Sermon Notes

13th Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church 

When I first read through the gospel passage for this morning, my first thought was, “Wow, I thought last week’s gospel was difficult to preach!” Today’s is a doozy, isn’t it? 

As you know, every week I study the assigned gospel by reading various commentaries. Often these give me new insights. 

This week, I was reading and praying and discerning through the lens of ‘God’s work. Our hands’ … Also, the comments from two Lutheran pastors, Pastor David Lose and Pastor James Lawrence, were very helpful. 

First, we notice that Luke talks about large crowds following Jesus. At this point in the ministry of Jesus, he’s not just traveling with his 12 apostles — more and more people have heard of him and are literally walking with them. 

But there’s a difference between traveling with Jesus and following Jesus. I know           I’ve preached before about being a follower vs being an admirer … this is basically        the same thing. 

I think Jesus realized that the crowds that were growing bigger and following him were doing so for various reasons. Maybe some had been present when he fed over 5000 people; perhaps some had witnessed his miraculous healings; it could be that many loved what he had to say about turning the rules of society upside down. (It makes me wonder -- “Why do you admire Jesus? Why have you chosen to follow Him?) 

At any rate, I suspect Jesus said to himself, “I better explain to the folks what it really means to follow me.” And that led to these teachings about hating our family, giving up possessions, and taking up our cross. 

To boil this down to its simplest terms, his teachings come down to one word: Sacrifice. But there is hope here. (This is where this week’s commentaries were so helpful to me.) 

First, we look at the sentence about hating our families. There’s nothing helpful or comforting about that, but the Greek word for hating is mesio. In Greek, this word is not describing an emotion, which is the way we typically use the word hate, but an action. 

A good way to think about what Jesus means by hate is to think about what Jesus means by the word love. 

We know, for example, that for Jesus, love is not an emotion. Jesus commands us to love one another. And you can’t command an emotion. Instead, love is an action, based on a decision to put that person first.  

To hate something in New Testament language is simply to refuse to put it first. When we hate something in this way, we have made a decision not to put it first in our life. 

So Jesus is saying that to be a follower … He must be first. His teachings must be our priority. 

In the same manner, giving up our possessions simply means renouncing them. It’s sort of like in our baptism service when we ask the parents and godparents to renounce the devil. It’s a matter of priorities — Jesus doesn’t want our possessions to take the central place in our lives. 

Sometimes shifting our priorities means sacrifice. 

I think about how some of our early families sacrificed so that this congregation could be started: the Gaddis family, Marjorie Wood, the Deeters , the Galos, the Jakubics, the Jacks, the Molls, just to name a few. Their sacrifices made it possible for us to gather today … and your sacrifices will make it possible for future generations! 

And taking up our cross? I’ve preached before about how that is different for each one of us. I’ve used the example of having to struggle with my feelings for my first father-in-law — how taking up my cross at that time meant caring for him and loving him just as he was. My father-in-law has been dead for years, so taking up my cross has meant many other things to me over the years. 

Taking up your cross might mean a different thing every day — it means sometimes sacrificing or setting priorities. (What cross are you bearing today?) 

Taking up our cross will be different for each one of us. But taking up our cross will always involve priorities and often might involve sacrifice. 

I’ve probably said it, or let at least implied it, every week —Being a follower of Jesus isn’t easy. Even understanding that today’s teachings were not talking about the emotions of hatred or sacrifice, but rather the actions, isn’t easy. 

Jesus was teaching the crowds who were following him, as well as his disciples, and that includes us, to make him and his priorities our priorities. 

He promised to not abandon us, but to always walk with us as we make sacrifices, big and small, make Jesus our priority, and take up our cross. 

Bishop Elizabeth Eaton made a short video about how churches are responding to the teachings of Jesus…how they are striving to make Jesus their priority…how sometimes they must make sacrifices. I’ve asked Paul to play that video now. 

(After video) 

On a day when we are celebrating the many things we do in this congregation to do God’s work with our hands, this turned out to be a great gospel passage! 

On this day, I thank you again and again for every time you make Jesus a priority,          every time you make a sacrifice, for every time you give of your time, talent, or treasures. So, I thank you … but just as importantly I also thank God for you. 

Besides just saying thanks, I am thankful. I’m thankful to the God who created us,       to Jesus who taught us, and the Holy Spirit who is always available to comfort and guide us. 

We come today to celebrate! An important way to celebrate is to rededicate                      ourselves to following Jesus. Pay close attention to the words of our next hymn ...                                           It is a song of dedication.  

Amen.