Crossing the Rubicon

     “What are you prepared to do?”  Sean Connery’s, Jimmy Malone gasps his dying words to Elliot Ness in Brian De Palmas 1987 Film “The Untouchables.”  That line is the defining statement of the movie. It is often the defining statement of our lives. It is at least the one we play over and over.  How far do we go? Where is that Bridge too far?

     In 49 BC a young Commander Julius stood overlooking the boundary of the Roman Empire. The Senate declared that, under the penalty of death, no legion was to enter into Rome. Many commanders disbanded their armies so that their men could return home. 

     In January of 49 Julius led his legion over the Rubicon River entering into the Roman imperium. Julius and his men were deemed outlaws with a death sentence hanging over their heads. He was said to have uttered the words,” the die is cast” at the time of the crossing.  He had gone beyond the point of no return.

     For Julius the decision to cross over the Rubicon would prove to be a historic one.  The imperium of Rome and many of the Senators fled at the coming of Julius and his legion. The beginning of the Caesar’s civil war would start at his willingness to breach the established law, and would end with Julius named Caesar.   

     Jesus asks in Luke chapter 14 what man who is building a tower does not sit down first and count the cost of what the tower will cost to build. What King who is going into battle does not figure out if his army of ten thousand men can defeat his opponent with an army of twenty thousand.

     We can go through our whole lives and not have to make that kind of decision. We do not often face those kinds of odds. Most of the things that we come across don’t require us to wager our lives. We do not face life or death situations.

     If we are going to follow Christ there is a Cost. Most of us have traveled up to the line over and over. We toy with the idea but never commit.  If you are going to be a follower of Christ you will have a high price to pay. Jesus says to follow him is to hate Father and Mother, to hate our own lives. He says that we are to pick up our cross and follow him. Nothing is to be dearer to us than he is.

     Not everyone who is being called by Jesus can pay the cost of following him. For some the price is just too high. They cannot bear to part with this world or the things in it. They never realize that one day everything that they fought so hard for will be forfeited. One day all of our trophies will be trashed. The price they pay is higher than they thought it would be.

     Christ may never ask us to get rid of all that we have. We may never have to put our lives on the line to follow Christ. Christ does tell us to count the cost though. He is looking for the willing heart that is willing to place him before everything else; a willingness to die to self, a willingness to place ourselves into submission even to the point of Crucifixion. Salvation is not for the faint of heart. It is an all or none proposition. We have to cross the point of no return. It is not a matter of life and death…It’s more important than that.