Many things in life come at a cost, and it’s often the case that before we decide to embark on a certain course of action we try and work out or determine what that cost will be. What will it cost me health wise, if I don’t go to the gym this week, or get some regular exercise and change my lifestyle as the doctor has encouraged me to do? What will it cost me if I tell the truth, when the truth will make me unpopular and get me into trouble, or others into trouble? And then there are all those costs involved in our government providing for the needs of the community. We all know there’s a need for more housing, and better health care, but at what cost do governments provide the money, to stimulate the economy amid rising interest rates on the one hand, but also to keep inflation down and prices in check when we do our grocery shop at the supermarket? Of course, it’s important to stimulate the economy, but it’s all borrowed money and someone has to pay for it; most likely our grandchildren’s grandchildren. There are benefits to be sure, but spending always comes at a cost. This is why businesses and organisations all over the world do cost/benefit analyses and environmental impact studies. They are trying to work out in great and sophisticated detail what might be the costs and the benefits of developing certain infra-structures, or building a freeway in a particular location, or providing for increasing energy consumption by manufacturing solar farms and other green sources of power. How will this or that project benefit the community, and what might be the impact on the surrounding environment?
While there are usually some benefits to be had in most of our human endeavours, most of the things we desire or want or commit to, come at a cost. And this is also true when it comes to following Jesus. There is always a cost involved in being his disciple. Assuming that you are true to who you are and trying earnestly to be holy and to live out your Christian faith, the fact is that living as a Christian in a post-Christian world is challenging. It’s a tough call to live a life of constant obedience, service, and sacrifice. It requires discipline. It can be painful. And such a life always comes at a cost. It involves commitment. Think about this the next time you enjoy bacon and eggs for breakfast. Reflect on the difference between involvement and commitment. The chicken was involved to a degree, in providing you with breakfast, whereas the pig was totally committed.
Total commitment. Unswerving loyalty to our Lord. Your whole self. Your whole life, with no holding back. That’s what God demands. A life of total commitment and loyalty to him alone. It’s a life that comes at a cost.
So, as we explore the Gospel today, what does it all mean? What does total commitment to Jesus mean when it comes to considering the costs and benefits in relation to those things we so often value and hold dear to our hearts, that so often get in the way of following Jesus?
Think about it. Jesus says, “If you follow me”, it can even cost your family relationships. “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law- a man’s enemies will be the members of his own family” (Matthew 10:34-36). How does that make you feel? We all love and cherish our families and our children, but we know that having faith does not always make for a happy family life. Especially when there are unreconciled hurts, or longstanding rifts.
Sometimes faith seems to only complicate relationships and make them more difficult to sustain than they should be. At times it seems as though Jesus is against us rather than for us; a homewrecker, rather than a blessing to our family life? Is he contradicting himself? After all, this is the “Prince of Peace” according to Isaiah (Isaiah 9:6), yet it appears as though Jesus comes to divide families? At least that’s what he said would happen!
Of course, Jesus does bring peace, to be sure. But his peace always comes at a cost. It cost him his life. You see if you want peace you have to be prepared to go to war against every sin and evil, against those who do wrong, sometimes even against members of your own family who might stand in the way of your following Jesus. It goes with the territory. It’s the nature of God and his Word, the sword of the Spirit of Truth (Ephesians 6:17), which always divides and brings conflict and disharmony between those who accept it and those who reject it.
There’s no room for divided loyalties here, even within families. And Jesus wants to know where your loyalties lie. “Are you with me or against me?” It’s God’s call to a higher love. He’s saying to you and me, “You must never value your attachments to members of your family so highly that you push me into the background”. That’s idolatry.
Following our Lord can come at a cost- a huge cost. The prophet Jeremiah, whom we hear about in the Old Testament reading, experienced this for himself. He was called by God to preach doom and destruction, a message of repentance
