Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 4, 2016
Following Jesus Is A Way of Life
In the middle of a conversation one day, a Christian man, a plumber by trade, was asked what he did for a living. He said, “I serve my Savior Jesus.” The one who asked the question responded, “Oh, you seem to have misunderstood my question, I meant what is it that you do for a living?” “I serve Jesus Christ!” the plumber again replied. A little frustrated the inquirer finally asked, “Well, what is your profession then?” “I serve Christ. I just do plumbing to pay the expenses.”
We might chuckle a little bit at the simplicity of such a response, but you know, the plumber has it right. Being a Christian isn’t just a Sunday morning thing. Discipleship isn’t a 5 day, 9-5 matter. No, following Jesus is a way of life. In the words of our lesson today Jesus describes this way of life as one that requires supreme commitment; continues with a supreme sacrifice; and can only be accomplished with a supreme Savior. Listen again to our lesson:
Luke 14:25-33 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. 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? 32 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. 33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
Now, the first thing we might notice as we read our lesson is that a large crowd was traveling with Jesus. Of course, that’s not all that big of a surprise. On more than one occasion we hear that large groups of people followed him. Unfortunately it wasn’t always for the right reason. Some were curiosity seekers, wondering what Jesus might say next. Others were hoping to see some miracle. While still others were holding out the hope that Jesus might deliver them from the Roman authorities. But Jesus knew that if these were the things they were hoping for, they would be disappointed and unprepared for the way of life that following him demands. So, turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.”
Of all the words of our lesson, these are the ones that probably jump out and catch our attention the most – especially that word “hate.” And before we go trying to do a linguistic two-step to try and soften this word – understand that this is a real conditional sentence and this is real hate. Now, Jesus is not talking about a malicious, evil-minded hate, but rather hate in the sense of renouncing natural affections for the sake of Christ. Whatever contradicts or prevents discipleship is to be hated, not just disliked or disapproved. That holds true even if the immediate family is involved. A person is to love his mother as a mother, yet at the same time hate his mother if she is one who stands in the way of discipleship.
One wonders how many jaws might have dropped in the crowd that day! These words just didn’t seem to jive with the law written on their hearts. It didn’t seem to match up with what Jesus had said on other occasions – “Love your neighbor as yourself.” So which is it? Love or hate?
With strong and striking language Jesus drove home his point. Following him requires more than being a half-hearted disciple. Following him involves more than placing himon the same level as those whoare near and dear to our hearts. Following Jesus demands something greater - undivided love. Following him is a way of life that requires supreme commitment. It means loving him first and most. When you compare your love for Jesus and your love for every other relationship you have it should appear that your love for him so outshines your love for anything or anybody else that it seems that you hate them in comparison to him.
So, does Jesus have your heart? Or is he forced to share a room with others? Does Jesus have our heart when we defend a family member or friend living in sin? Does Jesus have our heart when our lives are consumed with the making of money or improvement to our property? Does Jesus have our heart when no consideration is given to the faith of the other person before entering marriage? Does Jesus have our heart when we can adjust our schedules for everything but God’s Word?
And it isn’t only the word hate that catches our eye, is it? Jesus continues by saying, “anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Now, calling a noisy neighbor the “cross” one has to bear is not what Jesus is talking about here. Instead, carrying one’s cross is closely connected to hating oneself. To carry one’s cross means daily surrendering to God’s will, even if that will goes contrary to our own plans and ambitions. It means willingly and patiently enduring the opposition and mockery of the world. It means remaining diligent in the fight against our own sinful flesh.
And really, there are two ways to respond to the crosses that come to us because of our connection to Christ. One is to simply drop – like a hot potato – any belief that might put you at risk of ridicule; or modify any truth of Scripture that conflict with society’s views. To silence the little voice inside of us by saying we have the right to do whatever we want and live simply for yourself. Our sinful, lazy flesh says, “Run, make life easy for yourself.” The other way to respond to the crosses that come because of our connection to Christ is to continue to follow Christ. It is the hard one. But Jesus says: “Following me demands a supreme sacrifice.”
So, have you been carrying your cross? Or, have you set it down because it is more than you wish to bear? Are we carrying our cross when we give in to desires of anger and lust because it’s just easier than trying to fight them? Are we carrying our cross when we go along with the crowd so we aren’t ridiculed at work or school? Are we carrying our cross when we stop serving our spouse because of the way they have treated me? Are we carrying our cross when the decisions we make are based solely on what I want?
