Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Luke 14:25-35
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  September 4, 2022

Luke says it so casually: “Large crowds were traveling with Jesus.”  We’re talking about thousands of people at different times. And is it any wonder why? Jesus spoke like no teacher they had ever heard before. He had already driven out demons and healed a crippled woman as he made his way to Jerusalem. Jesus knew what it was going to take to win our salvation. He knew the cost. And so when some Pharisees tried to dissuade him at the end of chapter 13 by telling him: “Leave, and go away from here, because Herod wants to kill you,” Jesus would not be cowed by fear of Herod. He was determined to go to Jerusalem.

But what about the potentially thousands that were following him? Did they just like to hear him talk? Had they fallen prey to the mob mentality and were simply following the crowd? Were they thrill seekers waiting to see the latest miracle? Did they understand what it was going to take to follow him? Did they know the cost? Is it Worth it to follow Jesus? And you can almost picture Jesus as he’s leaving the house of the Pharisee we heard about last week with all of these people following him, you can almost see him stop and with a look of concern on his face, speak the words that follow.

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, if he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, everyone who sees it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build, but was not able to finish.’ Or what king, as he goes out to confront another king in war, will not first sit down and consider if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if he is not able, he sends out a delegation and asks for terms of peace while his opponent is still far away. So then, any one of you who does not say farewell to all his own possessions cannot be my disciple.”

We’ve had some pretty hard truths to digest over the last few weeks, but this might take the cake. A 2017 Pew Research Survey asked a group of Americans what provided them with a sense of meaning. The number one answer? Family. More than double of any of the other answers. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

“Hate” is a strong word in our language. It immediately evokes strong emotions. When we hear the word, “hate,” we’re usually thinking of a deep, intense loathing. And so when we hear that word “hate” in this verse, we have a hard time digesting it. It doesn’t seem to mesh with what the Bible says in other places. It doesn’t fit well with the fourth, fifth, or sixth commandments. We’re supposed to love our parents, love our neighbors, love our spouses. The Bible tells us that “Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer,” so how can Jesus be telling us to hate?

It’s interesting that neither the most common Greek word for “love,” nor the most common Greek word for “hate,” refer to an emotion. To “love” someone means to act in his or her best interests in spite of your feelings toward that person. Likewise, to hate someone means to treat them a certain way in spite of your feelings for them. And in this context, it means ranking them behind Jesus in order of importance in our lives, no matter how strongly we feel about them, no matter how much we care for them. To follow Jesus, to be his disciple, he has to come first, even ahead of our families. Is it Worth it?

“Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” As shocking as the word “hate,” is for us, the picture of carrying a cross would have been even more jolting for the crowds following Jesus that day. The cross was the favorite tool of intimidation and torture for the Romans. However, Jesus says that following him means being ready to carry a cross. Following Jesus means being ready to let go of things we naturally love and at the same time, being ready to pick up things we naturally loathe. Is it Worth it?

Jesus lays out these hard truths before the crowd because he wants them to know in advance what this all means. He wants them to carefully calculate the cost. He wants this to be a deliberate decision rather than impulsive, which is why he continues with his two illustrations. “For which of you, if he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, everyone who sees it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build, but was not able to finish.’ Or what king, as he goes out to confront another king in war, will not first sit down and consider if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if he is not able, he sends out a delegation and asks for terms of peace while his opponent is still far away.”

It’s clear from Jesus’ words that being a disciple of Jesus is an all or nothing proposition. There’s no fence riding. You are either all in or you are all out. And that’s really what he’s referring to in verses 34-35. “Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its flavor, how will it become salty again? It is not fit for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away.”  And so the question before us today: Is it Worth it?

On the surface, it may not seem like it. How can it be worth it to possibly alienate ourselves from friends and family? How can we possibly leave everything behind? By nature, we can’t. By nature, the cost isn’t worth it because by nature we hate God. We see God as an angry judge who wants to punish us. No one loves the judge who is handing them a death sentence. And if we had stayed in that condition there’s no way that we’d see being a disciple of Jesus as worth it. But something has changed. God worked that change in your heart through the Holy Spirit. Through that gift of faith, we no longer see God as an angry judge, but as our loving heavenly Father. Through that gift of faith, he has given us the power to love God, to prioritize him in our lives. Let’s look at what Jesus is really saying here. He’s not asking us to abandon our families and friends. He’s simply telling us that we need to have our priorities in order. He needs to come first. And it’s good for us to assess where we are in that respect. Are we really putting him first in our lives? If that means giving up some activities so that we can be around God’s Word, if that means a little less sleep on a Sunday morning, if that means leaving someone at home who doesn’t think it’s worth it, are we ready to accept that cost? Is it Worth it?

But not only should we consider what it costs to be a disciple of Jesus, we should also be considering the benefits. And it’s tough for us in 2022 to consider something beneficial when it doesn’t produce immediate results. If you could tell me that running would immediately make me lose weight, I would be much more inclined to do it. But the fact that it takes weeks and months of repeated running to have that effect makes it harder for me to even start in the first place. And that same comparison can be made about following Jesus. The wonderful benefits that we can’t even compare to our losses aren’t found in this world.

Jesus promises crosses. However, when we hear Jesus say to us, “Carry your cross,” we can’t help but think of his cross and all that happened there. How he was determined to go to the cross to take away all of our sins and give us the sure and certain hope of eternal life in heaven. It’s the benefit of eternal life in the presence of God that makes the cost of being a disciple worth it. And it’s not as if it’s only cost after cost here on earth. God gives us the blessings of family, of possessions to enjoy here on earth. He gives us the joy of gathering with fellow believers around his Word and Sacrament. He gives us the privilege of sharing our faith with others and seeing the joy on their faces when they hear the good news.

So, is it worth it? The Navy Seals are one of the more famous groups in our military. Their exploits are legendary. And right on their website, in black and white, they lay out the cost of being a Navy Seal. Just in the initial training, they will do four mile runs and timed obstacle courses. And eventually, their training will culminate in what is known as hell-week. It’s a 5 ½ day  grueling stretch where they’ll sleep about 4 hours over the course of 5 days. They’ll run 200 miles and train at all hours of the day. And they tell them, point blank, “You will break down physically.” Who in their right mind is going to sign up for that? And yet, every year, many do. Why? Because in spite of the cost, they realize that as a Navy Seal, they are part of something bigger. They voluntarily accept these hazards because of the mission they are doing, because of the identity they have as Navy Seals.

When Jesus lays out the cost of discipleship, my sinful nature balks and says, “Why would I ever want to do that?” But as a disciple of Jesus, I’m connected to him forever. What an identity! We’re part of something bigger. We have a mission to tell of his love. What a blessing that even as I’m carrying these crosses, Jesus is using me to bring more and more people to him. No matter what we lose as we follow Jesus, it pales in comparison to what we gain. Friends, I pray that you see today that without a doubt, being a disciple of Jesus is worth it. Amen.