PICCADILLY DISCIPLES
LUKE 14:25-33
ILLUSTRATION: PICCADILLY 1
Imagine if you will a place to eat where you can have almost anything under the sun and where you serve yourself. You walk in, grab a tray, and laid out before you are more options than you could eat at any one time. The point of this place is options options options. Each option costs as you fill up your tray. You can have ham and turkey. You can hold the gravy or get 2 kinds of gravy. You can get a salad or just sliced tomatoes. You can get the special of the day or make your own meal. You have a choice between red, blue, green jello which for some reason seems to be a specialty in almost all of these kinds of places. Not only that there seems to be 6 different kinds of pudding in little cups. Each item costs and so as you add each item to your tray the cost of your meal goes up. After going through the whole line, the items are added up and you pay for your meal. Once you sit down, there is no waiters or waitresses usually. You just eat and leave. This kind of place is called a cafeteria.
There were several famous chains of cafeterias in America. Morrison’s and Piccadilly were perhaps the most famous. Luby’s was also quite popular. They are not around so much anymore so it is likely that you have not been to a restaurant called a ‘cafeteria’ in some time. We will come back to cafeterias in a minute.
INTRODUCTION
The teachings of Jesus are not for the faint of heart. Some of the points that Jesus makes are quite controversial. They are controversial because they shock us. They are controversial because they are at times opposite of what we want to do. They are controversial because they seem upside down to us in our expectations of God. Jesus presents ideas and makes statements that would have made those listening quite uncomfortable… and to be honest… make us quite uncomfortable as well.
For example, He said…
“But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca, 'is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.” (Matthew 5:22)
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27)
“If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (Matthew 5:39)
“I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” (John 6:53)
Many times we reflect on some of the teachings of Jesus and we question… “What!?” We also think, “that doesn’t make sense.” And most commonly and truthfully we say, “I don’t want to do that.” The seemingly upside down passage that we will look at today also gives us the same thoughts.
In Jesus’ day, many people wanted to follow Jesus, especially in the middle of His ministry. Jesus was gaining popularity and was doing miracles and news was spreading about Him and people wanted to be a disciple of Jesus. He was the “it” thing going on. Large crowds would follow Jesus from town to town to listen and see what He would do next. People were asking what it took to be a disciple of Jesus. People are still asking that same question! I hope you are asking that question! And to be honest, the answer is not one that we like. And to be even more honest, most of us are not willing to do what He says. The answer is as controversial and uncomfortable as turning the other cheek and loving people who hate us. What does He say?
READ Luke 14:25-33
“Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 "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. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 "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? 29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' 31 "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? 32 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. 33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”
In Luke 14, Jesus Christ lines out for us several truths about Christian Discipleship that are important for us to understand. These truths are at times difficult for us to swallow. They are at times opposite of what we want to do. What does Jesus say about discipleship? Discipleship (or following Jesus) requires complete commitment, honest personal sacrifice, and all-encompassing loyalty.
I. FOLLOWING JESUS REQUIRES COMPLETE COMMITMENT (VERSES 26-32)
Jesus explains to us in these verses that He requires complete commitment from those who state they will be His followers. The first example Jesus uses to explain this idea of complete commitment is our relationship with our family. This explanation seems to go against the law of love that Jesus teaches. Jesus understands that family ties can come between a person and God. This is difficult for us because caring for one’s family, honoring our father and mother, loving our spouse, and raising our kids is noble and good and God ordained. The interests of the Kingdom of God are for a person who is in an active authentic relationship with God are priority number 1. Everything else is secondary. What Jesus says is meant to be shocking because He is trying to get our attention about the actual demands of being part of God’s Kingdom. Jesus says in these verses that our family should not come between us and God. Commitment to God even supersedes your own life. Our love and commitment to God should be so evident and so passionate that compared to everything else… it looks like hate.
Real involvement and complete commitment to Jesus Christ is effort and time consuming.
Real involvement and complete commitment to Jesus Christ is personal and deep and emotional.
Real involvement and complete commitment to Jesus Christ means you will bear fruit.
Jesus says in John 15:8, “This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
Jesus also mentions two metaphors about counting the cost of being His disciple. A contractor and a general both must count costs and weigh their decisions. Jesus is saying, “Don’t follow me without realizing what it will involve.” Jesus tells them to count the cost. Jesus tells us to count the cost. Jesus is telling us that we need to take into consideration all that He requires before making a decision to be His disciple.
Discipleship is complete commitment because God deserves the number 1 spot in our lives and it costs us in different ways to follow Him.
ILLUSTRATION: PICCADILLY 2
Imagine if you will a cafeteria scene where people have trays and before them are lots and lots of options for them to choose from to fill up their trays. This is not, however, a normal cafeteria, but one in which people fill up their trays with the elements of the Christian life. They are filling up their trays with discipleship as they move through the line and then check out to live out the Christian life.
The first person comes through and they grab two servings of Sunday services, skips the Sunday School bowl and moves on. The person behind them grabs four servings of Sunday services. “Why are you not getting four servings?” they ask.
“Well,” the person says, “the kids want to go camping and I want to go golfing with my brother and sometimes Sunday is my only day off and sometimes I want to go to the beach with my spouse and sometimes I want to run a 5k with my friends and sometimes the kids just don’t want to come. Besides, family always comes first you know. Two is good enough.”
The person behind both of them coming up the line grabbed four servings of Sunday services and grabbed the Sunday School bowl. Then they instructed their family who had trays behind them to do the same. They also instructed the kids to grab youth group salad and the two adults grabbed a Bible study cake. “God comes first,” they overheard, “then other things can happen.”
