Sermon Tone Analysis

(NIV)

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?

35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.

“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

How much does it cost?

Can I afford it?

What benefit is there in it for me?

In this section Jesus emphasizes just how focused we need to be to follow him and his teaches.

He claims that it is no easy task and takes determination, wisdom, and involves sacrifice and suffering.

One example he gives of planning ahead is that of building a tower.

He stresses that you need to determine beforehand if you will be able to afford to complete the tower and if you don’t, you will be ridiculed.

Although Jesus was not predicting what would happen in Washington DC almost 2000 years later, this is exactly what happened with the Washington Monument.

Despite difficulties raising funds, construction began on the Washington Monument in 1848.

The cornerstone was laid on July 4 with upwards of 20,000 people in attendance including President James K. Polk, Mrs. James Madison, Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, George Washington Parke Custis, and future presidents Buchanan, Lincoln, and Johnson.

Builders commenced work on the blue gneiss foundation, an 80-foot square step pyramid.

With the substructure completed, the builders then proceeded to the above-ground marble structure, 55 feet, 1.5 inches square at the base, using a system of pulleys, block and tackle systems, and a mounted derrick to hoist and place the stones, inching the structure skyward.

By 1854, the monument had reached a height of 156 feet above ground, but a turn of events stalled construction.

In 1853, a new group aligned with the controversial Know-Nothing Party gained control of the Washington National Monument Society in the Society's periodic board election.

Having always struggled to gather funding, the Society's change in administration alienated donors and drove the Society to bankruptcy by 1854.

Without funds, work on the monument slowed to a halt.

Architect Robert Mills died in 1855.

For more than two decades, the monument stood only partly finished, doing more to embarrass the nation than to honor its most important Founding Father.

Congressional attempts to support the Washington National Monument Society failed as attentions turned toward the sectional crisis, then civil war.

Only as the nation was rebuilding did attention once again turn toward honoring the man who had once united the states in a common purpose.

��The aluminum tip is placed on the top of the Washington Monument.

It was the tallest building in the world upon its completion in 1884, standing 555 feet, 5.125 inches.

To Great Heights

By a joint resolution passed on July 5, 1876, Congress assumed the duty of funding and building the Washington Monument.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, led by Lt. Col. Thomas Lincoln Casey, was responsible for directing and completing the work.

Casey's first task was to strengthen the foundation of the monument, which he determined was inadequate for the structure as it was designed.

For four years, the builders carefully beefed up the support at the base of the foundation to support the massive weight of the superstructure to come.

To continue building upward, the masons needed stone.

The trouble was that the quarry near Baltimore used for the initial construction was no longer available after so many years.

Seeking a suitable match, the builders turned to a quarry in Massachusetts.

However, problems quickly emerged with the quality and color of the stone, and the irregularity of deliveries.

After adding several courses of this stone from Massachusetts, still recognizable by the naked eye today as a brown-streaked beltline one-third of the way up the monument, the builders turned to a third quarry near Baltimore that proved more favorable, and used that stone for the upper two-thirds of the structure.

The stone never matched exactly, and the three slightly different colors from the three quarries are distinguishable today.

By comparison, the One World Trade Center Tower was built in a relatively short time on the site of the twin towers that were destroyed on 9/11 in spite of several difficulties.

Well, you may have never built a tower, but you understand what Jesus is saying.

There are certain major events and projects in our lives that call for careful planning and wisdom so that we can accomplish them even though they may involve a great expenditure of time, resources, and skill.

It may be that remodeling project.

The purchase of a new vehicle or property, expanding your business.

It may involve family decisions such as getting married, starting a family, determining how many children you will have.

As we mature, our thoughts turn toward retirement.

Last year our family made a major decision to move here which involved numerous changes in our lives.

The point Jesus is making is that we understand what it means to plan ahead and count the cost and there are certain things that we are willing to do so that even though things change, we believe that the future will be secure.

As we consider the cost, we do more than add up the amount of money, time, and resources it will take to get what we want.

A driving force in deciding to expend ourselves on it is the future question, “What is in it for me?”

If we believe that we will benefit from it, we will be more willing to pay the price.

Those who love adventure and travel will spend thousands of dollars to go on a world trip whereas a person with the same resources will not choose to do so.

I know many people who have traveled to the Holy Land and visited the places where Jesus lived.

I could afford to do that, but I have no desire to.

A less selfish motive in counting the cost is asking the question, “How can what I do benefit other people?”

No greater example than this is that of Jesus himself.

He gave up the glories of heaven and willingly died on the cross not because of what was in it for him, but what was in it for us.

(NIV)

17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.

18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.

21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

Application: Jesus tells us that when we follow him, it is more than deciding how much money we are going to spend (that is just an example of how we go about determining whether or not something is worth it), he teaches us that at times, following him will affect even the closest of relationships.

One area in life in which we make changes has to do with relationships.

We decide who our friends are going to be.

What organizations of people we associate with, how much we will interact with our relatives.

At one point in time you decided that you were going to be a member of this congregation.

Even if you grew up in this congregation (as many of you did), somewhere along the line you decided that you were going to remain a member here and how involved you were going to be in the life of the congregation.

So thinking of relationships (congregation, family, school, work, clubs); what does Jesus say is the most important relationship we are to have in our lives?

Surprisingly, it is not what society may teach.

Society emphasizes the importance of family (“blood is thicker than water”) or how being a part of a certain organization brings fulfillment in a person’s life.

One local organization invites you to join them for the following reasons:

Families come together to have fun and spend quality time with each other.

Children and teens play and develop self-confidence while feeling accepted and supported.

Adults connect with friends, pursue interests and learn how to live healthier.

People from all backgrounds and walks of life come together to volunteer and help strengthen their community.

Your pastor would say join it so you can play Pickleball.

It is the YMCA.

Being part of a strong family and an active member of a good organization does certainly have its benefits.

But the most important relationship we can ever have is a personal relationship with none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the Savior of the World.

And that is a relationship that is offered to all people of all time and is granted through faith in him.

(NIV)

21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.

22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.

There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.

He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

On the one hand, being in a relationship with Jesus is easy.

Because it does not depend on our own works or determination or how we perform.

Because if it did, we would all fail miserably.

“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

It is a gift and receiving a gift is much easier than earning wages.”