Sermon Video: The cost of discipleship - Luke 14:25-35

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote an essay entitled, "the Cost of Discipleship" in which he decried the prevalence of "cheap grace" in the Church that he knew.  Cheap grace was not something that Jesus advocated, quite the opposite, for Jesus spoke on many occasions of the high cost of being his disciple.  Here in Luke 14, Jesus tells a crowd of volunteer disciples that had been following him on his travels that they must "hate" their family and their own lives if they hope to be his disciple.  The "hate" that Jesus is speaking of is a comparative hyperbole, much like the sentiment, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated", which speaks to the necessity of having our love for and dedication to God far and above that of anything else.  In the end, when we "hate" our family and ourselves by loving God so totally we actually can finally love our family, our neighbors, and ourselves properly.  When we put any of these in God's place, we're not actually elevating them, we're lowering them because the love that we have in that case is not the pure and holy love of one who already loves God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength.
After the tough talk about hate, Jesus continues the reality check of discipleship by declaring that anyone wanting to be his disciple must also pick up a cross, in other words, be willing to pay whatever the cost to life, liberty, and property may be required of those proclaiming the name of Jesus.  We know of the cost in righteous living that is necessary for any and all followers of Jesus, what we do not know is how much more will be asked of us, but each who would be his disciple must be willing to pay that cost if asked.
Finally, Jesus concludes by telling the crowd that they need to calculate their own level of commitment to see if, in light of the high cost, they are still willing to pursue being a disciple.  The same question lies before us, we must be aware of the cost of discipleship, it will not be cheap, and we must be willing to pay it.  What if we are not, what of those who wish to follow Jesus without such a commitment, Jesus calls them salt without saltiness.  They may look the part, but lack the benefit of the real thing.  The Church doesn't need bland Christians, it needs ones dedicated to the Cross, for only they will through the power of the Holy Spirit be God's instruments to change the world.

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