Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Gospel, Luke 14:25-35     

Luke 14:25-35

One of my favorite pastor/writers is A. W. Tozer. Tozer pastored in the middle of the 20th century both in America and Canada and was a favorite among many American evangelicals. Favorite to some, but thorn in the side of many as well. His preaching was biblical, strong, and to say the least, challenging. You may read many of his sermons today and his essays are still available in the files of the old “Alliance Witness,” the publication of Tozer’s denomination.

In one of my favorite essays, Tozer quotes a medieval writer who authored this couplet, “God is a jealous lover, He suffereth no rivals.” I remember how that struck me the first time I read it. It is still arresting to me. Our gospel points to that very truth this week. Jesus calls his hearers to comparison and qualification. Some of his strongest calls to unwavering loyalty are found in this text. “Hating” mother and father in comparison to love given to him. Requirements of personal crosses and cost-counting are also found in this week’s gospel. Yikes!

To what does it point? To just what I referenced at the beginning of our meditation: NO RIVALS! Jesus will not have it. The word rivals could also be replaced by “idols.” And we all have them. Lurking as they may be behind other things that we would not classify that way. It requires us to constantly look at our hearts. And that brings to the surface another truth. There is only one solution to our heart’s idols. And that solution isn’t in our hearts. It comes to us from the outside. The cross Jesus references earlier in the text. His cross crushes our idolatry, no matter how stubborn. God, in Jesus, demands complete devotion. No rivals. We can never get there on our own. By cross, resurrection and Jesus taking his place at the Father’s right hand, he destroys the pretenders, the idols, all the rivals that would claim our hearts. Let’s welcome his work.