Pastor John Eich
Luke 14:25-35
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus. He turned and said to them, 26 “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. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 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? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, everyone who sees it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build, but was not able to finish.’ 31 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? 32 And if he is not able, he sends out a delegation and asks for terms of peace while his opponent is still far away. 33 So then, any one of you who does not say farewell to all his own possessions cannot be my disciple. 34 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its flavor, how will it become salty again? 35 It is not fit for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. The one who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Can you imagine Taylor Swift telling any would be fans that they have to hate their families to be her followers? Can you imagine a sports figure telling someone who wants an autographed jersey that it will bring them resentment, hatred and persecution when they wear it? Can you imagine any leader telling his followers that it will cost them everything and if they don’t give up everything they will be thrown into prison?
Those are the hurtful words of Jesus.
Jesus is not trying to get rid of followers. He just wants them – and us – to know that the cost is high to be a disciple of Jesus. So we need to consider: Is it worth it?
Jesus’ first statement is alarming: 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. We actually heard Jesus make a related point three weeks ago. Is Jesus saying I must hate my family to be a Christian? No, that’s not what he’s saying. But he is saying something not too far from it.
“Hate” is a strong word in our language. When we hear the word, “hate,” we are usually thinking of a deep, intense loathing. It doesn’t seem to fit mesh with what the Bible says in 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 word for “love” in the original Greek, nor the most common Greek word for “hate,” refer to an emotion. To “love” someone means to act in his or her best interests despite your feelings toward that person. Likewise, to hate someone means to treat them a certain way despite 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. It means siding with Jesus’ words or commands even when every fiber of our relationship with someone screams not to. To be Jesus’ disciple, he has to come first, even ahead of our families. Is it Worth it?
Jesus continues, “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. 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. So why are we surprised when we find out that Jesus was right? When being a Christian makes our family conversations awkward, that’s the cost of following Jesus. When someone makes fun of you for doing what Jesus wants, that’s the cost of following Jesus. When you feel sad about your sins and you can’t just do whatever you want, that’s the cost of following Jesus. Following Jesus means you will give up things you want and have things you don’t want. It means that we will have to deal with problems, issues and hurts that non-disciples won’t have to deal with. It isn’t being easy being a Christian. The devil, the world and our own sinful flesh war against us. And the world will think we are fools for believing and living as we do. And here’s the most challenging part… you don’t get to pick your struggles. Jesus does. Is it Worth it?
Jesus lays out these hard truths before the crowd because he wants them to know in advance what being his disciple 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 straddling the fence – “I’ll follow Jesus here, but I won’t give up that.” You have to make a choice, and keep making that choice. This isn’t a one--and-you’re-done thing. It’s an ongoing, day-by-day, moment-by-moment surrender to God. Jesus is telling us that we need to have our priorities in order. He needs to come first.
And so the question before us then is: 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 if it gets in the way of obeying everything Jesus commands? How can we choose what we don’t want over what we want? 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 allows us to see the incredible value of put, prioritizing him in our lives.
When Jesus walked this earth, He did it as our perfect substitute. We fail at times to put him first. We side with our family instead of him. We take the path of least resistance instead of taking up our cross. At times we treat the things of this world as more valuable than the things of heaven. But Jesus didn’t. He never wavered in his priorities. Even when it meant turning his own mother away at the wedding at Cana, or calling one of his disciples “satan,” or even allowing himself to be tortured and killed rather than to backtrack on God’s word. He counted the cost for your salvation and He gave it His all. And by grace through faith His perfection becomes ours. Not as a license to not try, but as an assurance of forgiveness when we fail.
But not only should we consider what it costs to be a disciple of Jesus, we should also consider the benefits. Like a stock market investment discipleship brings great returns. But with no risk! We gain a life with peace knowing that God is in control and works everything to be a blessing. That even includes the crosses and troubles discipleship will bring. It’s a life penetrated throughout by love. Love for God, love for others and love for ourselves that embraces us. There is hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging of circumstances. Discipleship brings a power to say or do what is right even when it brings trouble.
The question you have to ask yourself is this: Is it worth it? Is it worth giving up abiding peace with God to have peace with people? Is it worth sacrificing a life penetrated by limitless divine love to settle for earthly love that is fickle and fades? Is it worth cutting yourself off from the faith that trusts in God’s overarching plan for your good, in order to run your life the way you want to? Is it worth giving up hope, and the power to do what is right? Is it worth it to you to say “No” to God’s abundance, so you can skimp by on your own meager resources? Is it worth losing an eternity with God in order to sit with sinners? Because that’s what it costs to not follow Jesus.
When we say “yes” to following Jesus, when we surrender our will to his will, something amazing happens. Bit by bit, we change. Each time we keep saying “yes, Lord, I leave behind everything to follow you,” we are re-formed, transformed, becoming more and more like Christ. We experience abundant life, by God’s grace. And we discover that the cost of following Jesus, something we thought we couldn’t possibly afford, is worth it all. Because the price has already been paid out of God’s deep love for us. When we give our all to Christ, we receive so much more!
Here’s how I know. Jesus didn’t say, “Pick up your cross and head that way. I’ll meet you in heaven.” No. He said, “Follow me.” If you’re following Jesus, then you’re right behind him and he’s right with you. When being a Christian is hard, Jesus is with you. You might not know how he’ll take care of you, but you know he’s not far away.
It’s about Christ and his kingdom taking first priority amidst everything else in life. That’s important, friends: for the time will come for each one of us when we will need to be clear about the path of faith we are taking in this life; when our next steps forward will be as a witness to the life that is real life.
So let’s do a cost-benefit analysis. Is following Jesus worth the cost? It will be hard. You’ll need to trust him. But both here on earth, and forever in heaven, you’ll be happy you did.
Count the cost – Jesus did.