Sermon for September 7, 2025 (Luke 14:25-35) by Rev. David Domanski
Building a building isn’t cheap and it’s not easy to do. A lot of developers have put out a big proud sign with their names on it over a downtown lot and then gone bankrupt, leaving an embarrassing start of steel and concrete, but nothing else to show for their investments and efforts.
And going to war is risky too. A king, a president, or maybe a dictator is putting the fate and future of a whole nation on the line—at the cost of countless lives and their own reputations.
And perhaps surprisingly, sea salt, mostly sodium chloride, also contains other minerals that can be worked into fertilizer to make soil more productive. But unfortunately, sea salt breaks down rather quickly, losing those helpful elements.
In our text, Jesus talks about each of these. And they’re each illustrations of how difficult the Christian life can be. But these are just the illustrations. Jesus also gives us a scenario of living our lives following Christ that we really may face—Someone you love very much—a spouse, a child, a parent, an in-law—isn’t a Christian and not only makes that obvious but takes every opportunity to pick at your faith. Day after day. Morning, noon, and night. A constant barrage. That’s a tough life! To bear it takes courage and strength. And that’s the real-life lesson Jesus teaches us in our text. Jesus tells us that it takes courage and strength to be His disciple. And He tells us that, as a disciple, we will be required to make some important sacrifices.
The first sacrifice we must make to be a disciple of Jesus is to decide to follow Him alone (vv 25–27). Eager crowds are following Jesus; everyone wants in. So Jesus alerts them to whatfollowing Him means. Our text is part of what some call Jesus’ “travel narrative” in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus’ final trip to Jerusalem. Jesus knows He’s headed to His cross. It’s not a trip everyone willdecide is worth the price of taking. Jesus is walking a definite path; some would prefer another. But one cannot walk both ways. From our Old Testament Reading, Jesus tells those who would follow Him: “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil" (Deut 30:15). And Jesus also says, “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” (16:13). Our Savior warns us that the path of discipleship could come to this: hating one’s own family (v 26). We are, of course, to love father, mother, family. The Bible, though, uses “hate” to describe anyone who is not the loved one (Gen 29:30–33). There can only be one Number One. A father who sets a wicked example, the mother who neglects bringing her children to church, grown children who keep their own children from Baptism, sister-in-law who protests prayer at the Thanksgiving table none of these can be the loved one. There can be only one. And Jesus’ trip to Jerusalem will take him to the cross, and being His disciple means following Him to our crosses. Loving Christ over husband, wife, kids, family is one of the most painful crosses! It takes courage and strength, and it is the first sacrifice we are called to make as a disciple of Jesus.
The second sacrifice that we must be ready to make as a disciple of Christ is that we must be ready to pay its price (vv 28–33). Here, Jesus gives two of those illustrations we talked about. In the analogy of the ill-advised tower, everyone can see if it’s left unfinished, and it earns the builder mockery. He failed to count the cost! And then any king who’d go to war outnumbered two to one would be a fool for failing to count the cost. And so what are the costs when it comes to being disciples of Jesus? Maybe losing the affection of our families (9:59–62)! Or, as Jesus suggests, maybe losing all of our worldly possessions (v 33). Like the nest egg that you worry God won’t stretch far enough, the extra 3 or 4 or 5 percent of income that would complete your tithe, the weekend place at the lake that you plan to hand down to your children. Jesus says that you cannot have the world and follow Him too (9:57–58).
Following Jesus, being a disciple, will be costly! Will we start to build that tower, follow Jesus, and then not finish? As Christians, we’ll always be outnumbered, like the king going out to war. Will we settle for peace with the world and lose Christ? It takes courage and strength to follow Christ!
And the last sacrifice Jesus tells us that we will make to be His disciple involves us being the salt that the Holy Spirit uses to point others to Christ (vv 34–35). This may seem an odd analogy for Jesus to make, but Jesus isn’t talking about table salt here. Salt in the past had been used as fertilizer. If you work it into the soil before the helpful elements break down, it has long-term benefits. But if the fertilizing salt is not used in time for it to be beneficial, then what good is it?
So, knowing that Jesus calls us to follow Him only and forget everything else, knowing that we may have to give up our possessions and our families when we follow Him, and knowing that we will have to share His good news of forgiveness with others, are we still willing to follow? Well, for His closest friends, their answer was, “Yes! We will follow you, Jesus, to thecross, to the empty tomb, and all the way to heaven!” And by your baptism into Jesus’ death and resurrection, you have followed Jesus too and you are His disciples. And because you are a disciple of Jesus, that means that He has made you “salt.” Remember that salt was sometimes used to fertilize the soil, and by Jesus mixing you into the soil of the world, it is His plan for you to make the world a better, richer place as you set a godly example for others and tell them about Jesus’ forgiveness and love. You are used by the Holy Spirit to point others to the perfect and all-sufficient saving work of Christ.
But living as God’s salt is not easy. We live in a hostile world that criticizes and mocks our values and our Savior, and it takes courage and strength to do. When the going gets tough, it may seem like the easiest thing to do would be to withdraw from the world and keep the joy of the Gospel to ourselves, but Jesus demands that we be ALL IN! Being a disciple will be difficult! It takes courage and strength!
And so we prayed in the Collect: “O merciful Lord, You did not spare Your only Son but delivered Him up for us all. Grant us courage and strength to take up the cross and follow Him.” And Jesus does give us courage and strength, maintaining our saltiness, as we abide always in the Scriptures and in the gathering of all the faithful around Word and Sacrament. Only by the very grace of God can we have the courage and strength to bear our cross and follow Jesus. But this He gives.
Costly. Painful. Difficult. Discipleship. And with it, life and good. Amen.