Counting the Cost of Discipleship

Jesu Juva
St. Luke 14:25-35
September 8, 2019
Proper 18C

Dear Saints of Our Savior~

Today is Christian Education Sunday—or, at least, that was the plan. It’s that Sunday in September when Sunday school children head back to class, Bible studies kick off, teachers are installed, and the emphasis is all about the crucial importance of teaching God’s Word to God’s children. In some churches, this is called “Rally Sunday,” where (I suppose) everybody rallies around Jesus and His Word.

Unfortunately, Jesus isn’t cooperating this morning. In fact, it seems more like Jesus is trying to throw a wet blanket on all the hoopla. He’s taking all the wind right out of our Christian-Education-Rally-Sunday sails: If anyone comes to me and does not hate his

own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

I’m not one to doubt the veracity of the Scriptures, but did Jesus really say that? He seems to sound less like the Christ, and more like the anti-Christ. Instead of inviting and encouraging us to follow Him—instead of welcoming the weary and seeking the lost—He warns us against following Him. Instead of saying, “I give you eternal life,” He says, “Consider the cost of following me in this life—and whether you’re really up to the task.” Instead of setting our hearts ablaze, He pours cold water on us. Before you stand up—stand up—for Jesus, you’d better sit down and think long and hard about what you’re doing. Consider the cost and consequences carefully.

And what about that word, “hate?” How can the same God who commands us to honor our fathers and mothers now speak of hatred for parents? How can the Jesus who tells us to love our enemies also tell us to hate our spouses, siblings and children? What in God’s name is more important than family, marriage and children? Jesus is. Jesus is more important. And that’s really the point of this pointed language from our Lord—all served up with a heaping helping of hyperbole. But let there be no mistake: When it comes to our actions and our choices in this life, everyone else—every other relationship—takes a backseat to following Jesus. You shall have no other gods.

What we have from Jesus this morning is a challenge—a challenge to check our priorities. And, just maybe, that’s exactly what we need on this Christian Education/Rally Sunday. A good way to check your priorities is to think about those Sundays when you aren’t here—days when you aren’t hearing the Word or being fed with the body and blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. When you aren’t engaged in the foundational, fundamental activity of discipleship that goes on here—then where are you? What keeps you from being in the Lord’s house? Is it sports? Is it dance, drama, or music? Is it the cabin up north or the 18-hole golf course? And what about Bible class? If you’re not in the habit of hanging around and doing a deep dive into God’s Word in Bible class or Sunday school, why is that? Are you too lazy? Does God’s Word bore you? Or do you just have more important things to do? What would the Savior say about your priorities?

Right about now we could all use some good news from Jesus. Unfortunately, He turns up the heat: Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Now, there’s some debate about what exactly Jesus means when He tells us to take up our “cross.” What we know for sure is that these crosses are not just those pesky little annoying first-world problems—like getting overcharged at Trader Joes or forgetting the Wi-Fi password. Those aren’t crosses. Crosses have one purpose—like electric chairs and nooses have one purpose. Crosses kill. They are instruments of suffering and death. That’s the only conclusion our Lord’s First Century hearers could have drawn. To take up your cross is to follow Jesus through suffering, persecution, loss, and finally death . . . and resurrection.

This is a tough sell—and not just on Rally Sunday. (You’d better believe that our marketing department did everything they could to scuttle this sermon.) And I’m guessing that the great crowds that accompanied Jesus thinned out significantly after they heard Him say to count the cost and bear the cross.

But what those crowds didn’t know was where Jesus was headed—that Jesus was going to Jerusalem, to His very own cross—the weight of which He Himself would bear. With every step and every mile, Jesus was drawing closer to His atoning death as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. But He knew exactly what He was doing. Jesus had counted the cost. Jesus had crunched the numbers in collaboration with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He was going to empty Himself completely, to humble Himself totally. Jesus was going to take up His cross . . . and die on it to redeem us all from sin, death and hell. Jesus was going to build His church, laying the foundation by His own death and resurrection. Jesus was headed to Jerusalem like a king headed to battle against sin, death and the devil. Jesus headed into battle—not with an army of ten or twenty thousand boots on the ground—but entirely alone, forsaken. Jesus renounced everything—family, friends, wealth, power, influence, His whole life—to save us—to save you.

Jesus considered the cost of your salvation and He concluded this: You are worth it! You are worth more than silver or gold. Jesus didn’t redeem you the easy way, but with His holy, precious blood and His innocent suffering and death, that you might be His own and live with Him forever—and all this as a free gift of pure grace, received through faith.

Here’s the truth of the matter: If our discipleship depended on us, then Jesus would have no disciples. If following Jesus depended entirely on us counting the cost and crunching the numbers and doing the homework—we’d never get out of the starting gate. We’d never dig the foundation. We’d never head off into battle. We’d vacillate and equivocate and re-draw our lines in the sand and never be one step closer to the Savior. And this is why the Savior draws near to us—washes us and re-creates us in the cleansing waters of Baptism. That’s how disciples are created—by baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and by teaching them to observe all that Jesus has commanded. Baptized and taught, Jesus feeds us with His body and blood—body and blood from His cross—to help you to bear your crosses in your life.

Hating your life as a disciple of Jesus doesn’t mean that you walk around saying, “I hate my life.” It means letting go of your life—relinquishing control to Jesus—believing that He is working all things—bane and blessing, pain and pleasure—to sanctify you and to prepare you for eternal joy in His presence. And that’s a promise worth knowing and believing. That’s good news worth hearing and learning. It’s something we can all rally around on this Christian Education Sunday in the year of our Lord 2019.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.