The call, the cost, and the crowning of discipleship; Luke 6: 12-19

Today we are continuing in our ongoing study of the book of Luke, and we find ourselves at the point where Jesus names certain disciples to become His apostles.  And this is a very significant moment in the ministry of Jesus.  Luke doesn’t tell us exactly when this happens, but he has related events in a specific order, as he said he would in the opening chapter of Luke, in order “that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.”

At this point, Jesus has been preaching the gospel of the kingdom and the need for repentance for about a year or so.  And along the way we have read about Jesus calling Peter, James and John and Matthew or Levi as he was sometimes called.  These men and many others have made up a loose knit group of dozens if not hundreds of followers called disciples.  But at this particular juncture, He is singling out 12 men in particular for a unique ministry, a particular position among the disciples which will be critical in the formation of the church.  He is going to take these 12 men apart, unto Himself, to teach them and empower them to be special representatives of Himself called apostles.

Luke has recorded this incident in this place I think strategically, in order to show a relationship to the passage at the end of chapter 5, where Christ gave a parable about the kingdom of heaven being related to  new wine in new wineskins.  He said then that new wine must be put in new wineskins.  And as we looked at a few weeks ago, He was equating with old wineskins the nationalistic religious system of Judaism that had evolved within Israel, which was a form of religion to be sure, but not a religion that was able to save because it depended upon self righteousness and keeping traditions imposed by men and not God. Judaism evolved out of the old covenant to Abraham and the patriarchs, but the Jews had added to it and subtracted from it, until it had lost all spiritual power, and just become a system of dead works that damned men rather than saved them.  And so He relates Judaism as the old wineskin.  It’s cracked, it’s faulty.  It isn’t able to contain  the gospel.  The gospel will need a new wineskin.

So, Jesus is replacing the old patriarchal/nationalistic system founded upon the 12 tribes of Israel, and instead instituting a new covenant founded upon the 12 apostles.  These common, everyday men, unlearned Galileans, would be the new foundation of this new covenant, and instead of a nation of Israel, He would institute the church as the vehicle by which God would convey His gospel to the world.  Jesus would later rename Simon, the leader of the 12 as Peter, which meant rock, and say that upon this rock He would build His church and the gates of Hell would not prevail against it.

Ephesians 2:20 confirms that in stating that this church is “God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord.”

Now it’s important to see in vs. 13 that Jesus names these selected disciples as apostles. “And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles.”  This designation is important to understand.  There is a misconception in some circles today that apostle is a title of authority that God is still bestowing today.  But the Bible doesn’t teach that.  The first call of God on these men was the call to believe in Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the Son of God.  They became believers.  And then the second call was to leave everything and follow Him.  The second call then is the call to discipleship.  It’s not just to be a student, but to be a follower, a disciple.  And then, when they had left everything and followed Him, He appointed certain ones as apostles, His personal representatives, whom He would commission and give them certain authority and gifts as we see in Luke 9.

Paul establishes this as well in Eph. 4:11 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.”  And the body of Christ is of course, the church.  God called some disciples to be apostles, some as prophets, and then pastors and teachers, to build up the church and establish the church.  That’s why Paul had to argue in all his letters to establish his apostolic authority in order to silence his critics.  Because apostolic authority is essential for establishing doctrine in accordance to divine revelation.   The apostles were given the authority to speak and act on Jesus behalf.  And God reserves the right to give that authority to those that He chooses and we believe the Bible teaches that the apostolic authority ended with the divinely appointed apostles.  That’s why 1&2 Timothy and Titus set standards in the church for pastors and teachers, but there are none for apostles.  They were a unique commission by the Lord personally for the foundation of the church.

But though we are not all commissioned to be apostles, or even pastors and teachers, we are all called to be disciples. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and make disciples…” Before you can be used in any sort of official capacity for Christ, one must first become a disciple.  And we are going to look at those requirements in just a few minutes.  But first I would like to look at these Apostles in a little more detail, because they are exemplary disciples.  Because of their discipleship, these men were called to an even greater position with Christ.  They were taken into intimacy with Christ that the average person didn’t get to share in. They were to be the leaders and teachers of disciples.  So the first thing I want to look at is their calling.  The calling of discipleship.

Vs. 14 says that Jesus after praying all night, presumably about these men, called these disciples to be apostles;  “Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew; and Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot;
Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.”

Not a lot is known about these men.  But a few things are worth pointing out.  First of all, they were commoners, or common men.  They weren’t educated men.  Most of them were fishermen by trade. One had been a hated tax collector.  One a zealot, or a revolutionary, possibly a criminal.  They were common men. None of them were priests, none of them were rabbis, none were rulers or politicians.  They had no special talents or abilities.  In fact, if you were to pick 12 men from the entire nation of Israel to be special ambassadors for the Messiah, you probably wouldn’t even consider these guys.

