Building Projects

September 7, 2025 / reverendjoannwhite / Leave a comment

Sabbath Day Thoughts — “Building Projects” Luke 14:25-32

The National Monument of Scotland was never completed. Plans for the memorial atop Carleton Hill in Edinburgh were drawn up more than 200 years ago with the intention of honoring Scotland’s fallen heroes of the Napoleonic War. A massive pillared court, like the Parthenon in Athens, would contain a church, as well as catacombs for the burial of the country’s most significant leaders. By 1822 a foundation was laid, but by 1829, construction ground to a halt, due to insufficient funds. An effort to revive the project in the 1850s likewise failed. The city council eventually became the owners of the partially-finished monument, known as “Edinburgh’s Disgrace.” All that survives of the original grand plans are an immense foundation and twelve colossal Doric columns.

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City was never completed. One of the largest churches in the world, St. John’s is perched at the top of a flight of wide steps atop one of the highest hills in Manhattan. Standing in front of the massive building, you’ll notice a squat, square, unfinished tower on the south side, but no matching tower on the north. Initial work on the cathedral proceeded from 1892 but competing architectural visions slowed construction. Building efforts stalled entirely at the beginning of World War II and the congregation’s priorities shifted. They saw growing social needs in their community, like poverty, homelessness, and hunger, and they questioned whether they should continue to pour funds into construction. Work resumed in 1979 but stalled in 1997. Today, building efforts focus on preservation and basic improvements at a cost of about $11 million dollars a year. The cathedral is known by the nickname “St. John the Unfinished.”

Closer to home, Boldt Castle, located on Heart Island in the St. Lawrence, was never completed. In 1900, George Boldt, the proprietor of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, hired 300 laborers to construct a 120-room Rhineland-style castle for his beloved wife Louise. Four years after construction began, Louise suddenly died. The heartbroken husband abandoned the project and never set foot on the island again. For seventy-five years, the site sat abandoned and unfinished until in 1977 the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority acquired the property and opened it for visitors.

In our reading from Luke’s gospel, Jesus used hyperbole— a form of argument that embraces exaggeration—to make a point. Jesus cautioned his disciples about the cost of discipleship with dire-sounding words about family alienation, incomplete building projects, and unwinnable wars. The Lord was on his way to Jerusalem for that fateful final Passover. He was accompanied by large crowds of would-be disciples. The expectations of the crowd about what would go down in Jerusalem were radically different from what Jesus knew would unfold. The crowds thought they would have a ringside seat for healing miracles and earthshaking preaching. Many must have hoped that Jesus would bring change to the religious establishment ensconced in the Temple. Some were hoping for regime change, thinking that Jesus would be a militaristic Messiah, like the Maccabees, who could cast out their Roman overlords. No one wanted to hear that a cross awaited Jesus in Jerusalem. No one wanted to hear that crosses could await many who dared to follow the Lord.

All of Jesus’ apostles would know persecution and eleven of the twelve would face execution. James the Son of Zebedee would be the first, beheaded by the Romans in the year 44. Andrew was crucified on an x-shaped cross in the Greek city of Patras in the year 60. Peter was crucified upside down four years later during the persecution of Christians by the Emperor Nero. Jude was crucified in Persia. Thomas was run through with spears in India. Matthew was impaled and beheaded in Ethiopia. You see my point. The only apostle to die a natural death was John the Beloved, but he and his church were persecuted so harshly that they were forced to flee Israel for the far side of the Mediterranean in what is now western Turkey. Discipleship was costly, indeed, for Jesus’ followers.

It’s hard to know what to do with scripture readings like the one we have today. As first world Christians, not one of us is likely to be executed for our beliefs. Not one of us will be so persecuted for our love of Jesus that we will be forced to flee our homeland. Trey Clark, who teaches preaching at Fuller Seminary says that when we hear Jesus’ words about family alienation and impending oppression or victimization, we are more likely to say “Ouch” than “Amen.” So how do we make sense of it for people here and now?

