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The Cost of Being a Disciple..
Luke 14:25-27
Who qualifies to be a mathetes (disciple)?
There are these prerequisites to becoming a disciple.
Jesus says, if anyone comes to me…
In most cases, Jesus picked his own disciples by saying, “follow me.” akolouthe moi. There are only a few reported instances where someone would come to Jesus and ask to follow him.
And does not hate his own…
We read this as extremely harsh language because of our understanding of the word hat. It does not mean that we should despise our family members existence in order to love Jesus more. That makes no sense. This is a figurative term that operates on a relative scale. We should love God more than we love our family and even ourselves.
In first century Jerusalem, the family was extremely important. Your name came from the family line and it was a big deal to have your family name passed on to your descendents. Birth was celebrated and so was death. In your parents’ and grandparents’ old age, there was no home or hospice to pass them off too. It was an obligation, and one of honor, to take care of the family, especially your parents. You would all live in the same household and remain there until you died. So, aside from your devotion and dedication to YHWH, dedication to your family was the most important thing in your life. A good Jew would never put anything before his/her devotion to the family – except devotion to YHWH. The two were connected – the covenant existed between the ancestors and YHWH.
Gen 29:16-18, 22-31
Saw that Leah was not loved…
The word for ‘not loved’ is Senuah; and literally means to hate. So literally the verse is translated: and the Lord was that Leah was hated.
Did Jacob hate her guts? No. Did he like her? Probably so. Did he think she was pretty? Eh… But compared to Rachel, he hated her because he loved Rachel so much. It is a term of relativity that we should understand as, not as much as this.
Luke 14 – Jesus says if you don’t hate… you cant be my disciple he doesn’t mean you have to walk around despising everyone because you’re a hateful person. He means that compared to the love you have for God, the other people just don’t matter.
Yes, even his own life –
Jesus’ call is one of radical self denial. If we love ourselves more than we love Jesus, we do not qualify to be a disciple.
And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
The Roman Superpower ruled Palestine during this time period. Everyone would have known exactly what Jesus meant when he said, “carry your cross.” For us we just assume it’s a dude in a sheet carrying a 2×4 up Luther Hill. For them it meant
-criminal activity
-disgracing one’s family
-extreme humiliation
-the person everyone’s whispering about
-ultimately a terrible death
Jesus doesn’t just throw these words out nonchalantly. He means serious business. The criminal would carry his own crossbeam, meaning he took up the think that would essentially kill him.
Jesus means that if your allegiance is really not with him, and you’re not willing to stand with him and follow him in the face of possible rejection, then maybe this whole thing is not for you.
“Follow me” he says again.. This language is a little different than last week. It means come after me. ercetai opiso mou
28-30
Are there enough funds to build a watchtower?
In this day, watchtowers were common. They usually provided a lookout to protect the fields and vineyards from intruders and robbers. The higher the tower, the better the outlook was, the more the crops were protected.
So this is sort of an economic example that Jesus uses. The language he uses are economic terms – “count or compute the cost.”
If this task is not completed then you are susceptible to public shame. You are mocked and ridiculed. This was a time in which avoiding public shame and embarrassment was extremely important. A half completed project meant that you were poor in preparation and planning.
Another implication is the foundation. If all you have is a poured foundation and nothing else comes out of it, it is a useless plot of land where nothing can grow and nothing exists. A big piece of concrete doesn’t do anything for you except waste good space. If we are going to follow after Jesus there has to be something more than just the foundation.
31-32
War is something that most Israelites were very familiar. This is a request for terms of peace.
Most commentaries suggest that in the passage, Christ intends to make it known to his followers that the enemies that we will face are many and strong. Our strength compared to theirs is weak.
V32.
1. look at all consequences of following Jesus and be prepared to meet them. (if you need money for the tower, get the money, 20,000 men, get 20,000 men, etc.).
2. If you are engaged in the things besides Christ, you are not prepared to follow him (you start a project and can’t finish it, or go into a losing battle).
