Text: Luke 14: 25-33<\/p>\n
It\u2019s career day at the local high school.\u00a0 The speakers each take their turn.\u00a0 A speaker gets up to talk about a career in medicine.\u00a0 He explains how medicine is a helping profession and gives some touching examples.\u00a0 He tells them how such a career can provide a nice income and good opportunities.<\/p>\n
Yet he wisely paints a fuller picture.\u00a0 He wants them to consider what\u2019s involved.\u00a0 He speaks of demanding years of training, long hours away from family.\u00a0 He speaks of phone calls any time day or night to come to the hospital.\u00a0 He speaks of sacrifice.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what Jesus does here in our text.\u00a0 People were coming to him saying, I want to be your follower, your disciple.\u00a0 And when you first read this it might sound like he\u2019s trying to discourage them –and us today.\u00a0 But that\u2019s not the case.\u00a0 Jesus wants us to follow, but with full disclosure.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we say this morning:<\/p>\n
FOLLOW CHRIST \u2013 But consider what it means<\/b>
\nI.\u00a0 Count the cost
\nII.\u00a0 Check your resources<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sometimes people step up to follow without giving it much thought.\u00a0 People saw Jesus feed thousands with just a few fish and loaves of bread or at least heard of it.\u00a0 They witnessed him give sight to the blind.\u00a0\u00a0 Some saw him stop a funeral procession and raise a mother\u2019s son back to life.\u00a0 And so many people were ready to follow Jesus\u2014or so they thought.<\/p>\n
Today people do the same.\u00a0 Some churches today design their ministry to in a way sweep you off your feet.\u00a0 Give people a great experience.\u00a0 Or maybe they like the pastor or they like the love in the congregation.\u00a0 So they join.\u00a0 They promise to follow Jesus maybe on nothing more than a wave of emotion.<\/p>\n
But then they begin to see what\u2019s involved.\u00a0 Perhaps there is a Bible teaching they won\u2019t accept.\u00a0 One time when Jesus was teaching his disciples, many said:\u00a0 This is a hard teaching.\u00a0 Who can accept it?<\/span>\u00a0 Many walked away offended as some do today.\u00a0 They turn away from Jesus or they find another church which lets them ignore what Jesus asks us to believe or do.<\/p>\n Or maybe there comes the realization that following Jesus requires some change in me, a change I don\u2019t want to make.\u00a0 A sin, I don\u2019t want to be reminded of.\u00a0 And then there comes the stress and strain on relationships.\u00a0 People may distance themselves, look at you differently. So people sometimes avoid those complications by avoiding the Savior.<\/p>\n Here Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.\u00a0 And because it was the Passover, large crowds were on the road.\u00a0 And perhaps they had this picture in mind.\u00a0 No doubt some did.\u00a0 They pictured him being crowned as their king and leading them to a glorious victory over their oppressive Roman conqueror.<\/p>\n But little did they know what the Son of God had come to do.\u00a0 When Jesus got to Jerusalem, the only crown he would wear would be a crown of thorns.\u00a0 For He was going to suffer for the sins of us all, offenses against God that they and we would rather not own up to.\u00a0 He was going there to suffer a death, that was not his but ours.\u00a0 But the people on the road had other ideas.<\/p>\n So they came.\u00a0 They came wanting to be his disciples, to jump on the Jesus bandwagon and get in on the good times to come.\u00a0 But before they did, Jesus wanted them to consider.\u00a0 He wanted them to know what it means. He wanted them to count the cost of following him.\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n He starts off with a real shocker:\u00a0 26<\/sup>\u201cIf anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters\u2014yes, even his own life\u2014he cannot be my disciple<\/span>. This is one of those verses that grabs my attention every time I read it.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure it grabbed the attention of these folks who were taught from early on to honor mother and father.\u00a0 What is Jesus\u2019 saying here?!\u00a0 Well I\u2019ve heard teachers diminish Jesus\u2019 words by saying hate means to love Jesus more than the rest.\u00a0 But thatskirts around what Jesus says is necessary to follow him.\u00a0 What is required?<\/p>\n Well first understand. God\u2019s Word tells us this is a given. We are to love our neighbor and that certainly means my brother and sister.\u00a0 We are to honor our parents and love our spouse.\u00a0 But here\u2019s the point.\u00a0 When I see things in those around me or in my own life that are evil.\u00a0 When I see things that stand in my way of following our Savior, I can\u2019t just go along to get along.\u00a0 I must hate that aspect of them or me and not let it bring me down.\u00a0 So count the cost.<\/p>\n Jesus speaks of another cost.\u00a0 A cross to bear.\u00a0 This too must have been a shocker.\u00a0 They were thinking of glory and Jesus speaks of a cross?\u00a0 You see, the cross to them was not some pretty piece of jewelry.\u00a0 It was a Roman instrument of torture and death.<\/p>\n Here I think of those churches that tell people how their life will be so wonderful when they follow Jesus.\u00a0 If you\u2019re faithful the blessings will just fall into your lap.\u00a0 All roses, no thorns.\u00a0 Your business will prosper.\u00a0 Your health will be good.\u00a0 I wonder what they do with this word of Jesus.\u00a0 27 <\/sup>And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple<\/span>.<\/p>\n You see following Jesus, knowing his love, brings peace.