The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
\nSeptember 4, 2016
\nLuke 14:25-33<\/p>\n
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:\u00a0 \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.\u00a0 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.\u00a0 Suppose one of you wants to build a tower.\u00a0 Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?\u00a0 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, \u2018This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.\u2019\u00a0 Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king.\u00a0 Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?\u00a0 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.\u00a0 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 (NIV1984)<\/p>\n Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,<\/p>\n Have you ever seen someone who is very focused?\u00a0 There are people who from a very young age they know exactly what they want to do for the rest of their life.\u00a0 And so, they do whatever they have to do in order to achieve their goal\u2014 whether it is attending a certain school, moving to a certain area or honing a certain skill.\u00a0 Athletes need to stay focused if they want to remain at the top of their game.\u00a0 They need to train.\u00a0 They need to practice.\u00a0 They need to eat and sleep well.\u00a0 And I have learned that even a young child can be extremely focused.\u00a0 Isaac will dump out all of this toys intently looking for one specific dinosaur.\u00a0 And when he\u2019s tired he wants Lamby\u2014 not one of the many other stuffed animals he has been given\u2014 only Lamby.<\/p>\n Whether it\u2019s a young person who knows what they want to be when they grow up or an athlete or a young child, it is not difficult for us to picture real-life examples of someone who is very focused.\u00a0 At the very same time, it is also not difficult for us to picture real-life examples of someone who is not very focused at all\u2014 whether it\u2019s a young adult who still has no idea what they want to do, a professional athlete who has gone down in flames because they have lost their focus on their training or a young child who is being, well, a young child.<\/p>\n Just as it is not difficult for us to picture real-life examples of people who are focused and people who are not focused, so also it is not difficult for us to picture real-life examples of Christians who are very focused on their relationship with their Lord and Christians who, how shall we say, would benefit from being a little more focused on their relationship with their God.\u00a0 With that reality in mind, let\u2019s study our text for today under the theme:\u00a0 As Disciples of Jesus\u2014 We Need to Stay Focused on our Savior.\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong>There are three things that we want to see today.\u00a0 First, let\u2019s see that we need to stay focused on our Savior\u2014 especially when someone threatens our relationship with Him.\u00a0 Then let\u2019s see that we need to stay focused on our Savior\u2014 even when the effort seems too great.\u00a0 Finally, let\u2019s see that we need to stay focused on our Savior\u2014 even when the enemy seems too powerful.<\/p>\n Many of you have heard me say that when you are studying a specific portion of Scripture there are three things that you always need to factor in:\u00a0 Context, Context, Context.\u00a0 There are countless examples of preachers and churches and individuals who tear a passage or an entire portion of Scripture out of its context and use it to teach something that the good Lord never intended.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s critical therefore that we at least glance at the verses which separate last Sunday\u2019s text from today\u2019s text.<\/p>\n If you have your Bible with you this morning, look at Luke 14:15-24.\u00a0 While Jesus was at that dinner party being hosted by that \u201cprominent, ruling\u201d<\/em> Pharisee, He told the Parable of the Great Banquet.\u00a0 You know the parable.\u00a0 A man plans for a huge banquet and invites many guests.\u00a0 But when the banquet is ready and the call goes out to come and enjoy, guest after guest after guest has some reason (Remember:\u00a0 Always a reason, never an excuse!) for not attending the banquet.\u00a0 So in anger the host sends his servants out to the streets and the roads and the country lanes to invite \u201cthe poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame\u201d<\/em> to come and enjoy his banquet.\u00a0 The parable then ends with Jesus speaking these words, \u201cI tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Luke then goes on to tell us that after Jesus had left the house of this \u201cprominent\u201d<\/em> Pharisee large crowds of people were following Him.\u00a0 As the true Son of God Jesus realized that not everyone in the crowd was following Him for the correct reason.\u00a0 So Luke tells us that Jesus stopped, turned to this large crowd and spoke these words of our text.\u00a0 Since our time is limited and since I want to believe that we are all following Jesus for the correct reason, we are going to look at this text from the very focused perspective found in our sermon theme.<\/p>\n Our heavenly Father has graciously prepared the most spectacular banquet of all\u2014 the banquet that He has waiting for us in His heavenly Home.\u00a0 By His power and by His grace He has taken us off that broad easy road that leads straight to the unquenchable fires of hell and He has placed us on that narrow road that leads us to our glorious and joyous heavenly Home.\u00a0 Traveling along that narrow road, being a \u201cdisciple,\u201d<\/em> a \u201cfollower,\u201d<\/em> of Jesus is not always easy.\u00a0 There are dangers and distractions along the way.\u00a0 There is the temptation to stop being a \u201cfollower\u201d<\/em> of Jesus so that we can have an easier and more enjoyable life\u2014 for a time, that is, until we die and face eternity.\u00a0 That\u2019s why as disciples of Jesus, as \u201cfollowers\u201d<\/em> of Jesus, we need <\/strong>the warning\/encouragement that is given to us here in our text:\u00a0 Stay focused on your Savior!<\/p>\n Look now at the opening portion of our text.\u00a0 Here Jesus encourages us to stay focused on Him as our Savior\u2014 especially when someone threatens our relationship with Him.\u00a0 Look at what He says, \u201cIf anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters\u2014 yes, even his own life\u2014 he cannot be my disciple.\u00a0 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.<\/em><\/p>\n Wow.