Jesus, Compassion And JusticeSample

Realizing The Cost

Before we go much further on this journey I want to ask you to prayerfully consider one important question: Have you counted the cost of following this subversive Jesus who invites us into the brokenness of the world?

In Luke 4, Jesus is launching his ministry. And things are off to a roaring start. He is the Next Big Thing: “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.” (Luke 4:22)

Then, almost immediately, Jesus goes and shows us that this is not going to be a comfortable journey for those who choose to follow him. He starts talking about how God’s blessing is not just for the “People of God” but also for desperate foreigners - and not Christian foreigners, but pagans and heathens and followers of other evil religions!

“I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.” (Luke 4:22-27)

The widow Jesus refers to was from a region well-known for Baal worship, and Naaman was a commander of the King of Aram who was at war with Israel (2 Kings 6:8). In fact, Naaman only knew about the God of Israel because he had a prisoner of war working for him as a slave girl! (2 Kings 5:2) Talk about an enemy combatant!

But Jesus smashes religious and national boundaries in order to bless other people because His Kingdom will know no end. His Kingdom is not bound by our geo-political OR our religious identities. Jesus is calling us to pledge allegiance - not to a flag or national identity that divides - but to the Upside-Down Kingdom of God that unites us across the nations. He goes out of his way to preach that God wants to bless people of other religions and cultures - an enemy combatant, a heathen and a Syrian of all things!? - through his people.

Jesus’ words don’t go down too well - to put it mildly. They never do in an environment where our “us and them” identity trumps God’s Kingdom identity.

“All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff.” (Luke 4:28-29)

Jesus’ words of radical inclusivity were like a red flag to the bull of nationalism. The people jumped up and dragged Jesus over to the edge of cliff where they were going to throw him off.

Ironically, the threat to Jesus’ life comes not from the Baal-worshipers, or enemy combatants, but from the religious insiders.

The fact is, if you choose to follow Jesus and place the needs of outsiders on a par with your own tribe’s needs, sooner or later you will clash. That is why you cannot pledge allegiance to any nation other than the Kingdom of God, which requires blessing and commitment to everyone - not just your own tribe, country or religion.

To follow Jesus, to take up your cross, deny yourself and follow Him - will cost you everything. It will cost your allegiance to earthly citizenship. It will cost your habit of grasping after the safe option, idolizing national security at the expense of the well-being of others.

And in the end, yes, it may cost you your life. Are you willing to pay the cost?