\u00a0 It brings God\u2019s forgiveness and awesome hope where there once was none.\u00a0 It super glues us to God\u2019s precious promises.<\/p>\n But when we follow Jesus, the world will lay crosses on us.\u00a0 For the Christian in Nigeria, it may mean a Muslim militant may stop a bus and insist that the Christians identify themselves.\u00a0 Then they killed them. For the Christian in our land it may mean that people label us or avoid us or mock our faith. In fact, the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, everyone who wants to lead a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted<\/span>.\u00a0 (2Tim 3:12).\u00a0 So count the cost.\u00a0 There\u2019s a cross to be carried through this life.<\/p>\n And finally Jesus totals the cost and comes up with this figure.\u00a0 \u2026any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple<\/span>. (33) Do you understand what Jesus is telling us?\u00a0 Jesus is not interested in just one hour of your time on Sunday morning when you can spare it.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t want just a token of our affection in the offering plate.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t want just a few hours every now and then to clean the church or cut the lawn.\u00a0 Jesus is not interested in a part time, half hearted commitment to follow. He wants not part of us, but all of us.\u00a0 Otherwise what does he tell us?\u00a0 We cannot follow.\u00a0 So count the cost.<\/b>\u00a0 Count the cost and then CHECK YOUR RESOURCES.<\/p>\n Our Lord puts it two ways. \u00a0Suppose you want to build a big, impressive tower.\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t you first sit down and figure:\u00a0 Do I have the skill, the bricks and mortar, and the time to finish the job.\u00a0 Or suppose one king wanted to defeat another.\u00a0 Before he sends his army into battle, wouldn\u2019t he first see if he had sufficient troop strength to prevail?\u00a0 Well in the same way, Jesus wants us to consider if we have what it takes to follow him.<\/p>\n What do we find?\u00a0 Do we have what we need to build that tower of a faithful Christian life that will stand no matter what?\u00a0\u00a0 Do we have what we need to fight and win that battle against that prince called Satan who is twice our size?\u00a0 Look at some who thought they did.\u00a0 Take the apostle Peter who all but thumped his chest and promised to stand by Jesus no matter what.\u00a0 What happened in his time of testing?\u00a0 Or look at me.\u00a0 Every time I try to stand on my own two feet by my own strength I find my knees are weak and my feet are flat.\u00a0 Or listen to the apostle Paul when he checked his own resources:\u00a0 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.\u00a0 For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out<\/span>.\u00a0 (Rom 7: 18ff)<\/p>\n So what do we find?\u00a0 We find that our love and devotion to Jesus can be pretty shallow.\u00a0 We find that we often let people and things come between us and our Lord.\u00a0 We find that we are not very strong.\u00a0 We give into temptation.\u00a0 In other words, when we check our resources we find, what Jesus requires, we sadly lack.<\/p>\n Now let me ask you.\u00a0 Was Jesus trying to discourage these people?\u00a0 Is he trying to discourage you and me?\u00a0 Nothing could be further from the truth.\u00a0 He wants us to follow him in faith and obedience.\u00a0 He wants us to be his disciples.\u00a0 But he wants us first to realize.\u00a0 I can\u2019t build that tower.\u00a0 I can\u2019t defeat that enemy.\u00a0 Lord, help me.\u00a0 Help me.<\/p>\n And he does.\u00a0 He comes to us in his Word and Sacrament where he gives us what we need.\u00a0 For in his Word and his Supper, we are brought to Jesus cross.\u00a0 And what do we find?<\/p>\n Good news.\u00a0 Great news. Powerful news.\u00a0 For in the gospel I can know:\u00a0 My Lord Jesus, God\u2019s Son, hung on that cross because God loves me and wants me to be his own.\u00a0 MY Lord Jesus hung on that cross to break my slavery to sin and death and set me free to live as God\u2019s child.\u00a0 And then he rose from the grave and ascended back to heaven.\u00a0 So any time, any day. Jesus has given me the right come to God in freedom and confidence.\u00a0 And this I can know.\u00a0 When I close my eyes to this life, I will open them again in the place he has prepared for you and me.<\/p>\n Well there in that gospel message straight from God\u2019s own heart, we find what we need. We find what we need each day to rise up from our sinful failures.\u00a0 We find what we need to start building that tower and keep building it.\u00a0 We find what we need to fight that enemy each day and follow Jesus.<\/p>\n So friends, don\u2019t try to explain away what Jesus says here.\u00a0 Rather count the cost and see.\u00a0 We don\u2019t have what it takes to follow.\u00a0 But then go to Jesus.\u00a0 Go to him each day of your life.\u00a0 Hear his comforting words.\u00a0 Stand before his cross and witness his bleeding dying love for you.\u00a0 Then follow him. \u00a0\u00a0Follow him all the way till you hear his welcome in the kingdom of heaven.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Text: Luke 14: 25-33 It\u2019s career day at the local high school.\u00a0 The speakers each take their turn.\u00a0 A speaker gets up to talk about a career in medicine.\u00a0 He explains how medicine is a helping profession and gives some touching examples.\u00a0 He tells them how such a career can provide a nice income and good opportunities. Yet he wisely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":504,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475\/revisions\/504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}