1.
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God
our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The
message from God’s Word this Second Sunday in Lent is taken from Mark 8:27-38
and is entitled, “The Cost of
Discipleship,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
The
story is told of two boys who grew up as best friends throughout their lives.
After high school, they both went off to college. One of them studied law and
became a lawyer, then eventually a judge in the court system. The other boy
went off to college and spent most of his time enjoying the college life. He
eventually had to drop out of college and went from job to job, always in and
out of trouble. The boys lost contact
until many years later, when they met in a courtroom. One was the judge and the
other the accused on trial. It was a case heard by the judge without a jury.
The judge alone would rule on the case. If the accused was found to be guilty,
the maximum punishment allowed by law would be a fine of $2,000. Upon hearing
the case, the judge’s ruling was guilty. According to the law, he pronounced
the maximum punishment. Then he took off his robe, went straight to the clerk
of courts, and wrote a personal check—for $2,000. Because of our sins, God himself found us all
guilty, pronounced the maximum verdict of death, and then took the total
punishment upon himself in the crucifixion of his own Son. We go free at his
expense. This is the Cost of Discipleship, Jesus gave up His
life for us so that we can be set free from our sins, death, and the power of
the devil. We’re now able to deny
ourselves for the sake of our neighbor.
3.
And
yet, even though Jesus talks about the Cost
of Discipleship here in Mark 8 we see that Peter was ashamed of Jesus. Just
a few minutes before, Peter had confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the
Messiah (v 29). But Peter tried to define Jesus according to his own goals: the
glorious king, victorious over Israel’s enemies. He meant well, wanting to
spare his master the shame of defeat, and spare himself embarrassment. Jesus
immediately saw what was taking place. Peter’s “good intention” was a temptation from Satan himself! The most
terrible attack against Jesus comes from those who love him.
4.
To
answer Peter and the other disciples, Jesus stressed that popular opinion
wasn’t God’s view. The Messiah must suffer, die, and rise from the dead (Gen
3:15; Pss 22:1–21; 118:13, 18, 22; Is 50:6–10; 53; Zech 12:10; 13:7). God will
do battle with Satan, and Jesus will be the casualty whose death gives the
victory for God’s people. For the sake of mankind’s redemption, Jesus had to
suffer and die. It’s shocking that the Messiah
is to die at the hands of Israel’s religious leaders. But, it’s even more shocking that Jesus’ own
disciples were ashamed of present rejection and impatient for eternal glory. In
turn, Jesus called Peter “Satan.”
5.
This
makes us wonder about the Cost of
Discipleship in following Jesus as our Savior and Lord. Are we ashamed of Jesus
because we might lose things of this world?
Martin Luther stated, “Whatever
you love most is your god.” Is that money; what money buys; or your job; or
family; your lifestyle? The meaning of Jesus’ life and death was service for
mankind (Mk 10:45). Being a disciple of Christ means devoting your life in
Christ-like service. Would you give up the selfish aspects of your lifestyle
for the sake of Christ?
6.
Our
world offers many pleasures for our flesh and emotions, but Jesus can top the
best. He has gained for us life everlasting. But following Jesus also means a
cost. It’s a question of profit or loss: you could carve out your own little
kingdom in this world, but aiming for such a goal means the loss of your very
self. Will you sacrifice everlasting treasures for cheap worldly trinkets? Will
you sacrifice eternal life for the pleasures of the moment? Some people try to gain the whole world and
yet forfeit their very lives. You never
see a UHAUL following behind a hearse, you can’t take your money or your
possessions with you.
7.
So
what does the Cost of Discipleship of
following Jesus look like? The question isn’t, “What can I get out of the world for myself? The real question is,
“What can I give this world of suffering
people?” Jesus calls us to go out into the world with the life-giving
Gospel. If we don’t spend our life for Christ, we lose it. When Jesus returns
in his glory, he will say to those who have been ashamed of him, “I never knew you. Away from me, you
evildoers!” (Mt 7:23).
8. The Cost of Discipleship of following Jesus leads us to ask ourselves, “Are we ashamed of Jesus because we might
lose “things of men”?” Everyone
wants acceptance and recognition. Are we afraid of ridicule because we believe
life comes from a Man who was executed on a cross (v 34)? Is that too much
foolishness for our friends? Those who reject the necessity of Jesus’ suffering
side with Satan.
9. In the Cost of Discipleship our Lord Jesus calls us to deny ourselves and
follow Him. Self-centeredness is
idolatry, self-worship. Self-fulfillment deceives us, promising that by doing
what comes naturally we will be happy. In contrast, Jesus calls us to spend
ourselves for his Gospel, and that could mean our losing our life. Jesus calls us to say no to our natural
selves (v 34), promising that those who lose their lives for his sake find them
(v 35). Denying yourself doesn’t mean self-humiliation or rejecting yourself as
a person of value to God. Jesus defines what following him means: deny yourself
and take up your cross. You surrender yourself either to God or to Satan. If
you live for yourself, you are really living for the devil. But if you live for
God, you spend life in service. The
Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer has said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die” (Dietrich
Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
[London: SCM, 1959] 79). In so dying to our sinful selfish selves, we live.
10. And why then can we as Christians
follow Jesus in this Cost of Discipleship? Because the shocking price for our sins
was paid through Jesus’ death on the cross for us! The blood of the Son of God was sufficient
price to pay for the sins of the whole world.
We have forgiveness and eternal life by the Passion of the
Christ. The cost of being a disciple
isn’t payment for our sins, but a joyful attachment to Jesus by grace through
faith in his unconditional love.
11. So the Cost of Discipleship in following Jesus involves denying yourself,
taking up your cross, and following him is understood well in the following: “And he
died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for
him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Cor 5:15). We’re enabled to
live for him, since we no longer have to live for ourselves. “Those
who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions
and desires” (Gal 5:24). “You were taught, with regard to your former
way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its
deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on
the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness”
(Eph 4:22–24).
12. What a miracle! God has given me a
passion for denying myself, picking up my cross, and following him. His Passion
makes this a reality in our sanctified life. We don’t have to live for
ourselves anymore, but desire to live for him who died and rose for us. The
Gospel makes us new. We proclaim it daily in our Baptism, and we feast on it in
the body and blood of the One who faced the shock of damnation, so that we can
put on the new self, created to be like God, wrapped in the robe of Christ’s
righteousness. Jesus’ passion to go to the cross for us now enables us to have
a passion to deny ourselves and follow him, this is Cost of Discipleship. Amen.
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