Come Home by Mary Kraus

“Come Home”
By Mary E. Kraus, Pastor
Sermon Preached September 9, 2007

Luke 14:25-33 (New International Version)
25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26"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. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' 31"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If 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. 33In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

What a Gospel lesson we have to welcome us into this season of change and launch us into the beginning of fall! Jesus wheels around to the huge crowd following him and shares some rather matter-of-fact words. Perhaps he is attempting to cull the crowd of religious rubber-neckers by opening their eyes to the cost of being a disciple rather than a member of the fan club.

We don’t know exactly what provoked this -- but something put Jesus on a discipleship soapbox – nothing sweet or cuddly-- telling us exactly how it is. He is actually calling us out, reminding us that discipleship is our home and this demands more than we usually assume.

I. First he talks about “hating” family members--this doesn’t square with the high biblical value of loving our families – valuing our children

Perhaps Jesus shocking statement is begging us to explore this issue of how our love for family compares to our love for God. What about the quality time we spend with family as compared to God? What about the money we spend on family gifts / vacations as compared to what we contribute kingdom causes? What about the priority we give to family comforts as compared to our priority on comforts of poor and marginalized that we know exist around us.

Welcome to discipleship – living in the questions – come home!

II. Then there is the tower-building story that hits close to home doesn’t it?? In lots of way!! Add up the amount we spend on tithing, our recent capital fund campaign, supporting missionaries – other justice seeking programs. Talk with Justin Eldridge or David Lingebach or Lorette Picciano or Mike Beard – that is just beginning of the list of mission and outreach. Then there are school tuitions and VIM Teams, camps for children – special learning opportunities.

Now think about the fact that a nonbeliever doesn’t spend any of that money the way we do – it costs a bit to be a disciple.

Welcome to discipleship – come home!


III. The 3rd example Jesus launches is about going to war. I dare say – if any nation today approached a decision to go to war this way we would wage a very few wars. We would not be in Iraq, one African country would not invade another, one tribe would not kill off another, and President Bush would accept President Ortega’s offer to give medical aid to Nicaragua in trade for the hand-held missiles stored in that country.

I want to close with a quote from George McGovern’s acceptance speech for the 1972 presidential nomination. It aired at 2:30 in the morning so most of the nation missed it – one of many missteps. He challenged us to “come home” to the ideals that nourished this country from the beginning he said:

From secrecy and deception in high places, come home America
From military spending so wasteful that it weakens our nation, come home America
From the entrenchment of special privileges in tax favoritism;
from the prejudice based on race and sex;
from the loneliness of the again poor and the despair of the neglected sick,
come home America
Come home to the belief that we can seek a newer world, and let us be joyful in the
homecoming.

Thirty-five years later the words seem as applicable as they were then. They remind us that, as Christians, "discipleship” is our way of life. When one person hurts – we all hurt. And when one person dances for joy – we all rejoice. Discipleship has a cost – it does not come free!

So come home – welcome to discipleship – welcome to a life that soars!
Amen!