The Cost 

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ healed a man with dropsy, leading to
a Sabbath controversy; Luke 14: 1-6. Jesus responded to the people 
wanting good seats by advising them to seek the lowest seats and to 
invite undesirable guest, Luke 14: 7-14. And when the chosen people 
declined Jesus responded with the parable of the great dinner, 
Luke 14: 15-24, suggesting they had other priorities and the Gentiles
would take their place.

All of Jesus parables are challenging, today’s parables are especially 
challenging. The parable of building a tower and war, Luke 14: 25-35, 
and the parable of the Dishonest Steward, Luke 16: 1-13. It is easy to be 
with one who is popular at the moment, but the call of God is not always 
easy. Luke 14: 25-30:

“Now great multitudes accompanied Jesus; and Jesus turned and said to 
them, “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. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does
not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete
it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all
who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to built, and was
not able to finish.’”

Luke 14: 25-30, can be a very difficult passage to read as Jesus is 
suppose to be a Lord and Savior of love, not of hate. It is great to be with
the multitudes but to carry the cross is very difficult. Difficult to carry the
weight and to have the responsibility while feeling the burden of the world
upon your shoulders. 

In this passage the word “hate” is not a call to develop an intense dislike, 
but rather is a call to love others less than our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. At the time of this parable the people were not aware that Jesus 
would hang on a cross at Calvary as Jesus was calling them to lay down 
what they were doing and to come and follow him. Our Lord and Savior, 
Jesus Christ is not interested in halfway disciples for halfway disciples 
are like seeds that fall among the rocks. They lie there and do not grow 
and spread the word of God.

Committing to follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a commitment 
one must stop and carefully look at for being a disciple can be like being 
called to war. “Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war, with the 
cross of Jesus going on before, Christ, the royal Master, leads us against 
the foe; forward into battle see his banner go!”

Luke 14: 31-32

“Or what king, going to encounter another king in war, will not 
sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten 
thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty 
thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he 
sends an embassy and asks terms of peace.”

It is about serving, “I’ve come to serve you, I’ve come to serve you. And, 
if you know my Father’s love the way you say you do then you will 
serve each other too.”

2 Corinthians 5:15:

“And Jesus died for all, that those who might live no longer 
for themselves but for him who for their sake was raised.”

Luke 14: 33-35:

“So, therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has 
cannot be my disciple. “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, 
how shall its saltiness be restored? It is fit neither for the land nor 
for the dunghill; men throw it away. He who has ears to hear, let 
him hear.”

A commitment is not an easy thing to do for many if they cannot see
the light at the end of the tunnel, let alone the length of the tunnel. In the
darkness of the daylight one may feel scared, uncertain. Wondering the 
necessity of the commitment. In that desire for commitment the word 
hate is not a word of love but a word of distaste within ones mouth and 
heart and soul. In the battle of war one may lose track of the foundation 
they have laid in the name of God the Father.

“Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish,
all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build,
and was not able to finish.’”

Thus,

“Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness
be restored? It is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill;
(dunghill: anything foul, a degraded place or condition) men
throw it away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The parable of Building A Tower and Making War asked the question,
what are the cost of serving God? What we cannot see, we cannot lose.
What we can lose is eternity in hearing and seeing the word of God right 
before us. He who has ears to hear, may not be able to hear let alone 
see.The parable of the Dishonest Steward asked the question, where do
you sit not on the pew, but on the fence? Are you trying to serve God so
that others may be served or are you trying to serve God and the world?
Let us exam the parable of the Dishonest Steward, Luke 16: 1-13.

“Jesus also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a
steward, and charges were brought to the rich man that this man
was wasting his goods. The rich man called the steward and said
to him, ‘What is it that I hear about you? Turn in your account of
your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’ And the
steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking
the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and
I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that people may
receive me into their houses when I am put out of the stewardship.’
So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first,
‘How much do you owe my master?’ The debtor replied, ‘A hundred
measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down
quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said unto another, ‘And how much
do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ 

“He said to him, ‘Take your bill and write eighty.’ The master
commended the dishonest steward for his prudence; for the sons of this
world are wiser in their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell
you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, 
(Mammon: Greek, dishonest wealth) so that when it fails they may 
receive you into the eternal habitations. “He who is faithful in a very 
little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is 
dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful in the 
unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if 
you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give 
you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters; for 
either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to 
the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

In this Gospel, Jesus has a great deal to say about the dangers 
associated with money, which often sadly competes with God for our 
affection. Wrong attitudes about money can often bring about spiritual 
ruin but at the same time it is possible to use God’s money in God like 
ways. 

