Whenever I buy something, whether it is a car or a gallon of milk, I always check the price. The question always is: Am I willing to pay this amount, or is the price too high? If I stop at a gas station to get a gallon of milk, and see a price of $3, I think: OK, I could pick it up for 20 cents less somewhere else, but the convenience of buying it right now is worth the 20 cents. However, if they were charging $5 for a gallon of milk, I would probably wait and buy it at another store. If they were charging $25 for a gallon of milk, I would buy a can of pop instead. For most folks, even for those who have plenty of money, there are some price tags which are just too high and we refuse to pay that price for that product.
Friends, today the question we look at is this: Is the price of being a Christian too high? Some of you are thinking, "Pastor Dan, what are you talking about? It doesn't cost anything to become a Christian!" You are right. It doesn't. Salvation is a free gift, which Jesus Christ has purchased for us with His own blood. There is nothing we can do to earn or merit this marvelous salvation. It is by God's grace alone, and it is absolutely free. It costs nothing to become a Christian. However, we will pay a price for being a Christian. Those of us who follow Jesus Christ have difficulties and hardships that we would never experience if we were not Christians. That is what Jesus warns us of in our text today. We are returning to our study of the Gospel of Matthew, which we suspended last November. We pick up in Chapter 10:34-39. Let's pray the Lord would use His Word to help us realize that fol-lowing Jesus is well worth the price.
Matthew 10:34-39 "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 household.' Any one who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." This is some heavy stuff. I want to explore five points which I believe are Jesus' message for us.
#1) A follower of Jesus doesn't lead an easy life. Most of the Jews in the 1st Century thought the coming of the Messiah would usher in a golden age of peace and pros-perity. That is why, when it became clear that Jesus did not intend to do that, many of them rejected Him as the Messiah. Today many Christians assume that if they are following the Lord, they are not going to have any problems in their life. They are expecting a personal golden age of peace and prosperity. But that is not what Jesus promises. Instead of peace, He offers a sword. Instead of finding tranquility, His people will experience conflict. Those who choose to follow Jesus will not find a smooth, easy path. It will be very hard sometimes.
#2) Jesus' followers will experience conflict with their families. 10:35,36 "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 household.'" Now, these verses do sound puzzling. Many of us hope that, by fol-lowing Christ, we will be able to get along with other people better. Jesus seems to pop that bubble, but let's make sure we under-stand exactly what Jesus is saying. I think Jesus would say that if we seek to follow Him, there are times when our relationship with family members will improve. For example, if all the others in your family, except for you, are Christians who are faithful to the Lord, then your decision to follow Jesus will certainly result in better relationships. That is one of the great things about being part of a Christian family. Also, if you have had very poor relationships with other family members before you became a follower of Christ, then it is very likely those relationships will improve. I think of a friend who used to pick arguments with his parents all the time. His mom and dad were not real excited when he became a Christian, but they did appreciate that he stopped arguing with them and their relationship improved. Jesus' point is simply that if we choose to follow Him, there will be conflicts with family mem-bers who are not Christians. Some of you have experienced that. Your parents don't understand your priorities. Or maybe it's your children who don't understand why the church plays such a central part of our lives.
And, of course, it is not just parent-child relationship which can be strained. Most difficult of all is when our spouse doesn't share our faith in Christ. Sometimes we give people the impression that turning to Christ means the end of every marriage problem. But, if you choose to become a follower of Jesus, while your husband or wife does not, you will be at the beginning end of some marriage problems, rather than the concluding end. And the better the marriage, or the closer the relationship with a family member, the more difficult it is when one person becomes a Christian. One of the most memorable books I have ever read is A Severe Mercy. This is the story of Sheldon Vanauken and his wife Davy, who happened to be friends of C. S. Lewis. This couple was deeply in love and they sought to build the ideal marriage. They would only read books that the other wanted to read, and always tried to do everything together. But then a third person came along and interfered with this perfect relationship. That person was God. Davy began to get to know the Lord, and began to love Him. Sheldon became jealous, in his mind he didn't want to share his wife with God. It was only after Davy's premature death that Sheldon realized how foolish his attitude was. He also came to understand that the perfect marriage is not just when both partners love each other, but when both husband and wife love God even more than they love their spouse.
