“Discipleship, Part 3: The Cost and the Reward” by the Rev. Dr. Don Wahlig, February 15, 2026, Year A / Transfiguration – 2 Peter 1:16-21 ¨ Matthew 17:1- 9
THEME: Disciples live this life with self-giving, sacrificial love in anticipation of the glory to come in the next life.
Have you been watching the Olympics this week? I have, too. Like many you, I have been mesmerized by some of our greatest athletes doing the most remarkable things. Jordan Stolz setting world records in the men’s speed skating, Jessie Diggins winning bronze in the women’s cross-country – despite a broken rib. Breezy Johnson taking gold in the women’s downhill - and taking home a husband to boot. Ilia Malinin anchoring the US figure skating team and bringing home gold by a single point. And so many more.
What really makes the Olympics come alive are the personal stories. If we think back to previous games, the names of the athletes evoke the stories: Simone Biles, Michael Phelps, Lindsey Vonn, and if you go further back, Greg Louganis, Mary Lou Retton and even Nadia Comăneci. What all their stories have in common is sacrifice. In most cases, they have spent years, even decades training to reach this very moment. Along the way, they and their families have made extraordinary personal sacrifices so that they can compete for Olympic gold. Without sacrifice, there is no glory.
This morning as we conclude our series on discipleship, we hear Jesus preaching that message to his disciples as he prepare them for his imminent death. He tells them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me. Those who want to save their life will lose it. Those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” Six days later, Jesus ascends the mountain with Peter, James and John. There he is transfigured in front of their very eyes. His whole body glows like an angel. Moses and Elijah suddenly appear beside him. His disciples are awe-struck.
The transfiguration confirms for Peter, James and John that Jesus is indeed Immanuel, God with us. It gives them a glimpse of the glory to come, for Jesus as well for them. It is the anticipation of resurrection, the day when we will all glow like Jesus in heavenly, bodily perfection. That is the promised reward for faithful disciples. Like everything else in life, the reward comes at a cost. That cost is our very lives. It will cost Jesus his life, though his disciples do not yet understand that yet. It will cost them their lives, too.
As I read this text over and over again this week, a question kept popping up. Where is Andrew? His brother Peter is there. So are the Zebedee brothers, James and John. But no Andrew. Then it occurred to me. You and I are like Andrew. The way to see ourselves in this text is through his eyes and his ears. He hears about Jesus’ miraculous metamorphosis only after the fact. He is not an eyewitness. Later, he and the others will briefly encounter the risen Jesus, but that experience is nothing like this one.
So, Andrew has to learn what it means to live as a disciple without the benefit of seeing firsthand what the end result will be. In other words, he has to learn to make the sacrifice without a clear picture of the reward. Isn’t that true for you and me? Jesus calls us all to sacrifice our own self-interest in order to live for others. He says that we are to let nothing stop us from living as the alternative community of his disciples. In this community, the virtues of the Beatitudes are the foundation of loving relationships. Anything that prevents us from living out the upside-down values of the Sermon on the Mount has to go. That is why Jesus warns his followers to avoid the temptation to become complicit in the injustice of the empire. We have to be faithful to the values of God’s Kingdom. That means self-sacrificial service on behalf of others, especially the least.
Let’s be honest. Sacrifice is not something that comes naturally. In fact, our inclination is just the opposite. By nature, we prefer self-preservation. We prefer self-elevation. Self-sacrifice is not innate. It has to be learned. For most of us, we learn it through our family, through our parents or whoever raised us. For those of us who are parents, we learn self-sacrifice on the job. We learn to prioritize our children's needs, their safety, and their well-being. We learn to put those things ahead of our own comfort, our need for sleep, and even our personal goals. As the saying goes, when you accept the job of being a parent, the only shift available is 24/7.
Here is a humorous, somewhat cynical take on this sacrifice from the Comedian Tom Papa.
• [Play audio – 0:00 – 0:48]: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5fPtzjdByXQ
Earlier this week, I came across a more remarkable and more warm-hearted example of this. Do you remember the name Gabby Douglas? If it rings a bell, then it is certainly because you watched the London summer Olympics in 2012. In London, Gabby Douglas won two gold medals in gymnastics. Four years later in Rio de Janeiro, she took home a third. This past summer she became the first African-American gymnast to be inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame. She would never have achieved any of this if it wasn’t for the loving self-sacrifice of her family. Her mother, Natalie Hawkins, was a single parent raising four children on her own. Gabby is the youngest. At age 6, she began to show an interest in gymnastics. For years, she begged her mother to take her to a gymnastics class. Finally, Gabby’s oldest sisters convinced their mother to let her try it. Gabby was a natural. That was the beginning of a series of major sacrifices her mother made for her. Gymnastics is an expensive sport. To cover the cost, Natalie worked multiple jobs. She took on extra shifts. She even sold her jewelry. Then, in 2008, while the family was watching the gymnastics competition at the Beijing Olympics, Gabby turned to her mother and said, “I can do that. I want to go to the Olympics.”
To get there, she would have to train with a coach halfway across the country from their home in Virginia. Naturally, Natalie hesitated. Then, Gabby’s sisters got together and persuaded their mother to let her go. They would miss her terribly, but they knew it was best for Gabby. So, at age 14, she moved to Iowa. The whole family was heartbroken to be apart. It wasn’t long before Gabby was homesick. She wanted to quit and come home, but her mother and her sisters persuaded her to stick with it. It was a crisis point. Like so many times before, Natalie and her children relied on their deep Christian faith to carry them through. They prayed like never before. They found guidance and comfort in scripture. There was no certainty of Olympic glory, but they trusted God and carried on. Two years later, Gabby was on the medal stand in London, the first African-American gymnast to win Olympic gold.
In making Gaby’s dream possible, not only did her mother make a remarkable sacrifice, her sisters did as well. They did it for love. Love is the only force in this world powerful enough to compel this kind of sacrifice. Love is the power of the Good News. Love is what not only leads Jesus to confront the false powers of his own people, but the false power of Rome as well. Love leads him to carry through with his God-given mission all the way to the cross.
Friends, love is the power that Jesus gives you and me to carry out our mission. Where there is suffering and injustice in this world, especially among those whom Jesus calls the least, we are to do something about it. When we see the abuse of those who are marginalized by their age, or the color of their skin, or those who suffer hunger and poverty, or those who have come here looking for a better life, it is not enough to feel compassion. We have to act to correct it.
This is the mission Jesus gives us. Frequently, it requires us to put the needs of others ahead of our own. The place we learn to do this is in our own families and friendships, and in our faith family, too. That is where we learn it. That is where we live it. Who in your circle of loved ones is suffering? Who dreams of a better life, but is unable to get there on their own? What Jesus teaches his disciples, is that our love and our self-sacrifice may be the only way to help them live the life of abundance that Jesus wants for us all.
On this Valentine’s Day weekend, we celebrate love. By love, we usually mean romantic love. Certainly, romantic love is a powerful thing. But there is an even higher love. Jesus calls it agape love. By going to the cross so that we may have new life, he showed us the power of this divine love – and the glory to which it leads. When we love others as he loves us, we give them a glimpse of this heavenly glory as well. It won’t be a gold medal, but it will be a golden life.
May it be so.
