Costly Discipleship

What Moves You?

Nav Bhatia, subject of documentary Superfan, has been at every Raptors home game for 26 years

Bhatia has devoted his life to a sport’s team - reorganizing his life to attend all 41 home games /year

We could learn a lesson from Bhatia’s devotion (even if we question the object of that devotion)

Jesus calls his followers to an all-encompassing devotion too - deny yourself, pick up your cross & follow

In the NT, we see people who did that. Tradition: Apostles (except John) all martyred.

But the way of the cross isn’t just about death, but also life. Let’s look at examples of living for Jesus

The Story of Mary

In John’s gospel we read a story about one woman’s devotion to Jesus:

New Living Translation Chapter 12

Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. 2 A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate* with him. 3 Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar* of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

4 But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, 5 “That perfume was worth a year’s wages.* It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” 6 Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.

7 Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

Mary, whose brother Laz Jesus raised, shows devotion by pouring out perfume on Jesus’ feet

The gift was very costly - a years’ wages in a subsistence culture is sorely missed - extravagance

Some scholars infer this might have been meant to sell for a marriage dowry

Mary might have made herself ineligible to get married (big deal in culture w/o social safety net)

Women’s long hair was seen as their most glorious part; feet were seen as dirty & gross

Mary’s action says Jesus’ grosses parts are more glorious than her best parts

LIke John B - “I’m not worthy to untie his sandals’

Mary is acting in a way that closes all paths other than following Jesus - she’s gone ‘all in’

The Story of Paul

Saul of Tarsus had everything that gives a Jew status, but he rejects them b/c of Jesus

New Living Translation Chapter 3

5 I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. 6 I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.

7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ

New Living Translation Chapter 3

10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!

It’s like an art collector spent a lifetime building a fine collection, and burned it all,

Paul is willing to give it all up to know Christ

Paul’s Greek is influenced by LXX, where ‘to know’ would take on Hebrew meaning

To know isn’t passing acquaintance or trivia, but to have intimate fellowship with someone

The term is often used as a euphemism for sexual intimacy

For Paul to know Jesus means to become intimately acquainted with how he lived (and died)

When you love someone you want to know what makes them tick: I listened to Carolyn’s music

He wants to be joined with Christ b/c by being joined in his death, we will also be joined in his resurrection

More Benefit, Less Cost

As capitalists, we instinctively look for value: Maximal benefit for minimal cost - e.g. best car for least $

We apply this principle to the arena of faith w/bad consequences

We want faith that gives us the maximum benefit (salvation) with the lowest cost (self-denial)

We might ask, “What’s the least inconvenient way I can get into heaven?”

Or we discount grace to make it more palatable - it’s always easier to sell when stuff is on sale

Bonhoeffer called this cheap grace. In his classic book on discipleship, he wrote:

Discipleship (Reader’s Edition) Chapter 1: Costly Grace

Cheap grace is preaching forgiveness without repentance; it is baptism without the discipline of community; it is the Lord’s Supper without confession of sin; it is absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without the living, incarnate Jesus Christ.

Discipleship (Reader’s Edition) Chapter 1: Costly Grace

Only those who in following Christ leave everything they have can stand and say that they are justified solely by grace. They recognize the call to discipleship itself as grace and grace as that call. But those who want to use this grace to excuse themselves from discipleship are deceiving themselves.

God’s grace is freely given, but not cheap. It was very costly - God gave himself to save us

As in all loving relationships, it requires give & take. God gave himself, we must give ourselves

God’s grace is freely given, but the way of discipleship is costly

If I break my leg, medical care is free…but the break would be costly b/c the recovery would be difficult

God’s grace is freely given, but the rooting out of sin’s damage in our life is costly, esp. when we like sin

Only total devotion to God’s way can nurse our souls back to health

A Singular Purpose

While Jesus calls us to a life of total devotion, we make faith something we do, not who we are.

I may say, I like cooking, fishing & Christianity - We may even spend more time on faith than others

But Jesus asks us to give him everything - How do I do that. I can’t spend all my time at church?

We subordinate everything to knowing Jesus & making him known

When we cook, we do it for Jesus. When we fish, we do it for Jesus

We are devoted if we’re willing to give something up when it stands in the way of following Jesus

There is nothing inherently wrong with many things we enjoy doing (snowmobiling, music, sports etc)

But they become a problem when we chose them over faithfulness to Jesus

“I’d like to pray, but I might miss Dancing With The Stars!

This is a painful and deeply challenging message - But God wants to fill us with something better

Writing to exiles, Isaiah said

New Living Translation Chapter 43

16 I am the LORD, who opened a way through the waters,

making a dry path through the sea.

17 I called forth the mighty army of Egypt

with all its chariots and horses.

I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned,

their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick.

18 “But forget all that—

it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.

19 For I am about to do something new.

Looking back on God’s past deliverance, the prophet promises that God will do something even better.

To quote Randy Bachman, “You ain’t seen nothing yet”

Can we Trust Jesus with everything we have, trusting that he will give us much, much more.

Let go of the things you desperately want to keep so in your open hands, God can put something better