That brings us to point #3) When forced to choose between the Lord and another person, we must choose the Lord. 10:37 "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;..." In Luke 14, it talks about hating our family if we are to follow Christ. Matthew doesn't give us a watered-down version of what Jesus said, but provides a correct interpretation of what Jesus meant. We as Christians are called to love our spouse, our parents, other family members, our friends, and even our enemies. If we have conflicts with non-Christian family members because we mistreat them in some way, it has nothing to do with being a disciple of Jesus. Maybe I have a terrible time getting along with my sister-in-law. I may say it is because I am a Christian and she is not. But if the real reason she can't stand me is because I gossip about her and am not always honest with her, then it is not her problem, but mine. We are to treat everyone, especially our family members with love. But, this verse reminds us that our love for Jesus must be supreme. Loyalty to Him must surpass our loyalty to even the people we care about the most.
Sometimes even family members who are Christians will have a tough time understanding this. I've talked to more than one missionary serving in another part of the world whose parents claim to be devout Christians, but who can't understand why their child cannot serve the Lord a little closer to home. The fact that their child feels certain God is calling him/her to go to another country is not a reason they can understand. And if family members and others who are Christians can't always understand our desire to serve the Lord, it surely is no surprise when folks who are not believers in Christ don't understand or don't like it when we seek to honor Him. Friends, those of you who are trying to follow Christ, but have a spouse who is not a Christian, or parents who are not Christians, have one of the toughest jobs in the world. God says those are people you should care about, those are people you should love. Most of the time the Lord calls you to serve Him, by serving those folks. But, if a time comes when you have to choose between them and the Lord, you have to choose Jesus. That can hurt. That can hurt a whole lot.
Now, in some parts of the world, Muslim countries for example, a person who becomes a Christian will often be cut off from his family. Fathers tell young men who profess faith in Jesus, "You are no longer my son. You are never welcome in this home. I consider you dead." To follow Jesus in those contexts, you have to choose Him over your family. Things like that don't happen here very often, but there are other difficult choices that people make. Maybe there is a young woman who calls off an engagement to a wonderful guy. She realizes, however, that he is not committed to following the Lord, and she chooses Jesus and breaks the engagement, even though it breaks her heart. Maybe there is a man who watches his wife walk out of their door. She has said, "If you don't give up on this Christianity stuff, I'm leaving for good." He loves his wife dearly, but he chooses Jesus even when it may mean the end of his marriage. Or maybe there's a woman who just started going to church the past few months. Her children are grown and don't live at home, but they mock her new-found interest in the Lord. "Now, don't you go getting religious on us, Mom," they laugh. Though she knows her relationships with her children are going to be strained, she chooses Jesus. These people all under-stand what Jesus meant when he said, 10:37 "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me;..."
#4) When the choice is between doing what the Lord wants us to do and doing what we want to do, we must choose His will. 10:38 "...and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me." Often it is suggested that taking up the cross is merely putting up with an unpleasant situation in life. Like, "Enduring Minnesota winters is the cross I bear," or "My cross is the migraine headaches I sometimes get." No, it is more than that. It involves some-thing we choose to do. It involves a con-scious denial of one's self-interest for the sake of Jesus' kingdom. We as Christians know that the cross was an instrument of death. Our Lord Jesus was crucified on the cross for us. To take up the cross means in a figurative, but a very real way, that we crucify our selfish ambition, our pride, and our lust for pleasure. We are to do this not just to practice self-denial, but so that we can devote ourselves to serving the Lord and other people. In very practical terms, that means when the choice is between doing what we want or doing what the Lord wants, we have to choose the latter.
Now, this doesn't mean that the Lord always calls us to do something different from what we want to do. I would much rather be a pastor in Chisholm than in New York City and, at least for right now, God wants me to stay here in Chisholm. Taking up the cross doesn't mean, "Think of some-thing you really would hate to do, and then do it." Banging your head against a brick wall is not taking up a cross. It also doesn't mean that God wants us to choose what we might call "religious things" over ordinary things. I think of Eric Liddell. The movie Chariots of Fire depicts how his sister Jenny tried to persuade Eric to give up his running, and go to China with her to be a missionary. He said, "No, God has made me fast and called me to run." It would have been wrong at that point to be a missionary. Of course, Liddell had other opportunities to take up the cross. At the 1924 Olympics in Paris, he would choose to forfeit his chance to win a medal in the 200 meter dash, something he very much wanted to do, because he believed the Lord did not want him to race on Sunday. Then a number of years later, he would take up the cross quite literally and go to China as a missionary where he would later be killed by the Japanese.
