The True Cost of Discipleship
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Intro
Intro
Something of great value a war illustration
Maybe you bought a house here how much did it cost you Everything
House is good
But cost a lot
WWII D Day June 6th 1944
As we wrap this series I want remind you of the cost of this call pastor Jesse reminded us of who we are and what we are called to
today I want to encourage you the cost is worth it
Read Mark 6:7-30
7 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. 10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them. 14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15 But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” 17 For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly. 21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” 23 And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 28 and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. 30 The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught.
If you’re like me you probably read that story and almost do a double take
This way Mark puts this section together is pretty wild
It starts with Jesus sending out his disciples
Then interlude to John the Baptist being beheaded
Then the apostle return to Jesus
Mark is writing a narrative where he wants us to encounter Jesus
In this movie Mark is producing Jesus is the main character
So as the camera leaves him instead of focusing on the teaching that the disciples go out to do
He inserts this story almost a conclusion of what we had seen earlier in the movie in Chapter 1
The movie opened with this man John baptizing
Then Jesus enters and its clear he is the main character
Joh is arrested and thats the last we see him until now
The Story of John the baptist is concluded here
And we must ask the question why now Mark?
Why would you put this story in at this point
Its important to remember that Mark has a purpose in writing this gospel it isn’t just a list of chronological events
So why would Mark put the story of John’s beheading in the middle of Jesus sending his disciples
I believe he did this to remind his readers that answering this call to follow Jesus will not be easy
Just before this Jesus is rejected in his home town
There is amazing unbelief
So it is in this context that Mark wants us to see this call and the cost of the call
We will look at three things here from this passage
The call
The cost
The comfort
The Call
The Call
Mark 6:7-13
7 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. 10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
Jesus calls his disciples
Jesus has already called them to follow him
In a very non traditional style Jesus called them to follow him
He chose them to follow him
13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach
He chose them to be the ones to extend his ministry
They would go out and preach
Here Mark brings us back to this concept that these 12 men were called by Jesus so that he might send them out to preach
But between Mark 3 and Mark 6 we see the disciples many times fall short in their understanding and their faith and even after this Mark will take us to the feeding of the 5000 and we will again see these disciples lack of faith
Nothing we see between chapters 3 and now in Mark points towards these men being qualified for this mission Jesus sends them on
He has rebuked them for lack of faith and lack of understanding
They have marveled at Jesus and asked themselves who is this man
Clearly these men lack the worldly credentials to be qualified to go on this mission
BUT Jesus sends them anyway
He has broken the teacher disciple norm before and he will do it again here
Normally it is the disciple that asks to follow the teacher
Jesus calls his disciples to follow him
Normally the teacher goes out with his disciples
Jesus sends them out in his name with his authority
These men were only qualified BECAUSE OF the call that was placed on them by Jesus himself
This is the old cliche God doesnt always call the qualified he qualifies the called
This call placed upon these men is not a light call
Jesus calls them to go out with his authority
AND he makes clear what to expect when carrying out his call
8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. 10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”
Jesus doesnt call his disciples to some vague mission
He set clear expectation
Even down to what they should bring on this mission
A staff
A belt
Sandals
a tunic
Similar to what was told to the hebrews in exodus
Travel light
trust God to provide
On this call Jesus made it clear
relying on your own devices will not be acceptable
You must rely on God
You are not qualified for this you wont have the worldly things necessary to be successful, BUT you have a big God.
You will have what you need because God is faithful
You will know where to go because the spirit will lead you
Verse 10
Stay until you depart
and some may reject you just as they had Jesus himself
Look back at verse 6
Jesus was rejected in his own home town
Jesus’s instruction include what to do when they are not recieved
Why include that information if it wont happen?
Jesus gives his disciples this call and while it is not exactly the call we have recieved in our own life we can take these truths away for this section of scripture
Jesus is the one who calls
when Jesus calls us it is not a light call
But it is a clear call
To proclaim that people should repent and believe the gospel
12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent.
