Life or Death. Blessing or Curse. Loving the Lord or following other gods. In this climax moment,
prior to Moses’ death and the people entering the Promised Land, a choice must be made. Life or
death, where “life is not the mere extension of days. It is loving, obeying, and cleaving to the Lord
instead of pursuing the ways of idolatry” (RSV, notes). Harsh yes, but at least we understand the
choice, understand what is being asked of us. Our gospel lesson feels a little different. Read Luke
14:25-33
The story is told of a church “where it was not uncommon for one of the pastors to say to the
congregation after mentioning a challenging teaching of Jesus, “If you can’t say ‘Amen,’ let me
hear you say ‘Ouch.’ This is one of those texts that calls for ‘Ouch’” (Working Preacher, E. Trey
Clark). Hate your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, take up your cross and
follow me, AND give away all your possessions. “Ouch!” This is so much of an Ouch passage,
that I do not believe I have ever preached it. Jesus is still on his journey towards Jerusalem and the
cross when we he tells the crowd what they must do, or they cannot be his disciple. Think about
that. Jesus who is constantly saying, “Follow me,” is telling people you cannot be my disciple.
Jesus is explaining the cost of discipleship.
“Millions of Christians have been inspired by the life and death of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German
pastor and theologian who was killed during World War II. Bonhoeffer was outspoken concerning
the sins of Adolf Hitler. Friends in the United States and England, knowing the probable
consequences of opposing Hitler, arranged for Bonhoeffer to leave Germany. After a few months,
however, Bonhoeffer knew he must return to his homeland. There he preached ever more strongly
against what was happening to his people. Needless to say, he aroused great opposition. Soon he
was forced to go underground. Later he was imprisoned. There he was executed. Out of his
struggles he wrote a monumental work, The Cost of Discipleship. It stands as an eternal judgment
of those who want Christ but do not want to bear a cross” (Sermons.com King Duncan).
Before we dig into the cost of discipleship, I need to comment on this hating of family. I think this
is why I never preached this text. On the surface it feels wrong, like something Jesus would not
say. So, we have a choice, we can ignore it, or take it as hyperbole, or interpret it like it is in the
Old Testament. “The word ‘hate’ is sometimes used in the Hebrew Scriptures to mean ‘love less.’
For example, in the book of Genesis, the phrase ‘Leah was hated’ is often interpreted to mean that
Jacob ‘loved Rachel more than Leah’ (Genesis 29:30, Revised Standard Version). This seems to be
the case here. Jesus is saying that those who want to follow him must love all others less—to such
an extent that it might look like hate. Or as biblical scholar Diane Chen puts it, ‘To become Jesus’
follower, one’s preference—loyalty, love, and priority—must reside with Jesus over all people and
things one holds dear’” (Working Preacher, E. Trey Clark). Prioritizing Jesus, loving Jesus more
than all others, is not an “Ouch,” but an “Amen.” Can I get an Amen?
“Sensing that the demands of discipleship were not getting through (to the crowd, Jesus) told two
parables. In these parables we learn the three great requirements of Christianity. To follow Jesus:
1. We must establish our priorities. 2. We must count the cost. 3. We must pay the price”
(Sermons.com, Brett Blair). As we just learned, “hating family” sets our priorities. Saying yes to
Jesus and no to anyone or anything that wants to lead us astray. Counting the cost can prove to be
more difficult. Jesus tells of building a tower or deciding to go to war as examples of counting the
cost. Shame would befall you if you have a half-built tower or if you go to war without discernment. Sometimes I think we want all the benefits of a relationship with Jesus, while not
counting the cost or paying the price. Bonhoeffer calls this “cheap grace.” He accuses many
modern Christians of buying into cheap grace. Listen to how he defines it: “Cheap grace is the
deadly enemy of our church. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring
repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without personal confession. Cheap
grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ” (Cost of
Discipleship, p. 47). Bonhoeffer mockingly writes, “My only duty as a Christian is to leave the
world for an hour or so on a Sunday morning and go to church to be assured that my sins are
forgiven (Cost of Discipleship p. 54). But what we forget is that forgiveness, that grace, even
though it is freely given, is costly. Grace is “costly because it cost God the life of God’s
Son…Costly grace is the Incarnation of God” (p. 48).
“An American businessman traveled to Europe to see the famous Oberammergau Passion Play.
Following the performance, he had the opportunity to meet with Anton Lang who portrayed Christ
in the play. Seeing the cross that was used in the play, the businessman wanted his wife to take his
picture holding it. He attempted to lift the cross to his shoulder. To his surprise he could hardly
budge it from the floor.
He said to Mr. Lang, ‘I don't understand. I figured the cross would be hollow. Why do you carry
such a heavy cross?’ Mr. Lang's reply explains why this play draws people from all over the world
to that little Bavarian village. He said, ‘If I did not feel the weight of His cross, I could not play the
part.’ And neither can we” (Sermons.com, Maxie Dunnam).
Paying the price is taking up our cross and following Jesus. “The cross—the Roman method of
execution—is used, shockingly, to speak about following the way of Jesus. As Bonhoeffer wrote,
‘The cross is laid on every Christian.’ Said differently, the cross cannot be bypassed on the road to
discipleship” (Working Preacher, E. Trey Clark). Bearing the cross and becoming a disciple is
more than words. Bonhoeffer proclaims, “Disciple(ship) is an act of obedience, not a confession of
faith” (p. 61). To follow Jesus, we establish our priorities, we count the cost, and we pay the price
of discipleship. As disciples we set Jesus first “always ready to say farewell to any person, position,
possession, and, we might add, political party that compromises our allegiance to Jesus Christ
(Working Preacher, E. Trey Clark). We are obedient to Jesus. Or as we heard in Deuteronomy, we
love, we obey and we cleave to God, to Jesus.
Yesterday, Pat, Gene and Eileen and I went to a new kind of Presbytery meeting. Rather than doing
the business of the larger church with committee reports and Robert’s Rules, we spent the morning
being nurtured and equipped to advocate with resources shared. At this NEAR gathering the Rev.
Dr. Mark Labberton, the past President of Fuller Seminary, preached and spoke to us about how to
be the church today. He reminded us that every worship service is a reordering of power which I
think is another way of saying, know your priorities, count the cost, and pay the price. Because
there is a price to be a disciple of Jesus. Dr. Labberton asked us two provocative questions. Will I
meet people like Jesus at your church? And how is your credibility? To the first question we might
say no, but then we realize we are not to be perfect like Jesus, rather we are to be authentic in our
faith, doing and being the disciples Jesus calls us to be the best we can. The credibility question
addresses enacted faith. Then he told the story of a church who wrestled with what it means to
love your neighbor. Rather than discussing or wondering they asked each member to get to know
10 people in their respective neighborhood. Not to invite them to church but to know them as
people. To hear their stories, to be with them. This effort redefined their community. I challenge
you to get to know 10 of your neighbors. It might cost you time and emotional energy. But I hope
your intent will be to offer your true presence with your neighbor. Can I get an Amen!
