Second Presbyterian Church

"Consider the Cost:
Preaching From the Gospel of Luke"
April 10, 2005

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Sermons Homepage » Sermons for 2005 » Sermons for April 2005 » Sermons from the Series on Luke

#46 in the Series on Luke
The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.

• Genesis 11: 31-12: 4a
• Luke 14: 25-35

I often receive unsolicited brochures and advertisements that want to sell me a resource about how to make a congregation grow. The range of techniques includes how to make your building more stranger friendly. It includes techniques such as offering coffee and light refreshments. It includes how to make the worship service more entertaining perhaps use more audio-visual equipment. The list goes on.

None of these techniques include the approach that Jesus used here in Luke. He already had a great crowd following him. They marveled at Jesus' wisdom and miracles. They were excited about heading for Jerusalem. They were possibly expecting a miraculous overthrow of the Roman rule and the establishment of Israel. They were even anticipating Jesus to be crowned as the new king on David's throne!

But the great crowd had no conception of why Jesus was really going to Jerusalem. They had not been able to comprehend that Jesus was going to Jerusalem to die, and then rise again. Perhaps some of them had heard Jesus say these words. Certainly Jesus' close followers had heard Jesus report how he was to be arrested, crucified, and then be raised on the third day.

This great multitude of people had much enthusiasm, enthusiasm that Fred Craddock described as "unreflective enthusiasm." "Yea, let's go! Jesus really has something to say and do; let's follow him! It will be really awesome when he gets to Jerusalem and takes care of those Roman leaders and their Jewish puppets!"

Jesus knew the crowd. He realized that they didn't have a clue about what it meant to really be Jesus' follower. He knew that the crowd was like the seed sewn on shallow, rocky soil and although it would sprout quickly, it would wither as soon as the heat of the sun bore down on the tender plant. It would dry it right up. The moment that things would start going against expectation with Jesus, the crowd would disappear without a trace.

Jesus Turned to the crowd and made these stunning remarks. "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple."

These are stunning words to hear. What is Jesus really saying? Is he teaching us to hate? I always thought that he wanted us to love everybody, even our enemies! Now he's saying that I have to hate everyone I love, including myself! What gives?

The two following examples explain further what Jesus was attempting to teach us. The first example is the tower. People built towers in their vineyards so that they could keep guard against thieves and animals that might steal, or damage the crop. To build a tower cost money. One who would start building, lay the foundation, and then have to stop because funds had run out would be mocked by his neighbors. He would be considered a very foolish man and would be humiliated in public.

The second example Jesus uses is about a king who observed that another king is attacking him. He meets with his advisors to consider whether or not they can defeat the attacking king's army. If they cannot, then the king would send for terms of peace, rather than risk a losing battle.

During the battle of Bull Run, people came out to watch it, brought picnic baskets and everything. They had no idea about what the cost of war was like and what a tremendous toll of lives it would take.

What these examples mean is that Jesus is warning the crowd to "consider the cost." ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO FOLLOW ME? DO YOU REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT IT'S GOING TO COST YOU? ARE YOU READY TO TAKE UP YOUR CROSS TO FOLLOW ME? Following Jesus is no picnic.

The literary expression that Jesus used is called a hyperbole. It is a deliberate exaggeration that is used in order to get the greater truth across. The exaggeration is hating everybody, including yourself. The greater truth is that NO ONE, NOTHING, is to be placed before our call to follow Jesus and be his disciple. There are no exceptions to this. Christ comes first in our lives, or we are not his disciples, period.

And that is what Jesus restates in verse 33 of our scripture. "So, therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple." Jesus comes first. Not job, pleasure not, not family, and NOT EVEN YOUR OWN SELF. All this is to be place in at least second place, if not lower.

Three times Jesus has used the phrase, "cannot be my disciple." The verses about salt offer another way of illustrating what followers who do not consider the cost, or who are unprepared are like. They are like tasteless salt, good for nothing! In other words followers who are not willing to place Jesus Christ first, above all else, in their lives are useless for the Kingdom of God.

Tell me, how many times have you heard people talk about how to make a congregation grow? Now, tell me how many times have you heard this passage as a recruiting technique? Yet, Jesus is correct. To be a true disciple means to place him first in our life and to be willing to persecuted and crucified if that is where your journey of discipleship leads you. That is the cost we have to consider. We have to consider, first of all that the life that Jesus gives us is a free gift; it is grace. Then we have to remember that it is costly grace. After we receive the gift of our redemption, by faith, then we spend our whole life following Christ. Why? Gratitude, for the real life we have received, rather than the ersatz life we have attempted on our own. As noted in chapter 9, the follower who loses his life for Christ and the gospel has actually saved it. The person who tries all the ways the world says we should save our own life loses it. It is the tremendous paradox of our faith. True life comes only when we are willing to die for what we believe.

This is pretty heavy stuff to consider. But the next sermon is about the joy heaven experiences when one who was lost is found. Although the cost is life, as we know it in worldly terms, it is nothing compared to life with Christ! Amen.

The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.