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THE GOSPEL ACCORDING to LUKE Week 5 Discussion Questions “The Cost of Discipleship”

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THE GOSPEL ACCORDING to LUKE Week 5 Discussion Questions “The Cost of Discipleship” THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE Week 5 Discussion Questions “The Cost of Discipleship” 1. What is the best bargain you’ve ever found? 2. When you get something for free, or at a greatly reduced price, do you think about who has borne the cost? Read Luke 14:25-27 3. How do you feel when Jesus says his disciples should ‘hate’ their family? 4. Has there been a time in your life where you had to decide to follow Jesus or your family? 5. What does it mean to carry your cross? 6. How do you put Jesus first in your life every day? Read Luke 14:28-33 7. How did you become a disciple of Jesus – did you jump in the deep end or did you enter via the shallow end, slowly and gradually? 8. When should we count the cost of following Christ? At conversion or later? 9. What do these two illustrations teach you about the cost of discipleship? 10. If there is a cost of discipleship, what is the cost of not being a disciple of Jesus Christ? Read Luke 14:34-35 11. Why is the image of salt associated with the cost of discipleship? 12. How can we encourage one another to stay salty? Read Mark 10:23-31 13. What are the costs of discipleship in this passage? 14. What are the positive aspects of discipleship? Talk 4/8 (Luke 14:25-34): 13/03/2016 “The Cost of Discipleship” by The Rev’d Dr Daniel Rouhead INTRODUCTION \\ WHAT DOES IT COST? Last week, we reached a turning point in Jesus’ ministry. People were amazed at his teaching and his miracles, and were wondering who he was. We focused on Luke, Chapter 9. Peter identifies Jesus as “God’s Messiah”, then tells the disciples not to tell this to anyone. Then he tells the disciples what this mean for him, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life”. We begin to get a sense that God’s plan for our salvation will be costly for Jesus. This morning we will focus on the cost for those who follow Jesus. In our community, there seems to be a continuous discussion about how much things cost. We hear constantly about how prices for some things, like electricity, continue to go up, while prices for technology items keep falling. But with all this talk of prices, we wonder if money can buy everything. The MasterCard advertisements are a great example of this. The latest one features an elephant and its keeper who is sick with a head cold. The elephant’s keeper goes home to bed, while the elephant takes his MasterCard and walks into town. He makes some purchases for his keeper: 1. Soup: $4 2. Medicine: $11 3. Tissues: $1 4. Blanket: $24 The elephant makes his way to the keeper’s house and passes the care package through the window with these words, “Making it all better: priceless”. There are some things, some very important things, that money just can’t buy. We hear that in the famous old song, “The Best Things in Life are Free”. “The moon belongs to everyone, the best things in life they're free Stars belong to everyone, they gleam there for you and for me Flowers in spring, the robins that sing The sunbeams that shine, they're yours and their mine Love can come to everyone, the best things in life they're free” Sam Cooke, lyrics We love to get things for free. Two for the price of one, kids stay and eat free, free steak knives… Even getting a great price on something is pretty close, say milk for $1/litre. But if we are truly honest with ourselves, we have to acknowledge that nothing is completely free. If we don’t pay, someone else does. So it is with us and God. We don’t have to pay the penalty for our sins, we can’t earn our way to being right with God. The gift of salvation is free to us, but not free to Jesus, who gained our salvation on the cross. What is free for us, is very costly for God. This morning we take the next step. Becoming disciples of Jesus isn’t costly, because of what Jesus did on the cross, but being disciples is costly. Jesus wants us to be fully informed of these costs. And so this morning we will focus on three aspects of this: 1. Our life is not our own; 2. Counting the cost; and, 3. Remaining salty. 1. OUR LIFE IS NOT OUR OWN \\ LUKE 14:25-27 Prior to this passage, Jesus has warned and rebuked the Jewish leadership. At the beginning of chapter 14, Jesus is at the house of a prominent Pharisee when he heals a man on the Sabbath. He can tell he is being watched, and asks them whether this breaks the Sabbath law. They remain silent. He goes on to warn those who prefer the places of honour, and tells the parable of the Great Banquet. Those who are invited first find excuses not to come, and so the invitation is extended to “the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame” (Luke 14:21). Now he turns his attention to those following him, his potential disciples. What does following Jesus really require? The previous parable had hinted that other issues had become higher priorities for those originally invited to God's kingdom. This passage makes it clear that disciples should count the cost of following Jesus, because success will not come easily. It is extremely significant that this passage is addressed to large crowds. On occasions, Jesus withdrew with his disciples, and taught only them. In his passage, he speaks to all who are following him. Jesus offered himself to all, but he also was honest from the very beginning of his preaching about what the journey would involve. What Jesus asks for is first place in our heart. That is what discipleship requires. So Jesus calls for a follower who will hate his mother and father, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life (Luke 14:26). The point of the list is that no other relationship is first for a disciple. "Hate" is used figuratively and suggests a priority of relationship. Jesus is first. To follow Jesus means to follow Jesus, not anyone or anything else. A disciple is a learner, and the primary teacher in life is Jesus. This total loyalty is crucial, given the rejection and persecution that lie ahead. If his followers care more about family than about Jesus, when families are divided under pressure of persecution, they will choose against Jesus. This is what lies behind Jesus' remarks. Discipleship is not possible if Jesus is not the teacher. Jesus says, “whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27). These would have been shocking words for those listening. The cross was the most humiliating and painful form of execution used by the Romans, primarily to keep order within the Roman Empire. Those who were crucified were often made to carry their cross to the site of their execution. Bearing the cross and coming after Jesus is the issue of discipleship. Learning from Jesus means following him, experiencing the rejection he experienced and so bearing the cross he bore. We cannot "learn Jesus" without being prepared to walk this path. Discipleship is basically allegiance. To follow Jesus is to rely on him. Our lives have been redeemed by Jesus on the cross, our lives have been, in a sense, purchased by Christ. We belong to him, and so our lives are not our own, they belong to Jesus. This is the first cost of discipleship – recognizing that our lives belong to Jesus (not us), and so we follow him out of a sense of gratitude for all he has done for us. Unlike those who carried their cross, who were already dead, we are alive in Jesus Christ. 2. COUNTNG THE COST \\ LUKE 14:28-33 After introducing the nature of discipleship and its costly nature, Jesus tells the crowd to consider carefully this cost before committing to Jesus. The image of getting into a swimming pool is often used to illustrate the process of becoming a follower of Jesus. There are basically two ways to get into a pool – jump straight in, or very slowly inch in, starting with the toes, and gradually becoming submerged. I wonder if you can remember the way you came to faith – did you jump in with your whole self before you had a chance to think about what you were doing, or did you take your time, carefully researching and considering all that Christianity would mean for you. Well, in this passage, Jesus is advocating the second of these approaches. He wants all of his followers to understand what discipleship will mean before they commit. Jesus uses two pictures to illustrate this teaching, though each has a slightly different point. The first picture involves the building of what is probably a watchtower for a vineyard. To be a success, this building program must be planned out carefully; otherwise the builder may very well start the project but not finish it. Failure to finish would make the builder a laughingstock to the neighbours, as his half-finished shell of a tower casts its incomplete shadow over the land.
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