The Paradox of Christianity
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
It has been said that “sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.” That is so true. Especially if we are considering it from an eternal perspective. Without Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our sin carries us farther and farther from the Father. Without Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our sin has an eternal hold on us. Without Jesus as our Lord and Savior, sin costs us everything—everything that matters anyway. But even from a temporal perspective, the point that is being made is simply this: never toy with the idea that there are some sins out there that are small and harmless because every sin has the potential of costing you or me everything.
And we’re about to read a text this morning that, on the one hand is completely opposite. But on the other hand, it is uncomfortably similar. Most people in the Church today were taught that salvation is free and it costs us nothing. And yet, what we’re reading today is that it very well could cost us everything. It’s a paradox. For far too long pastors, preachers, evangelists, and soul-winners have only talked about one part of the paradox of Christianity: salvation is free. But while salvation is free, it could be the most expensive enterprises we will ever be a part of. When it comes to following Jesus, nothing is off the table. He lays claim on everything; but are we willing to give it?
What we find in this passage are three costs when it comes to our free salvation. The first is the cost of our relationships. The second is the cost of our reputation. And the third is our reservations.
The Cost of Relationships
The Cost of Reputation
The Cost of Reservations
Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them,
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?
Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,
saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.
So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
“Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?
It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
The Cost of Relationships
The Cost of Relationships
Jesus was continuing on his way toward Jerusalem, knowing that he was going to be betrayed by one of his own and knowing that the leaders of the Jews would seek his life and knowing that he would be condemned to die upon a cross. Most of who were following him were oblivious to these facts. The twelve, though they had been informed of some of them, didn’t really understand or believe what they had been told. But it is in this context that Jesus told those following him—whether the casual follower or the disciple—what the costs were that they needed to consider. And that first cost, that first price that would be required was the cost of relationships.
Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them,
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
Verse 26 has caused many in the church some consternation. Why would Jesus ever call on us to hate those who are closest to us? So let’s quickly understand what Jesus is saying here. Some may think that Jesus is calling us to hate our families because they do not follow Jesus themselves. Therefore, they are enemies of the cross, enemies of Christ, enemies of the Father and the Spirit, which then means that they are our enemies as well. I don’t think that is what Jesus was referring to, but even if it was, Jesus has already told us that we are to love our enemies, not hate them. Of course, the second great commandment is that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. So, how much more then our own brothers, sisters, mother’s fathers, wives and husbands?
This means only one thing makes sense. Compared to Jesus, our feelings toward our families ought to look like hatred. Jesus has so much of our love and so much of our devotion that when it comes to our relationships, those feelings and devotions can resemble hatred. In fact, this is what we would call a Hebraism. A Hebraism is a form of speech that is unique to the Hebrew or the Jewish culture. They would compare with extremes, our love for Jesus looks like hatred toward others. But that does not in any way mean or imply that we ought to act in a hateful, disdainful way toward others.
But there’s more to this than just a comparison. Because there very well could come a time when we will have to make a choice: Jesus or family, Jesus or friendship? And that choice may come because of persecution or simply because of two different loyalties. A few months ago, we saw how Jesus divides.
Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.
For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three.
They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Here he brings it back up. Division easily comes when two people are on two different roads. One being a straight and narrow road and the other being a broad path. There may be times when those roads seem to be parallel, but there will always be a fork in the road and it is at that moment, we will find out who we love most. It’s that moment we’ll find out with whom our loyalty lies. Jesus said that if we want to be his disciple, we must love him most.
And people will not understand. Our families and friends will not get it. You’re choosing this person you’ve never seen before over your own flesh and blood? You’re choosing this guy who lived 2,000 years ago instead of the one who has been through thick and thin with you these past few years? And it will come across not only as ludicrous, but as hatred and rejection. But that is the cost that comes with salvation. It isn’t that we must do this in order to gain our salvation, but it is the toll that comes on the path of holiness. Holiness, that the writer of Hebrews says is required if anyone is to see the Lord (Heb 12:14).
The Cost of Reputation
The Cost of Reputation
But the cost of relationships is not the only toll on the King’s Highway. There is another: the cost of our reputation. In the same sentence as Jesus said we are to hate our relationships, he also says we are to hate our own lives. In fact, he goes on to say in the very next sentence:
Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
The cross was reserved, generally for the worst of criminals: pirates, murderers, insurrectionists, political opposition, and the worst of thieves. Along with crucifixion, came the scourging and the parading of the condemned as he bore his crossbeam. Jesus himself would obviously be crucified. It is a good bet that he would have seen crucifixions with his own human eyes. Certainly many in the crowd would have seen it. It was a painful event just to watch let alone endure. The excruciating pain was enough to make people think twice about committing an offense worthy of this punishment. And yet, here is Jesus saying that whoever does not go through it cannot be his disciple.
