The best thing to say to a pastor after you hear a sermon that moves you is not, "That was a good sermon." That's a little better than saying, "That was a lousy sermon," but in saying, "That was a good sermon," you may be missing the point of preaching. The point of preaching is for the listeners to put the Word of God into action.
Soren Kierkegaard, the Danish theologian, says that the role of listeners in a devotional address is not that of an audience at a play. The pastor's role, he says, is not that of an actor on stage. The pastor is like a prompter in the wings who is trying to help the actors on stage say and do the right things according to the script. The people are on stage. God is the audience. In other words, God will judge the pastor on how well he/she follows the script. God will judge the hearers on how well they act out the script on the stage of life.
Something like that is happening in our text. After giving his hearers some harsh and hard challenges regarding discipleship, Jesus says, "Let anyone with ears to hear, listen" (Luke 14:35). In the Hebrew tradition, to listen and hear means that we don't just appreciate an idea or how it is presented, but put that idea into action. Jesus, who was a Jew, challenged his hearers to make their faith active in discipleship. In Jewish thinking, to have ears that hear means action.
Jesus calls his hearers to count the cost of discipleship. He uses three illustrations: "hating" family, building a tower or an army, and retaining "saltiness." These ideas are challenging enough. When you add to this formula that Jesus is not satisfied with his hearers just agreeing with him, but expects them (and us) to put his words into action, the revolutionary nature of Christian discipleship is revealed.
To understand this difficult verse (Luke 14:20) about hating family, it is helpful to look at the historical setting of the text. First, Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem where he would face a cross. Large crowds were gathering. Many people in the crowd thought Jesus was going to establish a worldly empire of power and glory. They were wrong. Many were not interested in being disciples of the way of the cross.
In his book, Imitation of Christ, Thomas à Kempis puts it this way: "Jesus has many lovers of his kingdom, but few followers of his way." In today's terms, Jesus has many admirers who think of him as a great teacher or wonderful leader, but are not committed to him as Lord and Savior. Being an admirer costs nothing. Discipleship means adjusting all other loyalties. Discipleship means change in behavior. On his way to the cross, Jesus said that being a disciple means picking up your cross and following him. To believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior costs a lot. Jesus was separating the admirers from the disciples as he approached the cross.
Second, Jesus was a Jew. That's another historical factor in understanding the harsh words about hate in Luke 14:26. If you don't enter a Hebrew way of thinking, you can't understand this verse as Jesus intended it to be understood. In Hebrew thinking there is often exaggeration for emphasis. Consider Jesus' story of a man with a tree growing out of his eye looking for a speck in his brother's eye (Matthew 7:3). Jesus could have said, "Stop all that judgmental thinking." Instead he used an exaggerated picture to get his point across.
Third, Jesus spoke these words in Greek. The thought patterns were Hebrew, but the language to convey the thoughts was Greek. An additional factor in trying to get at what Jesus really meant is that we have the words in English. That complexity of translation makes it more difficult to know what Jesus was really saying.
The original Greek word used here is misei from the root word, miseo. Miseo literally means to regard with less affection, to love less, or to esteem less. It doesn't mean animosity, ill will, or revenge, which our English word, "hate," suggests. Miseo doesn't mean that the object is detestable or repugnant. Having miseo toward someone doesn't mean that he or she is an abomination. It just means that by comparison, someone or something is less important than someone or something else.
For example, consider two other scripture passages where the word, miseo, is used. In both passages, the topic is discipleship. In both cases, comparisons are made.
1. "Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate (miseo) their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor" (John 12:25-26).
2. "No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate (miseo) the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth" (Matthew 6:24).
In both cases, the sense of disciples loving one thing more and one thing less is the point Jesus is making by using the word miseo. In Luke 14:25-26, Jesus is saying that the cost of discipleship is to love God more than anything else, even family and self.
The parallel passage about discipleship in Matthew 10:37-38 emphasizes the same point about comparison. "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me" (emphasis mine).
Counting the cost of discipleship means loving God more than family or self. The first commandment takes priority over all other commandments. "I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me." To love the Lord our God is the highest priority in life, even higher than loving our families or ourselves. Jesus doesn't diminish the importance of family life by prioritizing love of God as the first priority. As a matter of fact, four chapters later, in Luke, Jesus emphasizes the importance of family by quoting the fourth commandment, urging his disciples to honor their fathers and mothers (Luke 18:20). Placing anything other than God in first place results in disaster. Family members all die. If God is in first place, we will grieve, but grief will not hold us forever. Only God is forever. That's why God is the highest priority in life.
Jesus compares discipleship to loving family and self. He also compares discipleship to building a tower and building an army.
How is discipleship like building a tower or building an army? How do these comparisons relate to our lives?
An incomplete tower is a commentary on poor planning. We aren't all in the building trades, but all of us are aware of the need to plan whatever we build. Planning without action results in frustration, but action without planning results in misdirected energy and failure.
