Sermon Tone Analysis
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Intro:
Price is Right show
Knowing the price of something but not necessarily its cost.
The problem.
Accelerated disruption in our culture has highlighted our weak discipleship.
Too many were willing to “pay up” to be in the church but didn’t understand the true cost.
Barna research: We’ve probably lost about 1 in 3 completely.
another 2 in 10 are drifting from their faith.
The cost attached to knowing, following and loving Jesus in a pandemic has been too high.
The changes to our traditional models of “doing church” have disrupted their expectations and willingness to participate.
For quite some time we’ve been emphasizing that discipleship - following Jesus - and making disciples need to be our key focus.
We’re in a crisis where this is absolutely essential.
While this may sound and feel like a new circumstance, it’s not.
Jesus had to be explicit about his expectations on more than one occasion.
He’s going to tell us that we’re not like game show contestants who might win a prize or two because we know the price of a thing.
He tells us that the cost is staggering but it’s worth it.
Context: Luke chapter 14.
That crowd wasn’t so very different than us when we’re being entertained.
They liked the food, the excitement of seeing a miracle or a healing, maybe a hint of rebellion in the air.
Or perhaps just curiosity.
But Jesus knew that their motives couldn’t tolerate the cost of what it truly meant to follow him.
First, he sets
The Relational Cost:
Jesus means what he says but he’s also willing to use hyperbole or exaggeration to make his point.
In this case, he wants us to understand the priority of relationships.
It’s simple: We can do what Jesus wants, or we can do what others want.
But wow, that’s harsh, Jesus!
Rule of bible interpretation: the bible interprets itself.
To pull this verse completely out of context of the passage and the rest of the Bible is to make it contradictory to the intent of the whole Word.
Jesus himself told us to honor our father and mother.
No, Jesus is saying that by comparison, our love for others must be that much lower a priority than loving and following Him.
The paradox is, when we love Jesus that much we’re enabled to love our children, spouses, parents, friends even more because we are becoming more and more like our Lord who gave the greatest love possible.
We’ll be willing to love and serve them in the best possible way.
The Sacrificial Cost:
It’s not just what someone else’s agenda may be.
We do a pretty good job of following ourselves first.
The greatest struggle in the Christian life is to respond to “Thy will or MY will.”
Jesus next startling statement on the cost of following is to tell us to go and die.
To self.
it’s clear that Jesus knew our biggest struggle in following Him would be choosing between our our own self-interest and His plan for life.
The answer is to simply choose to “end” this life.
Not literally, of course.
But to consider life as a “series of deaths.”
That’s self-denial.
Paul wrote:
It’s a sacrifice of the things that we think will make us happy so we can choose Christ’s life as our model and find true deep satisfaction.
Calculating the Cost
One time on the Price is Right (9/2008), a contestant (Terry Kneiss) bid the exact cost of a Showcase.
One man, Ted Slauson, had constantly watched the show, noted what products consistently showed up and the price.
He used statistical analysis to legitimately determine the exact prices of the items in the showcase.
He signaled the price ($23,743) to Terry on stage.
They won.
Can you imagine the hours of study and concentration that went into learning all that just to win a camper, karaoke machine and a pool table as well as the other showcase of mainly trips.
Can you imagine the difference in our lives if we put in a tenth of the effort to follow Jesus that these guys did to win prizes?
Jesus likens it to calculating the effort it takes in construction and in war.
When we count the cost, we get salty.
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