Let us pray.
Our Lord, maker of all things which are good, give us wisdom, we pray. Open our eyes to what is good and bad, what is necessary and unnecessary, what is wise and what is foolish. Make us people who see ourselves clearly in the light of your cross. In Jesus' name, amen.
Don't you like doing things? I do. There are all sorts of things I'd like to do. I probably do a little of too many things, actually. The question of what you want to be when you grow up is one you could still ask of me, despite my graying beard. Maybe I'd like to be a fabulous piano player, able to play the works of Bach and Brahms easily for my own and other people's enjoyment. Maybe I'd like to be able to draw and paint. How about writing? And there's that career as a distinguished researcher if early Christian literature. How about my life aspirations as a high school teacher, or a diversified farmer? What about being the pastor of an enormous church? And let's not forget being a fine chef, a brewmaster of international reputation, and a grand prix race car driver.
We all have aspirations. Some of those aspirations are perfectly reasonable. They can be achieved. They are practical. Maybe you want to learn to bake bread in the next year. Maybe you want to have a new pair of shoes by Christmas time. Maybe you want to lose ten pounds before this time next year. Or maybe you want to take a class or read a book. We can all do some things. Yet the higher those aspirations and the more of them we have, the less likely we are to accomplish our goals. Only one person at a time gets to be president of the United States. There is only one winner of the Kentucky Derby each year, and none of us is the right species to do it.
What of the aspiration Jesus lays before us today? What of the desire to follow Christ? He has given this desire to all who believe on him. But what is it going to take? We confess that salvation is by grace through faith. It is not of ourselves. So why does Jesus have us counting the cost? Is living for our Lord something that only a few people can do? Is the cost that great? Are only those who are talented, gifted, rich, good looking, and wise able to come? Or is the converse true? Maybe we need to be underprivileged, poor, crippled, ugly, and stupid?
At first glance, we may become worried. We are supposed to hate our relatives in order to follow Jesus. Wait a minute! I love my wife and children. I love my parents and my other relatives. So am I disqualified? Maybe I need to go do something really hateful to them so I can be repentant, so I have something for Jesus to forgive. No, that isn't the point. Look what Jesus says right after talking about hating our families and even our own lives. He says we need to count the cost.
What is the cost of following Jesus? In some times and cultures it means giving up all your wealth, subjecting yourself to terrible discrimination, and even volunteering to die a horrible and painful death. But here and now? It doesn't seem to be that costly a thing. After all, even though there may be some segments of our society where living as a Christian is considered silly and archaic, it's largely acceptable. In fact, it's really a respectable thing here. As an example, when I go visiting in the hospital, school, or workplace, I wear my clerical collar. It sets me apart. It's used as a uniform. There is maybe a little shock value, but more often it's simply a matter of recognition. If someone goes into the school building wearing a police uniform everyone knows that person is a police officer. If I go in wearing a clerical shirt everyone knows I'm some sort of a minister. And there are few places I could go dressed that way where I would run into immediate open hostility.
Wearing Jesus in your workplace? Well, it's something all Christians actually do, whether they like to be open about it or not. We display Christ to our world no matter what we are doing. A better question would be whether we are displaying Jesus well or not. And there's the issue of counting the cost. You say you are a Christian. Does your life reflect it? You say the Bible is true. Do you treat it like it is false? You say your love the world as Christ loved the world. Do you hate your neighbor or co-worker? You say marriage is a reflection of Christ and the Church. Are you selfish toward your spouse? So there we go. We are faced again with the idea of hating ourselves. Are we willing to lay down our lives because Jesus has laid down his life for us? Are we willing to accept that salvation is by grace through faith? Or do we selfishly want to earn our salvation. What are we going to do if we wish to live for Jesus but our family thinks it is silly? What are we going to do if we try to love our wives as Christ loved the Church but our wives then don't respect us or obey us? Do we really care that much what the other people in our lives are doing? Or do we care that Jesus has redeemed us from sin, that he has loved us when we yet hated him, that he died for us while we were yet sinners?
This tower we are building, this war we are waging, it comes at a cost. And here's the cost. Jesus has paid the price. He is busy building his kingdom. He has waged war against sin and death, and he has won. Jesus is the victor. The cost of that tower and war are the cost Jesus paid. The cost to us is to acknowledge that we are not doing it. The cost to us is realizing that we are unable to accomplish salvation and life for ourselves or for anyone else. There's the cost of discipleship. We don't do it. We receive it.
Just as we receive life through the washing of baptism and repentance, both gifts of God in Christ, just as we receive nourishment through the sacrament of communion, feeding our faith, just as we receive encouragement and the words of life through the ministry of the Word, let us walk by faith, realizing that Jesus is the one who has given us the start in our Christian walk and that Jesus is the one who will bring it to a close. What are we to do today? We are to walk in obedience to the grace of our Lord. What of that tower? What of that war we are waging? As we trust in our Lord, not in ourselves, we will find that he is building the tower and waging the war through us. What's the cost? The cost to us is admitting that we are not paying the price.
Our Lord, may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Work on earth through us, accomplishing your purposes. We pray you would change our purposes and our desires to be in accord with your desires for us. Bless our communities through us. Use us as your people whom you have bought at a price. Amen.
