1.
Grace,
mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father, and our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. The message from God’s
Word today comes from Luke 14:25-35 and is entitled, “Disciples of Jesus Count the Cost,” dear brothers and sisters in
Christ.
2.
In
the fourteenth chapter of Luke, we're told that large, adoring crowds were
following Jesus and this is what He says to them, “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. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My
disciple” (Luke 14:26-27).
3.
Did
you hear that? Jesus said you can't be His disciple if you don't hate your
mother and father and brother and sister and even your own children. What kind
of talk is that? Parents used to wash their children's mouths out with soap if
they talked like that. Those words don't sound like something that would come
out of the mouth of the Prince of Peace. Those words seem so out of character
for the Savior. Isn't this the same Jesus that told us to love our enemies?
Isn't this the same Jesus who told us to do good to those who persecute us?
Isn't this the same Jesus who gave the golden rule, “Love your neighbor like yourself”? Something seems to be wrong
here. Is Jesus really telling us to hate those who normally would be closest to
us?
4.
I
know many Christians hearing those words, try to minimize, change, or even ignore
them. They say, “Oh, Jesus really didn't
mean what He said. Not really.” Jesus knew some would continue to follow
Him as long as they didn't have to sign their name on the dotted line; as long
as they didn't have to obey any commandments; as long as they didn't have to
sacrifice, or surrender, or show any kind of stewardship. Jesus just wanted the
folks in the crowd to know that following Him would mean they would have to
make a commitment. But did Jesus really mean that stuff about hating father and
mother and brother and sister? I don't think so.” That's what some say.
5.
No,
a lot of folks might not like it, but I think Jesus was serious when He said,
“If you don't give up everything, you can't be My disciple.” The disciples
thought He was serious. They left their boats, their places of business, their
families, and they followed Jesus. Two thousand years of martyrs have thought
Jesus was serious. History has two millennia filled with Christian parents who
were betrayed by their children; 20 centuries of Christian children who were
exiled from church, community, family, and friends because they loved the
Christ. Are we really ready to tell them that Jesus was just exaggerating and
that they didn't have to go through all that? Jesus knew what He was saying.
Jesus meant what He was saying. He meant every word that He spoke to the crowd
that day.
6.
Amazingly,
although many Christians try to minimize or rationalize Jesus’ words here in
Luke 14, unbelievers feel no such need. Many unbelievers know that when Jesus
spoke these words in Luke 14, He was absolutely serious. Some of you hearing
Jesus’ words for discipleship, say, “That's
wrong. I can't follow anybody who tells me I'm supposed to hate. I might be
lonely; I might feel lost; but I'm not going to follow somebody who tells me to
hate parents and kids.”
7.
In
the sermon this morning I want to help you understand Jesus’ words he says here
in Luke 14. Let me give you an
illustration to help you. Years ago there was a Lutheran pastor who was watching
one of the ladies in his congregation die. She was in her early forties. She
was dying because she had a bad heart. Doctors gave her a host of drugs to keep
her going. But all of those drugs were only temporary. Some of them made her
feel physically drained. She was dying. She knew she would never be there for
the weddings of some of her children. She would never hold a grandchild on her
lap and get to spoil them. She was dying, and there was no cure.
8.
Then,
in a different state a young man had an accident. For the young man there were
no farewells to his family. There was no time to prepare. There was an
accident, and he was gone. His wife donated his organs. The woman who was dying
got a call. “Be at the hospital in an
hour. We have a tissue match. A young man. We have a new heart for you.” She
was there. The surgery worked. She went home. She had to keep taking medicines,
but different medicines now--medicines to stop her body from rejecting a new
heart. But she came home. She came home with color in her cheeks. She came home
able to move around. She came home. She came home with a future. That young man
had died so she might live.
9.
Now,
I don't know if this is normal for heart-transplant patients, but within this
lady there grew a great desire to know more about this young man whose heart
was beating in her chest. She was grateful for what she had received. There is
nothing that man's family could have asked which, if it were in her power, she
would have refused. How could she? Every breath she took, every day she lived
was because of his new heart. She grew in time to love that young man and his
family.
10.
