Sermon Notes | 3.12.23

The Parables of the Tower and Warring King

Luke 14:25-33

[25] Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, [26] “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. [27] Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. [28] For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? [29] Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, [30] saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ [31] Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? [32] And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. [33] So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. (ESV)

THE CALLING

Luke 14:25-27

Discipleship

This is the whole of Christianity.  There is nothing else.  It is easy to get muddled about that. It is easy to think that the Church has a lot of different objects—education, building, missions, holding services.  The church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs (Christ-like).  If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became Man for no other purpose.  It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose.  It says in the Bible that the whole universe was made for Christ and that everything is to be gathered together in Him. – C.S. Lewis

[27] Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

This expression “to take up one’s cross” is not an idiom by which to refer to some trivial annoyance—an ingrown toenail, perhaps, or a toothache, or an awkward in-law: “We all have our crosses to bear.” No, in the first century, that sort of interpretation would have been impossible. In the first century it was as culturally unthinkable to make jokes about crucifixion as it would be today to make jokes about Auschwitz. To take up your cross does not mean to move forward with courage despite the fact you lost your job or your spouse. It means you are under sentence of death; you are taking up the horizontal cross-member on your way to the place of crucifixion. You have abandoned all hope of life in this world. And then, Jesus says, and only then, are we ready to follow him. – D.A. Carson, Scandalous

Talmidim (learner)

In our day learners usually think of themselves as containers of some sort, with a purely passive space to be filled by the information the teacher possesses and wishes to transfer – the “from jug to mug” model. The teacher is to fill in empty parts of the receptacle with “truth” that may or may not later make some difference to the life of the one who has it. The teacher must get the information into them. We then “test” the patients to see if they “got it” by checking whether they can reproduce it in language rather than watching how they live. – Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy

COUNTING THE COST

Luke 14:28-32

moving from a crowd to a CORE

OUR CULTURAL CONTEXT

Atomization. Seduction. Exhaustion.*

*content from Mark Sayers – click here to watch

ATMOMIZATION – choosing “could” over community

SEDUCTION – trapped by the “yes”

It is not primarily our minds that are captivated but rather our imaginations that are captured, and when our imagination is hooked, we’re hooked. . . . This is just to say that to be human is to desire “the kingdom,” some version of the kingdom, which is the aim of our quest. Every one of us is on a kind of Arthurian quest for “the Holy Grail,” that hoped- for, longed- for, dreamed- of picture of the good life— the realm of human flourishing— that we pursue without ceasing. Implicitly and tacitly, it is such visions of the kingdom that pull us to get up in the morning and suit up for the quest. – James K.A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom

EXHAUSTION – entrepreneur of the self 

WILL YOU COMMIT?

Luke 14:33

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. 

[1] Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [2] looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. – Hebrews 12:1-2

[28] Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30

A Prayer for Salvation

“Heavenly Father, I admit that I am weaker and more sinful than I ever before believed, but through your Son Jesus I can be more loved and accepted than I ever dared hope. I thank you that he lived the life I should have lived and paid the debt and punishment I owed. Receive me now for his sake. I turn from my sins and receive him as Savior. Amen.”