Deo Gloria

Sermon for September 4, 2022

Pastor Martin Bentz

Text: Luke 14:25-35

Theme: Calculate the Cost of Following Jesus!

Calculate…      1.  Your cost

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 2. Your cross
               3. His cross

Calculators sure aren’t what they used to be.  I remember doing some back to school shopping with our daughter, Katie, once.  Among other things we were looking for a calculator, because she needed one for the Advanced Math Class she was taking.  Boy, was that an eye-opening experience!  They have calculators that can do just about anything.  You can use them for Algebra, for Geometry, for Trigonometry, for Calculus, for Chemistry, for Physics.  Some are even graphing calculators.  You enter a certain equation and it displays it in the form a graph right there on the display screen.  They’re pretty amazing.  And they come with a pretty amazing price tag too: $120 at Walmart.  I guess things have changed a bit since I was in school.

This morning Jesus urges us to do a bit of calculating—not the kind that we might do in school, not on a math equation or a Physics problem, but on the cost of following him.  He urges us to count the cost of following him, so we understand and appreciate what it really means to be one of his disciples.  And that’s what we’re going to do this morning: We’re going to calculate the cost of following Jesus!  As we do, we’re going to see that there are three things to consider: 1.) Our cost, 2.) Our cross, and 3.) His cross.

As Luke tells us, large crowds of people were traveling with Jesus as he made his way to Jerusalem.  As they drew closer and closer to their destination, a sense of excitement was building in the crowd.  Some of it, no doubt, was about the upcoming Passover Celebration, the greatest of all the Jewish festivals.  People back then looked forward to Passover the way you and I look forward to Christmas or Easter.  But the building excitement wasn’t just about Passover; it was about Jesus too.  As they drew closer to Jerusalem, some in the crowd were thinking and hoping that this might be it, that there in Jerusalem Jesus might finally reveal who he really was, that he was the promised Messiah; that Jesus might spark a revolution and drive out the Romans and establish a new kingdom; that Jesus might perform some amazing miracle—like instead of feeding 5,000 people from 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fish, he might feed 10,000 people, or maybe 20,000.  Jesus did not cater to any such desires, however.  Instead he used the occasion to teach the people what it means to be one of his disciples and to urge them to consider the cost.

He said to them: “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”(v. 26).  And later on he says, “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple”(v. 33).  Jesus’ words are rather striking, aren’t they, almost shocking?  “Jesus wants me to hate my family?  Jesus wants me to give up everything I have?”  Jesus is using some rather “shocking” words to make a point.  He’s doing what a boyfriend does when he says to his sweetheart, “I would die if you ever left me.”  Would he actually die if she ever left him?  No, but he’s saying such a “shocking” thing to make a point: that he really, really loves her and doesn’t ever want to lose her.  That’s what Jesus is doing here.  He is using some shocking words to drive home a point: that following him means putting him first, before anyone or anything else.  What he is saying is really no different from what he said in Matthew ch. 10: “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me”(v. 37), or what he said in Matthew ch. 6: “No one can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money”(v. 24).  When it comes to following Jesus and being one of his disciples, Jesus has to come first, and everything else has to come second.  Whether it’s family and friends, whether it’s money and things—Jesus comes first; everything else comes second.  That’s the cost of following Jesus.

Jesus is saying the same to you and me today.  There is a cost in following him.  And you and I need to consider that cost.  No, there is no cost in our salvation.  There is nothing you and I need to contribute.  Jesus took care of that completely, 100%.  He paid the full price for our salvation when he suffered and died on the cross.  There is a cost, however, in following him, a cost that involves putting him first in our hearts and in our lives.

As followers of Jesus, we are to love him first, with all our heart and all our soul and all our mind.  We are to love him more than our family, more than our spouse, more than our parents, more than our children, more than our boyfriend or girlfriend, more than our friends, even more than ourselves.  And we are to love him more than our things—more than our money or cars or clothes or homes or laptops or cell phones—more than anything.  Jesus has to come first.  Are you willing to do that, to put Jesus first in your life—before anyone or anything else?  That’s what Jesus expects if you’re going to be one of his disciples.  Calculate the cost of following Jesus!

