“Counting the Cost”

Luke 14:25-33

My wife, Paula, and I are considering picking up a new sport. We were both introduced to the sport of Pickleball last Monday. It is kind of like tennis for older people😊. First, we purchased two cheap wooden paddles and a couple of yellow plastic balls, then signed up for a course on learning the game of Pickleball through the Ashland Parks and Rec District. We attended an introductory course last Monday. One of our instructors happened to be one of our church friends, Adrienne Simmons, who did a great job helping us learn the game. One of the first things we learned about Pickleball from the main instructor, who was a very accomplished player of the game, was that the paddles we purchased were not acceptable. Wooden Pickleball paddles were too heavy and could cause injury. So, if we want to play the game, we will need to purchase paddles on our own, which of course, run anywhere from $50 to over $100 each, depending on how they are made. Then, there are shoes to consider. In order to play at one’s best on the Pickleball court, one needs court shoes. Both of us would need to consider buying special shoes, which would run another $75 or so each. There also are different kinds of plastic balls which vary in cost. Perhaps I will also need to purchase an official Pickleball shirt? There are many shirts with funny little sayings about the sport for around $20.

I will say it was fun to learn about the game, and we both enjoyed running around and trying to hit the yellow plastic ball. Is it something we both feel we would enjoy? I think so. Would we have time to play? Well, the courts are open at Lithia Park on Mondays, and we both have that day off together pretty regularly. So, I think we could play once a week. Then there’s the cost of equipment. Investing in around $300 worth of equipment to play Pickleball…Is it worth it? Before deciding fully on whether this becomes a sport we will invest our energy in, we need to count the cost before calling ourselves “pickleball players.”

In today’s passage, Jesus tells the crowds around him that they too should consider the cost before following him. Based on what he says in this passage, the cost is pretty steep. Jesus begins, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:25-26). I think if our main Pickleball instructor had begun stating something like that, Paula and I wouldn’t have stuck around. Yet it doesn’t get any easier. Jesus continues with this parallel line: “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple” (14:27).

Then Jesus asks the crowds, who wouldn’t add up the cost of building a tower before building it? Many of us spent time working on the Habitat build in Talent last week. Can you imagine building such a home without having any idea of the cost of labor, materials, etc.? Of course not. Nor would a leader go to war without insufficient troops and supplies. (Although I wonder if Vladimir Putin didn’t fully count the cost of his unprovoked attack on Ukraine.) Finally, Jesus ends by telling the crowds to give up everything or you cannot become his disciple. Is Jesus’ intent perhaps to turn away halfhearted disciples? One thing for certain is that Jesus is not interested in growing the number of disciples just for the sake of growth!

Jesus wants the crowds to understand that there are costs associated with following him, with conducting one’s life in the way that Jesus does. I want to focus on two very controversial and difficult teachings Jesus has here regarding family & life itself,  carrying the cross,  and giving away our possessions.

First, we need to take a strong look at Jesus’s first teaching. In order to follow him, we are told we must hate father and mother, sister and brother, even life itself! How can this be? Jesus gave us the command to love one another, to love our neighbor as we love (not hate) ourselves, not hate each other, especially our own parents. What in the world is Jesus saying about hatred?

Hatred has surfaced elsewhere in Luke’s gospel. Jesus tells his followers that many will hate them because of their association with him(Luke 6:22,27, 21:17). He also tells them to return hate with love ( 6:27). It is clear to me that Jesus’s first statement is hyperbole, a huge exaggeration in order to stress the seriousness of following him.

Theologian Emerson Powery, Professor of Biblical Studies at Messiah College in Pennsylvania, writes, “In the first century, Jewish families were central, so the implications of and challenge of Jesus’ words are real. Jesus seeks singularly devoted persons, undistracted by the cares of daily life. This may explain why most of his disciples were probably unmarried (though Peter is one exception). And, most of the women who approached Jesus were also single (cf. 8:1-3).”

Let me say I love my family. As I look back upon my family life, there have been many times when I have given a lot of my time, talent, and treasure for them because of that love. I have invested my heart and commitment to my wife for more than 35 years and will do so for the rest of my life. I consider our love intertwined with God’s love and that our relationship makes our family stronger.

I also loved both of my parents. I committed to helping my parents as they both aged, taking them to doctor’s appointments, helping them re-invest their finances so that they could have a better life with more support and resources, and working on their property when they weren’t able to care for it anymore. I took them to doctor and hospital visits. I was with them until they became ill and eventually died.

I also love my sister and both of our children. I gave a lot of my time and energy to both of our kids. When our children, Sam and Abby, were young, I was Sam’s baseball coach and Abby’s softball and soccer coach for a good five years. In addition, we were both swim team parents, as both of our kids swam from the time they were about eight all the way through most of high school. Although I didn’t miss a lot of Sunday worship services, there were a few that I found a substitute preacher and took off to see my kids swim. Paula was often the one who took our kids 100s of miles to swim meets all over Northern CA on weekends. I was a meet announcer at our local meets, and we both served as lane timers as well. Paula and I sacrificed an awful lot of time, energy, money, and commitment to both of our kids because we love them. Were our priorities off, according to Jesus?

