The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost I Cannot Be Jesus’ Disciple Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen. Jesus says in today’s brutal Gospel: “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. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be my disciple… Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be My disciple.” Dear Christian friends, A boy scout in our local troop recently asked his Scoutmaster a question. The Scoutmaster gave an answer the boy did not want to hear. The boy’s father was sitting nearby. As the young man stammered and choked on several responses all at once, his father silenced him. “Yes, sir,” said the father to the son. “Those are the words you are looking for: yes, sir.” Those two words—yes, sir—those two words are the best words to say to Jesus. Whenever Jesus speaks, whatever Jesus says, “yes, sir” are the words we are looking for. The only better to Jesus is that one-word answer we were taught to say at the end of our prayers: amen. This is most certainly true. Yes, yes, it shall be so. I. There is no strain or labor in saying “Yes, sir” to Jesus when His Words sound good and pleasing to the ear. For example, Jesus says to you: · Your sins are forgiven, both now and forever; · You shall not die, but you shall live; · All your struggles and hardships in life are but light and momentary afflictions; they will pass away from you as surely as the sun sets at the end of day. What good and joyous news! Who among us would not quickly say “yes, sir” and “amen” to such promises? What Jesus speaks Jesus delivers. When Jesus promises to deliver happy things, the response “yes sir” is not too difficult to find. II. There are even some negative things that Jesus says to us, to which we can still, readily add our “amen” and “yes, sir.” · God’s Law makes its demands and Jesus says that neither you nor I have measured up to the demand. If we should deny this, if we should refuse to say “yes, sir” to any accusation from God’s Law, we shall be damned. · When Jesus asks you, “Have you lived as if God did not matter and as if you mattered most,” what else shall you say? “Yes, sir” is the only response. The evidence is too overwhelming to say anything else! · Jesus says that He has come to save sinners. Are you a sinner in need of Jesus? YES, SIR! A murderer will quickly admit his guilt if it means he will avoid the death penalty. It is equally easy for you and me to say, “Yes, sir, Jesus! We are indeed sinners! We want to be known and identified and labeled as sinners because You came to earth to save sinners.” III. Not so easy is today’s Gospel. Whenever Jesus speaks, whatever Jesus says, “yes, sir” and “amen” are always the words we are looking for. But then Jesus says impossible things: “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. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be my disciple… Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be My disciple.” Do these Words inspire you? Motivate you? They crucify me. “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate everyone else… he cannot be My disciple.” My response? “This is most certainly true.” Then Jesus breaks my legs: “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple… Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be My disciple.” What words am I looking for? “Yes, sir, Jesus. Amen, Jesus. I cannot be Your disciple.” · I repeat a lie every time I sing Lord, Thee I Love with all my heart (LSB 708). I certainly do love my Lord, but not with all my heart. Jesus occasionally rises somewhat above the pantheon of my idolatry, but only in my finest moments. Those moments are rare and hard to spot. I know I must love Jesus more than all things, but I can hold my idols and smell the skin of their necks. Jesus does not feel that close. Jesus lives in Words. · I am not certain I know what a cross looks like. How can I take one up to follow Jesus? Whenever I think of what I might do, the buttons pop too easily off my shirt. My crosses do not look like my Lord’s cross, where the world’s redemption—my redemption—hung and bled and died. My crosses bear only this one similarity to my Lord’s cross: my Lord Jesus took up His cross out of devotion to me. I also take up my “crosses” out of devotion to me. I cannot be Jesus’ disciple. I know things about me. God knows those things, too. Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind? Should he argue in unprofitable talk, or in words with which he can do no good? What is man, that he can be pure? Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous? Behold, God puts no trust in His holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in His sight; how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks injustice like water! (Job 15:2-3, 14-16) When Jesus speaks, the only thing to say is, “yes, sir.” “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. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be my disciple… Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be My disciple.” Amen, Jesus. You are “justified in Your Words and blameless in Your judgment” (Psalm 51:4). Jesus crucifies us with His Words; but He lives somewhere in those Words. Even when He says impossible things to us, we must nevertheless believe that Jesus’ Words take us exactly where He wants us to be. · Plain truth: neither you nor I can keep the First Commandment and be Jesus’ disciple. All we have is HIS keeping of the commandment. Entwine your fingers into your Lord’s love for God and hold on for dear life. Huddle under His obedience: He who faithfully tended to His Father’s business (Luke 2:49); He who was heard because of His reverence (Hebrews 5:7); He who did not consider equality with God something to be grasped (Philippians 2:6); who was faithful unto death, thus gaining—for Himself and for us—the crown of life (Revelation 2:10). · None of our crosses—neither yours nor mine—none of our crosses will ever suffice. Jesus’ cross will have to be enough. “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” Yes sir, Jesus. Amen, Lord. Even when I manage to conjure a sense of commitment and a feeling of devotion, Jesus must still carry me, as He must likewise carry you. · It is most certainly true that, when salt loses its taste, “it is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile.” But the Lord’s Anointed One has a Name to protect and reputation to uphold. We know who He is! “He is the Holy One of God” (Luke 4:34). When salt loses its taste, “it is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile.” But Jesus has power and devotion to dig the useless up from the dirt. Jesus has already wrenched the saltless ones away from Beelzebul, the lord of the manure pile. · “Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be My disciple.” Do not fear when your Lord Jesus nails you to the cross and crucifies you with His Words. Simply add your “amen” and your “yes, sir” to what Jesus says. Know that the cross is always followed by an empty tomb. _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list [email protected] http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