And that’s not all either.  There is an additional cost in following Jesus, a cost Jesus mentions in v. 27: “And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”  There is a cross in following Jesus?  Yes, there is a cross in following Jesus.  Talk to the high school student who is made fun of and laughed at in Biology class when she expresses her belief that God created the world and there is no such thing as evolution.  She knows about the cross in following Jesus.  Talk to the college student who is ridiculed and made fun of by his roommates because he gets up and goes to church on Sunday mornings.  He knows about the cross in following Jesus.  Talk to the guy who has been passed over for a promotion any number of times because he stands up for Jesus and lets his light shine at work.  He knows about the cross in following Jesus.  Or talk to the young, Muslim girl whose family turned against her when she became a Christian and she had to flee for her life so she wouldn’t be killed.  She knows about the cross in following Jesus.  There is a cross in following Jesus, a cross every Christian will have to bear: a cross of rejection, a cross of ridicule and derision, a cross of contempt and scorn, a cross of persecution from others, from those who are not Christians.

Are you willing to carry that cross?  Are you willing to be rejected by family members or friends?  Are you willing to be ridiculed by classmates or co-workers?  Are you willing to be scorned by teachers and professors?  Are you willing to be persecuted and put down by total strangers?  It’s one of the things we have to consider in following Christ, because it’s going to happen.  It’s part of the cost.  As you consider the cost of following Jesus, don’t forget to calculate your cross.

So as a disciple of Jesus, how have you done in these two areas?  Have you always put Jesus first in your life, before anyone or anything else?  Have you always loved him with all your heart—before family or friends, before spouse or children?  Have you always loved him more than your things?  Have you always been generous in giving back to the Lord from all that he has given you?  Have you always loved him more than yourself?  Have you always put Jesus first in your life?

And what about that second part, the part about carrying your cross?  Have you always been willing to carry that cross for Jesus, always willing to suffer rejection and ridicule from others, more than happy to be mocked and made fun of because of your faith in Jesus?

You haven’t, have you?  I know.  I haven’t either.  When it comes to following Jesus, we have failed.  We have been anything but faithful followers of Jesus.  Often times we have put other things in front of Jesus and loved other things more than Jesus.  And we have not always been willing to carry our cross for Jesus either.  At times we did our best to avoid carrying our cross.  And other times when we did have to carry it, we grumbled and complained and even blamed Jesus for our troubles.  May God forgive us for such sins!  May he have mercy on us and forgive us for the sake of Jesus our Savior!

How thankful we can be for our Savior Jesus!  As our Savior, he always put God first in his life.  He always loved God with all his heart and all his soul and all his mind.  And he was always willing to carry his cross too.  He often experienced rejection and ridicule and persecution from others.  And yet, he never let it stop him from carrying out his mission.  In fact, because of his great love for us, Jesus willingly carried his cross all the way to Calvary, where he laid down his life in payment for our sins, so that we might have forgiveness for our sins, peace for our souls, and the sure hope of eternal life in heaven.

What price would you put on that?  What price would you put on what Jesus did for you?  What price would you put on the cross Jesus had to carry?  What price would you put on your forgiveness?  What price would you put on peace for your soul, knowing that your sins are all taken away and you are again in a right relationship with God?  What price would you put on life, eternal life with Jesus in heaven?  A million dollars?  A hundred million dollars?  A hundred billion dollars?  No amount of money would ever be enough, would it?

When we consider Jesus’ cross and what he did for us, how can we not put Jesus first in our lives and love him more than anything else?  When we consider the cross that Jesus carried for us, how can we not be willing to carry our cross for him?  When you calculate the cost of following Jesus, be sure not to forget the most important part.  Don’t forget to calculate Jesus’ cross.

Calculators can do some pretty amazing things now days, but one thing they can’t help us figure is the cost of following Jesus.  That’s something each and everyone one of us has to do on his own, in his own heart and mind.  And as we see in these verses from Luke ch. 14, there are three things to consider.  When we look at only the first two, our cost and our cross, the cost may seem too great, more than we could give, more than we could bear; but not when we add that third part to the equation.  In Jesus and his cross we find the motivation and the strength to be his faithful followers.  Calculate the cost of following Jesus!  Amen.