That’s the love and devotion that Jesus calls us to give. He calls us to be named among the worst of criminals, the worst of sinners. In essence, our reputations must be forfeited. Following Jesus means that we are to follow him in every respect, even cross-carrying. Again, this could come by persecution. Many Christians were crucified just as Jesus was. They loved Jesus more than life itself. Many were impaled, burned at the stake, beheaded, and more. That’s the devotion Jesus calls us to have. We are to walk into our salvation with eyes wide open—knowing that it could cost us our very lives. But it could also be metaphorically. It could be that we are not ever asked to put our physical life on the line, but our very being.
That which we identify with is the price we pay. The word Jesus used for life in verse 26 is the Greek word “psyche” it means life or soul. It’s not just about our bodies or flesh dying. Those words are soma and sarx. If something is somatic it has to do with the body. We get our word sarcophagus from the Greek word for flesh (sarx). Jesus is not only calling us to pay with our bodies or our flesh. He’s not calling us to only pay with our zoe, which is where we get zoology (study of animal life), similar to our bodies. He’s not calling us to simply pay with our bios which was more in reference to life-style. He’s calling us to pay with our “psyche,” that which makes us a soul—the very essence of who we are and that incorporates all the others.
And we also see this in a different way with the first explanation he gives.
For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?
Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,
saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
Not only does our old reputation tank by willfully and joyfully taking up a shameful cross, but the cost of following Jesus means being all in. It’s putting our new reputation on the line. Jesus used the imagery of building a tower to make the point. Whether it’s a watch tower for war or a watch tower for farming, either way, we are building and we can’t hide it. It is better to not to start the building than to start and abandon the project.
We are about to start a new year and what many people do to begin the new year is make resolutions and plans and goals. And the intentions are good, but the discipline is bad. The aspirations are lofty but the follow through is dismal. Many of us have probably made a resolution at some point in our lives to read through the Bible in a year and then abandon it by the end of January. It’s too hard; we don’t have the time; we bit off more than we can chew. In other words, we did not adequately count the cost. Some of us have possibly been to conferences and heard speakers and read their books and have said, “Yes! That’s how I want to parent. Yes! That’s how I want to evangelize. Yes! That’s how I want to act at work.” But before long, old habits come back and we’ve abandoned the project altogether.
We see a new workout advertised and start strong, but the muscles get sore and the body gets tired and we give up. Idea after idea and fad after fad gets a solid start in our lives and then is quickly abandoned. Jesus said, “I’m not fad. I’m not some hair-brained idea. If you start with me, you’d best finish; your reputation is on the line.” The faithful following of Jesus is not easy. It costs you your former life and the rebuilding of a new life.
One can only imagine the people watching as Noah built an ark. Here was this massive boat that he proclaimed to a rebellious world would be salvation. He did it for decades and not one person believed. Can you imagine the frustrations, the doubts, the hurt feelings? Yet he continued building all the way until judgment day and salvation was his. What would have happened if he had abandoned the project half way through? Not only would he eventually perish along with everyone else, but he would never live it down until he did.
We are called to build, not in secret, but publically. We are called to pay a hefty price of reputation.
The Cost of Reservations
The Cost of Reservations
But it is not only the cost of relationships and reputations that we are called to pay. We are also called to pay the price of our reservations.
Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.
So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
This may sound a lot like the whole tower illustration, but it is actually quite different. The tower illustration is one of choosing to act or not act. I will either choose to build or not build. But this one is different as we are not the ones initially acting, but being acted upon.
We have no choice. We must go out in war. The king is coming against us and we are outnumbered two to one. One way or another the King is coming with his mighty army. The only question is: do we face him in battle or in peace? We can try, if we want, to face him in battle being outnumbered two to one. That’s probably a bad decision on our part, but it’s one we can make and many people do.
The second option is to send out a peace delegate. Now what every king or commanding officer wants is to negotiate from a position of strength and not weakness. But when the other side has twice as many soldiers, one can only come in a position of weakness. In other words, we don’t bring our demands to the table. The stronger king does. Ours is a place of concession, not demands.
