Counting The Cost
Luke 9.51-end
When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’ But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village.
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’
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One of the first sermons I ever preached was on a similar passage to our gospel one today. I can’t remember the exact passage, but it was about the sacrifices that are required in order to follow Christ.
I said that we need to be willing to give up everything to follow Jesus. Now, as a young, mid-twenties novice preacher it’s safe to say I that I didn’t really know what I was talking about. Which makes sense as I have never had to have my faith tested as some of our brothers and sisters both in our time and throughout history have; those who have made the ultimate sacrifice rather than deny Jesus. I find it really fascinating and amazing that on Saint’s days in the church everything is red, as it represents the blood of the martyrs. On those days we remember those who have lost everything, and therefore gained everything, for Jesus Christ.
I mentioned a few weeks ago about the film Silence, which is about Christian converts in Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries who were persecuted for their faith. They were tortured mercilessly and if they did not recant their faith, they would eventually be put to death; there are some rather harrowing scenes in the film which demonstrate of the kind of suffering that one group of human beings can inflict on another. Well, now I’m reading the book and it’s just as harrowing in prose. Many converts to Christianity died and became martyrs. Jesus became so important to them that they gave up literally everything. We can’t imagine having such faith today in the west. We don’t know what would happen if somebody put a gun to our heads and says ‘deny Jesus Christ, or I pull the trigger.’ Would we hold to our faith? It’s an interesting question to ask, an interesting thought experiment to ponder on, when the rubber hits the road and the proverbial hits the fan, do we have the faith to keep following Jesus?
Now this isn’t a sermon that’s designed to make us all feel bad because we live in the relatively safe western world and assuming that the martyrs are somehow ‘better’ Christians; not at all. I’ve heard sermons like this before where you just go away and feel bad about yourself because of all those ‘better’ or ‘more sacrificial’ Christians. It’s simply something to ponder, how far would we go for Christ? What would our lives look like if we gave our time, efforts, money, free time, our very souls to the work of prayer and of his kingdom. What would it look like to follow him in our lives completely, every day?
It was particularly galling what Jesus said to the man who said, ‘let me bury my father.’ Jesus said that there wasn’t even time enough for that; the kingdom of God should be your priority. Now, to bury your father was the most sacred and binding duty that a Jewish son could have. And so, Jesus says that the work of the kingdom of God supersedes all other priorities in your life, ‘I am the one that you must follow and no other. I am your main priority in your life.’
The plough illustration is also an interesting one. “‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of heaven.” If I assume correctly that most of us aren’t people who have ever worked the land; if you are attempting to ploy a straight furrow you must focus on looking forward, if you look back you will skew your direction and the next bit will become crooked. In other words, focus only on Jesus, on not what has gone before as if you do that you will go off course. Go in the direction that he would have us go in, keep looking forward to the future.
This is one way in which we can think of the cost, but there is another way of thinking about it as well that this passage illuminates. Notice what happens when the Samaritans don’t receive the word of Jesus, James and john said “‘Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’ But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village.”
These guys are trying to follow in the footsteps of Isaiah, you’ll remember I spoke about this last week. His competition with the prophets of Baal and to see who is the true god by calling down fire on an animal sacrifice. Over 450 of them spend all day calling out to their God, and nothing happens. Elijah, on his own says a simple prayer, and the sacrifice is engulfed in flames, and the prophets of Baal are hunting down and killed. But here Jesus completely rejects that way of doing things. The text says that ‘he rebuked them.’ So, counting the cost must also be seen in light of questioning our own suppositions about the way in which we do things. The early Christians were pacificists, it was only when Augustine came along with his ‘just war theory’ that it was thought acceptable that violence in any way is justifiable. Once again it makes us think and question our presuppositions; how often do we judge others and how often are we tempted to assume that we have the moral high ground. You can just imagine James and John, confident that they are following the messiah, ‘we will do greater acts than Elijah, we will have great power like Elijah to call God’s judgement down on others. No says Jesus, that is not what the kingdom looks like, it will cost you all your presuppositions about you should go about doing things.
But it’s not just the people in this passage, or indeed us who count the cost. It’s Jesus himself who counts the cost, The beginning of the passages talks about Jesus being ‘taken up,’ in other translations it says ‘ascended’ in other words a euphemism for his death in the cross. Jesus’ path is set, and nothing will stop him from taking it. He knows that he must face rejection, betrayal, pain, and torture and one of the most awful ways of killing somebody imaginable. He had counted the cost, and he says, ‘we’re worth the cost’ we are worth dying for.’ His love for us goes beyond the grave, god himself sacrifice.me himself for his people even though they turned away and keep turning away from him. Not through violent means, not through acts of power like fire burning down from heaven, but through submission, through weakness and through ultimate loss. It is only then, that everything is found. Jesus is the great example to follow, and his example was to suffer and die for all, including those who hated him. That is radical love, that is why it’s so hard, because it costs us everything.
What would it look like to have this kind of humility and love for others? What would it looks like to live lives where we count the cost of being a Christian, and say from the bottom of our hearts ‘it’s definitely worth it?’ ponder that in your hearts this week.