It was great to see athletes from so many different countries competing against one another. And we always gave a special cheer for Australia! They were there going for gold. And they have achieved our greatest medal tally ever. After the elimination of some of our top cyclists because of drugs, we have watched the remaining Australian cycling team gain their greatest number of gold medals ever.

As our Olympic hopefuls were interviewed on television, we. immediately became aware that they were there at great personal cost – long hours of strenuous training, a strict diet, the denial of many enjoyable activities... Preparation took years and was often lonely. Getting to the Olympics and winning Olympic gold became the central ambitions of their life – for some of them from a very early age. We cheered them when they got it. Australia got another gold medal! "Advance, Australia Fair" was played. We all claimed the credit, but they paid the price!

"NO PAIN, NO GAIN," that's what they try to tell us. that’s what they try to tell us. But the average Australian doesn’t believe that. We would love to get something for nothing. It’s almost a right! The ad entices us with the words, "What would you do if you had a million dollars?" Most of us could think of a few things we would like to be able to do.

Our economy is in better shape than it was a few years ago, but it always has one potential point of weakness – we don’t give or receive "value for money"! We complain when we don’t receive it, but do we even notice when we fail to give it?

We have learnt that in any deal you have to read the fine print. The salesman doesn’t draw our attention to clauses that may be against our best interests! If we don’t see them first, we may find out the hard way! There are TV programmes dedicated to exposing some of the worst examples. And we see the distress of people who have been taken in and lost a lot of money.

An election date has now been announced. The political parties have already been wooing our allegiance. They desperately want our votes. Each side seems intent on discrediting the other and will persuasively present their own policies. But – are there hidden costs? Opposing parties will insist that there has been deliberate deception by the others, that we haven’t been given the whole picture, that their policies are the only ones that can be trusted. I am wondering if we would vote for a candidate who said, "We are doing it tough at the moment. We are going to have to pay dearly to improve our position and get everyone back in employment again. Here is what it will cost you in increased prices and taxes". Would we vote for someone who said that?

Now along comes Jesus, eeking your allegiance, wanting us to follow him. "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple... any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple " (Luke 14.26,27,33).

I suspect that most of us would view anyone who said that sort of thing to us with well-deserved skepticism. But this is Jesus – would we follow Jesus?

We need to understand the words of Jesus here. In Matthew 15.3-9, Jesus spoke very strongly against the ways in which people evaded their obligation to honour father and mother. Jesus, who taught the imperative of human love, isn’t here advocating literal hatred. He is, however, making graphically clear the importance of giving him our first allegiance.

What is the cost of discipleship? Salvation and forgiveness are free, but discipleship involves the commitment of all our life. But it isn’t losing our identity. Rather, it is finding our true selves. The everything we give up is nowhere near the everything we receive.

And discipleship is a whole life-style. The call to "follow" is a call to become and to be. Jesus wants us to be his Body – to love with his love, to do his work in the world. We can’t do that, of course – unless we are linked to him, receiving his grace, filled with his Spirit.

Prayer: Dear Lord, we don’t have enough love, but we cling onto the little we have. Yet you ask us to give up our love and come and follow you. In loving you, we receive a larger measure of love for our loved ones – enough for the service to which you call us day by day. Here we are, Lord. We come to you. Fill us with your love. Go with us today as we reach out to others in your name. Apart from you we are empty and dry. We come to receive your grace, to be filled with your Spirit, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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