REMINDER: FOLLOWING JESUS REQUIRES COMPLETE COMMITMENT
II. FOLLOWING JESUS REQUIRES PERSONAL SACRIFICE (VERSE 27)
Jesus says in verse 27, “And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” We should remember that the cross was the most horrible way to die in Jesus’ day. To say that His disciples must carry a cross, meant that they would endure harshness. Jesus was in fact telling them that following Him would not always be pleasant, but would have struggle. Discipleship means the same for us. We must be willing to make honest personal sacrifice for Him.
Discipleship means giving up what we want and taking on what God wants. He or she that speaks the same, acts the same, holds the same values, and is the same on the inside as a non-Christian person is sorely missing the point of discipleship. They look good on the outside. They look holy. Jesus dealt with people like that in His day who were one way on the outside and another way on the inside. They were called Pharisees. Jesus said, in Matthew 23:26-28, “Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”
There are times we are not willing to sacrifice for Jesus and personal sacrifice is what is needed to be a true follower.
We don’t sacrifice our finances or consult Biblical principles about managing our money.
We don’t sacrifice our TV habits and we just watch what everyone else is to fit in.
We don’t sacrifice our pride or our right to be right.
We don’t sacrifice people that lead us astray and we keep bad company around.
We don’t sacrifice our time for God.
We don’t sacrifice our comfort.
Many times we don’t sacrifice anything for God and we expect that we will still be considered a disciple. That simply is not the way His Way works.
ILLUSTRATION: PICCADILLY 3
Imagine if you will a cafeteria scene where people have trays and before them are lots and lots of options for them to choose from to fill up their trays. This is not, however, a normal cafeteria, but one in which people fill up their trays with the elements of the Christian life. They are filling up their trays with discipleship as they move through the line and then check out to live out the Christian life.
Another person comes through and they grab a bowl of tithing fruit, but picks off only one small piece from the bunch, puts it on their tray, and puts the whole bunch back onto the serving area. They push their way past a family and elbow their way to the area with lifestyle choice steaks. They pick what everyone else is picking, just as long as it looks good, but isn’t so sure after standing there a minute. They ask the chef behind the line if they have anything like some of the other restaurants in the area… that is really what they want to eat… nothing in this restaurant, but menu items from elsewhere. Frustrated, the person shoves to the front of the line all with a smile on their face. The cashier rings it up. They see the cost of the small piece of tithing fruit and the few lifestyle choice steaks they picked out and was incensed.
Why does this have to cost so much?
Why can’t you have meals like everybody else?
Why can’t I do what I want when I want?
The person paid for the items they chose and could not believe the high cost for what little they actually chose. They elbowed past Somebody who was there who offered to help. Then they went to the table and looked around, “Where is the service? Where is the person to serve me? Where is the person to feed me?” It was not a pleasant experience for them at all at the cafeteria.
REMINDER: FOLLOWING JESUS REQUIRES PERSONAL SACRIFICE
III. FOLLOWING JESUS REQUIRES ALL ENCOMPASSING LOYALTY (VERSE 33)
Jesus concludes speaking about discipleship in verse 33, “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” Jesus also says in Mark 8:35-36, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” The Apostle Paul says the same thing in Philippians 3:7, “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.” Though Jesus was not demanding poverty from His listeners, but a follower must be willing to forsake everything for the Lord.
Jesus defines for us in this passage the overwhelming difficult truth that He comes first in every single area of our lives. Him first. Always. God comes first. God’s way trumps our way. God’s way of dealing with people is what we do instead of what we want to do. We forgive even when we don’t want to. There is so much to this because all-encompassing loyalty to God means He gets to direct us in all things at all times.
REMINDER: FOLLOWING JESUS REQUIRES ALL ENCOMPASSING LOYALTY
ILLUSTRATION: PICCADILLY 4
Imagine if you will a cafeteria scene where people have trays and before them are lots and lots of options for them to choose from to fill up their trays. This is not, however, a normal cafeteria, but one in which people fill up their trays with the elements of the Christian life. They are filling up their trays with discipleship as they move through the line and then check out to live out the Christian life.
Another person comes through the line and grabs four servings of Sunday services, a bowl of Sunday School, personal Bible reading snack bars, a personal prayer salad, evangelism ‘taters, forgiveness muffins, love soup, and piles and piles of joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Righteousness treats and truthfulness bars were also added. The whole tray was piled piled piled because discipleship is broad. It was piled so high and so heavy that the person could barely slide the tray along the counter to the checkout line.
The cost? The cost was huge.
The person tried to lift the tray, but could not. Right away, as the person was trying to make it from the checkout to the table, Jesus came along and lightened the load. Once He was there, the piles and piles and piles of discipleship felt manageable and they had power to do it through the Holy Spirit.
SUMMARY: Discipleship is broad and tough and requires complete commitment, personal sacrifice, and all-encompassing loyalty, but is possible with the presence of Christ in us.
Matthew 11:29-30 reminds us: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
CHALLENGE/QUESTIONS
As I read through these verses in Luke 14, I seem to be asking myself the same two questions over and over. I read in the first part of the passage about the complete commitment God wants from me and I ask the questions. I read in the verses about giving up everything and sacrificing for God and I ask these same two hard questions of myself. I read in the last part of the passage about continual loyalty to God and I ask two questions.
Question: What is my commitment level to Jesus Christ?
Question: What gets in the way of my relationship with Jesus Christ?
CONCLUSION
