What is a disciple - Count the Cost

My introduction to beekeeping

There are so many times in life that I have gotten in over my head. How easy is it to get so excited about starting something only to realize part of the way in you are way over your head. Our passage today has a focus on Jesus comparing building a tower to following him. Count the cost first to make sure you know what you are getting into first before committing.

Today I want to tell you another story about why I got in over my head. If you recall a few years ago I took it upon myself to try out beekeeping. I was so excited to get started. I had carefully researched all the equipment and supplies I would need. I had found an apiary where I could buy bee packages. I thought I had everything planned and accounted for.

The day had arrived for me to pick up my packages of bees and to put in my new hive setup. I had watched videos and set everything up ahead of time to make this go smoothly. I was feeling good about the day and ready to get going. In my planning, I took precaution and ordered not just one but two 3 lb packages of bees with one queen. I wanted to start with a healthy group of bees and make sure I was successful.

I arrived at the apiary and after exchanging names and greetings, I get both packages of bees and have them loaded in my truck ready to head home. After arriving home, I get all my gear on and get my smoker prepared and ready to use. Everything is going well and as planned.

As I opened the first package of bees, things begin to go not according to plan. If you have never been around a package of bees being put in a new hive, it can be a bit chaotic and scary at times.

I realized after watching all the videos and thinking I was ready and prepared, I found out within 60 seconds of opening that first package of bees, I was in over my head really quickly. While i was trying my best to dump the bees in the new hive, they were also flying everywhere and these bees where simply everywhere including all over me. I don’t know how this happened but somehow one got squished on my leg and stings me through my suit. ouch! That hurt. Now a second one gets stuck on my leg and as I try to brush it off, ouch I am stung again.

I also failed to mentioned that according to some videos I had watch, it is safer to not use gloves with a new group of bees because they will be very passive and the gloves are bulky and you can’t feel what you are doing so you may be hurting bees without knowing. I thought this sounded logical and had not put my gloves on.

So little helpful fact about when a bee stings someone, they put off a pheromone signaling an intruder, enemy, something bad is around the bees. Now that I have been stung on my leg a couple of times, I now have been stung by another bee on my hand.

At this point, I am in pain and these stings are starting to throb but I am not done loading the bees. I have another package of bees I have to load but after being stung so many times, I am questioning what to do with this other package. I walked away from the hive and bee package I needed to load still. I question this whole idea of being a beekeeper. My mind is having all these negative thoughts and reactions to what is happening that I am thinking, maybe I should just let the other package of bees go and cut my losses with the bees I have accidently killed and the ones that have stung me. I have nobody I know to call to get help from. You know the kids and wife are not going to help with this crazy endeavor. I found myself alone and in over my head. I was ready to quit the whole beekeeping thing and just run away, literally from the hive and additional package of bees and leave the unfinished work behind me.

Yet, there is this nagging thought in my head that I can’t quit in the middle of this task. It was not right to quit on these bees and trying to home them in the new hive. While it is not what I had thought it would be like, and it certainly was so much more difficult than what I had planned for, there is still this unfinished business of somehow getting this second package of bees into the hive.

Sometimes when we get in over our head, we want to quit and walk away. Other times we get so frustrated and upset, we can’t think straight or make any decisions. At this point with only one of the two packages of bees loaded, I wanted to quit but knew I just couldn’t because it was not right and I would regret it.

I collect myself, put my gloves on this time, and determine to do the work. I open the hive back up and open the second package of bees and do the task of dumping them in the new hive and replacing the roof. I can remember praying through this the whole time. Pleading with God, I don’t know how I am going to be able to finish this task and fighting the urge to abandon it. Yet, my second package of bees went a little smoother than the first and God carried me through that experience. The work was done, the hive was full of bees and I was relieved the impossible work where I was in so far over my head was done. What I discovered though that day is that even when I am in over my head which is more often than I like, God helps me get through the work. This is what is meant by praying through it. I am meaning literally in this case, praying as I was working to please help me get this work done because it has to be done.

The truth is our Christian faith walk can often be this way. We run into times where we are in over our head. We didn’t understand what was going to be required of us when we signed up or said yes to Jesus. Today’s message is about counting the cost and realizing up front if you are not already there, what it is that is required of you. While the cost may be high, you are not on your own in your struggles to stay committed to following Jesus as his disciple.

