The Cost of Loving God
Speaker Notes
Luke 14:25-35
The Cost of Being a Disciple
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 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. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
34 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
“Life holds only one tragedy: not to have been a saint.”
Léon Bloy, quoted by Peter Kreeft Prayer for Beginners page 39
note: “life holds only one tragedy, ultimately: not to have been a saint.”
Charles Peguy, quoted by Peter Kreeft Fundamentals of the Faith page 239
“Let us renounce, let us generously renounce, for the love of Him, all that is not Himself; He deserves infinitely more.”
Brother Lawrence The Practice of the Presence of God page 37
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Isaac Watts When I Survey The Wonderous Cross hymn
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
T.S. Eliot Little Gidding (No. 4 of ‘Four Quartets’)
“… what I sought after, which was nothing but how to become wholly GOD’s.”
Brother Lawrence The Practice of the Presence of God page 37
Peter Kreeft, Ph.D., is a professor of philosophy at Boston College wikipedia personal website