Luke 14:25-33

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost  -  4 September 2016

Rev. John Derme

I have a really smart evangelism idea that I think we should try. We should pick a Sunday and advertise that we are giving away $1000 to every visitor who attends the service. Don't you think that would boost attendance? You may argue that we don't have several thousands of dollars lying around to give away. I know. That's why, after the service, we would give each of the visitors a voucher for $1000 off of their first two months of offerings! Then they would have to come back to church again and again in order to receive the benefit of their award. Isn't that a wise plan?

Of course not. It is a terrible plan. It's called "bait and switch." Some sales people and businesses do this kind of thing all the time. They promise that you will get something that you really want; that's the bait. But once they get you in the door or to sign up, they switch to something you don't really want, after all.

This bait and switch makes people angry, so that they probably wouldn't come back to church. Even more so, we would never want to get people to come to church for a financial incentive. We want them to see that we have the life-giving good news and come to receive God's gifts. We can't give a discount off of offerings, because offerings aren't a payment for anything. They are gifts of thanks to God, who has given us everything we have, including the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. The message of Jesus has brought you to faith. Only the message of Jesus can save others. No deceitful marketing trick will ever accomplish that.

One more reason that the church would never want to bait and switch is that it would reflect poorly on Jesus. Jesus wants people to come to church and hear his gospel. He wants people to come to faith and be his disciples. He invited people to be his disciples during his ministry on earth. But he never tried to trick them into it. If we wanted to try the bait and switch, we would have to ignore today's Gospel reading, because in these words, Jesus is brutally honest about what it means to be his disciples. Being a disciple isn't easy!

Jesus speaks in startling words: "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." This doesn't sound like the same Jesus who tells us to love even our enemies. How can we hate our own family members? The word "hate" in Hebrew doesn't always mean what we mean when we say "hate" in English. It can mean to "love less." So if I wanted to say in Hebrew that I love something less than something else, I could say that I hate that thing. The Old Testament does that a couple of times. It sounds strange to you and me, but that may have been a part of Jesus' point in choosing that word. He speaks strongly, because he wants to make no bones about the fact that he is to be more important to us than anybody else, even our families. He tells us that we are to love him even more than we love our own lives.

Some of us have family members who hate Jesus. And I don't mean in the Hebrew sense that they love him less than something else. They hate his guts. If your own family opposes you for following Jesus, if they tell you to make a decision between keeping your relationship with your family or with Jesus, who will be more important to you? If it comes to that, you may have to give up your family. If somebody tells you to make a decision between keeping your life or keeping Jesus, what will be more important to you? If it comes to that, you may have to give up your own life. You don't want to give up any of it! But Jesus says, "Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple." Jesus' enemies made him carry his cross and suffer. Jesus' enemies will also make you carry your own cross and suffer if you are his disciple.

Are you willing to suffer to be Jesus' disciple? He wants you to think about it right away, before it even happens, so that you know what you are getting into. He tells a couple of illustrations to show us that if we want to be wise, we'd better think about it. He says, "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish." The North Korean government began building the Ryugyong Hotel in 1987. They shut down building in 1992 after they ran out of money. It sat there unfinished for 16 years with a rusting crane on top until they finally resumed, and they finished the exterior in 2011. During those years people laughed about how foolish they were to begin building what they could not finish. It was an eyesore on the city skyline. Although did complete the outside, it still is not complete on the inside, and nobody uses that massive building. It sits empty.

Jesus continues "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace." In 1876 General George Custer led the United States Army's 7th Cavalry Regiment into the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He had fewer than 700 soldiers on his side. It is difficult to estimate the number of Native American warriors that they faced, but there were probably at least twice as many, and very possibly more.  As he prepared for battle, more soldiers were offered to Custer, but he refused to take them, saying that his cavalry could handle any Indian force. Custer was wrong. The Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians won a crushing victory. Custer and nearly half of his soldiers died. He is still remembered as pompous and short-sighted.

It is foolish to do anything without thinking it through first. It is wise to consider how much something will cost or whether it is possible to achieve success. This is also true of being Jesus' disciple. He wants us to consider whether we are willing to go through the suffering that will come as we follow him. He says, "In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." Everything includes all that we own, our family, and our lives. Being a disciple isn't easy! Is it worth the cost?

Jesus isn't going to pretend like it is easy, only to let you find out on your own that it is hard. He's being honest and upfront with you. His words are unsettling. Would I give up everything I own for Jesus? Would I give up my family? Would I give up my life? Many of us haven't had to do any of that yet, but it happens to Christians all the time. And at some point, if it hasn't already happened to you, something will happen and you will be tempted to stop being Jesus' disciple. It will appear to be too hard. The cost will seem to be too high. But if you stop following Jesus, it will be the most foolish thing you can ever do. You will lose the eternal life that he has given to you. It may seem nice not to have to suffer the cost of discipleship in this life, but instead you will pay the price for leaving Jesus in hell. 

How can we remain Jesus' disciples, if it is so hard to follow him? It takes wisdom. If we were unprepared for the suffering that happens to Christians, we wouldn't stand a chance against the temptation to walk away from Jesus. But he prepares us today through his Word for the challenges that we will experience, and he is with us through his Word to give us the strength we need to survive them. And though we have struggled in our commitment to be his disciples in the past, he forgives us our sins.

Being Jesus' disciple isn't really all about how faithful we are to him. It is all about how faithful Jesus is to us. He gave up everything for you. He gave up all of the richness that was his in heaven to become a poor human being. He was opposed by many during his life, even, at times, by his family. He gave up his life to die for you. He carried the cross of suffering throughout his life, and he lived a perfect life, because that was the cost of eternal life for you. He even carried a literal cross and he was crucified on it, because that was the only way for him to pay the price of hell for you.

Jesus has been faithful to you. And he is still faithful to you. Though you suffer, he prepares you to face his enemies and he protects you from them. Though you don't deserve it, he keeps you as his disciple so that he can bring you to heaven. There you will enjoy all of the riches that he has earned for you. Although there is a cost to being his disciple now, he gives us more than enough blessings to make up for it now and forever.

When his enemies deprive us of our families, possessions, or lives, will we leave Jesus? No! The forgiveness he has given us is far more valuable than anything or anyone else that we can have here and now. He loves us more than our parents, siblings, spouses, children, or friends ever can. The eternal life he earned for us is far more wonderful than even the best life on earth can ever be. If we lose Jesus, we've got nothing. But if we have him, we have everything!

No bait and switch is necessary. Jesus is honest about it, so we should be too. Being a disciple isn't easy! But when we see how faithful he is to us, and when we realize how valuable his blessings are to us, we see that it would be foolish to leave him. It is wise to follow him. Is it worth the cost to be a disciple? It's not easy, but it is worth it!