One day Adam was feeling lonely. So he found God. He said, "God I'm lonely." God said, "Adam,I knew you would feel this way. So I'll make woman for you."
Adam said, "Excuse me God, but what's woman? " God replied and said, "Adam, woman is someone who will take care of you. She will get food for you, bear your children, will love you at all times, not question your judgement, and when you discover clothes, she'll wash and mend them for you, keep your house clean, not argue with you, and give you companionship."
"Sounds good," said Adam. "How much will she cost?" God thought for a while and said, "An arm and a leg.
Adam said, "Hmmmm, that's expensive! What can I get for a rib?"
Funny, I know. No offense to the ladies out there, though. It is a joke, but with a serious little tidbit. And that serious tidbit has to do with Adam’s response to God’s initial offer. Adam wanted a companion who would cater to his every whim. Adam wanted a companion who would never question him and who would do everything for him. It was a dream come true for Adam. But when God told him the cost, Adam balked. He didn’t want to pay the cost. It was much too high.
And how many of us are the same way? How many of us like to be served? How many of us like the perks of our jobs? How many of us like the service we are provided by the government, the church, the city and county, hospitals, nursing homes, shopping centers, and the like? How many of us enjoy a meal out from time to time that we do not have to slave over and cook? How much of us enjoy fire protection and police protection? How many of us enjoy having roads to travel from place to place on? How many of us enjoy having schools that teach our children and teachers who spend hours upon hours doing so? I could go on and on and on. Most of us enjoy such things immensely. In fact, many people want more and more such services.
But here is the kicker. Whenever we are presented the bill, how many of us enjoy that? How many of us like paying top dollar and giving a tip when eating out? How many of us like getting that property tax bill in the mail which pays for so many services in our communities? How many of us enjoy filling out the 1040 ez or the 1040 or having a CPA handle our income taxes? How many of you rejoice when you have to fork over money to pay for such things? Anyone here this morning relish the thought of getting your tax statement in a few months?
Didn’t think so.
There is a truism about us as humans that runs deeply within us. We like being served, but we don’t like paying for it. We like the perks of life, but we don’t like to sacrifice our stuff or our money to receive them. We don’t like paying the cost of what we receive.
The sad part about this truth about us is that it even extends to our lives of faith. Yes, unfortunately, it does. All of us are guilty of it, including the one who is speaking to you right now.
In our Gospel lesson this morning Jesus tells his followers these words, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. 26For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?"
Now, put yourself in place for a moment in the skin of one of Jesus’ disciples. Don’t hear these words after the resurrection. Hear them before that blessed event. Jesus tells His disciples, "If you want to become my followers, deny yourself, give up what you want, and pick up an instrument of death. Pick up an instrument of torture that you have seen many of your countrymen die upon, shamed, humiliated, beaten and bloody. Take this instrument up yourself and die with me."
How many of you would have volunteered?
How many of you would have taken up the challenge?
How many of you would have jumped at the chance to die with Jesus, especially since you didn’t know the resurrection was going to happen? How many of you would have willingly walked away from your family and friends and job and all that you knew to die with Jesus?
Anyone?
And if Jesus came to you today and asked you to do the same thing, would you? Would you leave your family and job? Would you leave all that you knew? Would you forsake all of this to do what Jesus called you to do and become His disciple?
I cannot speak for you, but I confess this morning that I could not. I could walk away from my job. I could walk away from my possessions, but I couldn’t walk away from my family and friends. I couldn’t leave them to follow Jesus. That cost would be too high for me to pay. I just couldn’t do it.
And if we who are sitting here this morning are honest with ourselves, we would probably say the same thing about something in our lives. We would probably be able to say we could give up several things without hesitation, but there would be that one thing we too would grasp and hold onto. The cost would be too dear.
We couldn’t let it go.
"How much is it going to cost me, Jesus?"
"Your entire life."
"How much can I get for one hour on Sunday?"
So what is the good news this morning for us? If all we want to offer Jesus is a rib when He is demanding we give our lives, what is our comfort? Can we have any? Are we forced to walk through life under a gigantic guilt trip knowing we cannot fulfill even this basic requirement of discipleship?
The answer, of course, is no. God does not desire our guilt. He desires our love. He desires our praise and our worship. He desires to be our God and for us to be His people. And because of this, He has willingly paid the entire cost of our discipleship. And it cost Him dearly.
When we wanted to offer a rib, God offered His Son.
When we refused to die to ourselves, Jesus died in our place.
When we looked at the cross and said, "I don’t think so." Jesus stretched out His hands and received the nails.
When we couldn’t and wouldn’t, Jesus could and did and opened up the path for each and every one of us.
And He showed us the result. He showed us what awaited us the other side of the grave. He showed us that in dying, we will truly live. He showed us that in losing our life, we will truly find it.
One day, God came to humanity and said to us, "I want you to be my people. I want you to show my love to the world. I want you to be my chosen people. I will establish my Kingdom among you during your life now, and when you die, you will not go out of existence. You will have eternal life with me."
We responded, "That sounds fantastic, God. What will it cost?"
God said, "It will cost you nothing. It will cost me the life of my Son. I love you that much."
And we paused. We weren’t used to getting something for nothing. After thinking deeply, we spoke, "Thank you, God. Is there anything we can do to show our thankfulness for what You have done for us?"
God said, "Be my Son’s disciples."
Again, we paused before saying, "That’s difficult. Do we have to?"
And God said, "It’s your choice." Amen.
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