3. following Jesus is a full time thing which takes a lot of careful thought in order to fulfill the requirements
4. following Jesus is difficult. It costs us everything. “It will cost us the mortification of our sins and a life of self-denial, conflict with our lusts, and the enmity and ridicule of the world. Perhaps it may cost us our reputation, or possibly our lives and liberties, and all that is dear to us; but we must cheerfully undertake all this, and be prepared for it all.”
5. Leave all things or we can’t be a disciple. You cant follow Jesus if you turn back to your old ways or if you think you will turn back. If you don’t think you can handle it, if you don’t think you can persevere through that—the trails, temptations, hazards—if you are not willing to take up your cross and follow him, then you cannot be a disciple of Jesus.
“Welcome to the first Christian Church Meeting. Here are the rules…”
search for vintage 21 on youtube and you’ll see what i’m talking about.
Reread this thing.
Ask for terms of peace.
This passage is all about recognizing who is the higher power. “Who is Stronger?” It is a humiliating passage—you are stronger than me.
We are forced to think about what refusing the stronger one might mean.
Literally think about it a second. You are in charge of an army of men who are about to go up against another army twice your size in strength and number. What do you feel? (don’t say that).
-I cant do this. I have to submit. If I don’t then I will lose. And in this case losing means dying.
(the band dispatch?? The general? “I have seen the others and I have discovered that this fight is not worth fighting…”)
If God is the stronger one, then this is a passage of warning. What will happen if you oppose God? Can you battle him? NO. You will lose. The option? Submission. It is the only way out.
Recognizing that God is stronger and is the more powerful one is the only way to achieve peace.
Achieving peace with God – or the Shalom of God – is the point of this illustration.
V33. To be a disciple, you have to put God at the top. He has to come first before everything else. If there is something—an earthly possession—that you put in front of God, you must renounce that and give that up. Remove it from the number one spot and give that spot to God.
Luke 9:57-62
In the first case, the guy says “I’ll be your disciple, I’ll follow wherever you go.” Jesus says this profound statement.
Foxes have their place, birds have their place, but us.. we don’t have a place.
He is saying.. do you realize the kind of rejection you are about to go through? We have no place to lay our head. We do not have a home here in this world.
The second, the guy says, “let me go bury my father.”
In first century Palestine, the burial custom was to leave the body in the tomb for a year so that the flesh rotted away. After that year, the family would return to the tomb and put the bones in a special box called and ossuary, which was then set into the wall of the tomb.
Jesus could have meant that the time to follow him was now, and he couldn’t wait around for a year for this guy to make a commitment to following him. The consequences of following Jesus rather than burying ones father was seriously dishonoring to one’s family. Jesus makes it clear that to be a disciple, the main priority is following him in spreading the gospel message to those who have not heard it.
The third, the guy wants to say bye to his family.
Excessive concern for family ties makes the kingdom a lesser priority. Who can plow strait ahead while looking backwards? Discipleship cannot be double-minded.
Loving God and being concerned for his kingdom are the most important things for those who follow Jesus.
Phil. 3:7-9
If I gain the whole world, it means nothing to me
-get a raise
-get an A in a really hard class
-become world renown and famous
-star in a movie
-play in a super bowl
-win the lottery
It doesn’t matter to me. Paul uses harsh language. A vulgar term for human fecal matter. It is all a bunch of crap compared to knowing Christ
for his sake I have lost ALL things.
God has to be at the very top of your life.
So maybe its not – weigh the consequences, do all of this stuff, don’t do all of this stuff, and give up all of this stuff and BOOM you’re a disciple.
Maybe its saying, “Am I prepared to grow in Christ and be more than a foundation?” And saying, “God, I cant do this by myself. I submit to your authority. You are stronger. Bring Shalom into my life. I put you first. You are the most important thing in my life.”
Isa 1:12-17
12 When you come to worship me,
who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony?
13 Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts;
the incense of your offerings disgusts me!
