Luke 14:25-33 “Carrying the Cross”
INTRODUCTION
Have you noticed that we appear to be buried under an avalanche of forms? When Faye had her shoulder surgery done this spring she sign enough forms to have killed two or perhaps three large trees. The paper work involved in purchasing our home wiped out an entire forest (even in our paperless society!). Even such mundane activities as horseback riding, paintball, or hiking into the Grand Canyon involve attaching one’s signature to a host of disclaimers.
Do you read all of those forms before you sign them? I know that we are supposed to, but do you? I know that I don’t. I’d still be reading the forms for the purchase of our home—and we moved in six years ago!
In the gospel lesson today, Jesus encourages his followers to read all of the paperwork before they sign on the dotted line as his followers and disciples. But what do you do if you want to be a follower of Jesus, but know that you can’t meet the terms of the contract? Or in the story that Jesus tells the members of the crowd, a person who wants to build a tower but isn’t sure if you have the funds to do it.
FAMILY
Luke records that large crowds were following Jesus. Many of these people were simply curious. More were probably fair weather followers—they’d stick around until the thunder clouds started to roll in and the storm winds blow. A few wanted to become Jesus’ disciples—to be accepted by Jesus as his students whom he would share his wisdom. Jesus’ words cause the entire crowd to pause and consider the cost of their desires and actions.
Jesus first tells those who were gathered around him that they must hate their family. The word for “hate” that Jesus uses doesn’t have the animosity that our English word has. The meaning is closer to “disassociate yourself from your family.”
Jesus was identifying a true cost of discipleship for the early Christians. Their acceptance of Jesus as their Lord and Savior often meant that they had to leave their family. They couldn’t worship the pagan idols that their families served. They lost their standing in the community, their influence and their identity.
How do we translate that into our lives today? There are husbands and wives who are struggling to keep their marriages together because they don’t spend enough time nurturing their relationship—they’re too busy with the other demands of life. Parents struggle to spend time with their children and influence their children’s lives. Is Jesus telling us to spend even less time with our spouses and children, or close friends and spend more time serving him?
Most of us are controlled by our family because we either go to extraordinary ends to please them or to rebel against them. Part of what Jesus is telling us is that there comes a point in our lives where we must be our own person—making decisions as expressions of our faith in Christ. My mother didn’t think it was a good idea for me to become a minister, and my brother thought it was a joke. Still, I made the decision to become a pastor—it was the only thing I felt I could do as a follower of Jesus Christ. Sometimes we need to tell the members of our family that we are going to worship, fellowship, or serve whether they join us or not. We may, perhaps, need to be firm and tell our family that Sunday is not just for families, but also for Jesus.
Try as hard as we might, however, there will be those times when we will put family before Jesus. Jesus’ words are clear, however. If we don’t disassociate ourselves from family, we can’t be his disciple.
THE CROSS
After two thousand years, we still struggle to understand what Jesus meant when he said we had to deny ourselves and take up our cross in order to be Jesus’ disciple.
We do know that bearing a cross doesn’t mean to live with something we don’t want in our lives. People say that they bear the cross of a bad back, an unbelieving spouse, rebellious teenagers, or a slice in their golf swing. This is not what Jesus was calling his disciples to.
Most scholars believe that Jesus was encouraging his followers to live lives of sacrificial giving. If Jesus endured the cross, then his followers should be able to give their time, talents and treasures willingly and sacrificially.
We know that we cannot do this. There will be those times when comfort, ease, frustration, or fear will cause us to put our cross down. Yet, according to Jesus’ words if we put down our cross we are not worthy to be his disciples.
POSSESSIONS
Jesus’ last words may be the harshest of all. Jesus says, “If you do not give up all of your possessions, you cannot be my disciple.” It’s hard enough to be people to part with 10% of their income and tithe. There is not one among us who has given up all of their possessions in order to follow Jesus.
We can soften this a little by saying that we should consider everything to be God’s and nothing to be ours. Still, more often then we may want to admit, we draw the line and say, “this is mine, keep your hands off of it!” It appears that there is no way we can be followers of Jesus.
GRACE
Most certainly, Jesus speaks these words to challenge his followers to give thought how these three areas of their lives: family, life’s purpose, and possessions impact our walk of faith. We must struggle with what it does mean for us to be a follower or disciple of Jesus Christ. It is necessary for us to determine what the cost of discipleship is and if we are willing to pay it.
Jesus’ words also draw us to his cross for his forgiveness and grace. We will fail. Our faith will falter, and at times we will consider the cost too high. Those are not times for despair, but rather times for confession, repentance and forgiveness.
CONCLUSION
The walk of faith is not a walk in the park. The abundant life is not a leisurely life of extravagance. Being faithful followers of Jesus forces us beyond our comfort zones. Experiencing the abundant life involves following the teachings of Jesus and rejecting the expectations and popularly held beliefs of those around us and the culture in which we live.
Whatever the cost, though, as disciples of Jesus Christ, we have the privilege of being used by the Holy Spirit as part of God’s redeeming activity in our neighborhoods, city, nation and world.
Amen
