September 9 Sermon:

“Jesus is Lord” means HE comes first

Now large crowds were traveling with Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. While he has told his disciples what will happen there, they can’t seem to grasp it. And that enthusiastic crowd seems totally unaware that he is going to Jerusalem and the cross. They are oblivious to any conflict, any price to pay, any cross to bear.

So Jesus lets them know that following him isn’t going to be easy - there are demands.

"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

Jesus is using obvious hyperbole – exaggeration – to make a point. A disciple’s priority must be so evidently focused on Christ, that by comparison it’s almost as if they hate their family.

When he says “hate” he’s not talking about how you feel toward your parents or family - that would cancel all the calls to love and care for your family. It was Jesus who set a higher standard for marriage by saying What God has joined together, let no one tear asunder.

In Hebrew, the word hate isn’t an emotion but means to turn away from, to detach from. So, he’s talking about an attitude and mode of action when it comes to the kingdom of God. No one can serve two masters, for he will love the one and hate the other. If you are going to follow Jesus, you can have only one Lord and master - he can’t be second to any other loyalty.

Jesus’ phrase might be rendered:

Whoever loves father or mother or family more than me cannot be my disciple.

Even so, it is still a strong statement. Jesus suggests that a true disciple should value his relationship with Christ over every other relationship – even his relationship with family members.

Maybe this sounds harsh - putting your family second to some other loyalty. Yet at some point in your life, many of you voluntarily agreed to that. When you joined the military, you agreed that commitment would take priority over your family. When they said you were moving, it wasn’t a suggestion - go home and talk it over with your family, and let us know if that move is okay. No, it was an order, and you went where they told you

when they told you. Your family’s needs had to be secondary to military orders.

What is demanded of disciples is that, in the network of many loyalties in which all of us live, the claim of Christ - that he is our Lord not only takes precedence, but in fact, redefines all the others. It revitalizes all the other relationships and puts them in a new perspective.

Thus marriage is redefined in Christian terms.

For example, scripture says, Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. Ephesians 5:25

When these words were first written, they put marriage in a new perspective. The bond of love between husband and wife is to be like the love of Christ for His church – a self-giving and sacrificial love. Our relationship with the Lord is to inform and shape our relationship with our spouse.

High standards not just for marriage, but your whole life should be based of this priority: place the will of God first..

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This isn’t your warm, buddy-Christ, giving you a thumbs up and saying “love you man”. This is the straight-shooting Jesus telling you exactly how it’s got to be if you’re following him. Maybe not the Jesus you want, but rather the Jesus you need to become the person you could be.

We’d like a Jesus who says: “It’s pretty painless being my disciple. Try to show up most Sundays. Love your family. Be nice to your neighbors. That’s it.”

But the real Jesus – the one you need – says stuff like

Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:27

Bearing the cross is no easy burden. It implies self denial and sacrifice. The last time Jesus spoke of taking up the cross, he added, For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. 9:24

The kingdom of God must come before personal security and family, health and life. Discipleship is walking with an abiding hope in the Lord, trusting His wisdom and His power.

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But even with the nourishment of prayer and fellowship, the disciples’ commitment will be severely tested once Jerusalem is no longer a distant goal but a present, painful reality. Ironically, the very ones who choose to keep following after hearing these words – the ones who accompany him to Jerusalem - are the very ones who will desert and deny him.

Will we do better than they did?

Our initial commitment, no matter how sincere, can fade in the course of time. Suddenly the other commitments to job and family beg again to come first. The enthusiasm of the beginning is there, but under pressures both open and subtle, pressures all of us know, our priorities shift. Entanglement with persons and things may not leave room to follow through on Christ’s invitation.

The process is gradual; in fact no one notices. Well almost no one. He does.

Has your enthusiasm – your commitment to Christ faded?

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As you listen to the gospel, Sunday after Sunday, gradually you can let yourself be drawn into the story. It’s as if we’re walking with Jesus and his companions – Peter and Andrew, Mary Magdalene and Suzanna, and the others. We’re listening to Jesus too. In a sense, their story is our story too. Then we can become part of that scene.

When Jesus speaks, maybe you’re just one of the crowd, listening to Him. Or perhaps you’ve been following Jesus and His way for sometime. Some of you are committed disciples. And if we’re honest, a few were committed, but have felt their enthusiasm fade.

We’re all at different points in our faith journey and Jesus speaks to each one of us where we are right now.

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Josh Miller is a varsity football player and has developed obviously strong arm and shoulder muscles. Some of our younger boys admire him and one of them embarked on his own program for muscle building. He started by picking up a 5-pound potato sack in each hand, extending his arms straight out and holding them as long as he could. Then he moved up to ten pound sacks. After a few weeks he could lift a 50-pound sack in each hand and hold his arms straight out for more than a minute. Then he was ready to take the next step – to up his commitment. He decided to put a few potatoes in the empty sacks.

Are you ready to take the next step – to up your commitment to Christ? -- to add the weight of deeds and actions to your words?

The Jesus you need is always calling you to be more – more than maybe you think you can be. Jesus sees your potential and wants you to realize it. But that could involve effort and commitment.

If you only a listener in the crowd, he calls you to make a commitment to follow His way.

If you following, he invites you step up your commitment and take being a disciple more seriously – accept the discipline of his teaching

If you’re a committed disciple, then maybe he invites you to greater service – to take up some ministry in His church.

If your enthusiasm has waned – cooled – he challenges you to recommit.

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The Christian life - discipleship - is a process.

The disciple is a learner and is in a continuous process of development. The Lord through His word and spirit is shaping us and molding us. We are not yet what we shall become – but hopefully, we are not what we were.

I’m not there yet – I may still be far away– but the Lord is not done with me yet.

Jesus looks at the crowd. Some are curious, some are genuinely interested, but how many are ready to make a commitment.

He asks: “Are you ready to be my disciple?”

That commitment – that love and obedience to Christ- is the way of life and not death, the way to a blessing and a not curse. If we desire life, abundant life, pressed down and running over, that life comes from the Lord Christ who redeemed us and whom we love with all our hearts.

Jesus invites us to renew our commitment: To follow Him and His way striving to make the Lord first in our lives.

As our next hymn puts it, Jesus

You have come down to the lake shore

Seeking neither the wise nor the wealthy

But only asking for me to follow

Sweet Lord you have looked into my eyes;

Kindly smiling, you have called out my name

Jesus calls your name – and how you respond is up to you.