If you would, please stand as we say together our memory Scripture for this quarter:
Romans 12:4-5
“Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”
And our memory refresher Scripture is …
1 Timothy 2:5-6
“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all people - this has now been witnessed to at the proper time.”
Please open your Bibles to Luke 14:25-35
Today is Father’s Day.
On Father’s Day we honor fathers or rather the position of fatherhood in the family as the LORD God intended it to be.
So, in honor of this day I picked the craziest verse you will ever hear in a Father’s Day message …
With that in mind let’s take a look at Luke 14:25-35
Luke 14:26 NIV
“If anyone comes to Me and does not his hate father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - he cannot be My disciple.”
What on earth is Jesus talking about???
Hate your Father and Mother, spouse and children, brothers and sisters???
Doesn’t Jesus know the 5th Commandment,
Exodus 20:12
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
In this passage Jesus is being followed by a Huge crowd ... what is this crowd thinking?
- Jesus is going to feed us
- We’re going to see some awesome miracles
- If we get sick or injured Jesus will heal us
- We love to see Jesus put the Pharisees in their place!
- Jesus is going to restore the kingdom to Israel
Jesus’ kingdom on earth is not a “what can I get” or “what’s in it for me” kingdom.
Jesus’ kingdom on earth is a “what can I do for you, Jesus?” type of kingdom.
Now, because Jesus is being followed by this huge crowd He stops and makes sure that they know what is required to be a true disciple of His.
So, Jesus says …
Luke 14:26 NIV
“If anyone comes to Me and does not his hate father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - he cannot be My disciple.”
I thought Jesus wanted us to love others!
Is Jesus contradicting what He says in other places?
After all Jesus also said:
Matthew 27:39b
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].”
John 13:34
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
Jesus even says in:
Matthew 5:43-45a
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”
And the Holy Spirit speaking through the apostles says:
Romans 12:10
“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.”
Ephesians 5:25
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.”
Titus 2:4
“Then they (the older widows) can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children.”
The word “love” actually appears 261 times in the New Testament so why does Jesus say:
Luke 14:26 NIV
“If anyone comes to Me and does not his hate father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - he cannot be My disciple.”
When Jesus says that we are to hate father, mother, sister, brother, spouse and children He is using a literary device called hyperbole.
Examples:
“This suitcase weighs a ton!”
“That car is as fast as lightening!”
“My eyes popped out of my head!”
“It’s to die for!” (worth dying for / worth giving up your life for)
Jesus is using comparative language in Luke 14:26
Let’s say that a total lack of love is at floor level and let’s say that we have the appropriate level of love for our father, mother, sisters, brothers, spouse and children which would be about here (four feet from the floor).
Then our love for the Lord should be just as high as we can reach with all our might standing on our tippy toes!
How do we know this?
We know this from Scripture just as we know all other truths from the Lord!
Matthew 10:37
“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”
And … what is the greatest commandment???
Mark 12:30
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
All the rest are commands that we must love but only the command which is directed toward the Lord Himself commands ALL!
Anything less than ALL will eventually lead to moral failure and we will at best be ineffective for the Kingdom of God and at worst we will bring mockery to Jesus’ name and His kingdom here on earth.
Luke 14:28-32
“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 are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’
“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 the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be My disciples.”
One way of looking at this Scripture is that we must decide whether we are willing to make this radical change in our lives of loving the Lord above all.
But, there is also another way of looking at this.
Suppose you are going to build a brick building would you use bricks that have not been fully baked? Would you use mortar that only had half of the cement in the mix that it should have? Of course not!
Jesus is saying here that He is not going to build His kingdom on earth with half baked bricks and poorly made mortar that is just going to crumble and fall apart!
Jesus will not build His church with faulty materials, with lukewarm disciples!
But, the way that the Lord is going to build His church is with fully committed and dedicated disciples of Jesus Christ!
Over the past few years many comments have been made about how much the Crossroads folks love this church and I am grateful for that.
But … we must ALWAYS be careful not to let the church become an idol in our hearts.
We must ALWAYS put our love for Jesus above our church or church family or we will surely fail our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ!
Finally, when we love the Lord our God above everything else the proper love for our father, mother, sisters, brothers, spouse, children and even our enemies will flow naturally from a heart yielded to the Lord and guided by the Holy Spirit.
Now … next Sunday is going to be a little different.
The Lord has been actively moving in the hearts of many here at Crossroads.
So, we would like to make next Sunday more of a “Spirit led” service.
I believe and have actively sought for all of our services to be led by the Holy Spirit but sometime the structure can be confining.
So, next Sunday we will have some ordered music and we will take care of other necessary parts of the service such as announcement and offering but after that we would like to have you participate as well in a more active role.
We would like you to be thinking of a personal word of testimony you could give about what the Lord has done in your life or what He is doing in your life.
What we want to stay away from is politics. There is a place for politics but the morning worship service is for God and God alone.
We also want to stay away from “this church is better than the one I came from because …” We love our brothers and sisters in Christ to worship in other churches around the area and we should be lifting them up in prayer and not comparing.
Now, if you believe that the Lord has brought you here for a reason then He has brought you here to do something in your life for His honor and for His glory and that is what we want to hear.
Every time the Lord changes a heart it is a miracle and God and God alone should get the glory. If He uses one of us as a tool in His hand to accomplish the task the glory still goes to the One, our Lord, who holds the tool and not to the tool itself.
So, be asking the Lord what He may be asking you to share
And … be asking Him to give you the courage to do so
We will also be singing some songs of your choosing from the hymnal but if you choose one you should have a testimony as to why it is special to your heart.
Finally, be praying that the Lord will use the service to touch hearts and to bring us all closer to Him so that we may be disciples He can use for His purposes.
Benediction …
Ephesians 4:1-6
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
