Pastor Dan Mangler's Sunday Sermon

Love - Profession or Proof

Luke 14: 25-33

September 9, 2007

Love - Profession or Proof

They ate a delicious meal, during which the young man continually said to the young lady, "You are my life, my all. Marry me and I will buy you the sun and the moon and the stairs." And then the waiter came with the bill. The young man took one look at the evening's dinner total and said, "Separate checks, please!" Here was obviously a profession of love without the proof of love. Here was one who did not count the cost of commitment.

In this morning's gospel text Jesus cautions the crowd following him not to make the same mistake. There were high costs in following him. One had to choose discipleship over one's family, even over one's own life. If not, Jesus said, "He cannot be my disciple". Secondly, potential followers had to bear a cross and follow Jesus. Again, if that was too heavy a burden, one "cannot be my disciple". And finally, there is a cost to discipleship and if one isn't sharp enough to weigh that and renounce all that one had and pay it, “He cannot be my disciple".

Two friends were having coffee one morning. Both were members of the same church. In fact, Doris joined the church because of Betty's invitation. As they were sipping coffee they began discussing their Sunday school lesson of the previous week. Doris said, "I thought it was easy to be a Christian. No one ever told me about all this discipleship stuff." Those who followed Jesus and heard is call to discipleship could never say that. Jesus was brutally honest about what it would cost to be his disciple. He was the epitome of truth in advertising. It was like the old ad they used to run for Pony Express riders: "DUTY IS HAZARDOUS; ORPHANS PREFERRED".

Perhaps even worse than those who fail to count the cost of discipleship and then discover the price too great are those who know the cost of discipleship but try to buy it at a discount. Charles Swindoll, in his book Improving Your Serve, quotes a fictional character after just such a bargain: "I would love to buy $3 worth of God, please, not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of Him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please." And, by the way, my friends, that describes New Age theology to a "T".

But Jesus says that there is no shortcut to discipleship and there is no discount God. The call to discipleship supersedes even family ties; it promises personal hardship; and it can cost you everything you own. So, cautions Jesus, before you call me Lord, count the cost for calling me Lord. But, he might have added, those who count the cost and willingly give it, to them go the greatest rewards.

The story is told of the man who, one day, walked into an antique shop and asked permission to look around. It was a rather exclusive shop frequented only by those who could afford to purchase articles made rare by their scarcity and age. The visitor seemed strangely out of place because he was poorly dressed though clean; indeed it was clear from his appearance that he was a laborer whose face had been etched by sun and rain and whose hands were rough and worn. After more than a half hour, he left. In about ten days he returned. This time he found a beautiful piece of old glass and asked if he could make a deposit on it. Each week he made a payment until at last the article was his. With much curiosity the owner of the shop engaged him in conversation to determine if he could, the use to which such a man would put his purchase. The man said, "I bought it for my little room. It isn't much but I bring to it, from time to time, through the years, only the very best and most beautiful things. You see, that is where I live."

What a plan for one's life - to bring to the place where you live only the best and most beautiful -regardless of cost. And that is what Jesus offers to those who follow him - the best and most beautiful life. But there is that cost.

At first glance one wonders why anyone would choose to follow Jesus, considering Jesus' own caution about the cost. On the surface this is not one of the most entertaining of invitations: "Deny your family; put yourself at risk; be ready to give up all that you have." Why would anyone voluntarily agree to that? The answer is that there are some who recognize that what Jesus offers, the best and most beautiful, is beyond price, and that once one is willing to give all, Jesus eagerly comes to promise even more in return.

Jesus uses these strong words of caution about counting the cost of following him not to dissuade the prospective disciple but to awaken the half-hearted, lukewarm follower to the serious side of discipleship. Because as costly as it is to accept the call to discipleship, it is costlier, still, to refuse it.

In 1981, the late Dr. Harrell Beck closed his Bible study at the Centennial Conference of World Methodism in Hawaii with a poignant, moving episode from the life of Giacomo Puccini, the great opera composer of Madame Butterfly, La Boheme, and La Tosca.

In 1922 Puccini was stricken with cancer. He said, "I want to write one more opera." So, he sat down to write Turbandot. His students said, "But suppose you die?"

In 1924 Puccini died, the opera unfinished, but his disciples did finish his music. Its premiere was held in Milan, Italy, at La Scala Opera House, under the baton of Puccini's best student, Arturo Toscanini. The performance proceeded and came to that point in the music where the composer had laid down his pen. Tears streamed down Toscanini's face. He put down the baton and turned to the audience and said, "Thus far, the master wrote...and then the master died."

Then picking up his baton, his face wreathed with smiles, Toscanini shouted out to the audience, "But his disciples finished the music.”

May the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.