Pastor Slaughter
September 7, 2025
Pentecost 13
Consider the Cost
Luke 14:25-33
Counting the cost. Jesus gives us an illustration in the Gospel. You have someone who wants to build a tower. And you have this guy who begins to build his tower but never really took the time to see if he had enough money for the project. He gets halfway through the project and can’t complete it because he doesn’t have enough money. He becomes the laughingstock of the town.
Counting the cost. I think we all put this into practice or at least we should, right? You may count the cost for buying a new car, whether or not you can afford that new bigger house. You may count the cost if you afford that vacation, or even if you can take your family out for that fancy dinner. The student may have to figure how all the things he must do in order to prepare for that big school project. What happens when you don’t consider the cost? You may have fallen into debt that you can’t get out of. You may fail that project. Your life may be filled with stress and frustration as you try to get out of that debt or complete that project on time.
If we don’t carefully consider the cost of something, we may spend time enjoying that car that house, that vacation, that meal, that free time before that project, what happens to those things? We ultimately lose those things we enjoy, right?
I am not here to talk to you about debt or how to prepare for a project. But I have a very important question for you this morning. It’s a question that if you haven’t considered it, then it could mean that your eternity is at stake. Just like if you haven’t considered the cost of buying a car you can fall into major debt or if you begin to build a tower and can’t complete it. Have you carefully considered the cost to be Christ’s disciple? Have you carefully considered the cost of what it means to be a Christian?
Jesus has a large crowd following him yet again. Jesus’ illustrations make it seem that the crowd didn’t consider the cost of following him. Maybe they were following Jesus to see what next miracle and sign/wonder he would do, heal their sicknesses, to get a free meal. Did they really consider the cost of being Christ’s disciple? Maybe some of them but I highly doubt that most of them understood, I highly doubt they considered the cost of being a Christian.
I wonder how many Christians today have considered the cost of being a Christian. I wonder how many of us here today have considered the cost of being a Christian. Why do we follow Christ? Is it simply to get something from him, that idea that if I go to church/am a good person, good things will come my way? Or maybe you go to church simply because your family goes? Or you just come to hear a nice message or just simply that what you are supposed to do?
We may find ourselves in a similar situation to the crowd in our lesson, simply going through the motions of following Christ but not carefully considering the cost of following him. And so Jesus uses some very strong words, that jump out of the page and grab our attention, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”
What? You want me to hate my father and mother? Jesus, you want me to hate my spouse, my children, my very life? But haven’t you told me to love those people in my life?
Jesus goes on to say, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Wait you not only want me to hate those people that I love the most in my life, but you want me to take up a cross, a cross that symbolizes the most gruesome form suffering death, you want me to be willing to suffer in that way for you?
Jesus goes on to say, “So then, any one of you who does not say farewell to all his own possessions cannot be my disciples.” So let me see if I have this right Jesus, You want me to hate those I love the most, you want me to be willing to suffer for you, Jesus you want me to be willing to give up the things that are most important to me? Is that all?
As you are sitting there is this surprising to you? It shouldn’t be. Jesus wants each of us to consider what is most important to us, and essentially asks us, “Are you willing to give that up for me?” I am going to ask you a series of questions and I really want you to consider the answer. What do you daydream about? What do you have nightmares about? What do you wake up in the morning thinking about? What in your life to which you freely and effortlessly give your time, your energy, your emotion, your thoughts, and your money? What experiences in life make you feel as though time flies by? What in life cause you the greatest outpouring of emotions? What is the thing in life that makes you think, “If I lost this, I’d rather die”?
I took these questions from a Bible study, “Idol’s We Never Knew We Had.” If the answer to each of these questions is something other than Jesus, then you might have an idolatrous relationship. Have you carefully considered the cost of being Christ’s disciple? Have you carefully considered the cost of being a Christian. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind. Whatever answer you had, how does that compare to your relationship with God?
Do I love that girl or boy more than my God? Do I love that hobby more than my Savior? Has my job become my god? Does the desire for love, successes, become more than my desire for my God. If those things prohibit you from following Jesus, then they are a stumbling block for your faith. And have you considered the cost of what that means? If you say to Jesus I love you, but I love this thing, this person more, what that means to your faith? Have you thought what does the sin of Idolatry ultimately lead to? Eternal death.
Have you considered the cost of what you might have to give up for the sake of Christ? I heard this expression once, when you say no to one thing you are saying yes to something else. For example, If you say no to that desert, then you are really saying yes to being heathy. So have you considered this, when you say no to that idol in your life (family, personal welfare, possessions), then you are really saying yes to something so much better, to Christ.
Have you considered that Christ considered the cost to make you his own, to free you from the secret idols in your life? When we have said (or at least by our actions show) to Jesus I love this person, this thing, myself more than you, He counted the cost of what it would take to free you from the idols in your life. He knew the cost, he knew it would lead to a cross, he knew it would mean that he had to suffer God’s wrath and punishment in our place. He was willing to pay the cost because each one of you is so very precious to him.
Have you considered that we have the most amazing God who freely gives us the forgiveness of sins. It wasn’t earned, it wasn’t deserved but freely given. As you consider the cost of what you may have to give up, consider the cost of what was given up for you. As you consider that cost, you realize how precious you are to him, How he says, you are worth every sacrifice, every nail, the pain I endured, because I want you to be with me for all eternity. If we have a God that cares so much about us to save us, it’s worth every sacrifice.
My family in Christ, I hope this sermon helped you consider the cost of being a Christian. It cost you nothing to become a Christian (because Christ did it all for you) but it will cost you everything to be a Christian. God wants you to place him first in your life. Amen.