What The Cost?

Luke 14:25-33

Let us pray:

O God of love and glory, on this day, we come to you asking that your Spirit might be with us as we consider the critical decisions in life that we all must make. Lord, in these moments, may we feel your presence among us. In Jesus' name, we pray, Amen.

I have to tell you, this scripture strikes fear in the hearts of any clergy who has to preach on this. Jesus always shows love to everyone, and here he is saying ‘hate your father and mother’. . . what is going on here?

Much of the Lucan Gospel is set against the backdrop of a journey. Jesus and his disciples were slowly but surely making their way to Jerusalem, where his reason for being would be revealed to all. On their way, Jesus continued the formation of his disciples, telling of both the blessings and the struggles in following him.

In the Great Commission, Jesus told us to go into the world and make disciples of all nations. But what does it mean to make disciples?

And more to the point, what exactly is a disciple?

Every disciple is a Christian, but not every Christian is necessarily a disciple. The term "disciples" occurs 269 times in the New Testament, while the word "Christian" only appears three times.

We must remind ourselves that Jesus is the face of God made visible, the wisdom of God revealed, and the One who daily challenges the quality of our discipleship.

In Luke 14, Jesus laid out His requirements for discipleship. Let's look at one of them here: The disciple must love Jesus more than anyone or anything else, offering one of the greatest, most “slap you in the face” challenges he ever delivered.

“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother . . . and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

In fact, not only once but THREE times – just in case we don’t get it the first time!

We were talking about this scripture in our staff meeting, and I was challenged to try and explain why Jesus says a disciple

‘must hate his father and mother

When all his other ministry was devoted to loving everyone.

Okay, I accept the challenge!

First, we must realize that this kind of “hate” is not an emotion – it’s an attitude of perspective. Keep in mind that the Greek vocabulary Luke used had relatively few words. So, the Greek word miseo can be translated as “hate,” but it also means

disregard,

be indifferent to,

or to love one thing less than something else.

In this particular instance, Jesus compares the devotion one would typically hold sacred only for family members and the commitment required to become one of his disciples. Jesus is saying, “

Love me more than you would even love your family, as important as that is to you. Love me more than whatever holds first place in your life, whatever matters most to you.”

Luke’s Jesus presumes we must be wholly committed to that spirit. Nothing – or no one – can be more critical than that commitment, not even life itself. And it’s certainly not something that comes easy.

Twice Jesus says we have to give up everything and take up a cross if we will follow him. The implication is that these people had not done that but had found it altogether too easy to fall into line behind Jesus.

Jesus says we must expect the loss of respect and association with those we feel the most affection for, family members. They will not appreciate the changes we have made in our lives.

Our lives may become seriously unstable, as outsiders might judge them. He suggests that the convert may become somewhat itinerant in a seemingly unsettled existence. Following Him would put demands on our lives and time that might alienate close family members, perhaps even turning them into enemies. Christ makes plain, and He wants our wholehearted, unreserved loyalty with no yearning to return to our former lives. It is in meeting challenges like these that the potential costs become realities.

Jesus is telling us what it would take then and now to be his follower. There is no soft sentimentalism; the disciple must be prepared to part with family, endure suffering, face the enormity of the task, and give up everything for the sake of the Kingdom.

As he teaches, Jesus' words and wisdom reach out to us across the centuries and make us disciples if we listen and are willing to learn and commit ourselves to him today in every way. Just as Jesus' teaching offered his first disciples an ultimatum of sorts, so does he extend the same choice to us.

We might do well to recall what the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu once said: