What a strange, troubling, and difficult two years it's been around the world. I'm sure you'd agree with me that it's been exhausting trying to keep up with so many changes around us. There is a very heavy and robust grief that we are still experiencing, not only due to the overwhelming toll we've experienced at the hands of COVID but also the social, economic and political upheaval that Satan hopes will divide and conquer the body of Christ. It might seem that despair is the only logical outcome, but assuredly, confidently and unequivocally the good news of God's redemptive story in Christ and his resurrection say otherwise.
And here we are.
God is still God and we are still the sheep of his pasture.
We are still God's church and Jesus is shining his light everywhere.
In the cracks of our broken experience, the hope of Christ is shining ever so brightly.
So my hope is that every one of you who reads this article encounters a Holy Spirit conviction, one born of love that challenges and compels each of you to become torchbearers in this dark world. You are Jesus' disciple! That is what you are! Yet, many of us want to follow Christ and trust him with our lives but fail to understand the costs that are associated with trusting him completely. Many of us think that faith in Christ is only about believing in our minds and our hearts that Jesus was raised from the dead and asking him to be our Lord and Savior. And you'd be right--but partially. Dear friends, Jesus didn't save us merely to keep us comfortable or to alleviate our suffering; instead, he saved us into a life of suffering because in our struggles the life of Christ is evidenced most clearly and most lovingly. Suffering is salvation; suffering is the Kingdom's way of finding healing in beloved, Spirit-filled community with all people. In other words, to call Jesus Lord means that all you are is under his care and command. And he loves us so much that he doesn't hesitate to transform us into vessels of compassion and service, both to those we know and those we've yet to meet. The cost of discipleship is everything--nothing more, nothing less. To follow Jesus is not simply to attend church, pray and give to missions; to follow Jesus means to lay yourself bare before the Lord each day and ask, "God, what would you have me do, and if it's uncomfortable, would you give me the grace and strength to do your will?" This is a question asked in brave faith knowing that doing God's will always carry with it some form of sacrifice. Since Easter is around the corner, it makes complete sense that for us to walk toward our own empty tombs it will mean that we must also carry crosses.
There can be no discipleship without a cross. (Read that again.)
Listen to how Jesus described the life of the Christ-follower (disciple): "Then he said to them all, “'If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it'" (Luke 9:23-24, NRSV). Jesus turns the idea of life on its head; if one wants to find life, they will lose it for the sake of Jesus' passion (his road of suffering to the cross). This means that people can only experience the life God offers by offering the best of ourselves to the Lord and neighbor (Mark 12:28-34). In other words, to truly know the Life, to know the true heart of Christ, as his followers we must do three things: deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow him wherever and to whomever he pleases. Doing this will always entail a cost. Following Jesus will always require a sacrifice.
Journeying with Jesus will always mean laying yourself down in order to glorify God.
So, as the idiom goes, one must "count the cost" in following Jesus. One most weigh all the options before making a decision. But when it comes to making decisions for Jesus, has he proven himself faithful, loyal and true? If so, isn't the Savior worth our commitment? What holds us back if we are unsure? Why would we hold onto those things that we are scared to relinquish? What doubts do we have about trusting him? Are we assured that Jesus knows what he's doing? Do we have to always know where he's going? How will we feel if Jesus doesn't give us answers right away, or even at all, about the questions we might have along this Spirit-filled journey? The reality is that those who follow Jesus by faith, especially when, at times, following doesn't make sense or feels irrational, they are the ones who find Life--and with it, joy, love and peace. There is logic to finding Jesus--after all, in Greek, the word logos is used of Jesus in John 1. Jesus is our logic, he is our reason, his is the Way. Wherever Jesus goes, even as he calls us to daily dying, will lead to peace. We have to trust him. We have to follow him. We have to remain loyal, knowing that he is always at work to care for us and offer us his best.
So--what is holding you back from offering YOUR best? How is Jesus calling you to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow him?
More than ever, our world needs to witness the faithful activity of Jesus' disciples. That's you and me. And it's critical that we remember that the cost of discipleship, the cost of following Jesus, the cost of being his student along this cross-shaped journey is everything. Cost and sacrifice are not mutually exclusive terms when it comes to faith; instead, love never shows up as love unless a cost and a sacrifice are associated with it. After all, when David was given animals to sacrifice to the Lord from a local, David responded that he "...will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing" (2 Sam. 24:24). Do you have the same attitude of sacrifice as you return to the cross during Lent and then into Holy Week? When you look up at Jesus, blood-stained and gasping for breath on the cross, are you willing not only to count the cost but to go ahead and pay it, too? What have you got to lose?
Well, you lose your right to follow the flesh. Therefore, please don't forget Luke 9:23-24--you gain your life when you lose it; you save your life when you sacrifice it. There is no empty tomb without a cross; there is no true life without a cost. So, please dear friend, count the cost of following Jesus, but don't tarry and rationalize your decision. Don't delay. Offer him your best on the altar of self-sacrifice and know that this payment is acceptable to God in Christ. After all, Jesus paid it all, didn't he? And as the beloved hymn goes, it follows that "...all to Him I owe."
Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus.
Start by letting go of your pride, learn to pray and study the Bible with fellow church members. Commit your words, your actions, your talents and your treasures to him. Bear the burdens of those who need it, and let others bear your burdens, too. Praise and honor God more in your private devotions, and thank him spontaneously in the most random of places. Give generously in ways you never thought possible and forgive someone you thought you'd written off but the Spirit just won't let you forget. Cancel the sin-debt of another and reconcile a broken relationship. Suffer with and alongside a family member, Offer a healing word to someone who feels lonely and unheard.
Count the cost, and pay it. Oh friends, when this happens, you'll experience the peace that comes from the following truth found in the book of James: "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you" (James 4:10, NRSV). In other words, as you offer yourself as a sacrifice of praise, God will lift you up, like he did with Jesus, and the Resurrection Life will find you as you take up your cross. Don't believe me? Just remember what happens three days after Good Friday.
Your empty-tomb-Life is found in the offering of self, it's found in the cost of your life, it's met in the sacrifice of all you are.
So ask God what he desires of you.
Be obedient.
Don't tarry.
And pay the cost.
Christ counted the cost in the Garden of Gethsemane. And he decided to pay it all on Calvary's tree. Can we do any less for the King of kings who removed our sins and counts us as forgiven and one in the Lord?
Easter is most fully experienced by those who count the cost and pay it.
That, after all, is what makes Easter, well, happy.
So happy Easter, friends. Let's commit to being Jesus' disciples--together.
Pastor Will
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