Old Testament Lesson; Deuteronomy 30:15-19
Epistle Lesson; Philemon 1-21
Gospel Lesson; Luke 14:25-35
Sermon Text; Luke 14:25-35

Some of you may have noticed this, but I love chewing gum. And, I chew a lot of gum. My favorite gum is a type called Xtra Peppermint. Last night, as I was getting ready for this sermon, I drove up to a BP station. I checked my watch to see what time it was and walked inside to pick up a pack of gum. As I was standing by the gum counter, all of a sudden I thought, "Tonight I am going to live on the ‘wild’ side." And so, I picked up a pack of Fruity Gum, which I have not had in a long time. I bought myself some Fruity gum, took a stick out, put it in my mouth, and thought, "Wow! That is good! Why have I not been chewing this more often?"

Thirty three minutes later, I looked at my watch and remembered why it is that I don't chew Fruity Gum. The flavor was gone! I took it out and threw it in the garbage can. It was not worth anything to me, anymore.

Could it be that is a picture of our discipleship, our faith in Jesus, as our Savior? When you first became a believer, you were excited to know your Savior, excited to have faith in Christ, full of flavor, desiring to live for Him, desiring to serve Him, desiring to spread His Word! But as time has gone on, has the flavor of your faith begun to wane, begun to disappear? And maybe, even, could it be gone?

In today's scripture reading, while in Jesus' day they did not have Fruity gum, He referred to flavor, when He said, "Salt is good,

but if it loses its saltiness,

how can it be made salty again?

It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile;

It is thrown out."

And then He said this,

"He who has ears to hear,

let him hear."

Jesus, in our text for today, is calling all of us to take a good, hard, introspective look into our own lives, our own heart, our own discipleship, and ask ourselves, "Is the flavor of my faith still there? Is it slipping away? What has happened to me?"
So, let's do that. Let's take a good hard look at our faith, this morning. Jesus asks us, in today's text, basically three questions, three really important questions, three questions to get us to ask ourselves, "Is it worth it to be a believer? Is it worth it to maintain that faith I have?"

Listen to the first thing that Jesus asks us to do. Jesus wants us to ask ourselves, "Is it worth the price, or the cost, of building my faith in Jesus, as my Savior?" He uses this analogy or little parable in today's reading. He says, "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he first not sit down, estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying 'This fellow began to build but was not able to finish.'"

Here, at Holy Cross, we have a pretty clear picture of what Jesus is talking about. Our congregation is right in the midst of trying to relocate, trying to build a new church, and a new school. We have a piece of property, a twelve acre piece of property. We can drive by it. But, we have not stuck one shovel into the ground, yet. We have not laid down one brick. We have not laid a foundation. We have not begun to build anything, yet. Why? Up until now, we cannot afford it. We are still counting the costs. And, we will begin to build, when we are able to finish, to complete the project.

If you are a Christian, you have already begun to build. If you believe in Jesus as your Savior, the project has already begun. It is too late for you to look back and say, "Should I become a Christian? What is the cost of becoming a Christian? What does it cost to build my life in Christ?"

You have already begun building. You have already begun to lay down that foundation. The question that Jesus wants us to consider is, "What has happened to my building? Am I continuing to build on Jesus, as my Savior, or have I stopped? Have I stopped building? Have I stopped laying the bricks? What is happening to my discipleship?"

How is it that we build up our faith in Jesus, as our Savior? The Bible is very clear, and very simple. The Bible tells us,

"Faith comes from hearing the message,

and the message is heard through

the Word of Christ."

Our faith continues to grow and be built on the foundation through the Word of Christ. As we hear the Word, the Holy Spirit keeps us in our faith, growing in our faith, and trusting in Jesus, as our Savior.

But, Brothers and Sisters, consider the cost that it takes to continue to build yourself in the Word of God and to continue to have the Word of God be the thing that you build upon.

There is a cost involved.

Jesus wants you to consider it.

I will lay out part of the cost, but I am sure this only scratches the surface. There is cost involved, when you get up on a Sunday morning, and you come here to church. You are giving up some of the other things you could be doing. Whatever it might be - sleeping in, getting a project done around home, or doing something entertaining. There is a cost. You are coming here to hear the Word of God.

Is it worth the cost?

Is it worth the cost, because sometimes coming here to hear God's Word is a struggle. It can be stressful to get all of the kids together, get them packed into the car, drive them here, get them sitting down and keeping them under tow, while the church service is going on.

Is it worth the cost?

It can be very stressful.