They were very  common men called for a very uncommon task. Ordinary men that will do extraordinary things by His power. And folks, that gives hope for us, doesn’t it? I’m sure we all remember those pick up games of basketball or baseball or whatever that we played in the neighborhood or in the schoolyard as kids.  The two biggest, or the two best players were team captains, and they would flip to pick up teams.  And I remember how awful it felt to be standing there, waiting to be picked.  And how horrible it felt to be left standing as the last man that no body wanted on their team because you weren’t considered all that talented or you weren’t that well liked.
But Jesus doesn’t pick people for his team based on their appearance, or based on their talent, but He looks at the heart, not the outward appearance.  Jesus calls us, not on the strength of what we are, but on the strength of what He will make of us. Paul said in 1Cor. 1:26 “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.”

Secondly, let’s look at not only the calling of discipleship, but the cost of discipleship.  The cost of discipleship.  See, there were a lot of people at that time who were hanging around Jesus.  He was very popular at first.  He was extremely popular when He was passing out loaves and fishes, but not so popular when He began to pass out crosses.  Let’s turn for a moment to Luke 14: 25, “Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. "For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?  Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' "Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? "Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. "So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. "Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? "It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Notice in this passage that Jesus says three times that if you don’t do something, you cannot be his disciple.  So what are these three conditions?  Well, number one, He says if you don’t hate your father and mother and family, even to the point of hating your own life, you cannot be His disciple.  Now hate is a pretty strong word, and so the typical reaction is to say that Jesus is exaggerating, or that He is contradicting other times when He says you are to love your wife, or love your enemies, or love your neighbor.  So how do we reconcile this statement?  Well, we need to understand that He is contrasting the love of God to the love of your family or the love of yourself.  And by contrast, He is saying that the love of God must be so consuming, that it makes the love of family seem like hate in comparison.

You remember when the lawyer asked Jesus what was the most important law in the Bible, and Jesus said “you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength?”  Well, He wasn’t kidding.  He wasn’t just exaggerating.  He was serious.  God is a jealous God.  Jesus died on the cross for us, left heaven for us, suffered hell for us, suffered the ignominy of humanity for us, and He demands our love and allegiance for Him alone.  So the first cost of discipleship is to love God supremely.  That’s not an easy task.  Because if you love God supremely, then you will hate, or let go of anything that comes between you and God.

But aren’t we so good at putting something ahead of God and then counting on His love to forgive our selfishness?  However, here Jesus is saying that you cannot be my disciple unless you hate those things that would separate you from loving God completely.  That means if you love God with an all consuming love, you might have to let go of your career goals.  If you love God with an all consuming love you might have to stop dating that boy or girl that isn’t following God.  If you love God you might have to leave your family members that want to keep you in a cold dead church that doesn’t really believe the Bible.  If you love God with an all consuming love you might have to give up some things to be a disciple.  There is a cost.

Number two, Jesus said if you aren’t willing to carry your cross you cannot be my disciple.  Listen folks.  The cross is not a Goth fashion accessory that happens to look cool on a chain around your neck.  The cross is a symbol of death.  First century Christians didn’t need an explanation of a cross.  The Romans would line the highways with crosses, hanging criminals and Christians there for them all to see suffering an agonizing death.

Carrying your cross means dying to your self.  On Wednesday night last week we were looking at 2 Timothy 3, which talks about lovers of self and all the filth and corruption that flows out of our self love.  False Christianity and false religion tells us that we need to learn to love ourselves and believe that God loves us just the way we are.  So there is no need to die to anything.  There is no need for new life in Christ.  But Biblical Christianity tells us that old things need to pass away, and all things become new.  And the only way to do that is to obey Jesus command in Matt. 16:24 "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

True discipleship says that through death you find life. Dying to self is what Romans 12:1 is talking about when it says that our reasonable worship of God is to present our bodies as a living sacrifice.   Dying to self means that you forgive someone rather than harboring a grudge or taking revenge.  Dying to self means that you pick up a Bible and read it, rather than picking up the remote and watching TV.  Dying to self means that you come to church for the sake of others, rather than coming when you feel like it.  Dying to self means that you don’t satisfy your sexual thirst before marriage, but you wait for God’s ordinance of marriage.  Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ, but nevertheless I live.”  Disciples find new life in Christ by dying to the old one.