The circumstances of our lives are very different from Jesus’ first century followers. Taking up our cross and losing our life for the sake of Jesus Christ may look more like death by a thousand paper cuts than a state sponsored execution. Losing our life for Christ involves recognizing that our true purpose and fulfillment are not found in worldly desires but in serving God and others. Authentic discipleship requires a willingness to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily. By embracing the Way of Jesus, we die to self, but we find true life and purpose. The Apostle Paul, who would lose his head for the sake of the gospel, put it this way, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” There are millions of everyday folks out there, like you and me, who may not have literally died for Jesus’s sake, but they show singular commitment and deep allegiance by following the Lord in costly ways. Jesus lives in them.

I would like to celebrate those thousand paper cuts, the everyday ways that I see people denying themselves and taking up their cross for the sake of the gospel. I’ll name just a few and you can respond with an “Amen!” or an “Ouch!”

We could spend our Sunday mornings paddling our canoe or hitting the trail, doing a home improvement project or having a second cup of coffee, but we choose to come to church and worship our awesome God, and we carry the cross.

We could spend our Wednesday evenings watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, but we make a joyful noise to the Lord with choir or meet with the deacons or come out for Committee Night, and we carry the cross.

In a world where income inequality is accepted, even as it grows and grows, we could ignore the need of our neighbors, but we share our food offerings and donate two cents a meal for hunger programs, we grow veggies in our Jubilee Garden to share at the Food Pantry and cook lunch for the Community Lunch Box, and we carry the cross.

Living in the remote beauty of the Adirondacks, we could close our eyes to the suffering and injustice of our world, but we advocate for the war weary people of Ukraine, and write letters for the starving children of Gaza, we accompany vulnerable refugees and support the widows and children of Mzuzu Malawi, and we carry the cross.

I could say more, but you see my point. We carry the cross. We die to self and live for Jesus, and when we follow the Lord, yielding our will to God’s will, Jesus lives in us.

Our deaths by a thousand paper cuts begin to build something. It isn’t the National Monument of Scotland, better known as Edinburgh’s disgrace. It isn’t the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, aka St. John the Unfinished. It isn’t even Boldt Castle, although New York State has poured millions of our tax dollars into making the castle an accessible tourist destination. Our deaths by a thousand papercuts build a world that looks like Christ’s Kingdom, where the stranger is welcomed, the hungry are fed, the sick and lonely are visited, and God is glorified. That’s a building project that I want to see through to completion. How about you?

Let’s pick up our crosses, my friends. There is building work to be done.

Resources

E. Trey Clark. “Commentary on Luke 14:25-33” in Preaching This Week, Sept. 7, 2025. Accessed online at https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-23-3/commentary-on-luke-1425-33-6

Radhika Jhamaria. “15 Famous Unfinished Projects in Architectural History” in Rethinking the Future. Accessed online at https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/architects-lounge/a1289-15-famous-unfinished-projects-in-architectural-history-2/

Ellen Newman. “New York City’s St. John the Unfinished” in Hidden in Plain Sight, July 11, 2019. Accessed online at https://hidden-insite.com/2019/07/08/new-york-citys-st-john-the-unfinished/

Jenna Intersemone. “Massive Building Projects That Were Never Finished” in House Digest, Dec. 7, 2021. Accessed online at https://www.housedigest.com/663379/massive-building-projects-that-were-never-finished/ Edinburgh

Jack Wellman. “How Did the 12 Apostles Die?” in What Christians Want to Know. https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/how-did-the-12-apostles-die-a-bible-study/

Luke 14:25-32

²⁵Now large crowds were traveling with him, and he turned and said to them, ²⁶“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. ²⁷Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. ²⁸For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? ²⁹Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, ³⁰saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ ³¹Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³²If he cannot, then while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace.

Stumbling Blocks

September 4, 2023 / reverendjoannwhite / Leave a comment

Sabbath Day Thoughts — “Stumbling Blocks” Matthew 16:21-28

What gets in the way of following Jesus? Faithful people have been debating that for years.

In his first miracle, Jesus may have changed the water into wine, but there are a number of Christian traditions that teach that alcohol and faith are incompatible. Mennonites, Amish, Seventh Day Adventists, Holiness Pentecostals, Wesleyans, the Church of the Nazarene, and a number of Baptist denominations expect their members to practice temperance. The Rev. Jerry Falwell Sr. was well-known as a teetotaler and banned student drinking when he founded Liberty College in the early 1970s. Falwell saw alcohol as a dangerous stumbling block to faithful living, perhaps because his father, Carey Falwell, had been a bootlegger who shot and killed his own brother during a drunken argument.