Is it worth the cost of telling your children, "Yes we are going to go Sunday School. Yes, we are going to go to Youth Forum, even though they may not want to."

Is it worth it?

That is stress.

Is it worth the cost?

Is it worth the cost, as you really begin to look at God's Word and the Word of God digs into your heart and it begins to lay open your sin, your guilt, your shame? Is it worth the cost of the discomfort that the Word of God brings into your life?

Is it worth it?

Is it worth the cost, as the Word of God lays open your sin and then lays out the solution? The solution is you give up yourself. You give up yourself completely and totally, and you do not depend upon yourself at all for your salvation, but you turn to Jesus Christ. You turn to Him. You humble yourself. And you cling to Him, as your only Savior from sin.

Is it worth the cost

of giving up

yourself?

Is it worth the cost, then, having given up yourself to Christ, to build your life around His Word and ask yourself, "What does His Word want me to do?" And then, go forward into the world and live in ways that the world may mock. They may laugh. They may forsake you. They may make fun of you. They may not want to have anything to do with you, because you are building around the Word.

Is it worth it?

Jesus says we should count the cost.

The second thing Jesus asks us to consider is this. Not only should we ask if it is worth the cost of building, but also "Is it worth the cost of battling?"

Jesus uses this picture again in today's scripture reading, talking about your faith, your discipleship. He says, "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? 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."

You get the picture there. Imagine looking and seeing this army twice the size coming at you, and asking yourself, "Is it worth it? Are we able to withstand the enemy? Do we have enough weapons? Do we have enough men? Do we have strength? Do we have enough endurance? Is it worth the battle?"

But, as a Christian, (if you are a Christian), it is too late to ask, "Is it worth getting into the battle?" The battle has already been entered. When you became a disciple of Jesus Christ, you took to yourself an enemy that is so fierce, so powerful, so relentless (and I am talking about the devil) that he is merciless. Mercilessly, he is coming after you with his weapons. He will pursue you day, after day, after day, relentlessly. And he will not cease. He will not stop shooting his weapons, shooting his arrows, setting off his bombs, doing whatever he can to take away your faith in Jesus, as your Savior.

Is it worth that battle,

that relentless battle?

His battle attack comes from all directions. Oh, he may be behind the lines trying to sneak up on you. He may be presenting something that looks simple that he is going to use to just drag you away from your faith. He may be shooting arrows of temptation. He knows your weak spot and he is shooting right at it, time, after time, after time. Every time you turn on the TV, every time you get up in the morning and you begin to read the paper, every time you have a phone conversation, every time you look at somebody walking by, he is right there with his temptations, trying to get you to fall into sin of greed, of covetness, of lust, of pride, of doubt. Whatever it may be, and whatever he can do. Bombs going off. Weapons being shot. He is trying to drag you away.

Is it worth that battle

for the rest of your life?

Is it worth continuing to fight

against Satan?

And when his arrows get through (and they do, sometimes, don't they?), and they stick in, we fall. And, we fall hard sometimes, when we sin. Is it worth getting back up again? Is it worth, for ‘the nine hundredth time,’ repenting to Jesus, our Savior, turning to Him, asking His forgiveness, standing up, and entering into the battle, again? Is it worth it? Jesus asks you that.

Is it worth it?

The third thing He asks you to consider is this. "Is it worth the sacrifice?" Is it worth the sacrifice that comes with being a disciple of Christ, even if it means sacrificing that which may be nearest and dearest to you. Listen to what Jesus says here. "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even is own life - he cannot be my disciple."

That is a strong statement. That is a startling statement. The startling thing is not the verb that Jesus uses, that we should 'hate' but the object that He tells us to hate – your father, your mother, your husband, your wife, your children. What does He mean by that? We always have to take scripture in context. We have to let scripture interpret itself. Certainly, Jesus commands husbands and wives to love one another, love one another unconditionally. What does Jesus say? He says,

"Husbands love your wives

just like Christ loved the church

and gave Himself up for her."

He commands children to love, honor, obey, and esteem their parents.

He commands us to love one another.

And yet, just as God loves each one of us unconditionally, He hates sin. Here Jesus is calling us, if there is something about someone who is very near and dear to me, and I am to love them, but if there is something about them that is causing me to slip in my Christian faith, well, then, that part, I hate.

Let me give you an example. Some years ago, I just happened to be at a hospital, walking down a hallway, when a nurse walked up to me. She had seen me before and knew I was a pastor. She said to me, "Pastor there is a man in this room, right over here, who is dying. He is asking for a pastor and he does not have a pastor. Will you go in and see him?"

