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THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP

SCRIPTURE READING

AMOS 7:7-15
EPHESIANS 1:3-14
MARK 6:14-29

The theme for our sermon is ‘The cost of discipleship’. A cost is loss, pain or suffering incurred or endured especially in gaining something. Discipleship is the process of learning to love and follow Jesus and becoming more like him in our attitudes and actions. The cost of discipleship refers to the suffering, pain, challenges or sacrifices a believer had to endure or encounter for deciding to become a believer and a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. We shall consider the following facts in relation to theme and Scripture reading;

1. We bear the cost of discipleship when we represents Jesus as the truth and light of the world.
2. There is a reward for enduring cost of discipleship.

Firstly, if we are truly disciples of Christ then we must represent Him as the truth and the light of the World. Representing Christ as the truth and light of the world will surely come at a cost. Our fate will be like that of John the Baptist in Mark 6:14-29. John spoke truth to power and he was murdered. We are told in Mark 6:17-19. “For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death” Herodias eventually succeeded in having John the Baptist killed in Mark 6:21-29 because John spoke the truth and exposed her abomination. Similarly we see the Prophet Amos being hated by Amaziah the Priest and King Jeroboam when Amos prophesied against idol worship and corrupt practices going on in Israel under leadership and watch of King Jeroboam. Dear friend in the Lord, we must be ready to bear the cost of following Jesus Christ faithfully. In Matthew 10:16-22 Jesus already make us as aware that “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Again in John 15:18-21 Jesus tells us that “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me”. Beloved in Christ, for the fact that you are a faithful disciple of Christ and you have the mandate of exposing evil and speaking against corruption, you are likely to lose your job, your spouse may divorce you, your friends will become your enemy and your life will be under threat by the wicked. Many Christians after bearing the cost of discipleship, see it to be unbearable and have rather decided to follow the lust of the world and to share in the corrupt gains of the wicked. Jesus unequivocally admonished us in Matthew 16:24-26, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” My dear friend in the Lord, the cost of discipleship is a choice but for those who faithfully follow Christ, it is a door to eternal life.

Secondly, what is the reward for bearing the cost of discipleship. Paul in Ephesians 1:3-14, draws our attention to the blessings we receive when we faithful follow Jesus regardless of the cost or hardship we may encounter as His disciples. Paul encourages us through his letter to the Ephesians when he wrote, “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:11-14) Jesus also promised us in Matthew 5:10-12 when He said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” The cost of discipleship will graciously end with joy and blessings, that is why in Revelations 2:10-11 we are greatly assured, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.” My dear friend in Christ the cost of discipleship is worth enduring, for the end is filled with endless joy and salvation from the Lord.

In conclusion, we have learnt that becoming a faithful disciple of Christ comes with a cost even to the point of death, however, we have faith and hope in the fact that there are immeasurable blessings and eternal life in Jesus if we endure the cost of discipleship to the end. May the Holy Spirit strengthen us to bear the cost of discipleship even as we await the second coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.