Luke 14:25-35
Great crowds accompanied Jesus, and he turned to them and
said a bunch of sappy and fluffy stuff about mom and apple pie. He told them they can live their best life
now, be who they want to me, and should follow their heart and be true to
themselves. He said, “everything’s gonna
be ok. Don’t you worry now. Do what you want. Make sure there’s no negativity in your life. Don’t stress yourself out. Life’s too short. Live for today. You do you.”
No of course he said none of those things. Nor did he say any other spiritual Pablum
that scratches the itching ears of the crowds.
Nor does he say today what people want to hear, either to fit their
political agenda, to cater to their self-righteousness or confirm their own
sinful self-centeredness.
What we hear from Jesus today is kind of tough. He teaches us that being a disciple of his is
hard. It’s serious business. It’s not to be taken lightly. It comes with crosses. It has a cost. It means renouncing all things. And who wants to hear such a message?
Friends, the Christian faith is no walk in the park. Ask the martyrs who died violent bloody
deaths for the confession of Christ’s name – when all they had to do was say a
simple word denying Christ, and all the pain would stop.
Ask the confessors of Augsburg, princes who knew they were
taking their life in their hands, and even knelt down bowing their heads –
saying, you may behead us now, emperor, but we will not compromise our
confession of Christ.
Take the Christians today in Muslim countries who face
violence and even death at the hands of their very own families if it is
discovered they have become a believer in Jesus.
No, the faith is not easy.
It can seem so, in our peaceful, air-conditioned church with pew
cushions and friendly fellow worshippers.
It can seem the easy life when you are surrounded by Christians at work
and at school, but not all of us are.
And while we do still enjoy great freedom to practice our faith in this
country – those who are paying attention know that is not a situation
guaranteed to stay the same. We hear about a post-Christian world, and a
de-churched society.
This is Jesus speaking to the great crowds that are
following him in their wrong-headed ideas of who Jesus is and what he came to
do. They want a certain kind of
Jesus. A Jesus who lets them have their
cake and eat it too. A Jesus who lets
them have their idols, and call themselves Christians, too.
And that’s what all these things are – idols. The first idol he addresses is family. Yes, even one of the greatest gifts God gives
– the family – can be made an idol. I
think about this when I realize that people turn away from the church because
it’s just too difficult to hold to the Bible’s teachings about sin when your
loved ones are caught in sin. Or maybe
you, yourself, are caught up – moved in with a man or woman who’s not your
spouse – and it’s just too grating to go to church and hear, “Thou shalt not
commit adultery” and “the marriage bed must be kept pure”.
Maybe your children have left the faith, and it grieves
you. But rather than wrestle with that
grief in godliness and prayer, you turn to some false but somehow mildly
comforting lies about how they’re “good people anyway”.
Oh, you go to a church that teaches the Bible, and says that
Jesus is the only way to heaven? Well
you must hate non-believers, then, we are told.
This is the kind of sword that Jesus talks about, dividing families. The
faith is not easy.
He compares it to an ill-planned construction project, or an
ill-conceived military engagement. The
person who wants to follow Christ but doesn’t consider the cost. They become a laughingstock. The object of ridicule. Don’t be such a fool, Jesus implies.
At the end of the passage he calls us to renounce all that
we have, if you want to be his disciple.
Worldly wealth and the comforts of life are always dangerous temptations
to idolatry. If I had to choose between
all this and Christ, I must choose Christ!
Renounce it all. Have no other
gods before him.
But he’s not done tearing away our idols yet. He says you have to hate even your own
life! This doesn’t mean go out and
commit suicide. It means that compared
to Christ, even your own life is nothing.
It is worthless. It is to be despised.
If you had to choose between faithfulness to Christ and certain death –
then you better choose death, if you want to call yourself a disciple of
Jesus. This is difficult talk. But Jesus is deadly serious.
And it’s not even just death – it’s death by cross. Bear your own cross, or you cannot be my
disciple. It would be one thing if I
could die in my sleep. Just never wake
up. Or at least something quick. Something where I don’t have to suffer. But Jesus is calling us to exactly that. A cross means suffering. That’s what it’s designed to do. To drag death out, make it painful and
long.
And Jesus knows all about crosses. And good for us that he does. For apart from his cross we would be
lost. We would be unable to be
disciples. We could never give up our
idols. We would be left to our own very
poor and inadequate devices. My friends,
we’ve heard a lot of law here so far – and this text is heavy with it. But now let’s consider the cross.
Jesus knew the cost of his calling. He considered before-hand, and likely every
step of the way, where it would take him.
From at least the time in which he emerged from his baptismal waters,
through his 40 days of fasting and temptation, in the towns and villages of
Judea and Samaria. And as he set his
face toward Jerusalem. Jesus always knew
it would be a cross, for him.
The cross. The Son of
God and Son of Man suspended between heaven and earth - the wrath of God poured
out upon him. The cup of punishment
drunk to the very dregs. Jesus knew it
would be physical suffering, but also the spiritual reality of being forsaken
by God. Becoming sin itself- the object
of God’s eternal wrath. You and I can’t
comprehend it. But Jesus bore it for us
all.
He gave up his family and friends – who either deserted him
or watched helplessly as he hung there.
He hated his own life.
Laying it down freely to accomplish his goal of redeeming the world.
He had no possessions. Nowhere to lay his head, but at the end even
his garments were divided among the soldiers, so in naked shame he would die.
And though all who saw him mocked him, the blood and water
from his side laid the foundation of the church. And this king – the king of the Jews - though
his enemies surrounded him in far greater numbers, he won peace with God by his
surrender even to death. Peace, for you
and me.
He gave all that he had – to purchase and win us as a people
for himself. To make us his disciples,
his children, his friends.
In the sense of justification – the Christian faith is
easy. It comes to us freely as a gift of
God, a gift won by Christ at his cross.
But it cost him everything, and this, dear Christians we ought to
consider – and never forget.
But in the sense of putting that faith into practice – yes,
it is hard. Yes it means little crosses
for all who would follow Christ and his cross.
It means sacrifice and suffering, the hatred of the world, maybe even of
your family, and eventually perhaps even hating your life. Losing your life in this world.
Ah, but the reward in heaven is far greater. For Christ is risen from the dead, and if we
share in his sufferings, we also share in his comfort. If we share in his death, and are buried with
him in baptism, then we also share in his life, and are raised – now already –
and then, one day, even bodily.
And such is the cost of discipleship – it costs everything,
for Jesus and for you. It means a cross,
for Jesus and for you. And yet it also
brings vindication, for Jesus – raised again on the 3rd day and
ascended to eternal glory. And for you –
raised in baptism, raised on the last day, and enthroned with him in glory
everlasting. What in this life is worth
anything compared to that?
Paul does the spiritual math this way, and he gets it
exactly right: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not
worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
God grant it to us all.
In Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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