This is a sermon I delivered today to the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Healdton, Oklahoma on September 7, 2025.
Before I begin today, I want to give you permission to do something. You know, preachers like to hear people say “Amen!” once in a while. You can always do that with me. But, I want you to know that today only, you can also shout “Ouch!” if things hit too close to home. I know this passage we’re looking at today made me want to say that more than once.
I want to start out by giving a little context to today’s passage. Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem to ultimately give up His life. He had just been hosted at the home of a Pharisee where He had the chance to share His teachings with the intelligentsia of His day. Now, He has left that home and is travelling again, and as usual, Jesus is followed by a large crowd of people.
So, let’s read this passage and then we can break it down. I’m reading from Luke chapter 14, starting in verse 25:
Now large crowds were traveling with him, and he turned and said to them, “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. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For 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? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or 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? If he cannot, then while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.
These are not easy words, Amen? or, Ouch, right?
Jesus probably knows that many in the crowd are just looking to see a miracle or hear something interesting. Maybe they just like the way He so often tells off the religious authorities. He stops to tell the crowd following Him that to be His disciple, one must hate their family – their parents, spouses, siblings, and even children. I think he’s trying to get rid of the sightseers and lookieloos, but what does Jesus mean when he talks about hating one’s family in order to be His disciple?
Surely, Jesus can’t be equating the life of discipleship with a life of hate, for that would be in direct contradiction to his earlier teachings. Remember in Luke 10:27, Jesus sums up the law by saying, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your strength, and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.” In Luke 6:27, He calls His followers to “love your enemies” and “do good to those who hate you.” And, there is, of course, the admonition from the Ten Commandments to honor one’s mother and father.
There is another option for interpreting Jesus’ words here. The word “hate” is sometimes used in the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament to mean “love less.” For example, in the book of Genesis, the phrase “Leah was hated” is often interpreted to mean that Jacob “loved Rachel more than Leah.” And, remember in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus teaches that “No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other.” This seems to be the case here. Jesus is saying that those who want to follow him must love all others less—to such an extent that it might look like hate.
Jesus also says in the passage: “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” What does it mean to carry our cross and follow Jesus? I think that probably looks different for each of us. For one person, carrying the cross might be loving others as oneself. For another, it could mean learning to love those who look different, speak another language, and who live, love, and vote differently than they do. Jesus uses the metaphor of the cross because it isn’t easy and it isn’t what we naturally want to do.
No one in their right mind wants to carry a cross because not only is the journey a challenge, but the road ahead isn’t any brighter. Jesus said these words while He was headed to the cross of Calvary. And He urges his followers to carry their cross and follow Him.
In the next few verses, Jesus uses the metaphors of building and war to show us that we must count the cost of discipleship before we begin that journey. He says that one one starts to build a tower without making sure they have all the materials and a plan to get it done. He then talks about how a king would never go to war unless he had enough troops and a plan to win. How can we begin a life of discipleship if we aren’t prepared to go the distance with Jesus? The great thing is that we can decide today to take up our cross – whatever that is – and follow Jesus. That’s also the hard part. We have to do it over and over again each day. Living in the way of a disciple means constantly asking ourselves what it is that Jesus is calling us to do. What is it that seems hard for us to do? That’s our cross!
Lastly, Jesus tells the crowd that “none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.” Does this mean that we cannot have any material possessions in our lives? What about a roof over our heads and food for our families? Is it evil to have money in the bank? Or a car to drive? I don’t think that’s what Jesus is getting at here. When we allow our possessions to come between us and carrying our cross for Jesus, we show that we do not truly love Him as we should. We should be willing to give up those things in our lives (material and otherwise) that come between us and the life of discipleship.
Now, I realize that this message is not palatable to many people. But, the life of the disciple isn’t supposed to be easy. When we follow in the footsteps of One who submits willingly to death and calls us to die daily, we shouldn’t expect to find many fellow travelers on this journey.
Today, I urge you to look within yourself and discern what it means for you to carry your cross and follow Jesus. Whatever that means for you, do it with everything you have, without looking back. Amen!