I
tell you that story, because if you have the ability to understand the feelings
of that woman, you can understand why Jesus spoke as strongly as He did. Jesus,
being the Son of God, knew that following Him would always cost His followers. 11
of the men who were closest to Him would have to make a decision; share the
Savior with the world or stay put. He was telling them what their job was, by
the Holy Spirit's power, to leave their old lives behind and share the story of
salvation with a sinful world. 10 of those disciples who heard Him that day,
would be martyred – some in the most terrible of ways.
11.
They
wouldn’t be the last. Even today, throughout the world, Christians are being
persecuted, prosecuted, and murdered. And if by God's grace, you’re not being
persecuted because you follow the Savior, that hardly means you will have a
life of ease. When the Holy Spirit brings you to faith in Jesus, it’s almost a
certainty that you will have some choices. A promotion may be within your
grasp. All it will take is to plant a little lie here or there, a little lie
and a denial of your discipleship. Maybe you think you've finally discovered
true love. Sadly, part of the formula for living happily ever after is you must
deny Jesus and following Him as a Christian. You might think that you've found
the formula for acceptance by your peers. Nothing stands in your way of being
one of the group – except that to be received by them , you must deny your
discipleship. Jesus wanted everybody to know that following Him has a price.
12.
At
this point my friends, it would not be unusual for you to be asking, “Then why would anybody in his right mind be
Jesus' disciple?” My answer to that question is found in the story of the
lady's heart transplant I told you a few moments ago. Do you remember the lady
who was grateful to the young man who had died so she might live? You understood
perfectly well how she could never forget the person who, at a great cost, had
given her the gift of life? Of course you understood. You would have thought
the lady terribly ungrateful if she had done anything else.
13.
It
doesn't matter that if the man had had a choice, he would have kept on living.
It doesn't matter that she will, even with a new heart, die someday. All that
matters is she lives because he died. And that is precisely why people are
Jesus' disciples. They live, because He died. If you are not a disciple of
Jesus, it’s probably because you have never seriously thought about that. It
may be because you have never really taken a good look at what He has done for
you. Take a look now.
14.
Jesus,
the perfect Son of God, was born for you in a stable. There was no room for Him
anywhere else. Jesus was born in a stable, and it didn't take too long before
somebody tried to kill Him. As a Baby, somebody tried to kill Him. That was for
you. Look at Him. As He grew, He lived a perfect life. You see, He had to live
a perfect life. If He had sinned, He would have failed. “No big deal,” you
think to yourself. Do you know how many times leading a perfect life meant
Jesus would have had to stop playing with some friends? How many times Jesus
couldn't join in gossiping or complaining? Jesus was the Son of God, but His
must have been a lonely life. That loneliness was for you.
15.
When
Jesus began His ministry, He healed many people who were sick. Soon, healing
the sick was all some wanted Him to do. He fed the hungry, and soon feeding the
hungry was all some wanted Him to do. When He refused to put on morning,
afternoon, and evening healings, the crowds became angry and left. This
desertion He endured for you. Look at Jesus. When He went back to His hometown,
they tried to kill Him. His family tried to bring Him home because they thought
He was crazy. This was for you. The religious leaders tried to murder
Him.
16.
Jesus,
when He was dying on the cross had your sins given to Him. Every sin, everything
you have done wrong, that was given to Him. Jesus is the all-powerful Son of
God, but those sins, yours and mine and the world's, dropped Him with His face
into the ground. For you. He was betrayed by a friend. For you. He was
arrested. Lies were told about Him. He didn't argue. He kept silent for you. They
spit in His face. Has anyone spit in your face? Jesus didn't spit back. That
was for you. They beat Him. He didn't fight. They whipped Him, He didn't try to
escape. They condemned Him, He carried a cross. For you. They nailed Him to a
cross-- nails through His hands and His feet for you. Look at Him. He died for
you. He died so we would never die. He rose so you might know, if you believe
on Him as your Savior, you will never die. All of this was for you.
17. Today, Jesus doesn’t demand you
become His disciple. On the contrary, He who only gave His life so that you may
live, warns what might happen if you do. Still, how can you, having seen, not
follow Him? How can you not say, “My Lord
and my God?” How can you not say, “Lord,
I believe, help my unbelief?” How can you not say, “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner,” and then, knowing you live
because He died and rose? Why would you not spend your life giving thanks? It will
be so wrong if we don’t. That’s why I'm
saying, if the Holy Spirit is speaking to you in thanksgiving, calling you to
discipleship, be the disciple of Him who gave up everything, so you might have
everything, so He might be your Savior. Amen.
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