\u00a0 Did Jesus really use the word \u201chate\u201d<\/em>?\u00a0 Yes, He did.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Why would our Lord\u2014 the very same Lord who tells us to love our enemies (Luke 6:27ff),\u00a0 the very same Lord who loves us so much that He was willing to die for us even though by nature we were His enemies (Romans 5:8) \u2014 why would Jesus use the word \u201chate\u201d<\/em>?\u00a0 Could this Greek word perhaps be translated some other way?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 I checked.\u00a0 It means \u201chate.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 So what exactly is Jesus telling us here?\u00a0 This is a very good example of why context <\/strong>is so very important!<\/p>\n In the Parable of the Great Banquet one of the reasons that was given for refusing to attend was family related, \u201cI just got married, so I can\u2019t come\u201d<\/em> (Luke 14:20).\u00a0 While we pray that this never ever happens to us, sometimes a person\u2019s own family threatens their relationship with their Savior.\u00a0 A spouse makes it difficult for us to have an active role in the life of our congregation.\u00a0 A sibling ridicules us for being a \u201cring wing religious fanatic.\u201d\u00a0 A child pressures us to let them be on a team which would require both us and them to miss church\u2014 a lot.\u00a0 We are offered a \u201conce in a lifetime\u201d opportunity that both we and our family really wants us to accept, but at the very least it would put us into a situation that would require us to keep our mouth shut when it comes to many of the \u201chot button\u2019 social issues of our day.<\/p>\n When it comes to an either\/or situation such as this, my friends, we need to stay focused on our Savior.\u00a0 When we are put into a situation where we have to choose\u2014 either<\/strong> we remain faithful to Jesus or <\/strong>we let our love for someone or something else leads us to turn away from our Savior and all that He has done for us (Pointing to the cross) \u2014 then the choice is clear.\u00a0 As disciples of Jesus we need to say focused on our Savior\u2014 even if it means \u201chating\u201d<\/em> the fact that someone we know, someone we love put us into that difficult and unnecessary situation.<\/p>\n Building on the importance of staying focused on our Savior, Jesus goes on to use two illustrations\u2014 illustrations that are much easier to understand!\u00a0 First, Jesus reminds us that as His disciples we need to say focused on Him\u2014 even when the effort seems too great.\u00a0 Look at verses 28-30 of our text.\u00a0 Using the illustration of someone who starts a building project and then runs out of resources before they can finish, Jesus reminds us that being His disciple is like a life-long building project, a building project that takes a great deal of effort, a building project that requires a tremendous amount of resources.<\/p>\n Now there is the temptation to think that we already have all the resources we are going to need to remain a disciple of Jesus for the rest of our lives.\u00a0 We have always been a member of the church.\u00a0 We were confirmed (back in eighth grade).\u00a0 We don\u2019t really need to come to church as often as people say we should.\u00a0 We don\u2019t really need to keep on studying our Bible both here at church and at home.\u00a0 We already know enough.\u00a0 We already have enough \u201cresources\u201d to make it to the end of this \u201cbuilding project\u201d we call our life.<\/p>\n Think about it, my friends.\u00a0 Is that the advice we would give to one of our children or grandchildren when it comes to their life here in this world?\u00a0 Would we tell little Joey or Sally, \u201cYou know, once you graduate from eighth grade it\u2019s really not that important to keep on learning as much as you can.\u00a0 Yes, people are going to tell you that you have to go to high school, but don\u2019t let them kid you.\u00a0 You may need to go to class every now and then, but it\u2019s no big deal if you skip classes or don\u2019t pay attention or maybe even doze off in class.\u201d\u00a0 Is that the advice we would give to someone we love?\u00a0 I don\u2019t think so!<\/p>\n When it comes to the resources that we need to finish the \u201cbuilding project\u201d of our life the task can seem rather daunting.\u00a0 That\u2019s why as Jesus\u2019 disciples we need to remember that there is only one Source for all the resources we need!\u00a0 That Source is\u2014 Jesus.\u00a0 The resources are\u2014 His holy Word and His holy Sacrament.\u00a0 So stay focused on Jesus\u2014 even when the effort seems too great.\u00a0 Stay focused on the resources He freely provides for you.<\/p>\n Jesus brings out a similar point in verses 31 and 32 of our text.\u00a0 As disciples of Jesus the enemies that we face in this increasingly wicked world are formidable.\u00a0 If we try to stand up to these enemies on our own, if we depend on our own strength to defeat our greatest enemies\u2014 sin, death and the devil\u2014 we<\/strong> will be defeated!<\/strong>\u00a0 That\u2019s why we need to stay focused on our Savior.\u00a0 When we stay focused on our Savior, then we will always have the strength that comes from knowing that all of our enemies\u2014 yes, even our three greatest enemies\u2014 have already been defeated right there on the cross of Calvary\u2019s hill.\u00a0 When we stay focused on our Savior then we will always have the confidence that comes from knowing that purely by grace through faith in what Jesus has done for <\/strong>us, His victory is our victory for all of eternity.<\/p>\n Just as it is not difficult for us to picture real-life examples of people who are focused and people who are not focused, so also it is not difficult for us to picture real-life examples Christians who are very focused on their relationship with their Lord and Christians who would benefit from being a little more focused on their relationship with their God.\u00a0 My prayer is that as disciples of Jesus you and I will always remember how important it is for us to stay focused on our Savior\u2014 especially when someone is threatening our relationship with Him, even when the effort seems too great and even when the enemy seems too powerful.<\/p>\n To God be the glory!<\/p>\n Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost September 4, 2016 Luke 14:25-33 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:\u00a0 \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.\u00a0 And anyone who does not carry his cross and 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