As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath
and your special days for fasting—
they are all sinful and false.
I want no more of your pious meetings.
14 I hate your new moon celebrations and your annual festivals.
They are a burden to me. I cannot stand them!
15 When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look.
Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen,
for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.
16 Wash yourselves and be clean!
Get your sins out of my sight.
Give up your evil ways.
17 Learn to do good.
Seek justice.
Help the oppressed.
Defend the cause of orphans.
Fight for the rights of widows.
This passage has lead to a weeks worth of pondering the question: What am I doing?
I am on staff at a church that is all about relational living and growing in honesty and even reaching out to those who are in need. But when it comes down to it, what am I–the student pastor of the fastest growing church in bell county– doing about the economic injustice around me?
In studying this passage in Isaiah, I’ve learned several things. In order to understand it, I have to understand some background and knowledge of the ancient world. The opposite of HOLY is UNCLEAN. So in the ancient world, to come to God with uncleanness was utterly detestable and could never end well. If the opposite of HOLY is UNCLEAN then the only thing one could do is to remove the uncleanness from one’s life. The way to remedy this uncleanness problem was by ritual washings detailed in the Torah. These washings were a sign of moral purification of which the “blood on your hands” was washed away and made clean again. The blood, the scripture says, is the blood of innocent victims–those found in v.17. So it is not the act of shunning, mistreating, or abusing the underprivileged, impoverished, poor, and widowed that causes bloodshed. It is the act of omitting or neglecting the oppressed, the orphans, the widows, etc.
The text speaks in imperatives in v.17, implying what the Israelites failed to do. Learn to do good. Lamad is the Hebrew word for learn and literally means exercise in, or learn something. It says Seek Justice. Darash means to resort or seek out. In the inparative, the meaning is a command to study or practice justice. Justice is the word mishpat in Hebrew, which comes from the root word, shaphat, meaning judge or govern. So the command is to practice justice. Next, it says ‘ashru hamotz, or help the oppressed. Asher in the Piel imperative stem means to set right, or to righten. So God’s command here is to righten the oppressed ones–to make things right. Next is shiphtu yatom, meaning defend the orphan–its the same root from before (shaphat). Here, the verb literally means judgment, or the act of deciding a case. Here it is specifically used for God’s requirement that a man does justice (or argues the case for) the orphans. Orphans is a symbol of those who cannot take care of themselves, not just kids without parents. Last is riyvu ‘almanah, or plead for the widow. Riyb is to strive or contend, though in the imperative the idea is to shout, quarrel noisily, shouting clamor involving bodily struggle, the case that is brought forward.
So here is where we are at: practice and exercise justice, set right the things that are wrong with the people who are oppressed by (fill in the blank), argue the case for and defend the ones who cannot take care of themselves, and with all you have contend and plead openly for the widows.
Now here is the point where I ask myself: What am I doing? Am I seeking justice for those who do not have it? Am I rescuing the oppressed from the harshness of this world? Am I defending people who cannot take care of themselves? Am I contending for the widow so that she might not be forgotten and uncared for? Why do I struggle with omitting these things from my faith? I find it so easy to talk about the contemporary issues facing some of my students in the youth group. It is easy for me to sing songs on Sunday morning. Its easy to follow along in the Bible when our pastor brings his message to the congregation. But why is it so hard for us as evangelicals to really get a grasp on helping those who dont have a voice, an opinion, a fighting chance to survive on their own?? Why are we ok with sending money across the world so that someone we dont know can have clean water or a new pair of shoes, but when it comes down to going across the tracks to the opposite end of town we freeze, make excuses, and end up settling for the check-over-seas option? That is messed up.
So it moves my question from: What am I doing? to What can I do?
The answer to the former as of now is not much. The answer to the latter is, well… the possibilities are endless. Why not help those that cant really help themselves. Why not defend those who have no voice? Why not plead the case for the ones who have no one to take care of them? Isnt that justice? Isnt that seeking out the things that are right? Isnt that seeking justice?
