Counting the Cost, Choosing Life (Ashtabula)

Welcome & Announcements

Prelude

Call to Worship

Leader: Moses stood before the people and said, "I have set before you life and death."

People: We have come to choose life.

Leader: Jesus stood before the crowds and said, "Whoever does not carry the cross cannot be my disciple."

People: We come to count the cost and follow him.

Leader: Come, let us worship the God who calls us, challenges us, and gives us true life.

Opening Hymn 415 Take Up Thy Cross

Opening Prayer

Creator God, you set before us the great choice: to follow you. It is a choice that costs us our old selves but promises new life. Strengthen us as we seek to answer your call. When we hesitate, guide us. When we stumble, forgive us. Open our hearts this day to your challenging and life-giving Word, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Old Testament Reading: Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Deuteronomy 30:15–20 NIV

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Hymn: 382 Have Thine Own Way, Lord

New Testament Reading: Luke 14:25-33

Luke 14:25–33 NIV

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he 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. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

Sermon “The Great Choice

Let us pray. Gracious God, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as the Word is proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us today. Amen.

I have a vivid memory that some of you might share. It’s the memory of a Friday night at the Blockbuster Video store. You’d walk in, ready for a movie night, and be met with an entire wall of brightly colored boxes. Hundreds, maybe thousands of choices. You’d wander the aisles, picking up a comedy, then a drama, then an action movie. You’d read the back, put it back. An hour could go by, and you’d leave with nothing, or maybe just the same movie you’d seen a dozen times before.

Today, that same feeling comes from scrolling endlessly through Netflix or Hulu. We have more choices for entertainment than any people in history, and yet we spend half our time just… scrolling. It’s a paralysis by analysis. And it’s a perfect picture of our modern world, which tells us that the greatest freedom is to have endless options, to never be tied down, to always keep the door open for something better.

It is into this world of overwhelming, and often trivial, choices that the Word of God speaks a dramatically different message. Imagine standing with the Israelites on the plains of Moab. The desert is behind them, the promised land before them. And the prophet Moses simplifies everything—all of life, all of their future—into one, stark, ultimate choice. He says, “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity… Therefore, choose life.”

Generations later, another crowd gathers around another teacher on the road to Jerusalem. Jesus of Nazareth looks out at the large crowds following him, and he, too, presents them with a great choice. But his language is even more demanding, more personal, more shockingly costly. He tells them that to truly follow him, to be his disciple, they must be willing to give up everything.

Today, in this sanctuary, as we hear these ancient words and prepare to come to the Lord's Table, that same great choice is set before each and every one of us. It is the choice to move past our culture of keeping our options open and instead make a whole-hearted commitment. For what Moses and Jesus both knew is this: to truly choose life, we must first be willing to count the cost of discipleship.

And the cost, according to Jesus, is steep. He says, “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.”

Let’s just pause there for a moment. Those are hard words. For many of us, they are offensive words. Jesus, the one who commands us to love our neighbor and even our enemy, is now telling us to hate our family? It feels like a contradiction. It feels impossible. And it's meant to. Jesus is using shocking language—hyperbole—to get our undivided attention. He’s shaking us out of our comfortable, casual faith.

In the language and culture of Jesus' day, "hate" was not always about a feeling of animosity. It was often a way of talking about priority. It meant "to love less by comparison." Jesus isn't calling for the destruction of the family; he's calling for the re-ordering of our loves.

Think of it like our solar system. The sun is at the center. Its massive gravitational pull is what holds all the planets in their proper, life-sustaining orbits. Without the sun at the center, everything would fly apart into chaos. For the disciple, Jesus is the sun. He must be the gravitational center of our lives. Our love for our spouse, our children, our parents, our very selves—these things are good and beautiful, like planets. But they find their proper, healthy orbit only when Christ is at the center. When we put one of them in the center, the whole system goes haywire.

The cost of discipleship is allowing Christ to be our center. It is giving him our primary allegiance. What does that look like today? It might look like the parents who decide to make Sunday worship a non-negotiable priority, even when it means their child might get less playing time on a travel sports team. It’s counting the cost of putting God’s rhythm of rest and worship ahead of the world’s frantic pace. It might look like the employee who is pressured by a boss to cut a corner or be dishonest with a client, and who chooses integrity instead, knowing it could cost them a promotion. It is saying, in these moments big and small, "When my loyalty to you comes into conflict with my loyalty to my family, my job, my desires, or my own life, you must come first."

This isn't a decision to be made lightly. That’s why Jesus immediately tells two short parables. A man who wants to build a tower first sits down and calculates the cost, to see if he has enough to finish it. A king who is going to war first considers whether his ten thousand soldiers can stand against twenty thousand. In both cases, the message is the same: Don't start what you can't finish. Don't make an impulsive promise you can't keep. Look at the cost. Understand the demand. This is a deliberate, sober, life-defining choice.

So why on earth would anyone make this choice? Why pay such a high price?

The answer comes from Moses. Because the alternative to this costly discipleship is not a free and easy life. The alternative is death. And when Moses says “death,” he doesn’t just mean the end of our physical existence. He means a life wasted on things that don’t matter. He means giving our hearts to lesser gods—the god of our career, the god of our bank account, the god of our own comfort. It’s the death that comes from a slow, spiritual starvation, the one that leaves us empty and wondering, “Is this all there is?”

