How Much? – Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Luke 14:25-33)
I don’t know about you, but for me, it is almost always uncomfortable when I have to ask someone the question, “How much?” As in, “How much money is this going to cost?” Or, and this has happened less frequently, “How much are you going to give me?” We live in polite society and in polite society it’s just never comfortable talking about money. Its much nicer and easier if the price of things is just printed there on the sticker. You don’t have to guess or ask or negotiate, you just pay and move on with your day. You don’t have to be surprised by how much something is going to cost. I think if I had to boil down the idea of peace of mind in modern day America it might simply be being able to ask the question, “How much?” without having to be afraid of the answer. That is peace of mind. Especially, in our society, where seemingly everything has a price – an ever-increasing price. Our scripture reading this morning reminds us that our faith and our decision to follow Jesus is no exception.
Now, when it comes to the cost of following Jesus, I’m not talking about money specifically. The cost this scripture is talking about is not the cost of money in the offering plate. In this story from Luke, Jesus is speaking to a group of hopefuls, “would-be” disciples. These are people who have begun following Jesus as he does his ministry. So, what he tells them must have seemed shocking. These people who followed him to hear the radical things Jesus has to say about how they are called to love and care for one another must have been very surprised when he said that to follow him, they must “hate.’ As in hate their father and mother and other relatives.
In verse 26, the author of Luke is using hyperbole to get this point across. Jesus is not telling his followers that they must hate their family in order to follow him. In this instance, ‘hate’ means to give up those things that might take priority over following Jesus. These are things that might be obstacles in the path that Jesus is leading us down. The word ‘hate’ is not literal. It is being used to teach us that we can’t use our fathers and mothers and other relatives as a reason not to follow Jesus. We can still love those close to us, but they get a different place in our hearts, as do our possessions, our jobs, wealth, etc. We can give love to our relatives and friends, we can give attention to other parts of our lives, but we cannot give them the kind of love and attention we owe to God. This is illustrated in the parable just before this lesson, where Jesus tells the story of a man throwing a dinner party. He invited many people, but that first round of guests all had excuses for why they couldn’t come to the party. One had just gotten married. Another had just bought some land, and another had to tend to their oxen. So, the man instead invited the poor, the blind, and the crippled.
So, as we see, one of the costs of following Jesus to let go of those priorities that we, for whatever reason, put ahead of our commitment to Christ and the people Christ cares about. As with most things, there is a cost, a price to pay, for following Jesus. We must consider what that cost is and if we are willing to pay it. The cost may be different for each of us, because we all have different priorities that are particular to us and our life. We should also remember, this is written in a context where Jesus’s followers were itinerant. They were on the road with him. Following Jesus was literal, in that way. The twelve disciples had already left their homes and families and jobs. Jesus is not addressing his disciples with this passage. They have already given up much. He is addressing a crowd of interested admirers, not committed followers. Not yet, anyway. Still, that part of the cost is known and Jesus wants to make sure that those people listening to him understand. So, his words here are not so much a demand as they are a warning. Jesus wants to make sure that they know what they are getting into by following him. Jesus wants us to know what we are getting into when we commit to the Christian life. And that consideration, might lead us to think about what we are prepared to give up. If we want to follow Jesus into new life, we will have to give up certain commitments to old ways of life.
For instance, Thomas Jefferson wrote what was called the Jefferson Bible. In this bible he told the story of the gospels by cutting out anything having to do with anything he considered to be supernatural. He did this quite literally, as he put his bible together by using scissors to cut these parts from the pages of the Bible and glue to put the pages back together. So, things like the miracles Jesus performed, angels speaking to people, and even the Resurrection were all left on the cutting room floor. While Jefferson seemingly found value in the story of Jesus in the Gospels, he had an equal or greater commitment to logic and reason and science and things he might consider factual. If the cost of following Jesus meant putting aside those things even for a moment, or letting go of his disbelief and skepticism, Jefferson could not follow.
