Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "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. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one< coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple."

Fellow sinners and fellow redeemed:

Do you ever stop to realize how shocking some of the things are that Jesus said to people? Think, for example, of his words: "I am the only way anybody is ever going to find the way to God. If anybody wants to learn the truth about God, he’ll have to get it from me." Another time Jesus said: "Don’t let anybody or anything come between you and me. If anything does, it’s got to go. If your eye misleads you, and you find yourself looking at things no Christian should be looking at, gouge it out!" If your hand or your foot leads you into sin, doing things or going places that disturb your relation-ship with me, cut it off! It would be better for you to enter eternal life crippled than to have both hands and feet and go to hell."

When you hear shocking statements like those, you can understand why most of Jesus’ countrymen reacted to his words the way they did. There were some who said: "He’s out of his mind!" That’s probably how you would react if tomorrow you were walking down Main Street, and somebody walked up to you and with a perfectly straight face announced: "I am an Egg McMuffin!" You’d smile and realize something’s not right upstairs. Still others of Jesus’ hearers reacted to his shocking statements by saying: "He’s under the power of the devil!" And again, we can understand how they could say that. Let’s face it, my friends: anybody who makes the kinds of statements Jesus did

is either mad, or he’s bad -- or he’s God.

You’ve just heard Jesus say some things that may have shocked you. As we walk through this Scripture text, remember: it’s your Savior speaking here. He’s not out to hurt your feelings, or to insult your intelligence, or to mess up your life. He wants to draw you closer to himself, to purify your discipleship. Jesus says to each of us:

COUNT THE COST OF YOUR DISCIPLESHIP !

I.

The man after whom our church is named tells us an interesting story. "Large crowds were traveling with Jesus." If you had been Jesus, wouldn’t you have been pleased? But listen: "Jesus turned to them and said: ‘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. Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." Shocking words, aren’t they? But remember: Jesus was never interested just in getting large crowds of people to join his group.

All Jesus was ever interested in was to win people for God’s family. And he knew that the only way sinners can belong to God’s family is through faith in him. Jesus knew that there were many in the crowd following him who were there for the wrong reason. Some were there thoughtlessly; they just followed the crowd because they had nothing better to do. Others followed Jesus for selfish reasons – maybe to see him perform some miracles, or to get a free lunch. Does that sound familiar? Are we tempted to think of our discipleship only in terms of what we get out of it? I’ve already heard somebody say: "I attend church every Sunday because I find my week goes better if I start it with God." That’s thoughtless, selfish discipleship, and Christ criticizes that.

"COUNT THE COST OF YOUR DISCIPLESHIP !" Jesus says to us this morning.

"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?" COUNT THE COST OF YOUR DISCIPLESHIP! Christ asks for our heart’s loyalty. Every other earthly relationship – to my family, my health, my job – has to get a lower priority than my relationship to my Savior. When we count the cost of our discipleship, we see that it will be considerable. "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, he cannot be my disciple." Don’t misunderstand what Jesus is saying. He’s not forbidding us to love our parents or our spouses; why, he has commanded us to love them. But Jesus does forbid that love of family members which interferes with our loyalty to him. Christ asks his 21^st-century disciples for absolute, unblinking loyalty. COUNT THE COST OF YOUR DISCIPLESHIP !

Make no mistake about it: it will be considerable. "Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple." Being Jesus’ disciple is not exactly a piece of cake. Part of the cost is what Jesus here calls "carrying our cross." You and I are not playboys and playgirls whose goal in life is simply to be happy and have fun. God’s plans for us in this world include struggle, and pain. Disciples of Christ are men and women whom God, sometimes through hardship, is shaping into his kind of people.

"Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." A Tokyo businessman who had been a Christian only a few months pointed at this verse and said: "Those are hard words!" He was right, wasn’t he? Let’s face it, friends: the cost of discipleship is considerable. It cost you nothing to become a Christian; that was totally the work of the Holy Spirit. But it will cost you everything to be a Christian. Christ couldn’t ask for more, and he won’t settle for less.

II.

Seems strange, doesn’t it? When Jesus was on earth, he asked very little for himself. He was content to wander penniless and homeless, without even a pillow to lay his head on at night. Why should he ask so much of his followers? At the time Jesus spoke the words we’ve been listening to, he was on a journey. As closely as we can figure, this was his "death journey" – the one that ended on a hill outside the city of Jerusalem named Calvary. You can guess what was on Jesus’ mind as he made that difficult journey. It’s important to remember that it was the Savior who spoke these words that sound so harsh, so demanding. It’s because his love for you is so great that Jesus said what he did about the cost of discipleship. He makes it clear that that cost is considerable, but that it will be worthwhile.

By saying some things that really are hard on our ears Jesus wants, first of all, to help us confront the reality of sin in our lives. After what our country has lived through during the past two weeks, nobody has to convince us that the world we live in is not a nice, neat world, but a world that’s in rebellion against God. And the worst part is that we see this rebellion not only in what happened in New York and in Washington, but we see that rebellion in ourselves. Each of us is tempted to believe that we are the most important person in our lives, that we’re responsible to no one but ourselves for the way we live our lives. Every day we try all over again to invent some sort of happiness for ourselves apart from God. You see, there’s a part of our personality which is not under the control of the Spirit of God, but of self. We call that stubborn, selfish nature our "old Adam," to remind us where we got it from. What Jesus is emphasizing here is that his disciples have to fight that evil nature down to the day they die. God knows that if that evil nature controls our life, one day we’ll hear him say: "Very well, have it your way. You wanted to live independently of me; now be without me – forever!" I have inside of me all that it takes to destroy my eternal happiness forever, and so do you.

But when Jesus urges us: "COUNT THE COST OF YOUR DISCIPLESHIP !" he wants us to recognize not only our rebellious hearts, but even more the strong love of our Savior. As a holy God, God cannot wink at our selfishness and stubbornness. He cannot condone our sin, nor does he relax his demands. What Jesus did do, first of all, all during his thirty-something years on earth, was to live life right. He loved his Father above all, and he loved people as himself. And then – and I know this sounds unbeliev-able – he volunteered to trade his perfect record for our sinful one!

And then Jesus did one more thing. Incredibly, he took our sinful record and sentenced himself for it. God is still holy, sin is still sin, and you and I are saved. Doesn’t that tell you something about the Savior who today talks to you about the cost of discipleship? Jesus didn’t have to be your Savior. But he could bear your sins more easily than he could bear the thought of your hopelessness. COUNT THE COST OF YOUR DISCIPLESHIP ! It will be considerable, but, oh! it will be worthwhile.

Two more minutes, and I’ll be through with this sermon, and then it’s yours. But before I say Amen, let me reassure you that when Jesus speaks to us about being his disciples, he doesn’t just list a bunch of requirements. God never calls a person to do something for him without at the same time making it possible for him/her to do it. This morning you did not hear Jesus demand that you put him first in your life. Christ does not ask anything of us which he does not supply. As you heard Jesus speak to you this morning, couldn’t you also sense that the Holy Spirit was gently working in you? Through the message of his love he was melting down our proud stubbornness, leading us to say: "Lord Jesus, give me the willingness and the strength to be your disciple!"

16 centuries ago the famous church father Augustine prayed a prayer which we would do well to learn. He prayed:

"Lord, give me what you ask of me, and then ask of me anything you want."

To that we can only add: "Amen."