Some Christian traditions have seen dancing as incompatible with the life of faith. For the first five centuries of Christianity, the church opposed dancing. According to early church leaders and theologians, dance incited idolatry, lust, and damnation. Christians were expected to distinguish themselves from pagans and set an example of pious behavior amid a Greco-Roman culture where dancing was an important part of religious life. Augustine condemned pagan worship for “the rustling of dancers, the loud, immodest laughter of the theater; and voluptuous pleasures that maintained perpetual excitement.” Even Presbyterians took a long time to warm up to dancing. In 1649, the Scots Presbyterian Assembly voiced concern about the “scandall and abuse that arises thorow promiscuous dancing.” They recommended that Presbyteries exert care and diligence in disciplining dancers. Offenders could be fined or made to stand in the “place of repentance” at the front of the church, where they were rebuked during the sermon.

While Catholic churches are well-known for their Bingo and raffle fundraisers, Protestants have long seen gambling as a stumbling block. In the Protestant tradition, games of chance have historically been condemned as an abdication of responsible stewardship and an illicit opportunity for gain that comes at the expense and suffering of others, often the poor. Gambling can also be enslaving. Between 1% and 2% of the U.S. adult population, or 2 to 4 million adults, are compulsive gamblers who struggle with big losses and big debt. Another 3% to 5%, or 5 to 9 million people, will, at some point in their lives, report that their gambling has become problematic. As recently as 2000, the PCUSA reaffirmed its opposition to organized and institutional forms of gambling, and it called upon Presbyterians to refuse to participate in such gambling as a matter of faith and to join efforts to regulate, restrict, and eliminate it.

What gets in the way of following Jesus Christ? Drinking, dancing, gambling? Stumbling blocks abound. Just ask the disciple Peter.

In the verses leading up to today’s reading from Matthew’s gospel, Peter affirmed Jesus as the Messiah and Son of the living God. For Peter, the title Messiah was packed with promise. The Messiah was a charismatic leader and military strategist like David, who united the tribes of Israel and defeated the Philistines. The Messiah was a king like Solomon, who ruled with wisdom and amassed untold wealth and countless concubines. The Messiah was someone like Judas Maccabeus, who defeated Israel’s Greek occupiers, cleansed the Temple, and purged the nation of foreign influence. When Peter affirmed Jesus as Messiah, Peter anticipated big changes for Israel. Peter dreamed of a nation where Jesus ruled instead of Herod. The yoke of the Roman Empire would be broken, and the purity of religious leadership would be restored.

With expectations like that, it’s little wonder that when Jesus warned his friends of the betrayal, suffering, and death that awaited the Messiah, Peter refused to believe it. Peter pulled Jesus aside and tried to change his mind. “Come on, man. A life lived in fidelity to God’s word could never bring such pain! Surely, God would never allow his Messiah to suffer! The cross? What’s wrong with you, Lord.”

But Jesus refused to listen. Indeed, Jesus’ response to Peter’s well-intended counsel was harsh, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Peter, who moments earlier had been lauded as the rock upon which a church would be built, learned that his expectations of worldly power, wealth, and military might were a stumbling block.

When it comes to discipleship, the Christian tradition has devoted much energy and enthusiasm to decrying those moral stumbling blocks that keep us from following Jesus, like drinking, dancing, gambling, and more. At its best, that focus on moral stumbling blocks has prized holiness and a life lived in devotion to God. At its worst, our preoccupation with moral stumbling blocks has made us judge, jury, and executioner of our neighbors. Our attention to the sins of others may even give us feelings of moral superiority and self-righteousness. We imagine that our purity earns us a seat at the table and place in the kingdom to come. Without question, drinking, dancing, and gambling, when they preoccupy our lives and capture our hearts, are a danger. But I don’t think they are what Jesus had in mind when he brought Peter up short and called him a stumbling block.

