Luke 14:33

THE GENIUS OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION

‘So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple.

Luke 14:33

The genius of the Christian religion lies in sacrifice. Our Lord stands over against the souls of men inviting to sacrifice—claiming, welcoming sacrifice; meeting it with His solemn benediction. And He states this law of sacrifice again and again in its most paradoxical form, as in the great words, ‘If any man comes to Me, and hates not his father and his mother and his wife and his brethren and his sisters—yea, and his own life also’—that is as we should say, ‘if he be not ready to turn his back upon all of of them’—‘he cannot be My disciple.’

I. The call to the disciples.—He stands over against Matthew, the tax-gatherer, and calls him away from his profession—‘Follow Me.’ And this is quite deliberate. Just as our Lord trained His disciple in the confession of His Name, till at last He elicits from Peter the great acknowledgment: ‘Thou art the Christ,’ and arrests that acknowledgment with His supreme benediction: ‘Blessed art thou Simon, son of Jonah’; in the same way, He elicits from Peter the confession of His service, ‘Behold, we have left our own and have followed Thee.’ And, again, He blessed him: ‘Verily, verily, I say unto thee, that ye which have followed Me, and everyone that hath left house, or wife, or brethren, or parents, or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, shall receive an hundredfold in the present time, and in the world to come everlasting life.’

II. The call to men.—And it is not only in the case of those who are to be the ministers of His Kingdom—as we might say, only for the clergy. No. Zaccheus, the man of business, the wealthy publican, when his soul is converted, turns to desire the Lord. Jesus comes into his house, and when he is entertaining Him at the meal, he is invited by Him to make the same confession of sacrifice. Zaccheus stood forth, and like a man publicly making his great offering on the altar of God, he said: ‘Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if (in my capacity as tax-collector) I have done any wrong to any man, I restore him fourfold.’ And the Lord meets the sacrifice, as always, with His solemn benediction: ‘This day is salvation come into this house.’

III. The call to women.—It is so with the woman when they were disturbed at the lavish and wasteful expenditure of the precious ointment. Our Lord’s great benediction falls and resounds all down the ages; ‘wheresoever the Gospel is preached in the whole world, there also that which this woman hath done shall be told for a memorial of her.” It is so with the widow who threw into the Temple treasury the mite. He blessed her, not because, as we generally mean when we say we have given our mite, she gave what cost her nothing, but because it was all she had—her whole living; and the sin of the rich young man who wanted to know the way of perfection is in the minds of every one. It was to be found not in any extraordinary method of spiritual excuse, but in the completeness of manifest sacrifice. He was to sell all that he had and give to the poor, to come and follow Christ, and he should have treasure in heaven; and when he was not equal to the sacrifice, he was suffered to go away sorrowful, ‘for he was very rich’

IV. The living Christ is still the same.—Over against us all He is still the same. The living Christ stands over against the young just beginning their career, over against the old and the middle-aged, over against us who have settled down into our ordered and customary life, fondly imagining that nothing more is expected of us, and that we must go on as we have begun; over against the rich young men, old men; over against the poor with their mite; over against us all. He stands at every fresh beginning—and every day is a fresh beginning—that same Christ with that same claim: ‘Verily, verily I say unto you, whosoever forsaketh not … he cannot be My disciple.’

—Bishop Gore.

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‘We need to remind ourselves that the genius, the characteristic spirit of Christianity is sacrifice. It is a day when among all classes we find people trying to attract men by making religion easy. It is not the method of Christ. He allures, He attracts, by the claims of sacrifice. We have great problems to solve—overwhelming problems, of which we hear constantly—in commerce, in civilisation, restive under the yoke of Christ; at times it seems revolting. There are divisions; there is human life from the cradle onwards wasted in all directions, and by millions wasted. There are masses and nations unevangelised, unconverted. There is torpor, indifference, religious division. I think that if we would learn in the school of Christ we should know where is to be provided the remedy. It is in the exhibition by the believer of the spirit of sacrifice. There we fortify our faith. There we grow to know our power. There we are reassured of the love of God.’

(SECOND OUTLINE)

THE FINAL CONDITION OF DISCIPLESHIP

The Master has already claimed from every one who would be His disciple the first place in the affections, the submission of the will, the acceptance of His reproach, the surrender of the life to Him. Now His claim takes in one more thing, and declares that without it discipleship is incomplete, nay, is non-existent. The disciple’s possessions and property, all he called his own, are now to be put under another Owner; he is to bid farewell to his rights and authority over them; he is to forsake his position as proprietor; henceforth they are the Master’s, and he is only steward or treasurer over what he once called his own.

I. Christ’s own example.—As in other conditions demanded from His disciples, so in this one also, the Master has fulfilled it Himself first, and has made Himself the Pattern and Example for His followers.

II. The example of the Apostles.—The example of Christ Himself was followed by His disciples and apostles, who could quietly and confidently appeal to Him and find their appeal accepted and a blessing given to it (Matthew 19:27).

III. The example of the early Church.—But not to the apostolic leaders and rulers of the early Church was this obedience to the call, and acceptance of the conditions, of Christ confined; the whole Church, in the first days of its Pentecostal fire, was equally ready and faithful to the Master’s will (Acts 2:44).

Rev. Hubert Brooke.

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‘It is probably no exaggeration to say that there is no topic upon which God’s Word is more neglected, God’s command more ignored, God’s will more overlooked, God’s principles more denied, amongst those who claim the title of Christian, than this of earthly possessions and temporal wealth. It is beyond dispute, it is a matter of plain figures and simple calculation, that this condition of discipleship is not accepted, this step in consecration is not taken, by the immense majority of those who “profess and call themselves Christians.” It is only too apparent that our opening premiss is true: the terms “Christian” and “disciple” are no longer coincident, synonymous, interchangeable. The claimants of the former title are the refusers of the latter. We may boldly assert, and do so with a sad abundance of evidence to confirm the truth of the assertion, that the condition of discipleship is no longer apparent in the Church at large, by which a man “forsaketh all that he hath “; that the mark of the early disciples is no longer to be seen, when “neither said any of them that ought of the things that he possessed was his own.” Rather does it appear that Christians are often indistinguishable from the world, in their bold assumption of undisputed ownership, and irresponsible rights, in what they call “the things they possess.” ’