Palmerston Place Church, Edinburgh

Luke 9:51-62

Introduction – The passage we’ll be looking today is one of the selected texts for this week as listed in the Revised Common Lectionary. And you may have heard that the Church of Scotland theme this is year is called ‘Follow Me,’ a phrase used in this morning’s passage and many other times in the gospel books. So, it seemed right to join alongside many other Church of Scotland congregations in learning more of what it means to follow Jesus.

So, I have a question and would love to see some raised hands; who here loves a good bargain? Isn’t it a great feeling when you get more and pay less? It might be higher quantity you’re looking for sometimes, such as bulk shopping—Costco, am I right! Or if you’re like me, you enjoy purchasing something of high original value and of great quality, but secondhand in a charity shop, on ebay, or on gumtree. And many people would agree that bargain-shopping is smart shopping. You’re being quite resourceful, getting more for your money, and cutting your costs. Cost-cutting is paying the absolute bare minimum for the most reward.

But, as you may have guessed from the title of my sermon, I’m wondering if we, who confess Christ to be Lord, are more concerned with cutting costs, rather than following Jesus. You’ll see in the pew Bibles, this passage is entitled ‘The Cost of Following Jesus,’ so let’s take a closer look and see what Jesus teaches concerning the cost of following Him. 

Audrey Cisco