The Way 3 - Counting the Cost

Reading: Luke 14: 25-30

Funny how time flies. About two and a half months ago we started a series on Sunday evenings about “The Way”. With all that has been going on over Christmas, it has taken rather a long time to get back to it.

We thought about how, unlike so many world religions, “The Way” for us is not simply a series of rules for living. It is about living in a relationship. Because Jesus said “I am the way.” It’s about living life with Jesus.

And then we thought about how we start on the way. Jesus said that we must enter by the narrow gate. And then he said, “I am the gate.” And we thought about how we enter through the gate – by repenting, by believing in Jesus and by being born again into a new life.

But, having gone through the gate – what then?

A couple of Summers ago Prue and I tried to have a holiday in Scotland – though in the circumstances it only lasted 2 days. On the second day we went to Fort William and found the start of the footpath up Ben Nevis. I would have liked to climb it but ther wasn’t the time so I just climbed for half an hour and came back down while Prue sat in the car and did her crossword. At the start of the path there was a gate. And as I went through the gate and began to climb I could see dozens of people climbing the path ahead of me. They had gone through the gate because they wanted to climb the mountain. They didn’t just go through the gate and gather there and say, “We’ve climbed Ben Nevis – we’ve been through the gate.” They wanted to go a lot further than that.

I have come across churches where getting people through the gate is the only thing that matters – bringing people to Christ to be born again – then going out and getting more to come through the gate. Now don’t get me wrong – it is vitally important to be doing that. But the Christian life is much more than that. It is about walking with Jesus and sharing in his life. Jesus said “I am the Gate” – he also said “I am the Way.” Coming through the gate is just the beginning. That’s why our mission statement is both to know Jesus and to make him known. And to be able to make Jesus known we must know him ourselves. And to really know him we must walk with him.

Actually we all know that. We know that we are being called to walk with Jesus in the way. But are we walking with him?

Bridget Plass suggests that many Christians meet every Sunday to pore over glossy travel brochures full of pictures of wild, beautiful, far-off locations and talk about how much they’d love to go on an expedition to such places. Some pretend they’ve been there and share tales of what they’ve experienced. Some go to huge meetings to hear about how important it is that they make such an expedition, and equip themselves with every possible bit of travel equipment and buy piles of guidebooks. But they know deep down that they have no intention of actually going anywhere and are just opting for a lukewarm, sentimental relationship with Jesus.

Why? What are we afraid of? Are we afraid of uncertainty and change? Are we afraid that we will have to leave this crowd standing just inside the gate and set off into the unknown? Why do we hesitate to follow Jesus? What will it cost? And what is the alternative?

In Luke 13: 23-24, Jesus says, “Do all you can to go in by the narrow door! A lot of people will try to get in, but will not be able to.” He’s suggesting that there is something very exciting beyond the door.

But that word “narrow” holds negative connotations for us. We are told to keep to the straight and narrow – it sounds boring and creates the idea that the narrow way is no more than a series of “Thou shalt not”s – standards that we won’t be able to keep up. Narrow minded people close themselves off from reasonable discussion and become exclusive. I’ve just been reading the biography of Watchman Nee, the Chinese Christian leader. In 1938 he came to England as the guest of some exclusive brethren leaders who had met him on a visit to China. While visiting London he went to a church that was not one of theirs and shared communion there. His hosts dropped him like a hot potato because he had stepped outside the narrow boundaries they had set for their people. And we get the idea that the narrow way means submitting to unreasonable restrictions and losing our personalities. But this dreary, solemn, miserable image is a gross parody of the reality of life with Jesus. The narrow way is in fact the life we were designed for. It is narrow because Jesus wants the best for us and straying off his path is what leads to disappointment and defeat and despair.

But he doesn’t promise that the way will be easy. It’s said that nothing worthwhile is easy. But we tend to expect the way with Jesus to be a bit like Charlie finding the gold Willy Wonka wrapper and going off into a delightful life filled with chocolate. And then when life doesn’t turn out that way we feel cheated.