I said, "Absolutely."

So I walked in to see this man. There he was. I got right to the meat of it and said, "You are about to die."

He said, "I know."

I asked him, "Are you ready for that? You are about to meet your Maker."
He said, "I know I am."

"So, you are ready to meet your Maker?
He said, "No, I am not."
I asked him, "Why are you not ready?"

He said, "Because of all the things I have done. I have done some awful things and I have not had God in my life. I am scared."

I said, "Well, your sin is frightening you, isn't it?"
He said, "It is!"
I said, "I want to tell you a Bible verse. There is a passage that says this. 'Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners.' Who did Jesus come to save?"

He said, "Sinners."

I asked him then, "What are you?"

He told me, "I am a sinner."

And then I said, "You know how Jesus saves sinners? There is a passage that says He is the atoning sacrifice, not only for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world. There the Bible tells us that no matter who you are, Jesus is the sacrifice for the whole world. He has made peace with God. He has paid for all of the sins of the world. And, God won't hold our sins against us. That is God's promise."

And then, his eyes lit up.

Then I asked, "Do you know how we benefit from that?"

He said, "No, I don't"

"There is a passage that says, 'God so loved the world (that means you) that He gave His One and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.' The promise there is that if you believe that Jesus died for your sins, you will have everlasting life. There is no condemnation. Do you believe that you are a sinner, and that Jesus died for you?"
He said, "Yes I do."

I told him, "You are going to Heaven!"

And then, I left. The next day he was still alive, so I came back to see him, again. This time his wife happened to be standing in front of the doorway to his hospital room. I introduced myself, explained who I was, that I was a pastor, and that I wanted to talk to her husband.

She looked at me and asked, "You are a pastor?"

I said, "Yes."

She said, "I don't want any pastor talking to my husband."
So, I asked, "Why!"

She said, "I think all of that religious stuff is going to get him all worked up." And, she refused to let me go in and see him.

Certainly that husband was called on by God to love his wife, but if there are things even about our spouse that would lead us away from our Savior, Jesus asks us, "Is it worth the cost? Is it worth the cost of even giving up that which is nearest and dearest to you, and clinging to Jesus, your Savior? Is it worth it?"
I have a friend who grew up in Africa. He is a strong Christian man. He exudes Christian sincerity, Christian kindness, Christian contentment, Christian peace. And, he does not make much money, because he is a janitor.

This summer he happened to travel back to Africa to visit his family. He had a lay over in an airport in Germany. He was there for quite a while, so he was doing some people watching. As he was people watching, he noticed this fellow. He could tell by looking at him that this man must be a pretty rich, successful, guy. He said he could tell by looking at the jewelry he was wearing, his watch, his suit, his telephone, his briefcase and the fact that he was so busy.

Anyway, they happened to strike up a conversation. This businessman, sure enough, as he was talking to my friend from Africa, was talking about how successful he was, what he did for work, and how much money he made. And then, he looked at my friend from Africa and said, "I can tell you are a successful person. What do you do?"

My friend said, "Well, I am a janitor."

The rich man looked at him and said, "But you seem so content."

My friend from Africa said, "Oh, I am! I work hard. I eat good meals. I go to bed and I sleep like a baby. I am content."

The rich man looked at my friend from Africa and said, "I have all the money I want, and I can't sleep at night. I have all of these worries going through my head. I have to take pills so I can sleep at nighttime. You say you can eat what you want. My doctor won't let me eat certain foods, because they go against me. You are so content. I want what you have. Why are you so content?"

My friend from Africa said, "I have a Savior."

This rich man wanted that contentment.

Is it worth it?

Is it worth having that peace of God

that passes all human understanding?

Is it worth it?

Is it worth it to know, "Yes I know I am a sinner. I know I deserve God's punishment, but I know that God, Himself, has taken on human flesh for me. He has gone to the cross for me. He has paid for all of my sins. He will not hold my sins against me. I know that God forgives me, in Christ. I know that I am saved, simply by believing in Jesus. It is all a free gift, free gift from God. He wants me to be with Him forever, in Heaven. And a peace of God that passes all understanding, knowing that, and knowing that as long as I am here on this earth, no matter what happens to me, He promises He will work it out for my good."

Is it worth it?

Is it worth the cost of continuing to build on the Word of God? Is it worth the cost of continuing to battle against Satan? Is is worth the cost of sacrificing whatever it takes to stay in your faith in Jesus, as your Savior?

I know the answer for myself. Go home today. Read through this section of scripture and ask yourself, "Is it worth the cost?"

Amen.