May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters-yes, even his own life-he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not 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, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple". (Luke 14:33)

In Christ's name and to his glory, dear friends: We have a saying-Do not miss the forest for the trees. I think that you know what that means. When we hear such a saying often and in different circumstances the words make a great deal of sense. The idea of this saying is that there may be many individual details (many trees) to what you see; but do not let your eyes get caught up by one detail and miss the big picture (the forest).

As we look at this Gospel reading which has both direct instruction to us from Jesus plus a couple of his parables-little stories that are meant to reinforce the spiritual truth-let us not miss the forest for the trees. Jesus' point is clear. He is teaching our souls the truth that no one, no thing, dare be more important to us than Jesus, our Lord. Jesus wants us to walk away from here saying in our hearts-I can do without lots of things in my life, even very dear and good things; but I cannot do without my Jesus. He wants us to everyday think and act in harmony with the words we just sang. To whom but you, who can alone for sin atone, Lord, shall I flee. We use those words as our central thought. And may God bless us in this hour of worship.

Nothing, no one, (be it ever so good and precious to us) is to be more dear to us than our Lord Jesus. It sets us back a bit at first when we hear Jesus say: If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. In a misguided attempt to understand these words sometimes people have spent many words trying to define and explain what Jesus means by "hate". Some think Jesus cannot mean what he says here, for after all, it is sinful to hate. But to try and soften the word "hate" is not necessary and even prevents us from getting the gist of what Jesus teaches us here.

Jesus is not teach us to do something wrong when he says these words. He is asking us to think about something. It is as if he is asking us questions like this: What does it mean to follow after me and be my disciple? Is it not this-that you see that the only way you will get to heaven is by me, by my rescue from sin through my life and death and resurrection? Yes! We certainly will not wake up after we die in the place where saints live because we are saints by conduct-never having sinned, never having been selfish, always honoring God and living for him in sincerity having never failed from the conception to the grave. No, it will only be because of Jesus, his sacrificial death for our sins and his promise that he who believes, (trusts) in him will be saved. So, if this is our one and only hope for heaven, is it not true that you will avoid at all costs, yes, even "hate" whatever might try to take the place of Jesus in our lives? Will having good parents or children or spouse that you can be proud of get you into heaven? Does the Bible say: he who has a good family will be saved? No, of course not. So watch out lest you cling to them as more important to you than Jesus is. Love them, yes! But if, if, if the day ever came that you had to choose between loved ones and your Jesus, know who can get you into heaven and who cannot. Will a lack of stress and trouble get you into heaven? Does the Bible say: he whose life is a bowl of cherries will be saved? No, of course not. So do not shrink from the cross-life as if being comfortable is the most important thing. Whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

The Scriptures in other places teach and urge the same. You who love the Lord, hate evil! The Psalm writer says to believers (Psalm 97:10). God's will for you is that you believe in him for salvation and that you at the same time live and speak in such a way that you honor his holy name. Satan fights for the exact opposite. Satan wants you in hell. He knows that the only way that he will drag you there is if he snuffs out the faith, the trust and dependence, you have in Jesus. So he will be trying to get you to want and need something or someone more than Jesus. How will we ever stand up against Satan's power and stealth? Only by the Lord's grace and power saving us and working in us. So parents push their children to Jesus even while they love and cherish them. And friends counsel each other to put your hope in the Lord (Psalm 130) for safety. And children hug mom and dad and say good night to them but pray to Jesus to "guard them safely through the night and wake them with the morning light." We do not need each other as much as we each need Jesus.

Jesus' two parables teach us the same. Think of getting to heaven as building a house. What will it take to build this house of yours? In other words, what will it cost to get to heaven? If we do not have the resources in our bank account to get the job done, if we don't have enough skill and goodness to buy our way to heaven, we best be seeking help now, before it's too late. And here is our help-the Lord Jesus-speaking to us in this parable. He is our righteousness, the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame (1 Peter 2:6) Or, think of getting to heaven as winning the battle against Satan and sin and death. Do we have it in us to beat him every day, all day long, for all our life? If not, then we best run to Jesus, who crushed him under foot for us, and cry out to Jesus, Lord have mercy-share with us your victory over sin and death as you have promised.

Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple. God help us to see this simple message that Jesus has for us today; and may we always from the heart say: to whom but you, who can alone for sin atone, Lord, shall I flee?   Amen.