Grace, mercy, and peace to you, the disciples of Christ, whom Jesus has invited to follow him. Amen.

O Lord, too often we put our own concerns and priorities above your will and work. Rid each of us of our selfishness. Remind us of the cost of following you. And fill us with the zeal to keep you first in our lives. In your name we pray. Amen.

My daughters love parades. Now, they really don’t enjoy the loud fire trucks or the boring tractors and old cars, and there are never enough bands. But what they thoroughly enjoy is the candy. And my girls are good at getting parade candy. This past Monday we went to the parade in Somers and sat next to Rich and Karen Puder and their family. The Puders have a daughter, Allyssa, who is a year older than my oldest.

Allyssa, Abbey, and Miriam had a definite plan for hauling in candy. First, they staked out an area where there were no other children to compete with. Then, whenever they saw a float throwing out candy, they shouted "Candy!" The people on the float would then turn and toss them candy. But their best idea was saved for the politicians. You know that politicians love hearing their names in public. So the girls would read the names on the side of the car on which the politician was sitting. Then they would yell out, "Priebus for State Senate!" "Bob Wirch!" "We love you, Russ Darrow!" And they would each get a handful of candy, practically handed to them. The politicians thought these girls were so cute. I think they’re just smart.

I think you can compare God showering us with blessings in the same way little kids are showered with candy from parade floats. We call out God’s name: "God! Heavenly Father!" and God showers us with forgiveness, salvation and eternal love. Many floats throw out the cheap candy. But every once in a while they throw out the good stuff – Tootsie Pops or Blow Pops. My girls know that if they get those, they belong to me. That’s my commission for taking them to the parade. Well, God doesn’t give us the cheap stuff. He gives us the good stuff – the Fruit of the Spirit (which we heard about in our second lesson). We call out: "Lord God!" and he showers us with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

If you are going to be a "parade groupie," you need to be prepared. You may need to have lawn chairs, blankets, food, drinks, umbrellas, sweat shirts, and sunscreen. You have to haul everything to a prime viewing location and stake out your spot. There is a little bit of work involved.

If you are going to be a "Jesus groupie," one of his followers, you need to be prepared. There is a little bit of work involved. Make that a lot of work. Today, Jesus gives three pieces of advice to those who follow him. First, count the cost. Next, place Jesus first. And third, always look ahead.

Jesus and his disciples were walking one day when Jesus spoke with three men who wanted to follow him. The first man said to Jesus, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

This first man claimed that no sacrifice would be too great. No hardship would be too difficult. Yet, this was a momentary impulse. He had not reflected on what it would cost him in self-denial and loss of earthly treasures. Following Jesus might mean that he wouldn’t have an earthly home or earthly treasures. It might require him moving constantly about from one place to another.

We, too, must be willing to give up personal comforts and conveniences if we are to be devout followers of Jesus.

What does discipleship cost us? For one thing it costs us money. It is a fact of life that everything costs money. Operating a church and school is no different. If we want our church to continue to sing God’s praises and win lost souls in our community to Christ, that costs money. If we want our school to continue to have dedicated teachers who are training our children in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6), then that costs money. We should quit whining and complaining about it. If we want these blessings, there is a cost.

Discipleship also costs time. If we want a choir to beautify our worship services, we need people who are dedicated to being at every practice. If want Epiphany Lutheran Church to be a community church, we have to give up a Saturday morning once in a while to go knock on doors and invite people to church. If we want our Vacation Bible School to be awesome, we need volunteers.

Discipleship costs sweat and tears and even gas. The church doesn’t get cleaned by itself. Classrooms don’t get waxed and painted without effort. A little bit of sweat goes a long way. There are people in your church family and in your circle of friends who are hurting. They need you to sit down with them, assure them of Jesus love for them, pray with them, and even cry with them. Our shut-ins and those in the hospital need to be visited and prayed with. What is a little bit of gas and 45 minutes when it can bring so much joy and comfort to these people?

What is the cost of discipleship? Nothing really, when you compare it to what our salvation cost Jesus. He was God, yet he humbled himself and took on human flesh. He gave up heaven and the praise of his saints and angels to live on earth where he was scorned and spat upon. He deserved glory and yet he was humiliated. He was from heaven and yet he suffered the agonies of hell. He was God’s Son and yet his own Father forsook him. He was the Creator of life and yet he died. What is a little bit of money, sweat, and time when compared to what our salvation cost our Lord Jesus?