Instead, Jesus characterized our stumbling-blocks as a failure to follow. Peter’s words were a stumbling block because they exhorted Jesus to not follow God’s will for the Messiah. In Matthew’s gospel, discipleship is following. After all, Jesus called his friends with the words, opiso mou, “Follow me.” Discipleship, following God’s will for humanity, found a blueprint in the life of Jesus. He associated with society’s outcasts. He healed those who were deemed unclean, untouchable, and unwelcome. He cared deeply about feeding hungry people. He spoke uncomfortable truths to power. He taught women and cherished children. If anyone wanted to be a disciple, all they had to do was follow Jesus, even though the cost to prosperity or social standing might be steep, even though it might take people like Peter to the cross.

I suspect that for most of us, our drinking, dancing, and gambling are not what gets in the way of following Jesus. Nor do we share Peter’s assumption that following the Messiah should lead to wealth, influence, political powerful, or military might, although there are plenty of adherents to a prosperity gospel that continues to teach that lie. Instead, our stumbling blocks are mundane and prevalent. We fail to follow because we are busy. We live over-committed, mile-a-minute lives that leave little time for the essentials of discipleship like prayer, worship, and service. If we aren’t too busy, we may think we are ill-equipped or insignificant. We think we don’t have the right words for prayer, we don’t have the right gifts to serve, or the Lord doesn’t need us or want what we have to offer. If we aren’t swept up in busyness or convinced that we don’t matter, we may be frightened about what following entails. It could change our values. It could threaten our priorities. It would get us out of our comfort zone. It might put us face-to-face with people whom we would prefer to keep at a distance. What gets in the way of following Jesus? What keeps us from living discipled lives?

As tough as this scripture lesson may be, there is good news for us this morning. First of all, although Jesus was bound for the cross and most of his disciples would face crucifixion or execution, no one worshipping here today is going to be crucified. That’s something to be celebrated in a world where Christians continue to face persecution and even death for their belief. Next, when we follow Jesus in a life of discipleship, we can trust that he is on the road with us. He is out there ahead of us, showing us what is needed and making a way. Following brings us closer to Jesus, now and forever. A last point, when we follow Jesus in his Way of welcoming, helping, healing, speaking truth, and living in love, we begin to embody his Kingdom, and we make it come alive, here and now. We are transformed, and so is the world around us. We begin to see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom, just as Jesus promised his disciples all those years ago when he invited them to pick up a cross and follow him. The coming Kingdom, that’s something I’d like to see. How about you?

As we go forth into this week, there will be stumbling blocks—drinking, dancing, games of chance, busyness, inadequacy, fear. May we dare follow Jesus. Amen.

Resources:

Bob Smietana. “Report: Jerry Falwell injured in fall while drinking according to 911 call” in Religion News Service, September 17, 2020. Accessed online at https://religionnews.com/2020/09/17/report-jerry-falwell-injured-in-fall-while-drinking-according-to-911-call-libertyuniversity/

Kathryn Dickason. “Why Christianity put away its dancing shoes – only to find them again centuries later” in The Conversation. Accessed online at https://theconversation.com/why-christianity-put-away-its-dancing-shoes-only-to-find-them-again-centuries-later-156369

“Why don’t we dance?” in Christianity, Stack Exchange Network, May 2012. Accessed online at https://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/7061/why-dont-we-dance

Presbyterian Mission Agency. “Gambling” in What We Believe: Social Issues. Accessed online at https://www.presbyterianmission.org/what-we-believe/social-issues/gambling/

Richard Ward. “Commentary on Matthew 16:21-28” in Preaching This Week, Sept. 2, 2023. Accessed online at workingpreacher.org.

Audrey West. “Commentary on Matthew 16:21-28” in Preaching This Week, August, 30, 2020. Accessed online at workingpreacher.org

Matthew 16:21-28

²¹From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. ²²And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” ²³But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

²⁴Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. ²⁶For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? ²⁷“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. ²⁸Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

It Will Cost You Everything

September 4, 2022 / reverendjoannwhite / Leave a comment

Sabbath Day Thoughts — Luke 14:25-33

Jesus knew that following him would cost his disciples their lives.

