Depend on Christ Alone!

16th Sunday after Pentecost, 9/4/16
Luke 14:25-33


Depend on Christ Alone!
I. For the power to choose him over everyone
II. For the strength to carry your cross
III. For the ability to give up everything


Do you recall St. Peter’s attempt to walk on water? The disciples were in a boat on the Sea of Galilee, while Jesus was by himself on the shore. A storm arose and the disciples were unable to row the boat to shore, so Jesus came out to them, walking on the water. The disciples thought they were seeing a ghost, but Jesus assured them it was he. Peter asked, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Jesus told him to come. Peter stepped out of the boat onto the water and began making his way toward Jesus. But when he saw how the wind was churning up the lake, he became afraid and began to sink. That’s when Jesus reached out and caught him and gently rebuked him for his lack of faith. As long as he looked to Jesus and depended on him, he was able to do the impossible.

Jesus isn’t asking you and me to walk on water this morning. But you might make the claim that what he is asking of us is much more difficult. Did you hear him correctly? He told us we need to hate our father and mother, our spouse and children, our siblings, even our own life. If we aren’t willing to do that, we can’t be his disciples. He told us to take up our cross and if we’re not willing to do that, we can’t be his disciples. He told us to give up everything we have or we can’t be his disciples. Is he serious? Indeed he is.

But how can we possibly do that? Isn’t he asking too much of us? He might as well have asked us to walk on water rather than do any one of the things he asks in this morning’s text, let alone all of them. So, should we bargain with him to see if he’ll lower his stipulations? Or should we give up on the idea of following him at all? Is he discouraging discipleship? Not at all.

You see, what he’s asking of us is just as possible as walking on water when we depend on him and him alone. The key to unlocking the meaning of our Savior’s words to us this morning is to depend on him alone. May the Holy Spirit fill us through his word this morning! May he lead us to depend on Christ alone!

Part I.

People are prone to exaggerate, and we’re no exception. For instance, how often have you heard people state that they’ve been through hell, when they haven’t? No matter what they faced, it was actually far short of hell. But people like to exaggerate. It gets the attention of those who are listening.

Is that what Jesus was doing with these words? “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.” Does he really expect us to hate the people who are closest to us? Or is he simply trying to grab out attention? Is he hoping to shock us? What’s more, doesn’t he expect us to love others? In fact, doesn’t he command that we even love our enemies and those who hate us? Indeed he does.

So, did St. Luke, the writer of these words, make some sort of mistake here? Does he misquote Jesus? Not at all. Jesus spoke these words and he meant every syllable of them. He had a crowd following him, possibly as he made his way to Jerusalem where Jesus would be captured by his enemies and crucified. Apparently at least some of the people in the crowd wanted to become his disciples. Jesus wanted them to be absolutely sure of what it would cost them. Here’s what he meant. To be a disciple of Jesus we need to hate whatever hinders our life with him. If our relationship with our parents in some way is hindering our Christian faith, we’re to hate that. The same goes for our relationship with our spouse or children, brothers or sisters. If you are one of the fortunate ones who have never had a family member hinder your walk with Christ, praise God! Most Christians face opposition even from those closest to them.

In the final analysis, it comes down to choosing your loved one or choosing Jesus. And that can be extremely difficult. How will we be able to do it? Depend on Christ alone! Depend on Christ alone for the power to choose him over everyone else.

Have you ever let a loved one nudge you off course in your walk with Christ? Have you ever done what they asked of you instead of doing what Jesus wants you to do? Has your devotion to your spouse or children cut in on your devotion to Christ? It’s so difficult to make the right choice! So often we fail! But Jesus never did. Think about it. The gospels record several events in which Jesus distanced himself from his mother and family members because they wanted to cut in on his road to Calvary’s cross. But he always chose the way of his heavenly Father. He did that for you and me. His perfect choices are our perfect choices by faith in him. And one of those choices was to suffer and die in our place on Calvary’s cross for every one of our sinful choices. So now depend on Christ alone for the power to choose him over everyone else.

