Jesus Describes the Nature of Discipleship
Luke 14:25-33
Dr. William S. Epps, Senior Pastor
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Sunday, September 4, 2022 |
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25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ 31“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If 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. 33In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
Luke 14:25-33 / NIV
The verses leading up to this passage set the stage and context for understanding its meaning. Jesus tells a parable of a man who invited many people to a dinner, but all of those invited made excuses: I have to see some land I bought, I have to test the oxen I just bought, I have just been married and cannot come (14:16-20). The host responded by sending out his servants and inviting instead, "the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou has commanded, and yet there is room. And the Lord said unto the servant, go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled." (v. 23).
The excuses represent the ties that people have - to real estate, to work, to family - ties that keep them from giving their ultimate commitment to the work of God in the world. The parable, and the teaching that interprets it, is not about feelings. It is about choices, decisions and opportunities.
Our passage is about the nature of discipleship. If you have a topical bible, this part of the passage has as a caption (to a wayside crowd). To the large crowds that started following Jesus, He shares these word with them. The gift of God's gracious love and presence come with a choice to accept or reject. Some would say this is a hard saying of Jesus because of the hyperbolic way it is presented.
Consider what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.
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Monday, September 5, 2022 |
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Labor Day
(See the SBC Newsletter featuring an article by Marion Wright Eldelman)
Jesus was clear about the purpose of His life. He knew that He was supposed to be about His father’s business (Luke 2:49). Jesus reminds us that the business of God is the purpose for which we have life from the one in whom we live, move and have our being (Act 17:28). The example He set is for all to consider the God-given purpose of their lives and fulfill it. Following Jesus means that His example provides the pattern for the life of those who fulfill the work of the Lord in their lives and the world. In responding to what is the greatest commandment, Jesus reminds us in Luke 10:27 “And you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength and thy neighbor as thyself”. Jesus sums up the second one in what has become called the golden rule in Matthew 7:12: do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.
Can we commit to all that following Jesus entails: committing to peace, justice, economic sufficiency for all, and respect for the well-being of the stranger. The parable (14:15-24) shows how our commitment to wealth, prosperity, possessions, or people can result in our refusing the decision to be disciples of Jesus.
Jesus challenges those who would follow him to assess their allegiances whether familial, friendly or fraternal. Jesus challenges them to carry their cross. Jesus cautions about the seductive nature of life’s attachments, the accessories and/or accoutrements we acquire.
Consider what it means to be committed to be a part of
what the Lord is doing in the world.
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Tuesday, September 6, 2022 |
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Firstly, Jesus has us assess our allegiances.
26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.”
Our allegiances determine our activities, associations and attitudes. The way we make choices and decisions is predicated on the way we fulfill our aspirations. The ties we have in life depict the commitment to which we are wedded.
What do your choices say about your commitments? The excuses we make for what we do not do is an indication of the commitments that we have made.
Jesus is sharply confronting them with the priority of their commitments and implicitly pointing them to the new opportunity to work for what Jesus did, the kingdom of God. It is a note repeatedly sounded in Luke's narrative (Luke 8:19-21; 12:52-53; 21:16) and needs to be heard in a society that talks much about family values. We are used to competing interests that include associations and affiliations.
What are the competing interest that claim your energy, focus and time which get priority of commitment preventing you from being a disciple of Jesus entails? We are to assess critically whether we can finish what we start, whether we can stay the course. Can we make the commitment to peace, justice, economic sufficiency for all, and respect for the well-being of the stranger that commitment to the kingdom and following Jesus entail? Can we commit to expressing loving the Lord with all our heart, soul, might and strength and our neighbor as ourselves?
Jesus cites the competing interests of our lives beginning with relationships first.
We have a variety of relationships that claim our adoration, allegiance and attention. We all have these competing interest that pull and tug at us. Jesus is making us aware that relationships go through different phases. If your allegiance is divided, you will lose your faith, focus and fortitude. Jesus wants you to succeed and be victorious. You have to consider what it takes and whether you are willing to do it at all cost. It may require more than you know and take you farther than you want to go. Jesus raised the bar and asks us to consider whether or not our allegiances are at odds with fulfilling the purpose and work of God and then proceeds to tell us what is required in order to persevere.
Consider what it means to assess your allegiances.
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Wednesday, September 7, 2022 |
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Secondly, Jesus says, "Carry your cross."