James the son of Zebedee was the first apostle to be martyred. Tradition tells us that James went all the way to Spain to share the gospel with Jewish colonists and slaves. But on a return trip to Jerusalem, he ran afoul of the Roman authorities and was beheaded in the year 44CE. They say that when the apostle was led out to die, a man who had brought false accusations against him walked with him. The man was so impressed by James’s courage and joy that he recanted his false testimony and became a Christian. Alas, James’s name wasn’t cleared. Instead, the man was condemned to die with James. Both were beheaded on the same day and with the same sword.

The Apostle Andrew was also martyred. Andrew took the gospel north, along the Black Sea and the Dnieper River as far as Kiev. In the year 39CE, Andrew founded the church in Byzantium, which continues today as the center of the Eastern Orthodox tradition. Andrew’s evangelizing came to a painful end in western Greece. Arrested for disturbing the peace in the city of Patras in the year 60CE, Andrew was crucified. Considering himself unworthy to be crucified on the same type of cross as Jesus, Andrew insisted that he be killed on an x-shaped cross. They say the cross is still kept in the Church of St. Andrew at Patras in a special shrine. Every November 30^th, the feast day of St. Andrew, the cross is revered in a special ceremony.

Andrew’s brother, the Apostle Peter, was martyred, too, more than thirty years after Jesus’s crucifixion. They say that Peter was arrested and condemned following the Great Fire of Rome. Although historians now know that the emperor Nero ignited the fire to clear away slums, the blaze burned out of control and destroyed much of the city. Looking for a scapegoat, Nero blamed the Christians, many of whom were arrested, tortured, and executed. Peter, at his own wish, was crucified upside down, either on the Janiculum hill or in the arena. When Michelangelo painted Peter’s martyrdom, he portrayed the upside-down, grey-bearded apostle looking very much in control, while soldiers managed the crowd and a cluster of four terror-stricken women cowered near the foot of the cross.

Jesus warned his friends that following him would cost them everything. In today’s reading, Jesus was nearing the end of his journey where death waited for him in the Holy City. Crowds, that were drawn by his teaching and healing, were on the road with the Lord. Luke’s gospel describes the people as amazed, rejoicing, filled with awe, and praising God, who was so clearly at work in Jesus. Who wouldn’t want to hear those wonderful sermons and watch those incredible miracles? But according to Jesus, discipleship wasn’t all rainbows and lollipops. If anyone truly wanted to follow him, then they must be prepared to hate their families, take up their crosses, and give up their possessions.

Jesus was using a rhetorical style called hyperbole, a form of argument that embraces exaggeration to make a point. In the first century world, the Beth Ab, the House of the Father, was the most fundamental building block in society. Following Jesus could put disciples at odds with their families. When James and his brother John answered Jesus’ invitation to drop their fishermen’s nets and start catching people, their father Zebedee was left behind in the boat. Within a decade, traditional synagogues would expel those who believed that Jesus was the Messiah, further dividing families into opposing camps of Jews and Christians. To truly follow Jesus would call for a singular commitment. The family of faith must supersede the Beth Ab, and there would be hardship and heartache for many.

As if losing family weren’t hardship enough, Jesus chased his hyperbolic warning about divided households with stories about the costly ventures of building a tower and waging war. Jesus could have ripped those comparisons from the headlines today. Many of us have had home improvement projects that have proven more costly and demanding than we ever imagined. And when it comes to the unanticipated, high costs of war, we should check in with Vladimir Putin. The Pentagon estimated in August that as many as 80,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded during the war in Ukraine.

Like a wet blanket on the fervent joy of the crowd, Jesus warned the people that discipleship would demand deep commitment and big risks. Those people in the crowd had counted the blessings found in following Jesus, but had they considered the costs? If they were truly intent on discipleship, then they would need singular commitment and deep allegiance in a world where following Jesus could cost you everything.

Beyond those first century martyrs, history holds stories of faithful people who practiced a costly discipleship. Above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey stand ten statues of modern martyrs – twentieth century Christians who gave up their lives for their beliefs.