In the second instance, Jesus said to another man, "Follow me." But this man didn’t seem as anxious to follow. He offered an excuse. And to you and me, it sounds like a pretty good one: "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus wasn’t ready to give him that permission. Jesus sounds kind of cruel, until you realize that he is teaching this man that the kingdom of God must have top priority. He said: "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

The Savior reminded him that all earthly relations and concerns, however important, should be set aside. The man had a choice to make. Either he was going to follow Jesus completely, or he was going to place Jesus second behind family considerations.

Where is Jesus placed in your life? A couple of personal examples come to mind about placing Jesus first, even before family. Over the years, I have been asked to preach at my sister’s wedding which was held in a Catholic church, preach for my uncle’s wedding at a Lutheran church in another church body, pray at certain family functions, have my aunt sing at my wedding, even though she isn’t in fellowship with the WELS, and commune at other Lutheran or Catholic churches. I have said "no" to all of these invitations. And believe me, it causes hard feelings in the family.

But then you have to think, who comes first, family or Jesus and the truth of his Word. We commune with those who are in fellowship with us because the Bible says: "Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf." (1 Corinthians 10:17) That means we are to be completely united in doctrine with whom we commune. We refrain from praying or working with those with whom we know to be in error in their doctrines because the Bible says: "Watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them." (Romans 16:17) And again: "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." (Ephesians 4:3)

Is this doctrine of fellowship hard to understand? Yes. Is it hard to put into practice? Yes. Does it cause hard feelings? Most definitely, yes. People have told me that if we practice open communion, it would bring more people into the church. If we didn’t preach so much of God’s law, it wouldn’t make people feel so uncomfortable. If we didn’t speak out against certain sins and overlooked a few things, the church would grow. But then that’s not really God’s church, is it?

It isn’t up to us to make doctrines or make the church grow. Our task in discipleship is being faithful to God’s Word. God will do the rest. If we water down God’s Word, then souls will be lost. If we don’t point our sins and error in doctrine, people will be confirmed in their unbelief. The church may grow in numbers, but what kind of members will we have? We will have people who will pick apart and question and debate God’s Word, where there should be no questions or debate. Jesus tells us: "If you hold to my teaching, then you are really my disciples." (John 8:31) Not some of his teaching. Not most of his teaching. All of his teaching. Then we are really his disciples. Even if it turns off people – even our own family.

The third man seemed ready to serve Christ. However, first he wanted to say good-by to his family. Jesus was able to look into this man’s heart. He knew that this man was giving him an excuse for not following him at once. His desire to see his family was stronger than his desire to serve the Lord. Such a person is not fit to serve in the kingdom of God. Jesus said: "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

I grew up on a farm. When parents come to me with troubled teens asking for help, I will often ask them if they have a friend or family member who is a farmer. I believe that a lot of idleness and rebelliousness can be worked out on a farm. There are a lot of lessons that can be learned on a farm. I never cared much for farming. That’s probably one reason why I learned so many lessons.

One lesson I learned is from plowing. When you are driving the tractor with the plow behind digging up the earth, you are going to get in trouble quickly if you look back at the plow or are daydreaming looking up into the clouds. Your row could go anywhere. When plowing, you need to find a focal point off in the distance like a tree or building. Then drive straight towards it, not taking your eyes off it. Then your row will be straight (and your dad won’t yell at you.)

Too often I have heard people in this church worry about lack of money or talk about losing lots of members over the years or a whole myriad of other problems. Stop. Those are in the past. They are behind us. If you keep looking back, we’ll never go straight as a congregation. We need to always be looking ahead.

We need to find our focal point. That focal point is Jesus and his blessings. He is our Savior. He has promised to save us from our sins and give us a home in heaven. If he is going to take care of us in the future, then that also means he is going to take care of us right now. If he is going to give us crowns and white robes and palm branches in heaven, then I firmly believe that he is going to give us money, talents, abilities to get us through difficult times right now. If Jesus has promised us to join with his saints and angels praising his name, then we can be assured that he is going to be bringing in new members and bringing back our straying sheep into this congregation. If he has promised us treasures in heaven, then the earthly treasures will come. If we always look ahead.

Fellow disciples: Let’s get to work for Jesus. Get ready to be showered with Jesus’ blessings, which is even better than parade candy. Listen to Jesus’ advice for following him. Count the cost. The cost of our discipleship is nothing when compared to what our salvation cost Jesus. Place Jesus first. Jesus our Savior and Brother is more important than any friend or family member here on earth. And always look ahead. If you look back, we are going to fail. If you always look ahead to Jesus and his promises, there is no way we can fail. Amen.

Jesus promises: "Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life." Amen. (Revelation 2:10)