Part II.

Tucked into Jesus’ instructions regarding choosing him is another choice that Jesus demands that we make if we want to follow him. “Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”

Have you ever stated, “That’s a cross I’ll have to bear”? It’s likely you have. What did you mean by your cross? It might have been a hardship or an unpleasant consequence of a decision that had to be made. You may have been referring to some chronic or lingering pain.

But that’s not what Jesus meant. The cross that Jesus speaks about is any suffering that might result from our sincere commitment to Christ and his kingdom. You get passed by on a promotion at your office because you won’t play the corporate game. Instead, you are honest and trustworthy. Your friends ridicule you because you left the sleep-over at 8:00 AM Sunday so you can be here in worship with your family. You take a stance on the word of God even though it’s not politically correct and you get blasted on social media. You get the point.

The people following Jesus needed to know that if they wanted to be his disciples they were going to face opposition. Jesus never said discipleship was going to easy and glorious, a walk in the park, full of celestial highs and never a cloudy day. Just the opposite. He clearly stated we can expect opposition. In fact, if you aren’t facing it, you’re not following Jesus very closely. Get closer to Jesus. He wants nothing to come between the two of you. And when you’re that close to Jesus, you will have crosses to bear. So how will you carry them? Depend on Christ alone! Depend on Christ alone for the strength to carry your cross.

People who choose to make themselves suffer have a recognized psychological disorder. So, it’s only natural for us to avoid suffering. It’s not easy being a disciple of Jesus. So we try to make it easier by giving in to the pressure not to do what Jesus asks and demands of us. We want to soften our commitment, to play along with the people around us, to blend in rather than stick out, to put our faith in Jesus under wraps rather than on display. In other words, we choose short-term ease instead of eternal bliss. We choose a human friendship over a divine relationship. We’re looking out for ourselves rather than focusing on Jesus. But that’s why Jesus came to this earth. He knows our devotion to him withers at times. He knows we can’t make the right choice all the time. So he did for us. His devotion to us, to a world full of sinners, never withered. It drove him straight up Calvary’s hill and fastened him to the cross. He always chose us so that we can depend on him alone for the strength to carry our cross.

Part III.

Everyone loves a good story. Jesus inserted two short ones into his discourse with the crowd following him. One concerned counting the cost of building a tower and the other was whether to go to war or not. We get the point. Jesus is telling us to make sure we calculate the cost of following him. Be sure you know what you will face.

So, why does Jesus conclude those two examples with these words, “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple”? In the first case, if the builder of the tower didn’t have enough money, he cancelled the project. In the second, if the king wasn’t going to be able to defeat the army with twice as many men as he had, he surrendered. It almost sounds as if Jesus is instructing would-be disciples to give up. It almost sounds as if he’s discouraging discipleship.

Not at all. Just the opposite. He’s wants us to know that we don’t have what it takes to be his disciple, at least not on our own. We might think we’d make the best follower Jesus ever had. We’d like to think that we have the strength of character to overcome every opposition. With Peter we state, “Others may fall away from you, Lord, but I never will.” And with that attitude, we’re going to fall hard. Satan is going to pull our legs of confidence right out from under us and make us look like fools.

So what’s the solution? Depend on Christ alone. Jesus tells us, “Look, get rid of everything in your life that you depend on because it won’t do you a bit of good. Get rid of everything and depend on me alone.” Depend on Christ alone for the ability to give up everything.

Please realize that Jesus isn’t telling you to take a vow of poverty. He’s the one who gives you everything that makes up your life. They are all blessings from him. But don’t depend on a single one of them to sustain your relationship with Jesus. Jesus once spent 40 days in the wilderness and ate nothing, depending solely on his Father to sustain him. Could I do that? Could you? Not a chance. But that’s why Jesus did it—because we don’t rely on him perfectly. He did it so that we can depend on him. He emptied himself of everything so that he could go to the cross for you. Every day realize that you have nothing and that Christ has everything you need. Don’t let the stuff of life distract you! Depend on Christ alone! He will never let you down. Amen.