27And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Jesus knew the purpose of His life. He realized that His birth was not an accident or coincidence but providence. Imagine, that there is a God-given purpose for your life. We presume that His parents told Him the story of His birth. Imagine if parents told their children that they have a purpose to fulfill, and exposed them to agencies that would ignite their imagination about the opportunities to fulfill the possibilities of their purpose.
The Children’s Defense Fund reminds us that every child deserves a Healthy Start,
a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.
Jesus said at an early age, “I must be about my father’s business.” (Luke 2:49).
Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and people .(Luke 2:52).
Jesus announced his understanding of his purpose. “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed e to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:1-19).
Jesus says “I came into the world that I may bear witness to the truth.” (John 18:37).
Consider what it means to be clear about your God-given purpose in life.
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Thursday, September 8, 2022 |
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Jesus asks us to bear our cross as He bore His.
There is the cross that was chosen for Him by virtue of the time in
which He was born. You see, “it was in the fullness of time that God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we may receive the adoption of children.” (Galatians 4:4-7).
You have a cross that comes with the time in which you were born passed down from generation to generation to, “redeem the time for the days are evil."
(Ephesians 5:16)
There is the cross that you choose to fulfill the allegiances, commitments and the loyalties you make to fulfill God-given and noble purposes as a person who, “does justice, loves mercy and walks humbly with God.” (Micah 6:8)
There is the cross that is thrusted upon you by virtue of the society and systematic perpetuation of that which is pejorative, painful and punitive promoted by insensitive mean spirited attitudes. Like Simon of Cyrene there are those by virtue of the society in which they live who are compelled to carry a cross.
21A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.
(Mark 15:21)
We are compelled by the circumstances that continually plague us with prejudice to carry a cross. We are compelled by the challenges and conditions of a world spinning out of control to carry a cross. We are compelled as long as the negative isms of life - racism, sexism, militarism, and the inequity that is perpetrated by privilege and the devaluation of the rights entitled to all humanity.
There is a cross that must be born through the ages as a result of the misuse and abuse of the practice of the faith and the systemic structures that dehumanize, demean, and devalue people. Jesus knew that the purpose of his life was not to manipulate and use people as pawns to fulfill narcissistic, selfish ambitions and desires by any means necessary. There is the cross for everyone and there is a cross for you and me in our time.
“I have only just a minute, / Only sixty seconds in it.
Forced upon me, can’t refuse it. / Didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it.
But it’s up to me to use it. / I must suffer if I lose it.
Give account if I abuse it.
Just a tiny little minute, / but eternity is in it.”
Benjamin Mays
Consider what it means to bear your cross, the one that comes
with you in your time, the cross you choose to bear and the
cross that is thrusted upon you.
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Friday, September 9, 2022 |
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Thirdly, Jesus cautions us about the seductive nature of our attachments.
33In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.”
The third statement about discipleship, with its inclusive "all," reiterates another Lukan theme (14:33). Material possessions have a seductive appeal that can turn them quickly from being servants to being masters (12:13-34; 18:18-25; 19:8). They become excessive baggage that makes the journey with Jesus difficult to negotiate. Thus, at the outset, choices have to be made. "You cannot serve God and wealth" (16:13). Don’t let what you own or possess, own and possess you. What you possess is used for the purpose for which it exists. Just realize that if not properly used, what you possess will eventually own you, control you. Rather than serving you, you begin to serve what you possess. Don't let what you possess become the goal for which you live as opposed to the means by which you live.
Don’t let what you have attached your personhood, value, and worth prevent you from receiving what the Lord gives in Christ. It is worth more than all you can accumulate with the attachments of this ephemeral reality.
Consider what it means to be cautioned about the seductive nature of
possessions causing you to make them the goal for which you live
as oppose to being the means by which you live.
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Saturday, September 10, 2022 |
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Conclusion
Jesus gives us the what is expected of His followers. Assess your allegiances, carry your cross and be cautioned about the seductive appeal of possessions.
Must Jesus bear the cross alone, / And all the world go free?
No, there’s a cross for everyone, / And there’s a cross for me.
How happy are the saints above, / Who once went sorr’wing here!
But now they taste unmingled love, / And joy without a tear.
The consecrated cross I’ll bear / Till death shall set me free;
And then go home my crown to wear, / For there’s a crown for me.
Consider what it means to understand discipleship as Jesus
describes it, assessing your allegiances, carrying your cross
and keeping possessions in their place as the means
by which you live and not the goal for which you live.
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Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone
~Sam Cooke
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Los Angeles, CA 90011
Phone: (213) 748-0318
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