We sacrifice those three T’s according to our priorities. Truthfully, in today’s passage, Jesus proclaims that the kindom of God should be a priority in our lives, actually THE priority. Jesus wants us to understand that being a disciple also demands sacrifice, just like our family or our very lives do. If our focus is more on our family or our own survival than on working for God’s justice, love, and mercy to manifest in this world, Jesus is saying in quite stark terms that our priorities are off. We may prioritize personal social position or the betterment of family above the purposes of God.

Yet I have seen the real pain that comes from family members when ministers have prioritized their ministries over their family lives. I think this passage has been misused by ministers to, unfortunately, inflict harm upon spouses, parents, and children. Part of our calling as disciples is to show Christ’s love in the home. I believe Christ’s calling here is to put him above family so that family can then know and experience the love and teachings of Jesus.

Another difficult teaching is -“Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple” (14:27). Carrying our crosses means we are to demonstrate our faith daily. Many Christians around the world wear crosses around their necks to be reminded to “carry their crosses.” I try to wear mine more than just on Sundays, especially during the season of Lent. At times that cross around my neck feels a bit heavy, especially when I am out in the world interacting with other people. The cross will remind me who I follow and how I am supposed to live, behave and speak. It is a cross we are all called to pick up daily (Luke 9:23-25). Yet there are times I admit I wish I could lay it down - when someone has done something that hurts me, or when I become angry at another person or don’t want to forgive someone, etc.

Our last focus has to do with Jesus telling the crowds to get rid of all their possessions before following him. In telling the crowds to relinquish their personal possessions, it must mean that this crowd isn’t poor. They are not possession-less but perhaps wealthy. I believe here Jesus is calling the crowd to reject greed, hoarding, and overabundance, to instead encourage giving, not letting one’s possessions possess them, and sharing what we have with those around us. German Theologian Dieterich Bonhoeffer wrote, “Earthly possessions dazzle our eyes and delude us into thinking that they can provide security and freedom from anxiety. Yet all the time, they are the source of our anxiety.”

What, then, are we to do with this challenging passage full of difficult sayings? First, we are called to take stock of our discipleship. Are there people, things, and allegiances that get in the way of following Jesus in our lives? Spend some time in prayer today after you get home. Then be encouraged by God’s Spirit to make the changes needed. Next, we need some direction as modern-day disciples. What are we called to do and be in this broken world?

Theologian Mitzi Smith, Professor of New Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA., says the following about being a disciple of Christ:

“One must be willing:

• to champion the cause of the poor and dis-eased;
• to view one’s calling as more expansive than the confines of a church building;
• to sometimes buck traditions—and those who view those traditions as infallible;
• to live a life of relative poverty, unwilling to take bribes and to amass wealth on the backs of the oppressed and unaware;
• to struggle for the alleviation of poverty and a living wage for all at the expense of one’s own privilege; and
• to expand one’s conception of “family” to include neighbors far and near.”

Professor Smith’s list is a good one for us modern-day disciples of Christ to follow. What more would I add? In light of the mass shootings this past week, at least 2 of which were motivated by racial hatred, there is one in particular that disciples of Jesus need to speak up and speak out about. From The Matthew 25 project, which we as a church adopted a couple of years ago - dismantling structural racism. Two mass shootings last weekend were empowered by evil, the ridiculousness ease of getting a gun in this nation, and racism. We must acknowledge and speak of the deep sinful roots of racism in this nation. We must find a way to teach love, acceptance, and reconciliation, all in Jesus’ name. Jesus gave us the commandment to love one another, no matter what we look like or where we come from. We who are called to be his disciples must combat the sin of racism and speak out against the replacement theory, reflecting the image of Christ in the world through our words and actions.

Theologian Adam Russell Taylor, President of Sojourner’s, writes, “Before the public outcry dies down — and isn’t it sad that we all know it will? — we must boldly and unequivocally denounce the great replacement theory and instead live out the great commandment. The great replacement theory draws on the worst of our nation’s history, falsely implying that nonwhite people are threats to our nation’s future. But the great commandment offers the best of our civic and religious values, reminding us that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves; it lends itself to a moral vision of multi-racial democracy in which everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, and religion, is equally valued.”

Jesus Christ asks his disciples both then and now to sacrifice, to prioritize. In fact, he isn’t polite about it. He doesn’t ask. He expects loyalty. So this morning, we are all asked to count the cost because the Christian life is demanding. Christ calls us to place discipleship above all things, to recommit ourselves to love, compassion, mercy, service, and justice, that this broken, sinful world in which we live might be changed. Alleluia. Amen.