This is the message John the baptist declared
This is the message Jesus preached
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,
This is the message we are to proclaim
As sojourners and exiles in this land we have a call to proclaim the gospel
To preach that people should repent and believe the Gospel
Thats the call we must answer if we call ourselves christians
First we must believe it our own lives
Then proclaim it to others
Answering this call will come at great expense
The Cost
The Cost
Mark 6:14-29 , Mark 6:10-11
14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15 But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” 17 For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly. 21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” 23 And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 28 and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
Here we come back to that question of Marks intent
in verse 13 it would seem as though the disciples are having much success
13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
They were healing many casting out demons
All seemed to be going well so why put this story in here
BECAUSE it wont always go that easily
In fact answering the call of Jesus Christ will carry a great cost
And mark wants us to understand this
He wants his readers to understand dont answer this call if you are just looking for things to get better in this life
Dont answer this call if you think it will lead you to health wealth and prosperity
Thats why he puts the beheading of Joh the Baptist here
These men are sent out to preach the same message that got John thrown in jail and ultimately beheaded
A key truth we can take away from this is that the cost of following Christ will be high
in fact it will cost us everything
We may not be asked to pay with our lives YET!!!!
But we will be asked to give up those very things we hold so dear
To give up our old life
To live a new life in obedience to the call of Jesus Christ
To proclaim this message of repentance
To be a true sojourner and exile in this land it may cost you...
A close friend
A co worker
A promotion
A job
your social status
your wealth
The list goes on when we are called by Jesus as Dietrich Bonhoffer puts it in his book the cost of discipleship
When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.
Come and die to that old self
Give all that up because on that mission Christ has called us to we dont need that extra baggage
This is a theme we see throughout the scriptures
That the price of following Christ will be high
Jesus reminds us in John15:18, and John 16:1-3
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
1 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.
The thing the scripture promises us is that following Jesus will cost us much
We should be careful here
I am not advocating for some form of asceticism
We shouldnt be trying to kill ourselves for this call
We shouldnt be depriving ourselves of what is necessary to survive
After all what good is a witness if he looks beat up tired run down
What good is it if we are calling people to repentance and look at us and we look barely alive
We as christians should be marked by our hope
We have willing paid this cost because of the one who came before us
Because christ paid the ultimate cost for us
We should be willing to lay everything down
Die to our old self
and possibly give our life if called to do so
Because Christ has done so for us
Because our eternity is secure
Because we have hope that this is not the end
Because we know that we are just sojourners and exiles here
We as christians should be wiling to pay the cost of answering the call of Jesus Christ because of the great comfort we have in those who have come before us
The Comfort
The Comfort
We have a great comfort in those who have come before us
I have heard this people refer to this passage of John’s beheading as a beautiful picture of sacrifice for the gospeol
I dont know if I would call it a beautiful picture but
I would say this is an example of the great courage that John had
The courage to proclaim the message of repent and believe the gospel
He called all to repentance
Even king Herod
He answered the call on his life with courage with unwavering confidence that he was about the business of the one who sent him
He knew the cost and he was willing to pay it
Because he had such confidence in the call that God had placed on his life
Because he had such confidence in the faithfulness of God
And this should give us hope
We should have hope in John’s example
In Paul’s example of faith
In the example we see from the disciples through out the book of acts
IN the examples of all those who went before us
in Abraham the cost of following God for Abraham was going to be his first born
But Abraham trusted God and we got to see how that story played out
We have hope in the example of
Moses
David
Gideon
Barak
Samson
Jephthah
Samuel
We have great comfort in the example of those who have gone before us
And we have our greatest comfort in that just as John and all the others on this list had been willing to risk everything in order to follow God
There was one who we are reminded was willing to be obedient even to the point of death
jesus Christ
our great comfort comes from his willingness to give his life in a cross for us
our comfort from his assurance of eternity
leave you with this verse from Hebrews 12
Mark 6:7, 30; Hebrews 12:1-2
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witness
let our comfort be in them
we are not the first to asked to pay this great cost and we will not be the last
because of those who have gone before us let us run the race with endurance
looking to jesus
once we see what Jesus has done for us we must be willing to give everything to follow him
Dig Deeper Questions
Consider the call that you have felt in your own life, has it always been easy to obey? Has following Jesus cost you in any way? If so what were some ways in which you found comfort?
Throughout the gospels Jesus reminds his followers that following after him, answering his call will come at a great price (Matthew 8:20-22, John 15:18, 16:33). However, we are left with hope why? What is the hope we can have knowing that Jesus has overcome the world?
Personal Prayer: What has Jesus called you to right now that you know will cost you much (Job change, gospel conversation with a close friend, confronting sin in your life or a friends, forgiving a friend)? Write this down and pray that the Lord would give you courage to pursue his call above all else. Consider Hebrews 12:1-2, Philippians 1:1-10 , and John 16:33 as you pray.