And what is the promise? It is life. Not just survival, but life abundant. Life with purpose. Life lived in right relationship with God and with our neighbors. When Moses gives the people God’s commandments, he isn’t handing them a set of burdensome restrictions. He’s giving them, as one of my commentaries put it, “prescriptions that lead to the fullness of life.” These are the guardrails that keep us on the path of blessing and joy. They are the instructions for how to be truly, fully human, the way God created us to be.

This brings us to the most important truth of all. To count the cost and follow Jesus is the ultimate way we “choose life.” Now, that might sound like a heavy burden. But the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, writing from a Nazi prison cell, helps us see it differently. He reminds us that the call to discipleship is itself a gift of grace. Think about that for a moment. The demanding call to follow Jesus isn't a burden God places on us; it is a gracious invitation out of a life wasted on lesser things. The fact that God calls us at all is the gift. It's not as if we get the call and then we get grace; the call is the grace, all wrapped up in one. And that is Good News, because it means this isn't a life we achieve on our own strength. It is a life we can only receive as a gift, by centering ourselves on the One who is the very source of Life itself.

And so we are left with this great choice. We are no longer wandering the aisles, paralyzed by endless options. The path has been made clear. The one great choice—the choice for life—is before us.

And the Good News is this: the one who calls us to choose does not leave us to choose alone. In the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we see the cost and the promise made visible. In his cross, we see the ultimate cost he was willing to pay. In his empty tomb, we see the ultimate promise of new life that is freely given to us. This is a life we do not earn by our perfect discipleship. It is a life of pure grace, given to strengthen us for the journey.

So today, consider the choice set before you. Whether you have made this choice a thousand times and need to make it again, or you are still counting the cost and are afraid, or you are simply weary from the journey, remember this: the grace of God is enough. It is enough to give you the courage to choose life, today and all the days to come. Amen.

Offertory & Doxology

We have heard the Word, reminding us of the cost and promise of our faith. Now, we respond. One of the tangible ways we respond to God’s grace is through the giving of our tithes and offerings. As we prepare our hearts to give, I invite our ushers to come forward to receive this morning's offering.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise him, all creatures here below;

Praise him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Prayer of Dedication

Generous God, from whom we receive all life and every good gift, we return to you now this small portion of your abundance. We dedicate these offerings as a tangible sign of our choice to follow you. Use them, and use us, to share your life-giving love with this community and the world. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.

Prayer of Confession (In Unison)

Merciful God, you have set before us life and death, but we are slow to choose. You call us to take up our cross, but we are afraid of the cost. We cling to our possessions, our priorities, our very selves. Forgive our shallow commitment. Transform our fearful hearts, that we may give ourselves fully to you and walk in your life-giving way. We pray in the name of Jesus, who gave his all for us. Amen.(A time for silent confession)

Words of Assurance

Pastor: Hear the good news: Christ died for us while we were yet sinners; that proves God's love toward us. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.

People: In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. Glory to God. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer & The Lord’s Prayer

Having confessed our sins and been assured of God's pardoning grace, we can now come before our Creator with the confidence of beloved children, ready to lift up the prayers of our hearts. Let us pray.

Holy God, who sets before us life and death and bids us to choose life, we give you thanks. Thank you that even when we are slow to choose, your grace is quick to find us. Thank you for the forgiveness we have received, which clears the way for us to speak and to listen to you now.

We pray today for this congregation and for the choices we face. Grant us clarity to see your path and courage to walk in it. When the cost of discipleship feels too high, remind us of the promise of life that is found only in you.

We lift to you the joys and concerns of our community. Be with those who are facing illness or uncertainty; grant them your healing peace. Be with those who mourn a loss; comfort them with your presence. Be with those who feel lost, anxious, or alone; guide them with your light.

Strengthen us, O God, to live out the choice we have made today. Equip us to be the church you have called us to be—a place of radical welcome, a source of unwavering hope, and a community that truly supports one another in love.

Hear our prayers, O God, and shape us by your Spirit, until we are fully conformed to the image of your Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, and who taught us to pray together, saying:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

Anthem: Come to the Table of the Lord

Thanksgiving and Communion

Friends, we have heard the Word that calls us to choose. We have confessed our failings and been assured of God’s grace. We have lifted our prayers for one another and for the world. And now, our Lord invites us to his Table.

This is not a meal for the perfect, but for the hungry. It is the spiritual food for the long journey of discipleship. It is the grace that strengthens us to live out the very choices God has set before us. Here, we remember the cost Christ paid, and we receive the life he offers.

So come. Come not because you are worthy, but because he has invited you. Come to be fed. Come to be strengthened. Come and taste the goodness of the Lord. We begin this meal, this feast, with the responsive reading found on page 13 of the hymnal, or if you prefer, on the screen. Join me in the Great Thanksgiving.

The Great Thanksgiving

Breaking the Bread

Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. The bread which we break is a sharing in the body of Christ.

The cup over which we give thanks is a sharing in the blood of Christ.

Giving the Bread and Cup

Closing Prayer (in Unison)

Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Closing Hymn 295 In The Cross of Christ I Glory

Benediction

Go now from this place, nourished by grace and strengthened for the journey. As you face the choices of this coming week, do not be afraid to count the cost, for our God has promised you life.

And may the love of God the Father, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all, today and forever. Amen.

Postlude