Daily Devotional • November 12
A Reading from Luke 14:25-35
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.
34 “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? 35 It is useful neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it away. If you have ears to hear, then hear!”
Meditation
Jesus’ message is given to “large crowds that were traveling with him.” He insists that commitment is not just following what is popular, but in putting him always and absolutely over anything and everything else in life. While this may sound like asking too much, really it’s a common expectation that we all agree with. “Fair weather friends” are universally criticized.
If a friendship is true, then friends will be there when there is a need. Jesus warns against disciples starting but not finishing. Fair weather disciples are not disciples at all. He said, “Those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.” Some hearers probably gasped, and others may have bristled, but many probably thought, “That’s what I want.”
The same teaching is given elsewhere. It is like the seeds sown by the sower; only some bear fruit while others wither (Luke 9:57). It is like the young man who said, “I will follow you everywhere you go” (Matthew 8:19), to whom Jesus didn’t say “thanks, you’re in,” but rather “things are going to get tough; make sure it’s what you want.”
The last bit in today’s lesson is about salt losing its saltiness. In those days, pure salt was hard to come by. Producing it was a complicated, expensive process. Many made impure salt and passed it off as better than it was. The greater the impurity, the less usable it was, sometimes looking like salt, but really being something far from salt’s fullest nature. Being then fit for nothing, it was thrown out. Like those disciples in yesterday’s parable whose preference to daily life overcame their fitness to be present at the great banquet. Most of us are mixed in our discipleship and reliability, but in the end it is either everything or nothing.
David Baumann is a published writer of nonfiction, science fiction, and short stories. In his ministry as an Episcopal priest, he served congregations in Illinois and California.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Diocese of Kericho – The Anglican Church of Kenya
St. David’s (Radnor) Church, Wayne, Pennsylvania