Bob and Lucille Carlson were wealthy by most standards. Bob was a successful dentist. They had a big, beautiful house and two luxury cars. Their pastor, who was a good friend, asked them about their wealth and discipleship. "We have been blessed, to be a blessing," Bob said. "We are tithers. We give ten percent of our income to the work of God through the church. We give offerings above the tithe to special needs. But that isn't enough. We know that if Christ called for it, there is no possession we would not be willing to give."
When a building fund for a new church building came along, the Carlsons gave a large gift to the fund. They also put the church in their wills. They counted the cost of discipleship. Their planning reflected their attitude of generosity. Jesus' illustration about the building trades is about counting the cost of discipleship.
Jesus also draws a picture of discipleship from the military. To be a soldier means getting into battle, risking your life. In other words, Christianity isn't lived in a vacuum. There are struggles and conflicts. Our hymn, "Onward Christian Soldiers," reflects the fact that we must fight when demonic forces attack us in life. A Christian must be willing to do spiritual battle for Christ. That's a high cost.
Soren Kierkegaard said that there are a lot of parade-ground Christians who wear the uniforms of Christianity, but few who are willing to do battle for Christ and his kingdom. When it comes to doing battle for the Lord, too many church members are just sitting on the premises instead of leaning on the promises of God.
On Easter, in the days of Communist domination in Russia, a Communist leader made a scathing speech to a large crowd against God and faith. Then he ended by saying, "Can anyone here answer me?" There was an awkward silence. The consequences of standing up to the Communist leader were apparent to all. A young Orthodox priest rose and mounted the platform.
"I'll give you just five minutes to answer my speech," said the Communist.
"I don't need five minutes, just five seconds," said the priest. He then turned to the crowd and in a loud voice said, "Jesus Christ is risen."
With one voice, the crowd responded, "He is risen, indeed."
That was doing battle for Christ in a war zone.
Being a disciple of Jesus Christ means counting the cost of having faith. Being a disciple also means faithfulness. That's what Jesus' illustration about salt is all about.
Jesus said to his disciples, "You are the salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13). Here in Luke 14:34 he warns his followers not to lose their saltiness.
In the ancient world, salt was both a preservative and an additive. Salty Christians are called to preserve eternal values. In the midst of changing value systems and raging immorality today, Christians are called to hold on to the biblical teachings that God intended for all time. For example, the Ten Commandments don't go out of vogue just because so many people ignore them or marginalize them. Jesus' words about the greatest Commandment of loving the Lord our God and our neighbors do not expire in modern times just because so many people are selfish. Salty Christians are called to preserve God's eternal truths.
Salty Christians are also called to add zest to life. The picture of a Christian in the minds of many unchurched Americans is of a stodgy, judgmental, and self-righteous person who seldom, if ever, has fun. On the contrary, faith frees us from those things which keep us from genuine joy. Unless or until you come to faith, you are less than you were created to be. When you come to faith, you can be yourself.
In addition to being a preservative and an additive, in ancient society salt was also a fertilizer. It made things grow. That, too, is the call of God for us to be Salty Christians, and help others grow in the faith. This third use may be the one Jesus had in mind when he told his disciples not to lose their saltiness. "Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it away" (Luke 14:34-35). In other words, it isn't enough to come to faith. The call to discipleship is a call to be faithful as well.
William Arndt says,
Salt can actually lose its character of saltness. In Palestine one can see lumps of it, which through exposure to the air ... have lost the character and virtue (of salt). Salt which has lost its saltness is fit for nothing, not even for the lowliest service imaginable. Food that has deteriorated can at least be used as fertilizer, but not savorless salt. The use of salt for manure is a well-attested practice for Egypt and Palestine, both in ancient and modern times.2Salt can actually lose its character of saltness. In Palestine one can see lumps of it, which through exposure to the air ... have lost the character and virtue (of salt). Salt which has lost its saltness is fit for nothing, not even for the lowliest service imaginable. Food that has deteriorated can at least be used as fertilizer, but not savorless salt. The use of salt for manure is a well-attested practice for Egypt and Palestine, both in ancient and modern times.2
We started out this sermon with an admonition not to regard the preacher as an actor on a stage and the congregation as an audience that either likes or doesn't like what he says. We began by advocating that people stop saying, "That was a good sermon," to the pastor if the sermon hits home. After all, all of us are on the stage of life. God is the audience. The pastor is just a prompter who is trying to get us to say and do those things that the script calls for.
What should we say if a sermon really hits home? How about a simple, "Thank you"? The pastor is just a prompter back in the wings helping actors who are on the stage of life. He/She tries to keep the actors on script. He/She is a messenger for the king, reminding us what to do. If a messenger gave you a message from the king of the universe, you would thank that messenger. More importantly, in your prayers you would want to thank the one who sent the message.
"Let anyone who has ears to hear, listen" (Luke 14:35).
1. The Gospel Reading for Proper 18/Pentecost16/Ordinary Time 23 is Luke 14:25-33. I have included verses 34 and 35 because, in my opinion, these two verses are critical for understanding the text.
2. William Arndt, The Bible According to St. Luke (St. Louis: Concordia, 1956), pp. 345-346.