“Budgeting For the Kingdom”
I). What we have here, at the beginning of our story is a clash of values; what
has priorities?
Not that one is bad, not that one is good but what is best? Indeed, what value
governs all else?
A). Almost 30 years ago Kathy and I decided that we wanted to sail the coastal
areas of our beautiful nation. It meant that our lives would center on our goal
for the subsequent years:
1). The type and size of boat
2). Food; clothing, charts, sailing knowledge
and experience.
Virtually all we did, thought about and planned for, reflected our desire to
have a great experience.
B). Two to three years ago, many of you sitting here made a conscience decision
to keep open the doors of the church even after some believed that this extension
of God’s family was destined to close the doors of this historic church.
During this process, you set about identifying your assets, your beliefs, your
goals and a set of checks and balances to measure your progress. In all of this,
you established a “baseline” that would govern all else: “We
are a congregational church focused on Jesus, a family of people made alive
by their mutual trust in Him and submissive to His will.”
Ergo, one might believe that all efforts, endeavors and relationships in effort
to keep this church family viable would be predicated on the foundational elements
of your faith in Jesus, the Christ.
In your deliberations, my sense would be that you asked the following question:
“Do we have what it takes or are we like the person building the tower
who discovers that there was only budget for the foundation?”
Page two
II). As Jesus speaks to his followers In our story this morning, He confronts
them with some very “grating” thoughts: “if you come to me
and do not hate your father, mother, brother, sister you cannot me my Disciple”
(Luke 14:25) Parenthetically, this selection of verses answers the nagging question
of Jesus marital relationship for from the list given it is obvious that Jesus
was never married; distain for his mother-in law was never mentioned!
A). First, let’s clarify: Jesus is not telling us to have hate and distain
in our hearts toward our families. In the text, the Greek word for hate is “Miseo,”
In essence, it states that if there is conflict, faith and discipleship MUST
take priority; must be the focal point, the Rosetta stone by which all else
is measured and valued.
This illustration of our Savior is referred to as a “Semitic Hyperbole.”
It is a statement that “exaggerates contrast” thereby leading the
listener to see with greater clarity the truth of the illustration.
1). “Once, someone was talking to a great scholar about a younger man.
He stated that “so-and-so” states that he is your student!”
The teacher thought carefully and then replied: “He might have attended
my lectures but he was never one of my students.” While there was some
truth there was even greater truth!
III). It is one of the great handicaps of the church that there are so many
distant followers and so few, real Disciples.
A). It is an unfortunate truth that the church has been the bearer of it’s
own bad news. We have at times set the bar so low, many church families have
such few expectations of there
Page Three
membership that when called upon, the membership slips silently into background.
1). I once knew a church that was very serious about the requirement of it membership.
They tried to demonstrate that being
a Christian placed demands on every part of your life. The Pastor would say
to visitors: “I’m not sure that you really want to join this church.
Here’s what we expect: Study groups, tithing, and a commitment to service
in the community.” While many left, many were attracted to this “serious”
call to commitment.
B). With His words, Jesus states: if you want to follow me, you must commit
to God’s Kingdom. “Whoever does not carry his cross….cannot
be my disciple”
Here and now we come to an understanding that for many of us, we are more eager
to comment on life and it’s involvement than we are to commit to work
to life’s struggles and it’s resolution, and betterment.
To give meaning and purpose to life we must immerse ourselves in our faith,
our families and the justice we can bring about through these truths. We must
look at our goals and then resolve to work to meet them!
1). How many of us, when we looked lovingly into the eyes of the “love
of our lives” said: “Let’s get married, if it gets hard, we’ll
just quit!”
How about the purchase of your home or car? Did you tell the bank manager: “sure
we’ll pay the mortgage…until we want to take that Caribbean vacation”.
2). Being a Christian is like becoming a parent. Beforehand you cannot know
everything that a new child will demand of you. Indeed, it may be better that
you don’t know how many nights you will be awake, how many gray hairs
you will gain through worry. Only a fool would consider having a child without
some understanding that life will change!
IV). In our lesson today, Jesus argues against “casual” faith in
the very same way we would argue against “casual”
Page Four
parenting. We will never know the full demands that our faith will require
us; either the struggles or the celebrations. In addition, like parenting, faith
brings commitment as well as change in our lives.
A). Viable faith is not something that we are born with, it is not something
that our parents can instill in us, it is not something that our friends can
lead us to. It is, as Paul states: The “Goal” that we must press
forward too! It is a miracle in process taken step-by-step in the company of
fellow believers.
B). Commitment to ones faith is foundational. We know, from our historical perspective
that Jesus is “on the road” to Jerusalem; the “Cross!”
Thus we also know that this illustration reveals a greater truth for us of God’s
love and commitment: “For God So loved the world that He gave…..”
He (God) committed to us!
God’s love for each of us was and is a miracle in process that Jesus did
not shrink from.