Sermon: Pentecost 13, Luke 14:25-33

September 7, 2025 
Faith-La Fe Lutheran Church
Pastor Veronica Alvarez

When we read this passage, it sounds harsh. Jesus says things like, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even life itself, cannot be my disciple.”

That word hate makes us stop. It sounds extreme, almost impossible.

But Jesus is not telling us to despise our families or ourselves.

He’s using sharp, exaggerated words to wake us up. He wants us to see that following him is not just one more thing on the list of life. It is life itself.

The truth is, we often want Jesus on our own terms. We want a Jesus who comforts us, who forgives us, who promises heaven, and yes, he does all of that.

But Jesus also calls us to follow him in a way that costs something. He is saying: don’t fool yourself. If you’re going to follow me, count the cost. Know what you’re signing up for.

He gives two examples: a man building a tower, and a king going to war. Both have to sit down and think carefully before they act.

Because if you start building without enough resources, you end up embarrassed.

If you start a war without enough soldiers, you end up defeated. Jesus is saying discipleship is like that. Don’t take it lightly.

So, what is the cost of discipleship for us today?

For some of us, the cost has already shown up in our lives. If you’re an immigrant, you know the cost of leaving behind family, culture, and home to seek life and safety.

If you’ve been told you don’t belong, then you already know something of the cost.

If you’re part of the LGBTQ+ community, you may know the cost of rejection, judgment, or loneliness just for being who you are.

Following Jesus doesn’t make life easier, it asks us to keep going, to keep trusting, to keep loving, even when it costs.

The cost might be choosing forgiveness when holding a grudge feels safer. Think of two friends who stop talking because of hurt feelings. It’s easier to stay silent, to avoid the awkwardness. But then one of them decides to make the first move, to call, to apologize. That’s costly. Pride has to die. But on the other side, there’s healing. That’s what following Jesus looks like.

The cost might be standing up for someone who is different when the world would rather silence them. The cost might be being generous when you’d rather hold on tight because you know what scarcity feels like.

The cost might be rethinking your priorities, family, work, money, security, reputation, so that Jesus is at the center, and everything else takes its place around him.

And here’s where it stings. Many of us like to keep Jesus at the top of the list, but not at the center. If Jesus is at the top of the list, then maybe family is second, work is third, hobbies are fourth.

But if he’s at the center, then everything, family, work, money, identity, community, revolves around him.

He shapes how we live, how we love, how we give. And that changes everything. It changes the way we act, the way we interact with others, We start to look at life with love instead of judgment, with compassion instead of fear.

This isn’t about rejecting our families or ignoring our lives. It’s about putting Jesus first so that we can actually love our families better, live our lives more fully, and use what we have for good.

Without Jesus at the center, even good things can turn into idols that leave us empty. With Jesus at the center, they become blessings that give life.

And here’s the good news: Jesus never asks us to pay a cost he wasn’t willing to pay himself. He carried the cross before he asked us to carry ours.

He gave up everything, even his life, out of love for us. So when he calls us to follow him, he is not setting an impossible standard. He is inviting us into a life that is real, full, and free; even if it’s costly.

So, what does this mean for us as a community today?

It means we’re not just a church when it’s comfortable.

It means we show up for one another, even when it stretches us.

It means we welcome the stranger, even when it feels unfamiliar.

It means we follow Jesus not just with words but with our hands, with our hearts, with our lives.

And today we live this out in a real and tangible way.
Today is God’s Work, Our Hands Sunday, a day of service across Lutheran churches in the country.

 After worship we’re going out together to serve. We’re not just hearing the Word, we are putting it into practice. We’re showing that following Jesus costs something, it costs time, effort, vulnerability, but it also gives us more than we can imagine: life, grace, peace, and the promise that we are never alone.

Following Jesus is costly. But it is also life-giving. It shapes us into people who love more deeply, forgive more freely, and serve more boldly. The cost is real, but so is the promise.

When Christ is at the center of our lives, we discover that even sacrifice can be joy, even risk can be hope, and even the cross can be life.

So today, as we work together, we are not just doing good deeds. We are practicing discipleship. We are saying with our hands and our lives that Jesus is at the center.

And this is the promise we carry with us today:
Christ is at the center, and in him we find our strength, our courage, our joy and our future. Amen.