Now, that was all well and good for Thomas Jefferson. He wasn’t an avowed Christian and following Christ in that sense wasn’t really something he sought to do anyway. However, even those of us who do try and faithfully follow Christ can do a little editing, a little snipping of the story now and then. Richard Beck calls this a Swiss cheese Jesus. Full of holes because we have snipped out all the parts that don’t suit our preferences or prejudices. These preferences and prejudices, of course, come in as many forms and shapes as there are people in the world. However, in our hyper politicized and hyper partisan times those usually fall along political lines. So, in an example of the cost of following Jesus becomes giving up the idea that Jesus would want what “our side” wants politically. To live up those biases we cut things out of Jesus’s story. We discard the fact that he was a friend to sinners. We cut away his preference for the poor over the rich. We conveniently forget that he told us to love our enemies. He asked his followers to help the oppressed, but he also sat down with tax collectors and Roman soldiers. This is all part of the Jesus we come to know in the gospels. Are we truly following Jesus if we become selective and cut away parts we don’t like? Are we truly taking on the cost if we are following a Jesus that is full of holes?
Part of deciding whether or not we can meet the cost of following Jesus means accepting and understanding where that path might lead us. After all, Jesus goes to very particular places, including the margins of society or against the wishes of the powerful. Eventually that path takes Jesus to the place where both those things intersect, that being the Cross. In Luke 23:26 we are told the story of Jesus’s crucifixion, and during that story we meet Simon of Cyrene. Simon was someone who literally followed Jesus and paid the cost. He did this by carrying the cross for Jesus as he followed him. Simon comes in for a mention in the gospels of Matthew and Mark as well, appearing for a brief time during the events of Good Friday. As Jesus is carrying the cross up to Golgotha the Roman soldiers pull Simon out of the crowd and force him to carry the cross for a time. The gospel tells us he walked behind Jesus from that point.
Simon had the cost of following Jesus thrust upon him. In that moment Simon of Cyrene was paying the cost to follow Jesus, on the darkest day of Christ’s life. All while Simon Peter and the other disciples were scattered and hiding, even denying they knew Jesus. The cost must have felt too much for them in that time and place. Simon of Cyrene did not have a choice, however. The forces of the world that were sending Jesus to death were now exerting control over Simon. In that time the cross was a symbol of the Roman Empires oppression and violence. Simon of Cyrene reminds us that Jesus was not the only one who suffered in this way. That violence and oppression was a cost that almost everyone had to bear eventually. Simon of Cyrene also reminds us that when we follow Christ, we may be asked to help bear that burden. We bear the cost of following Jesus, or the cost of oppression will be further forced upon those on the margins. The cost of following Christ is to help carry the load of the cross, the symbol of oppression and cruelty, because to follow Jesus is to go to the margins, and go to the hard places, the places of struggle.
So, Jesus reminds his followers that if they want to build a tower, they must estimate the cost. If they plan to go to war (this was another example of Jesus using hyperbole and metaphor) then they should first estimate the casualties. If they are going to follow him, they must be prepared to go where he goes and let go of other priorities. Those who follow Jesus must be prepared to pay a price and give it consideration beforehand. But the true cost of discipleship is discovered along the way. It is discovered in the living of it. And it is discovered in times of reflection and in times of hardship or struggle. We can’t always know ahead of time, but we can be sure there will be a cost. This can be difficult for us, as we live in a world where so much is bought on credit that our view of the cost of things can be distorted. So, when considering the cost of discipleship, a good place to start might be in letting go of the thought that it will be easy. Giving up the thought that there might be something better, or more important to prioritize.
If you want to follow Jesus, be prepared to pay a price of putting the well-being of creation first. If you want to listen and learn about Jesus, then be prepared to feel uncomfortable at times and to think about things you may not have wanted to think about. The only thing the scripture is asking of us in the moment, however, is to consider the price, not to pay it. The time may come when we are asked to pay, beyond what makes us comfortable. It may be forced upon us like Simon of Cyrene, or we may come to the choice on our own like the disciples. Whenever this happens, we can take hope that we have been given all the currency we need to meet the moment. That currency is the love of God that made us, sent Jesus to live as one of us, and that we are called to share with the world. The primary cost of our discipleship is to always try and live from that place of love that is so abundant that we never have to worry about the question or the answer of “How much?”
Amen.