There is tension between works and grace, we should not believe we get
to heaven by works, but we must also hear the warning in this parable 
about faithful stewardship; “what belongs to another,” verse 12, the 
“dishonest wealth” of verse 11, is also God’s and is entrusted to our 
stewardship while we are here on earth. 

In this world we are prepared for eternity and tests are laid before us to 
see if we are willing to live by kingdom values.

“If I were to ask you this question, “What is the most important 
part of our physical body?” I would probably get answers like the heart, 
the brain, the lungs and for those of us who really love our food, the 
stomach would be mentioned. All of the above parts are vitally important. 
Without them and many other parts working together we couldn’t 
function and survive. Much like the church, it takes many individuals 
working together for it to Function and survive. But there is another 
important part of our body we tend to over look. That is the tongue. 
Our tongue is an important part of our body. But yet a very dangerous 
weapon. It not only destroys friendships and causes the ruination of 
lives and it can destroy our relation with God. Speak with caution.”

I ask of this church family, of all Christians, to speak with caution and 
look deep down within your heart and examine where you are. If you had
trouble hearing, if you had trouble seeing, why would you come to worship?

What is the cost? The cost of a sharp tongue, the cost of having an 
opinion with respect for oneself and those around them.

“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and
love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. No
one can serve God and money.”

The parable of the Dishonest Servant maybe a difficult parable to
Understand. The problem appears to be that Jesus is praising a dishonest 
manager for his dishonesty. The truth is Jesus is not commending the 
dishonest servant but commending his initiative. Jesus calls us to be as 
shrewd as the children of the world. The difference is that our Lord and 
Savior is calling you and I to not be “street smart” in our tongue, or are 
actions.

We are called to be street smart with regard to the kingdom of God. For 
God is calling us to take our spiritual lives, our calling, as serious as we 
are suppose to take our finances. We are being called to take seriously 
our money as we do our sports and livelihood. It’s all about being a 
steward which in the Old testament a steward is a man who is “over a 
house.” 

In the New Testament there are two words translated as steward: 

1.) epitropos, one who is entrusted, a guardian; 

and 2.) oikonomos, which is a manager, or a superintendent. We are 
called by God to be the epitropos and the oikonomos of His house. To 
use what we have learned in the world around to survive in wisdom in 
God’s house to serve him and share his word with others.

In my life “Bread for myself is a material question; bread for my neighbor 
is a Spiritual question.” The question is what is the cost, in the wisdom 
of Mother Teresa who worked with the poorest of the poor, “The more you 
have the less you give, and the less you have the more you give.” In the 
words of wisdom from University of California emeritus Charles C. West, 
who God has called home. “We turn to God for help when our foundations 
are shaking, only to learn that it is God who is shaking them.”

The year was 1953 as reporters gathered at a Chicago railway station
waiting to meet the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize winner. He was a rather large 
man, well over six feet tall. Cameras were flashing as he walked. All of a 
sudden he saw an elderly African American woman struggling to carry her 
two large suitcases. “Excuse me” the man said to the reporters as he went 
over and picked up her suitcases and escorted the woman to her waiting 
bus. The Nobel Peace Prize winner everyone was watching was Dr. Albert 
Schweitzer, the famous missionary doctor who invested his life helping the 
poor in Africa. 

A member of the media stood back watching and was heard to say, “This is 
the first time I have ever seen a sermon walking.” The measure of any man 
or woman is not their fame, not what they say or do, but what they do. The 
cost? Loving another as God loves you.

Let us be in an attitude of prayer,

Father, may our will be not of this world but of your will. May we be a 
servant of your word to those around us. And Father, may we be
responsible in a responsible manner with the resources you 
have given us and use them not divided but united in a 
responsible manner of you so that others who gather 
in your house may gather to grow in your word. 
Father, may nobody leave your house 
devoted to the one and despising 
the other. 
Amen 




Call To Worship

Leader: Jesus said some things that sound so hard and impossible, 
that if we read them apart from other things....

Response: Jesus said, they might discourage anyone from even 
trying to follow him.

Leader: Jesus came to give us the priceless gift of everlasting life 

Response: but Jesus will not force it on us....

Leader: The primary condition for us to receive eternal life is 
that we may receive....

Response: eternal life is that we want it more than anything else, 
and that we have asked Jesus to forgive us of our sins 
and welcomed him into our heart and soul.

All: We should love our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ more than
anything else as we know life in the sin of the flesh. For the 
only way of eternal life is through my personal commitment 
to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Prayer In Unison

Father, Father, there is so much in this world that I don’t understand. I see
people with money, people with status and titles who seem to have it all.
Father in my life may I realize the priorities, that money, status, and 
titles do bring happiness, temporary happiness. In my life Father I 
long for long term happiness which I can only have and receive 
not through this world but through your unconditional love. 
Amen



09/19/2004 JWM




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