Counting the cost

This is the text of a sermon preached at St Bartholomew, Warleggan and St Neot, Cornwall

The readings were Jeremiah 18^1-11 Philemon 1-21 Luke 14^25-33

Anyone who comes to me without hating father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.

How can Jesus possibly mean exactly what he says here? This saying appears to go against everything we believe Jesus to be about. And it certainly opposes everything that we believe about family ties.

Let me say right at the start that I don’t have a definitive answer to these questions so what follows will be me thinking through this saying and its context in Luke’s gospel to see where that leads me, thus, perhaps leading you to think it through with me. Maybe we’ll come to different conclusions – but that will be OK.

The key, nearly always, to understanding fully what Jesus is saying in the gospels is to look at the context in which he says it.

Jesus, in Luke’s account, is travelling towards Jerusalem. On the way he meets many people, some of them are in need of healing – a couple of weeks ago we heard of the woman in the synagogue healed of her back problem, followed by teaching about the Sabbath; some come to him with questions – the lawyer who asks what he must do to inherit eternal life, and he is told the parable of the Good Samaritan; some offer him hospitality – we heard the story of Martha and Mary, with its message about choosing the better part; crowds follow him and he teaches them – and this saying appears in one such moment as Jesus receives hospitality from a leading Pharisee.

But overarching it all is the fact that Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, which he visits only once, during his ministry, in the synoptic gospels – which means that Jesus, for Luke, is already on the way of the cross. This provides urgency to all of his teaching. There is no room for misunderstanding.

A tighter focus reveals that already during the meal Jesus has told the guests about how we should take the lowest seat at a feast to avoid the humiliation of giving way to someone more important; he’s warned about only inviting people to a meal who will be able to return the invitation; he’s related the story of the wedding guests who were rejected because they were too occupied with other things and lost their place at the banquet to people dragged in from the streets and alleys and the surrounding countryside.

The warning here is clear – take care that you do not lose your place in the kingdom. It’s easy, says Jesus, to find yourself missing out if you aren’t fully focussed on what is important.

We should read this mornings gospel in the context of this urging to act in a way that ensures our place in the kingdom.

And what follows this saying is as important to our understanding it as what has preceded it. Immediately following it Jesus says,

No one who fails to carry the cross and come after me can be my disciple.

Then follow two parables about counting the cost of the decisions we make about how we live as disciples of his.

First there is the story of the person who is planning to build a tower. Unless he sits down and calculates the cost of the materials and labour he may find himself unable to complete it. Failure to do so could result in being mocked for his foolishness. There is more to be lost than the tower.

And then there is the story of the king who goes to war. He’ll need to consider whether with his smaller force he can resist the stronger army marching against him – and, if not, he’ll try to negotiate a peace. The outcome of not counting the cost could be disastrous.

There is now, as he journeys to Jerusalem, an urgency about Jesus’ message. So, here he employs, I think, a little hyperbole.

He says that we cannot be his disciples unless we hate our family. Matthew too has this message, but he softens its impact a little,

No one who prefers father or mother to me is worthy of me. No one who prefers son or daughter is worthy of me. Anyone who does not take the cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me. (Mt 10³⁷)

But whether it’s the harsh words we find in Luke’s gospel, or the gentler words in Matthew’s the message is clear.

Jesus wants us to be understand that there is nothing more vital than we should be aware of the cost of discipleship.

He surely does not mean that we should literally hate our families, but he does mean that we should take into account the cost of being a disciple – that there is a cross to be taken up. And that being a disciple means joining Jesus on the journey to Jerusalem that is for him – and for us – the way of the cross.

The cost of discipleship is not insignificant and requires real sacrifice on our part. Just as Jesus is now focussed, in Luke’s gospel, on his journey to Jerusalem and the cross, so we must be clear about our own direction of travel as disciples.

It means making sure that we are getting our priorities right – including our relationships. And how often has Jesus shown this to us recently – in his teaching about the Sabbath; in his teaching the lawyer about what it means to love your neighbour; in his teaching Martha what it means to take the better part.

Today we learn that our focus must always be on our discipleship and accepting the cost of that discipleship which is bearing the cross with Jesus.

Our gospel today ends,

None of you can be my disciple without giving up all that you own.

Any attachment we have that gets in the way of our ability to be fully committed as disciples needs to be let go. True discipleship comes at a cost.