And we do well to notice that Jesus’ words here concentrate our attention on the First Commandment. It is important to realize this, because our greatest crime is that we do not love God with our whole heart and soul; mind and strength. And if we do not love God above all things, then we love something/someone else more – namely, and especially ourselves. That is the essence of idolatry. All of our other sins against all the other commandments prove the point that we have not kept even for a moment the first and greatest commandment.
The one who disobeys the speed laws and shows disrespect towards those in authority; the one who holds a grudge orhelps people only whenthere is something in it for them; the one who lusts in their heart and would break their marriage vows if they thought they could get away with it; the one who takes things home from work that don’t belong to them; the one whose heart is singed with envy and jealousy. What do all these – all of us – have in common? We neither hated our life nor bore our crosses or loved or feared God enough to shun and win the victory over these sins! Great indeed is the crime of idolatry.
It is monstrous in fact. What would you do with a dryer that refused to dry anything, but only burned up the clothes and made them useless? Eventually you would throw it out. Our crime is so much worse; for we fail to serve the purpose for which we were created, intentionally and persistently. We deserve to be thrown out into the pit and fires of hell. Jesus puts it so clearly: “any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”
So where does that leave us? Powerless – yes! Helpless – definitely! Hopeless – not at all! But that hope is not going to be found in ourselves or anything in this world. It is found only in Jesus. That’s the idea behind the two examples that Jesus gives. Both the one building the tower and the king going to war are to count the cost. But what if the cost is too high? What if the enemy is to powerful?
When it comes right down to it, the cost of following Jesus is too high for each of us – for we cannot pay it – and the enemy is too powerful. But that’s where our supreme Savior comes in. For him, the cost was not too high and the enemy not too strong. Christ counted the cost of our redemption and saw that it required that the perfect blood of the Son of God be shed as substitute for a world of sinners. He counted the cost and saw that the cost was his very own life.
Yet, he still went to Calvary’s cross without complaint. He refused to let anything stop him from being our Savior – not Satan’s temptation; notPeter and the disciples; not the agony of body and soul of which he was fully aware; not the prospect of suffering our hell; not the injustice of being innocent and having to die for us guilty; not even the fact that he knew that so often we would act like thankless ingrates.
So he hung there, sprawled out half naked, bearing the brunt and the penalty of our sin to pay the cost of our forgiveness. There he hung, the object of wrath and scorn, making the ultimate sacrifice – himself – to establish peace between us and God. There he lay in the tomb, with the enemies of Satan, sin and death dancing, rejoicing, and basking in what they thought was victory, until three days later he burst forth from the tomb to show all the world who truly was the victor!
You see, when we know the cost of the building (commitment), when we realizes the strength of the foe (sacrifice), and when we recognize our own poverty and weakness as a sinner, there are just two things to do – despair of our own strength and look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. In Jesus is the supply of strength to follow with a supreme commitment the one who emptied himself for us. In Christ is the stream of strength to hate ourselves and carry our cross after the one who sacrificed himself for us. In Christ we find the love that leads us to hate anything that would interfere with our relationship with him. In Christ we find the sure promise and certain guarantee of heaven. And in Christ is the pool of forgiveness that never runs dry for all the times we’ve failed in our commitment and sacrifice.
While it is one of our greatest sorrows that we so often fail, at the same time it is our greatest joy that Christ did not, and that it is in his perfect work, not our own, that our salvation and our certainty rest. And precisely because Christ has done it all, we strive all the more earnestly after the goal of supreme commitment and sacrifice in humble and obedient submission to his Word. What is the cost of that commitment and sacrifice compared with the cost Christ paid to purchase our salvation?
Are you ready for some football? We are only 4 days away from football, and 7 days away from Green Bay Packer football. And you’d probably agree with me that for many fans, football in Wisconsin is more than a sport -it’s a way of life.
But fans are finicky. When things are going good for the team they fill the stands and cheer them on. But, when the chips are down they criticize every play; bad mouth the players; and question the coach. Fans come in frenzies. They feed on the excitement but vanish when the difficult times come.
The sad truth is that sometimes Christians resemble football fans. They rally around the excitement but they run from the work. They are happy to follow Christ when it fits their schedule and when things are going well, but when asked to carry a cross or deny themselves, they criticize God, question his Word, and throw in the towel.
Jesus today tells us he wants followers, not fans. And he tells us that the way of life for the one following Jesustakes work – hard work – work that can only be accomplished with him. When the Holy Spirit calls us to discipleship, we are called to leave behind all loves and loyalties that would come between us and Christ. When we remember what Christ has won for us – full forgiveness and free salvation – we are insured that it is worth the cost to make following Jesus our way of life!Amen.