Likewise, there will be times in each of our lives where God will ask us to do something which is very much in conflict with what we want to do. He may ask us to give money to someone who is in need, when we would rather use that money to buy a new winter coat. He may ask us to spend thirty minutes each morning reading our Bible, when we would rather spend that time reading the paper or watching Sports Center. The Lord may call us to do some chores our mom has asked us to do without com-plaining, when we would rather grumble and moan about it. He may ask us to commit ourselves to teaching the first grade Sunday School class when we would rather be with our friends in an adult class. Or He may ask us to go to an adult Sunday School class when we would rather teach first graders. It may be a big thing, or it may be a little thing. It may require a huge sacrifice on our part or it may mean just a slight inconvenience. But, if we are to be disciples of Jesus Christ, when He calls us to do something, we need to do it. When the choice is between what I want and what He wants, I need to take up the cross and do what the Lord desires.
#5) Whatever price we pay for following Jesus, it will be worth it. We have seen that following Jesus has a pretty high price tag. If we choose to follow Him, we can expect that it will not be an easy life. We can expect conflict with the people close to us. Our loyalty to Christ will have to come ahead of our relationship with other people and even our own desires. This surely doesn't seem like a bargain. A gallon of milk for $25 may look like a better deal. Jesus also paints a very different picture of Christianity than many of us are used to. Sometimes we give people the idea that if they put their faith in Christ, all of their problems will immediately disappear. Some of the so-called "word of faith" teachers have done that blatantly. "Trust in Jesus, and send me a check, and you will never need to go to the doctor again. God will give you perfect health, lots of money, brand-new sports cars, and all sorts of other fabulous prizes if you just believe and ask for it." We, of course, don't say that, but I think sometimes we give people the impression that if they turn to the Lord, they are guaranteed an exciting and harmonious marriage, or that they will never again struggle with depression, or that the people in the church will never let you down if you get in trouble. Unfortunately, those things are not necessarily so. Though we may be tempted to paint the Christian faith in bright, sunny colors, the Lord Jesus is not. Becoming a Christian will mean the end of some of our problems, but it will also be the beginning of some other problems.
But, whatever it costs, whatever price you pay for following Jesus, it will be worth it. 10:39 "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." This is a paradox that the Lord reminds us of over and over again so that we don't forget. When we try to hang onto life, when we focus on serving ourselves, we will lose everything. But, when we are willing to give up our lives, when we make serving the Lord and other people our focus, then we will find the joy for which we have always longed. This truth is explained very clearly for me in Luke 18:28 Peter said to him, "We have left all we had to follow you!" In other words, "Jesus, we have paid a high price." Is it worth it? Jesus' response to Peter and to all of us is Luke 18:29,30 "I tell you the truth, no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life." Jesus tells us that in this life, right now, we are going to begin to realize that however high the price, it is worth it to follow Jesus. The encouragement we receive from other Christians, the comfort we find in the Holy Spirit, the satisfaction that comes from knowing our life has a purpose, that we are more than just dust in the wind, are all part of what make following Jesus worth it right now. But, there is so much more ahead. In eternity, followers of Jesus will experience a joy which we can't even imagine right now. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:9 "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him ---" Even if the price of following Jesus is a billion dollars, even if it costs a zillion, trillion dollars, even if it costs us everything we have or ever will have, it is well worth it. When we realize all that the Lord offers us, we see that the cost of following Jesus is a real bargain. The price is not too high.
Friends, this all leads to one question. Are we willing to pay the price? Are you willing to follow Jesus Christ? By His grace and for His glory, are you willing to serve Him and obey His commands? Don't kid yourself, it will not always be easy. You will often be swimming upstream. We live in a very religious culture, but most folks, even many in church, are not really interested in being disciples of Jesus. If we choose to follow Him, we are going to be different from other folks, and that is never easy. We will pay the price if we follow Jesus, but it will be worth it.
Friends, maybe you are here today but have never received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, have never experienced His grace and forgiveness in your life. If that is the case, the first step in following Jesus is, by God's grace, to stop trusting in yourself, to put your trust in Him. When you do that, you become a Christian, and are then ready to follow Jesus. Or, maybe you have been a Christian for a number of years, but lately you have kind of strayed from the path of following the Lord. Now is the time to get back on track. If the Lord has made you willing to pay the price, now is the time to choose to follow Jesus. Or perhaps you are a follower of Jesus, maybe have been one for a long time. Today I invite you to say, "Lord, by Your grace I'm going to keep on following you no matter what the price, because I know it will be worth it." May God grant each of us the desire and ability to follow Jesus.
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