Take up your cross and follow Jesus
Luke 14:25-35
25 Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, 26 “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. 27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 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? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 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? 32 If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. 33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.
34 “Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it away. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”
Again, Jesus challenges the large crowd that is following with some hard truths about being part of his kingdom. He wants people to understand just how hard the road is and that they should count the cost of following before they start down the road of following him. He wants people to know that they are in for a rude shock if they think following him is going to be easy. That is the point of vs. 28-32 – know what you are getting into.
What are they getting into is three specific things:
a. Jesus before family. That our commitment to Jesus is greater than our commitment to our family. Jesus is saying that next to the intensity of our love for him, our love for our family looks like hate. (vs. 26)
b. Take up one’s cross. Each of us is called to bear our cross of service to God and to others, a burden we carry as we follow Jesus, or as we show Jesus’ love for someone else. The parents who care for a handicapped child bear a cross. The businessperson who during an economic downturn keeps all their employees working, even though the company profits are harmed is bearing a cross. Each of us has a cross to bear in our following of Jesus. (vs. 27)
c. Be willing to give up our possessions if that is what our call is. Again and again we have seen Jesus in Luke say that money is to be used towards the kingdom of God. That is central to discipleship. (vs. 33)
These are a very high bar, a difficult calling. We need to have the Holy Spirit help us be salt in this world. It takes courage to march to the beat of Jesus’ drum, we will look different, we will be different than others around us.
PRAYER:
These words overwhelm us and scare us, O Lord, the challenge is too great. We need the Holy Spirit to come to us to help us take up our cross and follow your Son, Jesus. Without the Holy Spirit we cannot do this. Come Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name. Amen.