8-8-21 Sermon Notes “Pop Quiz”

One of my favorite poems is Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken. Remember that one?

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

That’s just the first stanza, but you can get the idea of where this poem is going. Whether or not we want to admit it, and whether or not we are even ready for it, CHOICES in life are inevitable. We can go one way…or we can go the other way…but we can’t do both (and be “one traveler” as Frost puts it). Have you ever had a choice sprung on you…like a Pop Quiz in school? Jesus gave such a Pop Quiz in Luke 14.
25 Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, 26 “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. 33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions. (Luke 14: 25-33 NRSV)
Jesus said these words to a crowd of “maybe” followers. They liked hearing Jesus’ teachings. Maybe they had seen Jesus perform a miracle – or heard about one. So, they were tagging along. BUT Jesus was headed to Jerusalem. So they said they wanted to follow Jesus. Were they really willing to pay the price?

Are we willing to take the “road less traveled” that is discipleship? That will be our Quiz this Sunday.

See you in “class,”

Pastor Sam