Our Lord, maker of all things which are good, give us wisdom, we pray. Open our eyes to what is good and bad, what is necessary and unnecessary, what is wise and what is foolish. Make us people who see ourselves clearly in the light of your cross. In Jesus' name, amen.
Don't you like doing things? I do. There are all sorts of things I'd like to do. I probably do a little of too many things, actually. The question of what you want to be when you grow up is one you could still ask of me, despite my graying beard. Maybe I'd like to be a fabulous piano player, able to play the works of Bach and Brahms easily for my own and other people's enjoyment. Maybe I'd like to be able to draw and paint. How about writing? And there's that career as a distinguished researcher if early Christian literature. How about my life aspirations as a high school teacher, or a diversified farmer? What about being the pastor of an enormous church? And let's not forget being a fine chef, a brewmaster of international reputation, and a grand prix race car driver.
We all have aspirations. Some of those aspirations are perfectly reasonable. They can be achieved. They are practical. Maybe you want to learn to bake bread in the next year. Maybe you want to have a new pair of shoes by Christmas time. Maybe you want to lose ten pounds before this time next year. Or maybe you want to take a class or read a book. We can all do some things. Yet the higher those aspirations and the more of them we have, the less likely we are to accomplish our goals. Only one person at a time gets to be president of the United States. There is only one winner of the Kentucky Derby each year, and none of us is the right species to do it.
What of the aspiration Jesus lays before us today? What of the desire to follow Christ? He has given this desire to all who believe on him. But what is it going to take? We confess that salvation is by grace through faith. It is not of ourselves. So why does Jesus have us counting the cost? Is living for our Lord something that only a few people can do? Is the cost that great? Are only those who are talented, gifted, rich, good looking, and wise able to come? Or is the converse true? Maybe we need to be underprivileged, poor, crippled, ugly, and stupid?
At first glance, we may become worried. We are supposed to hate our relatives in order to follow Jesus. Wait a minute! I love my wife and children. I love my parents and my other relatives. So am I disqualified? Maybe I need to go do something really hateful to them so I can be repentant, so I have something for Jesus to forgive. No, that isn't the point. Look what Jesus says right after talking about hating our families and even our own lives. He says we need to count the cost.
What is the cost of following Jesus? In some times and cultures it means giving up all your wealth, subjecting yourself to terrible discrimination, and even volunteering to die a horrible and painful death. But here and now? It doesn't seem to be that costly a thing. After all, even though there may be some segments of our society where living as a Christian is considered silly and archaic, it's largely acceptable. In fact, it's really a respectable thing here. As an example, when I go visiting in the hospital, school, or workplace, I wear my clerical collar. It sets me apart. It's used as a uniform. There is maybe a little shock value, but more often it's simply a matter of recognition. If someone goes into the school building wearing a police uniform everyone knows that person is a police officer. If I go in wearing a clerical shirt everyone knows I'm some sort of a minister. And there are few places I could go dressed that way where I would run into immediate open hostility.
Wearing Jesus in your workplace? Well, it's something all Christians actually do, whether they like to be open about it or not. We display Christ to our world no matter what we are doing. A better question would be whether we are displaying Jesus well or not. And there's the issue of counting the cost. You say you are a Christian. Does your life reflect it? You say the Bible is true. Do you treat it like it is false? You say your love the world as Christ loved the world. Do you hate your neighbor or co-worker? You say marriage is a reflection of Christ and the Church. Are you selfish toward your spouse? So there we go. We are faced again with the idea of hating ourselves. Are we willing to lay down our lives because Jesus has laid down his life for us? Are we willing to accept that salvation is by grace through faith? Or do we selfishly want to earn our salvation. What are we going to do if we wish to live for Jesus but our family thinks it is silly? What are we going to do if we try to love our wives as Christ loved the Church but our wives then don't respect us or obey us? Do we really care that much what the other people in our lives are doing? Or do we care that Jesus has redeemed us from sin, that he has loved us when we yet hated him, that he died for us while we were yet sinners?
This tower we are building, this war we are waging, it comes at a cost. And here's the cost. Jesus has paid the price. He is busy building his kingdom. He has waged war against sin and death, and he has won. Jesus is the victor. The cost of that tower and war are the cost Jesus paid. The cost to us is to acknowledge that we are not doing it. The cost to us is realizing that we are unable to accomplish salvation and life for ourselves or for anyone else. There's the cost of discipleship. We don't do it. We receive it.
Just as we receive life through the washing of baptism and repentance, both gifts of God in Christ, just as we receive nourishment through the sacrament of communion, feeding our faith, just as we receive encouragement and the words of life through the ministry of the Word, let us walk by faith, realizing that Jesus is the one who has given us the start in our Christian walk and that Jesus is the one who will bring it to a close. What are we to do today? We are to walk in obedience to the grace of our Lord. What of that tower? What of that war we are waging? As we trust in our Lord, not in ourselves, we will find that he is building the tower and waging the war through us. What's the cost? The cost to us is admitting that we are not paying the price.
Our Lord, may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Work on earth through us, accomplishing your purposes. We pray you would change our purposes and our desires to be in accord with your desires for us. Bless our communities through us. Use us as your people whom you have bought at a price. Amen.
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Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com
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