March 19, 2006-Fourth Sunday of Lent
Title: To Be A Disciple is Spendy
Text: Luke 14:25-33
Focus: The Way of the Cross

Message Text:
Opening Illustration:

The pill that would save your life…
The pill is free…but in order for it to work will cost you all that you have

Jesus in is traveling and there is a large crowd following Him…Jesus being the gifted teacher that He is…never will miss an opportunity to teach…and in the case to impress upon the people their need to look at themselves in there quest to follow Him…

Yesterday…at the District Pastor's Meeting…one of the things that we discussed…is how can we get across to the passion that is needed to love the lost…as we are Christians longer we loose the lost feeling…so we get to the point where we loose the passion for others that are…in our text today…Jesus is trying to make these people understand there need to accept the cost…to be His disciple

Sometimes to get someone's full attention…you say a statement that will totally be off the wall…but true…like…

"Anyone who does not HATE…his father…his mother, his wife and children….YES…even his own life…cannot be my disciple"

Now…if you heard a statement like that from a man who has been preaching love…it would get your attention

But on the other hand…it actually means to love more than you have before…for to these people words word important and every word and phrase hold a deep meaning…unlike today where we throw words and phrases around without any regard for there meaning…you see to hate ones family was a violation of the Law…and Jesus has on several occasions up to this point admonished to fulfill the Law…so Jesus was not contradicting Himself…He was stressing the opposite…to be my disciple…you must love me first…He was saying you must put your loyalty to Jesus…before your loyalty to family or to life itself

This sounds harsh…and to some it is and to some it makes perfect sense…for the people that Jesus was speaking to had the same problem that we have with family members and friends…by following Christ fully…there lack of understanding and fear…causes them to want to keep us like them…by being radical for the faith would mean they would half to try explain to the neighbors and others…and this is an embarrassment to them…to the point where family members would accuse them of hating them…we need to understand that this projection of hate…is in their eyes…we need to be sensitive to it…but not let it keep us from serving Christ…

Jesus then goes on and mentions another qualification that is needed to be His disciple…some of you may have thought that all that is needed to accept Christ to be a real disciple…and nothing more…it is this mindset that has put us in the condition we are in today…with a majority of "Christians" will not to give there life

Salvation is free, ... but discipleship will cost you your life.

-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Real disciples of Christ will constantly be carrying his…your own…cross…to us…we throw this phrase around so candidly that it's meaning is lost…so let's put in perspective of the people that heard from Christ…

When the Roman Empire sentenced a person to be crucified…the victim…or criminal…was often forced to carry his cross part of the way and sometime all the way to the site of the crucifixion… the reason for this was to make the Romans feel good…it was not to deter others…even though it probably did…it was a public admission of the person that the Empire was right and they were wrong…so when Jesus said it…he was saying to be a real disciple of mine you need bear your cross for me in public…even onto death

Jesus makes the point next that to be a disciple of mine is not a haphazard…an emotional moment…that it includes planning and sacrifice…and He gives two illustrations…

First concerning a tower…before the person builds he needs to be sure he can afford it…that he can pay for it…not just part of the cost…the whole…the full cost…for if only part of it is built and not the rest…it would be a source of ridicule…creditability is lost…

I once saw the concrete block shell of a church someone had started building years earlier. The project had been halted. There was no roof on the building and trees and shrubs had grown inside the shell. One of the pine trees growing inside the uncompleted church was at least 15 feet tall. I'll never know the full story about what happened in that little church. But to everyone who passes by, for years that uncompleted building preaches a sermon: Someone started this, but they didn't count the cost, and they weren't able to finish.

but there is something else that is lost…that is not explicitly express in the text today…if the tower is not completed…the person could never enjoy the any of the benefits…the blessings of the tower has to offer…only by understanding the cost and willingness to pay the full price can the owner take advantage of the benefits and blessings…