“I remember when gas was $0.25 per gallon,” do you know someone who has said this? Or maybe it was a comment on how much groceries cost today, and our economy. This weekend Jesus moves our eyes and our hearts off our finances, and on to the true cost of what it is to follow him. The gifts, blessings, and joys, but also the reality of what it means to and for us.
Pastor Emeritus Don Tollefson from The Mission, in Conroe, Texas will guide us through this hard but important section of Luke.
Luke 14:25-34
The Cost of Being a Disciple
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 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. 27 And 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? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘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? 32 If 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. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
34 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?