In our Bible reading today, Jesus calls us to plan, to prepare, to count the cost of discipleship. You may have noticed that Jesus uses some very strong words in our Gospel reading: words like hate, cost, cross. He's going to make the point that although salvation is free to all who believe, discipleship is very costly indeed.

Notice that the Gospel reading begins with some very telling words: "Now great crowds were following Jesus." There's the problem. Whenever you read that great crowds were following Jesus, you assume that not all of these people are believers, nor are they disciples.

Jesus' popularity was huge! If you had a backache, a headache, or a heartache, Jesus would take care of it. Jesus was the Great Physician. This made him tremendously popular. Looking at this huge crowd of followers, notice what Jesus does not say. Jesus does not say, "Come to the water. Come to the kingdom. Come to me." Jesus does not say, "Come, come, come." Rather, Jesus says, "Count, Count, Count the cost of discipleship."

You would think that Jesus would have set the bar of discipleship very, very low. You would think Jesus would say, "It's easy to be my disciple. Love your wife and kids. Be nice to people. Go to church. It's easy."

And in a sense, being a disciple costs NOTHING. Jesus paid the cost in full. On the day you were baptized, many of us as infants, we did not participate or cooperate. God called us through the water and the word of Holy Baptism. On that day, the blessings of forgiveness of sins, deliverance from death and the devil were given to us as free gifts, earned by Jesus on the cross. In a real sense, becoming a disciple costs nothing to us. Jesus paid the price in full.

But, on the other hand, Jesus says, "Being a disciple is costs us everything." You see, Jesus did not want people who wanted to be a little bit of a disciple, have a little bit of dedication, who were just after a little bit of healing. Jesus wanted their heart. Jesus was letting all of us know that being a disciple is not easy. The cost is sometimes very high.

It reminds me of a person named Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Pastor Bonhoeffer ministered under the shadow of the swastika in Nazi Germany. Bonhoeffer worked with others to try and assassinate Adolph Hitler and was killed because of it. His most famous book is The Cost of Discipleship. The first sentence says, "Cheap grace is the mortal enemy of our church." He wrote, "True Christians will always be small in number." His book described what it means to follow Christ in a modern world where we are attacked by unbelievers.

When you were little kid, a child, you felt sick. But you didn't want to tell mom right away. You know that you wanted to feel better, but it may come a cost: a visit to the doctor, some nasty medicine.

Jesus freely gives forgiveness, life and salvation. No charge. But as His disciple, He calls us to a life of service, our spiritual act of worship. He shapes us day by day to be His disciple.

Jesus uses HYPERBOLE in this reading. Exaggerates to make a point. Jesus says "You must hate your father and mother." Jesus says, "Anyone who does not renounce all he has and give it away cannot be my disciple."

Jesus is NOT saying that we must not associate with those we love. He is not asking us to move into a commune away from people and things we care about, though some have interpreted it this way.

So what DOES JESUS MEAN HERE?
To be a disciple of Christ might cost you your family. You know how the devil is. He can be devilish! He likes to take the good things that God has given you and twist them. The power of sin will take the good things in our lives such as family and cause us to love them more than we love God. We celebrate the blessings of family and friends, but we recognize in faith that the Good Lord will call each of us home to heaven some day.

In our lifetime, there will be lots of hands that we hold, the hands of people we care about and trust. But ultimately, we let go of each of these hands, until we are holding on to the hand of Jesus Christ alone. And those hands, scarred by the cross, made salvation possible for us. And His hands will lead you to heaven. And we will join hands with all of God's children once again, and we worship and praise our Savior.

Yes, to be a disciples costs us our family, in that we must love God more. Never love the blessings God has given to you MORE than you love the Giver of all good gifts.

The next thing that Jesus mentions is that being a disciple will cost us our material possessions. "Unless you renounce all that you have, you cannot be my disciple." You know the devil. He can be devilish. He takes the good blessings of life and twists them so that we love THINGS more than we love God. We all have treasured possessions/collections/a favorite chair. Jesus isn't saying that we should remove these things. But recognize that they are blessings.

You see, the devil has a way of tricking us into believing that our happiness comes from material things. The more we have the happier we will be. And then that leads to greed, jealousy, hatred.

I know we have all met people who are very, very poor and have a joyful smile on their faces. Do they need to pay bills? You bet. But they are trusting in Jesus. They know what is of primary importance. Time and time and time and time again, we see celebrities who have everything self-destruct.

But we may be called to suffer: suffer ridicule because we are Christians, standing up for something that is illegal and sinful at work, being nagged by your conscience to take a stand.

Joy and happiness come from a relationship with Jesus. Knowing He has earned forgiveness for our sins. Knowing that He will not give us more than we can handle by faith. Knowing that He loves us with an everlasting love, shown on the cross. That's joy. That's were meaning in life comes from.

The third thing that Jesus describes as a cost of discipleship is that we may be called to give up our very life for Jesus. You know the devil. He can be very devilish. And he wants us to love this world more than the eternal life that Jesus earned for you on the cross and through the empty tomb.

For some, like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, it literally meant standing up for Jesus to the point shedding blood. We live in a wonderful country, blessed with freedom galore. Still, we are called to submit to our God with regard to life issues. We trust that every second, of every minute, of every hour, of every day is fully in the hands of God. We submit to His will. We trust His will.

Does the Christian life sound hard? Does it sound impossible?

Good. It is. What Jesus desires from us is that humble heart: Lord, I'm helpless. Lord, You take over from here. Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me.

That is discipleship, isn't it? Giving our self to God and submitting to His will. Not always understanding, but trusting. Discipleship is costly. Look to the cross and the price Jesus paid.