So what is it like to set out on the way? The way starts in different ways for different people– we go the way that Jesus leads us. For some it starts as a gentle stroll – others are falling over rocks as soon as they begin. Jesus takes us forward as individuals – we don’t all go through the same experiences – but Jesus says he will be with us through every situation. However He doesn’t force us to walk with him. Jesus always gives us the choice as to whether we will walk with him or stay at the start where it is all easy.

And so he tells us to count the cost.

In our reading Jesus was talking to people who said they wanted to follow him and walk with him. But Jesus says, “You can’t be my disciple unless you carry your own cross and walk with me.” This was before Jesus was crucified. The cross didn’t mean then what it does today. People didn’t wear gold crosses round their necks. A person carrying a cross was someone who was going to die. Walking with Jesus means being willing to give up our own lives for him. What does that involve? For Peter and John it meant giving up the security of the fishing business. For Matthew it meant giving up the wealth that came from working as a tax farmer for the Romans. For the woman at the well it meant a whole new life-style. There will be a cost.

It wasn’t so long ago that if you went shopping, the sales assistant would tell you the price and you would hand over the money. But now the question is “How would you like to pay?” And there is so much choice. Cash, cheque, debit card, credit card, and all sorts of deferred payment schemes – “Sign here and worry about how in the world you can possibly find the money to pay later.”

Jesus tells us to count the cost. Now let’s be very clear - entry through the gate is free – there is no charge for salvation – it’s a free gift and Jesus has paid the price.

But when it comes to following Jesus – being a disciple – walking with him – Jesus is asking us to look carefully at what following him will involve. What are you signing up for? What might God ask you to do?

When I was studying economics we learnt about opportunity cost. Opportunity cost isn’t what you pay for something – it’s what you must go without to be able to have it.

It involves choices like “Shall we pay the Mortgage or shall we have a new car? We can’t afford both.” Now that might seem an obvious choice but with all today’s pressures it is so easy to make the wrong one.

So what is the cost that Jesus is asking us to count? Is it dreams or ambitions? Is it doing what you do best? It might be but then again God may well be calling you specifically to do what you do do best. It is about you as an individual and your Father who loves you and wants what is best. To be able to make the choice we need to weigh up what Jesus is offering us – what our lives are worth as they are now – and what we will miss out on if we decide to hang on to our own lives.

Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is like a pearl of great price – that someone would sell all he had to obtain. The reason we struggle to follow Jesus is that we don’t really believe what he tells us. We’d rather hold onto what we’ve got than take the risk of trusting him.

When I lived in Kenya we would climb Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. It took two or three days to reach the top hut at about 16,000 ft above sea level. And then came the final climb to the edge of the crater. We would start at two in the morning. It was bitterly cold and we really didn’t want to leave our sleeping bags. The climb was steep and we would get extremely short of breath at that altitude. And at about half distance it would get even worse when we came to the scree – loose stones at a very steep angle so that we had to take a laborious zigzag route. But then just as we reached Gilman’s Point at the edge of the crater the sun would come up over the lower peak of Mawenzi. We would see incredible ice formations carved by the wind. We would sit on top of Africa and look down on the tops of the clouds. And there was that amazing view down to the great plains of Africa miles beneath us. But we would only enjoy that wonderful experience if we first counted the cost and got out of our sleeping bags and toiled through the night to the summit.

And so we need to count the cost of setting out in the narrow way and following Jesus. AW Tozer writes in “The Divine Conquest” – “It is the way of death into life. Always life stands just beyond death and beckons the man who is sick of himself to come and know the life more abundant. But to reach new life he must pass temporarily through the valley of the shadow of death.”

And that is not a popular message today – we want to be able to tell people about all the good things that come from being a Christian, not about the struggles. But what really comes from being a Christian is the privilege of being able to walk with Jesus wherever he leads you and knowing he is there in whatever trouble you find yourself, and being able to talk to him and listen to him and share your life with someone who loves you so much that he has given his life for you on the cross to open up the way to life so that you can live it to the full with him. And what price would we not be willing to pay for that? Let’s stand and sing together – “When I survey the wondrous cross.”