Choices and Consequences
In the 21st century most of us are familiar with terms such as “entourage,” “paparazzi,” “hangers on,” and “fans.” In the first century, Jesus often found himself surrounded by many people like these; folks who wanted a free meal or healing, wanted to be in on the latest thing, but who weren’t as interested in what Jesus had to say or even more, becoming one of his disciples and doing what he said to do. So every now and then Jesus would say some things that would, in a sense, thin the herd and cause some folks to drop out and disappear. Today’s Gospel describes one such time.
September 8, 2013
Luke 14:25-33, Choices and Consequences
Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church
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“Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them,
‘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.
Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?
Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’
Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”
If we’re going to follow Jesus as his disciple, Jesus says, you better know what you’re getting into and you need to commit yourself totally. Meaningful things in life usually come with a cost; including being a disciple of Jesus. We can’t be a disciple of Jesus without making some crucial choices that have significant consequences. Have you ever made a commitment to an organization or committee without first finding out all that would be expected of you? We don’t want to make the mistake of making following Jesus sound as if it is a superficial, easy commitment. It is a life altering choice. In today’s scripture, Jesus is speaking to a large, enthusiastic crowd who seem totally unaware that he is going to Jerusalem and to the cross. Jesus is saying to those who would follow him, “Think about what you’re doing and decide if you are willing to stay with me all the way.” Jesus wants his followers to be clear about what being his disciple truly means. Following Jesus as his disciple is a decision we make both at one key time of surrender and commitment, and then untold times after that in our daily living. The dominant emphasis in this passage is found in the three times Jesus basically says, “Whoever does not…cannot be my disciple.”
Jesus says redefining our family relationships, bearing one’s cross, and forsaking our possessions are part of following him. Discipleship requires redefining or renouncing who we are and what we have. Let’s look at each of these three demands by Jesus.
‘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.” Jesus is saying that following him takes precedence over and redefines all our other relationships. Let’s be clear, Jesus’ ethic of love makes it unthinkable that we should hate or despise our own family. “To hate is a Semitic expression meaning to turn away from, to detach oneself from. There is nothing of the anger or hostility we experience in the expression, ‘I hate you.’ If that were the case, then verse 26 would cancel all the calls to love, care, and nourish especially one’s family (1 Tim. 5:8) found throughout both Testaments (Fred Craddock). What Jesus is getting at is the fact that if we are followers of Jesus that will influence and impact all our relationships, including those in our family. Because we love Jesus we will love the people around us in a deeper, more self-sacrificing way.
God starts a relationship with us through Jesus from a position of love and vulnerability. We love because God first loves us. Jesus’ love for us is revealed not only in his death but in his life and how he speaks to us and the concern he has for us that we faithfully live our life, rather than squandering or ruining it. A growing relationship with Jesus makes us more loving, kind, and patient with others and may actually improve our relationships with our family members, but there may also be a time of challenge as well with family members who don’t share our convictions. Following Jesus is a crucial choice in which our relationship with him takes precedence over and redefines all our other relationships.
The second “Whoever” in Luke 14 is, “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” There is often some confusion around what Jesus means by carrying the cross. Carrying a cross is not so much things like a chronic illness, painful physical conditions, or difficult family relationships. These are more like trials that we have to cope with and respond to in faith as best we can. Carrying our cross is what we do voluntarily as part of our commitment to Jesus. Cross bearing involves deliberate sacrifice in order to be obedient to Jesus. As disciples we learn a new way of life recognizing that following Jesus is a life-long race, not a sprint. Like a marathon runner, a Christian’s discipline may require long, lonely work done in all seasons, with little attention from others. There are quiet personal battles that go on unseen every day.
The two parables Jesus tells in Luke 14 explore the questions, Are you sure you want to choose to follow me? Is the price more than you are willing to pay? This is Jesus’ way of saying consider in advance what that choice requires and the consequences. Jesus uses two contemporary illustrations people would have understood. A farmer deciding whether or not to build a tower in a vineyard to watch against thieves and foraging animals had a similar decision as a king trying to determine whether he should go to war or negotiate a peace. Are you sure you want to choose this? Do you truly understand what it will cost in every sense of that word?
We cannot ignore the fact that our government is trying to make a decision like this right now in regard to Syria which is being torn apart by a religious civil war between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. The United States is not going to fix or solve incredibly complex problems whose roots are over a thousand years old in countries like these. Our first commitment should be to the most vulnerable and those in greatest jeopardy. Two million Syrian refugees have left their country and fully a third of the Syrian people are homeless in their own country. Lebanon, a country of 4 million people, now has nearly 1 million Syrian refugees. Jordan is also being overwhelmed with them. Humanitarian organizations are calling this the worst crisis in two decades. The Scriptures tell us that our first and deepest response should always be to the most vulnerable who are so often forgotten. The international faith community should lead the way for a global response to the millions of people in deep distress and danger. Pope Francis correctly said this week, “War brings on war! Violence brings on violence.” He urged a negotiated settlement of the Syrian civil war, and called upon people of faith around the world to pray and fast for peace yesterday. Geoff Tunnicliffe, CEO of the World Evangelical Alliance, pointed out the negative effect military strikes would have on Christians in the Middle East. These choices always have serious and unforeseen consequences.
Jesus says in the parables in Luke 14 that rich and poor, President and peasants, Christians and churches have basically the same decision to make when faced with a major expenditure of time, money, property, or life itself: Does this cost more than I am willing to pay? Can I truly foresee all this will cost? Do we possess the resilience and resources to carry through to the finish? Jesus says, “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”
Finally, in Luke 14, Jesus says, “So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.” Basically that means, everything we have must be placed in Jesus’s nail scarred hands for his use. Jesus is to be our financial planner. No possessions may possess us more than our commitment to following Jesus. For some people a redirection of time and energy is required, for others a change in the conduct of our personal relationships, in vocation, or a commitment of financial resources; but for each of us the call to discipleship primary. Jesus wants us to be completely sold out to following him, working with him and for him, struggling onward no matter how difficult the challenge may be. Jesus wants followers who trust him enough to say, “You are my leader, I trust you and will follow you in my relationships, in whatever cross you have shaped and chosen for me to carry, and in surrendering all that I have and all that I am to you and to your service.”
In Luke 14, Jesus makes it clear he isn’t looking for shallow, part-time disciples or half-hearted commitments.
When we truly believe in God then following Jesus will take precedence over and redefines & reshape all our other relationships.
When we truly believe we will choose to take up our cross and carry it through to the finish of our life.
When we truly believe in God no possessions will possess us more than our commitment to following Christ.
We have to choose if we are going to listen to and follow Jesus above everyone else, or not, including in our political beliefs.
C.S. Lewis wrote in his classic Mere Christianity that, “Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this thing into a Heaven creature or into a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow creatures, and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is Heaven: that is, it is joy, and peace, and knowledge, and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other.”
Be careful about the choices you make, they all have consequences. There is none more important that really, truly believing in and following Jesus.