The Parables of Counting the Cost

Sam Ferguson, July 12, 2020
Luke 14:25-33

Sermon Outline & Questions

Opening thoughts

Two crosses

  1. A cross on the exterior of a building atop a steeple is a sign of God’s free grace.

  2. A cross in the interior of a building is a sign of God’s free grace and the cost of discipleship.

The cross inside the church has more to say, for the people in the pew have begun listening to Jesus’ invitation to be his disciple. Grace is free, but it is not cheap.

Luke 14:27 | Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Two parables

We must pause, recognize, and reckon what it means to give our lives to Christ.

Parable 1 (vv. 28-30): What builder would start a tower without counting the cost to be sure they can bring the project to completion?

Parable 2 (vv. 31-32): What king would enter into battle without first making sure he has enough forces to achieve victory?

The point: Discipleship is no casual matter. Grace is free, but it is not cheap.

What is a disciple? A disciple is more than a student. A disciple is an absolute commitment; someone who obeys Jesus in every facet of life.

Do you see yourself as a disciple of Jesus in this sense? Does it seem extreme?

What does it look like to “count the cost” of following Jesus daily? How might “counting the cost” shape our prayer lives?

Part I: A conundrum

How can life with God be a gift of grace on the one hand and while also being so unimaginably hard (Jesus compared it to being crucified on a cross).

Luke 14:16–The parable of The Great Banquet. Salvation may be likened to an invitation to a banquet; all you must do is come hungry. Sheer grace.

Luke 14:27–The cost of discipleship. “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”

So which is it? Is life with Jesus like feasting at a banquet or dying on a cross?

Important caveat: Jesus’ cross is not what he’s asking us to take up in Luke 14. On the cross, Jesus did what we could not. He reconciled us to God.

Our crosses bear likeness to Jesus’ cross in that they entail suffering.

Grace is free, but it is not cheap, for it cost the Son of God his life.”

The hardness of discipleship means there is a necessary response and responsibility that flows from being given this kind of gift of grace.

Analogy 1: The couple that struggled with infertility has a child (gift of grace) which brings tremendous responsibility (cross).

Analogy 2: A professional, after years of struggle, finally gets the dream job (gift of grace) which brings incredible difficulty (cross).

The point: Grace is free, but it is not cheap.

Cross-shaped discipleship begins with grace and is walked out with grace, by the Spirit. It gives you the dignity to pick up your cross and labor in the gift you’ve been given.

Have you ever considered the way free grace works with the cost of discipleship? Does it change or deepen your view of grace? Have you ever considered your cross a form of dignity bestowed by Christ?

Part II | Bearing one’s cross is hard, but not bad

We must be prepared emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually to bear our crosses well. We must be oriented toward the cost of discipleship.

Three reasons the cost of discipleship is actually good news.

(1) It is a better burden.

The burdens of following Jesus are real (e.g., loss of relationships, status, etc.).

Humans are burden-bearing creatures. It is part of our dignity. We need life to be hard. We desire commitment. We want our lives to count for something meaningful.

But, we bear our burdens for the wrong reasons and in the wrong way. We carry them in our own strength and for our own purposes.

Jesus invites us to a life of better burden-bearing.

We must surrender everything we hold dear and put it all at the feet of Christ. This doesn’t mean we never pick these things back up, but we will do so only as Jesus guides.

God offers each of us a uniquely shaped cross. It is only borne through the strength of Christ—an invitation to follow and work with Jesus.

What burdens are you carrying by your own strength or for your own purposes?

Have you ever surrendered something you hold dear to Jesus? What happened?

(2) It saves the individual from the group.

Luke 14:25–“Now great crowds accompanied Jesus…”

Jesus speaks to the crowd as individuals. “You must hate your own family, your own life, and carry your own cross.”

Jesus is saying, “I will not let you be suffocated but his crowd, or hide in this crowd. I will dignify you with a specific call to you.”

Jesus knows we incline toward allegiances (e.g., political parties, causes, etc.) We are pressured (and desire) to join groups.

“I believe that in all men’s lives at certain periods, and in many men’s lives at all periods between infancy and extreme old age, one of the most dominant elements is the desire to be inside the local Ring and the terror of being left outside.” -CS Lewis, 1944.

Jesus pulls us out of our allegiances and says, “You will only be connected to these things through, and on the terms of, and to the glory of me.”

Have you ever desired to be a part of a group so much that you separated it from your walk with Christ? Why?

(3) It gives us the life we’re made for.

Luke 9:23-24–”Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”

The point of the cross is life. If you walk with Jesus, he will use the pressure of the cross to shape you into his image.

Think of a few times in your life when God seemed to be shaping you into Jesus’ image most deeply and resolutely? Share these examples with others.

Concluding thoughts

“[T]he cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise godfearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer The Cost of Discipleship

“I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God.” -The prison doctor on witnessing Bonhoeffer’s final days.

The cost of discipleship is the gift of life.

How is Christ speaking to you through this passage and sermon?

Have you read The Cost of Discipleship? If not, would you consider reading it?