Thirdly, Jesus says you cannot be his disciple unless you are willing to give up your possessions.  And He gives us two illustrations of this principle.  He describes discipleship as a calculated examination of the cost involved, and having the commitment to follow through.  There are a lot of people that have an impulse to follow Christ, but lack the discipline to follow through.

In Luke 9, a man calls out to Jesus, “Lord, I will follow you wherever you go.”  But Jesus said, “I have no where to lay my head.”  In other words, if you want to follow me, you may have to give up some things.  You have to be willing to suffer for my sake, because I’m headed for the cross.  Listen, there is a cost to following Jesus.  But there is an even greater cost in not following Jesus.  Jesus said, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his soul?  What will a man give in exchange for his soul?”  You see, the soul is eternal, and all of you will live some where for eternity.  The option is heaven or hell. Jesus says that to gain heaven, you have to give up your possessions.  You have to give up this world to gain the next.

There is one other thing in that passage I would like to bring out.  The first three cannot’s were negative, what you cannot do and be a disciple.  So let’s look at what Jesus says a disciple must do in vs. 24, and 25.  A disciple is compared to salt.  And Jesus says, a disciple is to be the salt of the earth.  Today we have a negative connotation with salt.  We tend to think of it as something bad for our health.  But actually, salt is necessary for good health.  Just not as much of it as we get in most of our food.

But in that day, salt was a precious commodity.  First, it was actually a form of payment for wages to soldiers and others in some situations.  That’s where the expression comes from of being “worth his salt.”  It was valuable.  And the true disciple is of great value as well.

The second characteristic of salt was that in a day without refrigeration, salt was a preservative.  It kept things from spoiling.  It kept things from corrupting.  It was a preservative.  And that is what Christ is getting at in this parable.  Disciples are to be a preserving influence on the culture.  We are not to become corrupted by the culture, or become relevant to the culture, or influenced by the culture.  But we are to be a preserving influence on the culture;  not by what we say so much, as by what we do.  It’s been said that Christians are to be a living epistle written by God and read by men.

And another characteristic of salt is that it will make you thirsty.  That’s why they load up on salt in foods like popcorn in the theaters.  They want to make you so thirsty that they can sell you a small soda for $8 or some crazy price.  But disciples who are salty should be making others thirsty for the living water.  Our lives should be lived in such a way that others will see Jesus, who was the Living Water, who when one drinks of Him, they will never thirst again.

So Christians are called to discipleship, then they need to count the cost of discipleship, and finally there is the crowning of discipleship.  I sometimes think that I over emphasize the cost of following Christ.  But I really think I must in contrast to the easy believism that is being taught today which is such a diluted gospel that is has lost all it’s power to save or deliver.  There is a real cost in carrying your cross.  The apostles found this out.   Out of the 12 original apostles, Peter, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, and Simon the Zealot are eventually crucified like their Master, only Peter asked to be crucified upside down.  James the son of Zebedee, and Matthew are beheaded.  Thomas was burned to death. Matthais  who replaced Judas and the apostle Paul were beheaded.  John seems to be the only one to have escaped death but was exiled on the island of Patmos after being burned in a pot of boiling oil.

But though there is a cost to being a disciple the Bible teaches us that there will be a crowning for those faithful disciples who give everything to follow Jesus.  And that crowning, that exaltation and glory, Paul said in Rom. 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

Peter asked Jesus one day about that hope in Matt. 19:27 “Then Peter said to Him, "Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?" And Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name's sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. "But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.”  The Bible says that we will one day receive crowns as judges and rulers sitting on thrones with Christ.  There are worlds and dominions and realms that we cannot imagine that one day God will give to us that have been faithful to Him here on earth.

But there is a warning there as well, that many of those that are first here on earth, will be last in the kingdom of heaven. You might gain the world, but lose your soul.

Listen, God isn’t seeking the talented, the celebrities, the rock stars of this world.  God is seeking the common man, the humble, the hurting the sick. There are no qualified people...none. And so an amazing aspect of God's grace is that He must save sinners, He must sanctify sinners, and then He must work His ministry through the unworthy and the unqualified. It’s very encouraging to see these Twelve because like all the rest of us, they are selected from the unworthy and the unqualified.

God is seeking ordinary men and women who will be His disciples.  The world needs disciples.  Not religious people.  Not church goers.  Not self righteous people.  But disciples.  God is calling you to be a disciple today.  Don’t just stop at the point of being a believer.  But to continue to mature by following Christ in discipleship.  I hope you will say today, I love the Lord with all my heart.  And I want to follow Him completely.  I renounce all that I’ve put before following Jesus.  I have counted the cost and am willing to give up everything for the sake of knowing Jesus and entering in to that intimacy that only discipleship can bring.  And I know that “in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”