Hence, Jesus said that if we do not renounce all that we have, we cannot be his disciples. We don’t get to come to the bargaining table and say, “I’ll do this and I’ll give up that, but this is not something I’m willing to part with.” There is no bargaining table.
That means that whatever it is to which we are holding, we must let it go. Whatever we are tempted to reserve for ourselves, we must give up. We may have our reservations about the whole cost of relationships or cost or our reputation, but if we are going to be Jesus’s disciples, we do so at the cost of our reservations. There are sins that we have reservations about giving up. Christ calling us to give up porn? Christ calling us to give up gossip? Christ calling us to give up self-adulation? Christ calling us to give up sexual preferences? Christ calling us to give up those things that may just make us feel “alive.” But we’ve already talked about that didn’t we? The price is dying to self—loving Jesus more than life itself.
What is it that your or I are trying to reserve for ourselves in the background? Because that’s the thing that Jesus is putting his finger on and saying, “That’s the cost. That’s the terms of peace.” Bow the knee, bow the head, embrace him, deny self, follow him, disregard self. He is Lord. He is King. We surrender.
We renounce it all. We give it all up. We hold no reservations; we pay it all. Then we are his disciples.
Conclusion
Conclusion
And all these prices fall under one major category. They’re all under one umbrella. Perseverance. We are called to persevere. When times get tough with our families and friends, our relationships, we persevere with Jesus. We don’t turn back from following him even when it looks like we hate those who are so important in our lives (or to use a word that is thrown around today: bigotry). When life gets hard and we want to give up—persecution and saying no to temptation, the denial of self and the angst of not getting what we so desperately want, we keep going. We persevere for Jesus. When we have that thing in our lives that Jesus keeps pointing at and saying, give it to me. That thing in our lives that Jesus keeps putting his finger on and saying, “This is mine,” and we don’t want to give it up, but we want to reserve it for ourselves, we must persevere and hand it over.
“Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?
It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Commentators debate about which quality Jesus was referring to when speaking of salt. Was it the flavor or the preserving qualities. But why do we have to choose? It did both. First century salt wasn’t like our salt today. Back then it was actually impure in itself. Magnesium and other substances were often intermixed with the salt. Salt itself can’t lose its flavor, but the magnesium and other impurities that are mixed with can extract the saltiness out and then it is no good. They can suck out all the goodness of the salt.
Do you see the point? Our relationships can extract our preserving powers; it can extract our flavor. Our reputations can suck out all our preserving and flavoring qualities. Our reservations, those “little things” we try to hold on to can cause us to lose our preserving and flavorful qualities. And then what are we left with? Nothing.
When push comes to shove, will we allow that saltiness to be sucked away; will we allow the holiness, the righteousness that is ours by divine fiat to be extracted from us because we were unwilling to pay the cost of salvation?
This is why we believe in the perseverance of the saints, and not the watered-down version of eternal security. Yes, we are once saved always saved if we include in that our sanctification. But if we simply refer only to our justification, then we’re missing the biblical reality of growing in holiness and separation from sin.
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,
if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Christ reconciled us in order to, that the purpose of reconciliation. It wasn’t simply to save us from wrath (though that happens), but to present us holy (pure), blameless, and above reproach. But that only happens if we continue (persevere) in the faith. We must be stable, steadfast, we are not to shift from the hope of the gospel. We are headed down the road of salvation and we are not to hang on to that which will defile us. We are not to continue on with that which will suck us dry of that holiness and hope. We are not to hold on to relationships, reputations, and our reservations when we come to the diverging roads, but continue to walk the path with Jesus.
Yes, there is grace for when we screw up. But that grace is not only to bring forgiveness, but strength for the next time.
Brothers and sisters, there is a price to our salvation though it is free. It is the paradox of Christianity. Let us accept it and live accordingly by the grace of our Father.
Prayer
Our heavenly Father,
It very well may be that some of us have been taught that grace is not only free, but that it is cheap. We now know differently.
It not only cost you your Son’s life to redeem us from our sin so that we would be presented as holy, blameless, and above reproach,
but it costs us our relationships, our reputations, and all those things we reserve for ourselves.
It costs us everything.
But may we say with Paul,
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Strengthen us to pay the price that comes with holiness. Grant us grace that we may persevere and mercy for when we don’t.
In Jesus’s name. Amen.