a statement. If that’s what it takes to be one of his disciples, then I am out of here.” Somebody else was thinking, “maybe I didn’t hear him right. Maybe he was referring to one of his sold out disciples. Not just us ordinary disciples. Surely he does not expect this of all of us.” Somebody else was thinking, “wow, that is deep. I really am going to have to make some changes to keep following this guy”. Somebody else was thinking, “if that’s what it cost, then that’s what I got to do.”
Jesus says the first cost of following him means there are going to be some relationship changes in our lives. He’s talking about relationships on all levels. Jesus is going to put some requirements on us, that means other people are not going to be that crazy about the changes he’s making in our lives. We will find ourselves in the position of not being able to do things we use to do. Now you have to know that Jesus is not talking about hating other people, but he is telling us that’s going to be the feeling they get when you reject them for Christ’s sake.
When you tell that boyfriend or girlfriend of yours, I got to let you go because our being together is not right, the response is going to be “I thought you loved me. Now that you got this Jesus, you’ve started hating on me.” You cannot be tight with a group of friends that want nothing to do with Jesus. Your presence will make them uncomfortable. If it doesn’t, then something is wrong with you in your relationship to God.
I guarantee you if you try to live for God, the world will give you a respect, but they will hate you for it. Here come Mr. Choir Boy. There goes the Church girl. Uhh, the Rev has arrived. People of the world, know that you are a stranger to them, because they can’t count on you to go along with them.
How much does it cost to follow Jesus. It cost crying some nights, because you had to let somebody you love go. It costs getting upset because you’re not invited to all the parties. It costs being ridiculed and laughed at because you different. It costs courage because sometimes you’re going to have to stand all by yourself for what is right. It costs being fired from a job, because you can’t go along with wrong. It costs being with a lot less money, because selling drugs is no longer an option. It cost being a part of some groups, because you may have to give more of your time to serving in the kingdom.
Jesus really knocks it up a level when he says, “and even his own life.” Wait a minute, is Jesus saying everything that I do I need some kind of permission slip from him to do it. After all it is my own life. Do you recall Jesus saying, except you become as a little child, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. A child is not in charge of his or life. A child needs permission before engaging in activities. God expects us to look for him to decide what kind of a person we are going to be.
He is to be our source for determining who we are, no matter where we are, regardless of who we are with. Following Jesus is not about simply coming to church, singing some songs, hearing a sermon, and going back home to live the same old kind of a way. Following Jesus is about counting the cost every time we have decision to make so that it becomes second nature to us to be obedient. It is about admitting when we have sinned and asking forgiveness and turning away from it. It’s not just believing, it’s repenting and believing.
When Jesus says anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Some of us think of the cross as a shiny piece of jewelry to be worn to show our faith. The cross was not a symbol of Christ when he said this. The cross was a symbol of pain, of agony, of suffering and death. To pick up you cross was the equivalent of heading to the electric chair or to the gas chamber in their mind. You knew there was no turning back. The most difficult thing you can do in life is to pick up your cross and follow Jesus. There is no greater challenge in life. Weak people can not do it.
Your cross is your desires. You are not going to want to always follow Jesus. You’re going to want to tell that person off. You’re not going to want to take care of that person. You’re going to want to steal that money. You’re going to want to have sex with that person. You’re going to want to take that job. You’re going to want to marry that person. You’re going to want to get your own way. You’re going to want to do as you please. Jesus is saying, I understand that, and lots of people want that and they can have it, but they can’t have it and be my disciple.
Is Jesus saying that to follow him means welcoming misery and suffering in our lives. Yes, to a degree that’s true. But following Jesus is always going to be the best thing for us in the long run. Jesus even gives us a promise of a greater restoration if we are willing to trust him. But you don’t get it unless you are willing to pay the cost.
He says in Mark 10:29-30 "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel [30] will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields--and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.
Notice this verse gives back much of what we walk away from when we follow Christ. But the key difference is the words, “and in the age to come, eternal life.” Without Jesus, what are you expecting in the age to come, which is going to last a whole lot longer than the age we’re in right now. Sometimes it’s good to ask the question How much does it cost to follow Jesus Christ. But it’s equally as important to know, “how much does it cost to not follow him.”
God’s love for us is real. Jesus dying for us is real. But what Jesus did, is not available to us at a discount. How much does it cost to follow Jesus—everything we got and everything we are going to get. Anything less than that and Jesus walks away from the deal. There will never be a sale, never a discount, and certainly no two for one so that we can come to him based on somebody else.
Sermon Outline Pastor Rick
How Much Does It Cost
11/5/2/2006 Ruth 4:1-6 Luke 14:25-35
A. Let’s See Who Are The Shoppers
1. Bargain Hunters, Put Back
2. 3 Kinds Of Shoppers
3. How Good Do I Look
4. Society’s Deception
5. $299 A Month And………
6. 3% Interest Rate ………..
7. No Payment For 2 Years
B. Life’s Choices—HMDIC
1. Suspension, Sex, Support
2. Pay Up Front Would Eliminate
3. Dating, Marrying-Baggage
4. Doctor, Desertion, Children
5. Where’s The Discount
6. Cost Different Than I Thought
C. Boaz Wants To Buy The Field
1. Elimelech’s Property
2. Buy The Field—Get The Girl
3. Whole Purchase Price
4. Marrying With Kids—Full Price
D. Do We Really Have To Haggle
Proverbs 20:14 "It’s no good, it’s no good!" says the buyer; then off he goes and boasts about his purchase.
1. Christians At A Discount
2. 100% To The 2% Holidays Only
3. Make It Up As You Go
4. Jesus The Problem Maker
E. How We End Up In Hell
1. Take The Detour
2. Jesus, I Am The Way John 14:6
3. Jesus Could Not Pastor
4. Miracles, Wealth, Feeding,
5. Please Count The Cost-Not Free
6. Building A Tower/Home Not Thinking
7. Going To War Without Thinking
F. The Crowds Are All Present
1. What’s The Discount Jesus
2. Jesus Tells It Like It Is
Luke 14:26-27 "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. [27] And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
3. Hey What Did he Say
4. A Fool, Poor Hearer, Thinker,
5. A Counter
G. HMDIC—A Lot Of Relationships
1. Can’t Do What I Use To Do
2. Others Feeling Hated Upon
3. Your Presence Is A Problem
4. World Will Respect & Hate You
5. Choir Boy, Church Girl, The Rev.
6. Tear, Ridicule, Fired, Hungry
7. Permission Slips
8. Except You Become As A Child
9. Wherever, Whenever, Whatever
10. Counting The Cost
H. What’s This Thing Called A Cross
1. Nobody Wore One
2. Pain, Agony, Suffering, Death
3. Gas Chamber, Electric Chair
4. My Desires, My Preference,
5. My Alternative Life-Style
6. What I Do Want & What I Don’t
I. Does Following Jesus Mean Grief
1. It Means Having The Best
2. Paying The Full Price
Mark 10:29-30 "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel [30] will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields--and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.
3. What About The Age To Come
4. Two Questions- To And To Not To
5. Never At A Discount
6. Everything We Got---Will Get