In 1937, German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer published his most influential book, a reflection on the Sermon on the Mount called Nachfolge. The rise of the National Socialist regime was underway in Germany. As Hitler and his Nazi followers assumed power, Bonhoeffer, who was a pacifist, realized that his faith in Jesus demanded that he do the inconceivable: abandon his non-violent principles to become embroiled in a failed plot to assassinate the Fuhrer. Bonhoeffer’s discipleship cost him everything: his principles, his liberty, and eventually his life. He was executed, just days before his prison was liberated by allied forces. His book Nachfolge was one of the most significant works of 20^th century Protestantism, translated into English with the title The Cost of Discipleship.

As a young minister at the Dexter Avenue Church in Montgomery, Alabama, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was drawn into a demonstration against segregation on the city’s bus services. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was brilliantly successful, and King soon formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to press for racial justice. King and his family paid a steep price for his faithful work to win voting rights and opportunity for black Americans: death threats, bomb scares, police harassment, and prison. King ultimately lost his life, assassinated in Memphis while there to support sanitation workers seeking basic worker safety after 3 were crushed to death in the back of a garbage truck.

Oscar Romero was serving as the archbishop of San Salvador when the killing of a fellow priest awakened him to the widespread abuse of political power by violent men who murdered with impunity. Wealthy citizens of El Salvador sanctioned the violence that maintained them, death squads executed those who voiced concerns in the cities, and soldiers killed as they wished in the countryside. Romero committed his cause to the poor and began to document the abuse of human rights, daring to speak the truth in a country governed by lies, where men and women simply disappeared without account. In March 1980, Romero was assassinated, shot dead while celebrating mass in the chapel of the hospital where he lived.

From first century martyrs to the prophetic efforts of twentieth century Christians to end tyranny, pursue justice, and advocate for the poor, disciples have been taking up their crosses to follow Jesus for almost 2,000 years. It’s a daunting truth that may feel frightening and impossible for us to imagine for ourselves.

Yet, beyond those well-known names, are millions of everyday folks like you and me, who may not have died for Jesus’s sake, but they have shown singular commitment and deep allegiance by daring to follow the Lord in costly ways. They have shared their faith amid repressive regimes, where talking about religion is forbidden. They have spoken out against injustice in societies that label them dangerous radicals or misguided bleeding hearts. They have sacrificed from their bounty for the sake of a world in need, giving generously to support churches, alleviate hunger, and care for vulnerable neighbors. Beyond the martyrs and heroes of the faith, there is an invisible multitude, a great cloud of witnesses, who have paid the price of discipleship for the sake of Jesus Christ.

It’s easy to enjoy all the good things about being a follower of Jesus: love, forgiveness, grace, the life eternal. It’s easy to be like that amazed, joyful, praise-filled crowd that tagged along on the road to Jerusalem. But what happens when things get costly? Are we willing to share our faith, risk the rejection of neighbors, or live with fewer toys or a more modest retirement for the sake of Christ’s Kingdom?

Following Jesus will cost us our lives, my friends. This morning, the Lord challenges us to sit down, add it up, and dedicate ourselves to him anyway. Will we take up our crosses and follow?

Resources:

Jeannine Brown. “Commentary on Luke 14:25-33” in Preaching This Week, Sept. 5, 2010. Accessed online at https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-23-3/commentary-on-luke-1425-33-5.

Carolyn Sharp. “Commentary on Luke 14:25-33” in Preaching This Week, Sept. 4, 2022. Accessed online at https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-23-3/commentary-on-luke-1425-33-5.

David Jacobsen. “Commentary on Luke 14:25-33” in Preaching This Week, Sept. 4, 2016. Accessed online at https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-23-3/commentary-on-luke-1425-33-5.

Jeremy Diamond. “Russia facing ‘severe’ military personnel shortages, US officials say” in Russia-Ukraine news, August 31, 2022. Accessed online at https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-08-31-22/index.html.

–. “Martyrdom of St Peter, by Michelangelo” in Michelangelo: Paintings, Sculptures, Biography. Accessed online at https://www.michelangelo.org/martyrdom-of-st-peter.jsp.

–. “Modern Martyrs” in Westminster Abbey History. Accessed online at https://www.westminster-abbey.org/about-the-abbey/history/modern-martyrs

Luke 14:25-33

25Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, 26“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. 27Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. 33So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

Joann White

writer, pastor, spiritual director, and enthusiast of wild places

The Cost of Discipleship