Following Christ can cost more than we are comfortable with

As we heard in our passage earlier, Jesus said to carefully count the cost before committing to becoming a disciple. He used the illustrations of a building that can’t be completed because of running out of resources. He mentions a king who has to make sure he is able to win the fight before ever entering into the fight. Jesus ends this passage with the statement, you can’t be my disciple if you don’t give up all your possessions.

We get defensive on this one don’t we. Surely Jesus is meaning this metaphorically or only as a parable. We like our possessions don’t we. When we talk about having to give up things, we quickly discover limits to what we are willing to give.

When Tonya and I as a married couple starting going to church again, we quickly discovered the limit of what we were willing to give or be asked to give. The church we went to was doing a building campaign to build a youth building and each family was asked to give 1/12 of their annual income on top of their normal offering. We were so shocked and we got mad at the audacity of this church asking people to give so much money. We left the church after that and took a while before we would try another church because we didn’t want to experience that again.

If you fast forward a little less than a decade later, in another church and another building campaign, there is a special request for building campaign funds for a youth addition to the church and we gladly sign up and give ironically about the same amount we were asked to give so long ago. Now in all fairness a lot happened in that decade. Where we were at in our walk with Jesus at this first church and where we were at in our walk with Jesus in this next church were night and day differences in understanding the cost of following Jesus. We learned over those years that trusting God with all finances was a much better way to not just survive but to truly be blessed and put in the position to be able to give where it was impossible before.

While this sermon is not focused on tithing, it is worth noting that there is a huge difference between trusting God with all your finances versus struggling to get by on your own plans.

Counting the cost of discipleship

There is one other note on counting the cost of following Jesus. Along these same lines when Jesus said you must be willing to give up all your possessions, there is another passage that gives warning to those who don’t take this seriously.

In Matthew 8:18-22 it says

Matthew 8:18–22 NRSV

18 Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 A scribe then approached and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 21 Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

I believe the expression is that you can’t have your cake and eat it too. You can’t say you will follow Jesus as a disciple yet have possessions or commitments that pull you away or cause you to stumble.

He illustrates two types of people and their questionable commitments. One person is following Jesus because he thinks he will gain material wealth or prestigious perhaps by following Jesus yet Jesus said, you may not even have a home to live in. You will in fact likely be called to give up possessions as they may get in the way of you following Jesus fully. In the second person, they are waiting on their father to die. Perhaps their delay is to gain their inheritance instead of risking missing out on it by immediately following Jesus.

Jesus is warning us that no possession can come between us and following Jesus fully. There is nothing off limits to be clear. However, as you heard in my story earlier, we did what many others have done and continue to do today. We discovered the cost was more than what we wanted.

Many Christians today also struggle with the cost. They get excited and dive in head first without understanding the cost of following Jesus. We will follow Jesus as long as we only need to come to church most Sundays. We will follow Jesus as long as I can keep my toys and play on the weekends. We will follow Jesus as long as it fits into my busy schedule and all my other commitments. I will get more serious next week or next month but not today. Or perhaps you are familiar with the Christian who is on fire for God one day and fizzles out the next day.

We pay lip service to the phrase I am a follower of Jesus when in reality, Jesus’ words confront us in our half hearted commitment and disputes our claim of being a disciple or follower of Jesus. We claim it but is Jesus agreeing with our claim? Does Jesus see you as a follower?

I will be frank with you today. There are things we can help and there are things we cannot help. Today i am focused on what we can help. What possession or priority is coming between us following Jesus? What must we give up in order to be fully committed to following Jesus? We must take seriously these questions and no just pay lip service to words that we do nothing with. In other words, do our words and actions speak to us being disciples or just another half committed person who wants to be a follower of Jesus but does not agree or consent to the cost.

Today my challenge to you is to ask God what is coming between your commitment to God. Do not stop there. Maybe you already know. Maybe God has been nudging you and prodding you and you just haven’t moved to do something about it. Maybe you pretend it is not a big deal or not important enough to get to now. Or maybe you are stuck and unsure how to do things differently. Grace is God’s gift to us where we are transformed from what we should not be to what we can be by God’s hands.

Altar Call

Today we are taking communion. I would like to encourage you to pause at the kneeling rails today after taking communion. I ask you to pray at the altar and ask God what you should do. The world needs more true followers of Jesus and less lukewarm Christians who are only partially committed to following Jesus. Pray at that altar to become that follower that Jesus knows we can become. Commit to God that you are willing to pay the costs of being a disciple.