Luke 14:25-35—Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, ²⁶ “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

²⁸ “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? ²⁹ Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ ³¹ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³² And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. ³³ So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

³⁴ “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? ³⁵ It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

How often do you ask yourself the question, “Do I measure up?”  How often do you wonder if you have made the grade?  Do you wring your hands if you haven’t pleased everybody, or if you failed that one important person?  Do you find yourself coming up short again and again no matter what new techniques you try?

Even when you do everything right, do the results reach your intended goals?  Even after you’ve followed all the rules, filled out the right forms, made every call, and pleaded your case brilliantly, do things end up the way they should?

Maybe you went to college and got a good degree, but you cannot find a job.  Maybe you built a business with a good model and great potential, but someone made it all fall apart.  Or maybe you own a business, but a customer fails to pay a bill, or an employee makes an expensive mistake, or regulations weigh you down, and you aren’t is profitable as you need to be.

Maybe you studied hard for that test, but still didn’t get a good grade.  Maybe you have thrown your whole heart into that relationship, but you are unappreciated and abandoned.

You pulled every string, used all of your connections, left no stone unturned, and you still don’t measure up.

You maybe wonder, “If I still can’t achieve my goals no matter how much I sacrifice, then why make any sacrifices it all?”

Now, in today’s text, Jesus makes following Him, makes being His disciple, sound more difficult than anything else you have tried.  Isn’t following Christ supposed to be easy?  Isn’t being a Christian all about life, joy, hope, faith, and love?

Not if you listen to what Jesus says, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.  Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”  Ouch.

Jesus, the man who said, “Love your enemies.”  Is now saying, “Hate your father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and even your own life, or you cannot be My disciple.  Bear your own cross, or you cannot be My disciple.”

With the track record of all your previous failures, it sounds as though following Jesus is going to be added to the list of projects begun but abandoned.  It looks like Jesus is setting you up to fail.

You still try.  You work at this.  You live your life thinking that your relationship with God is dependent upon you.  You suspect that God loves you when you are a good little Christian boy or girl and go to church, put money in the offering plate, and talk about God every now and then.  You think that God smiles upon you when you help others who are in need.  Then, when something bad happens, you wonder why God is allowing it to happen.

You have been keeping track of all the things that you bring to your relationship with God; you rely on all of your efforts and works.  But, in the end, you realize your efforts and works simply do not measure up.

Though you rarely think about it, you know eventually you will die, and nothing that you could claim as yours will be of any benefit to you.  Even though you still try to do it, you know that you cannot build yourself a tower to get to heaven.  The foundation will not be strong enough; the materials will not get you high enough.

Even though you still fight against Him, you know that you cannot win a war against God.  He is marching against you with 20,000 special-force soldiers, and your 10,000 little plastic toy soldiers are going to melt away.  God is mustering His troops and surrounding you because of your sins and failures.  Christ is coming again on the warpath to tear down, pluck up, and destroy all sinners and failures.  He is coming to battle against you, and you will lose.

This text today is a call from Jesus to let it all go.  Surrender.  Throw it all away.

Jesus tells you to renounce everything you would offer to become His disciple, His follower.  You may have to distance yourself from your family.  The word translated hate in v. 26 is an accurate translation, but it carries wrong connotations for us today (our use of hate is so connected to emotion), better to understand this word in light of the context of v. 33 where Jesus says to ‘renounce’ everything that you have.  Distance yourself from your parents, spouse, and children.  Especially, put space between yourself and your whole life filled with works because your life full of works do not and will not ever measure up.

While Christ is still a long way off, sue for peace.  Send the delegation that God has given you.  Send the diplomat of your baptism to remind Christ that He has put His name upon you.  Commission the negotiator of the Lord’s Supper to show that Christ Himself is given to and for you.  Jesus Christ will set you behind Him so that you are following Him as He continues to bring His kingdom as He leads the charge against sin.

Even while others mock you for your pathetic tower, remember that Christ built a tower to the heavens built on a block of wood in the shape of a cross.

Abandon your efforts and works.  Carry your cross.  Even though it may be unpleasant, you will actually find that it is no work whatsoever to pick up and carry your cross because it has already been carried to its end in your Savior’s death and resurrection.  Amen.

May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.