“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 fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it away. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” Luke 14:25-35

I have often thought about this saying about salt and its saltiness and wondered exactly what it had to do with the preceding verses. But, after some time and thought and reflection, it seems to me that it all has to do with relationships – relationship at least with Jesus. Under the title of the Cost of Discipleship, Jesus tells two stories about beginning something without having made adequate plans for its completion. The meaning for discipleship is this – it is a warning not to begin a relationship with Jesus if we are not prepared to follow it through.  G-d has laid out a redemptive plan through Jesus Christ – and G-d will be faithful in G-d’s plan.

What G-d is asking you and me is to be prepared to follow Jesus and continue that relationship through the good times, and through the bad times in our lives.  For, if we give up on G-d in the rough times of our lives, we are no better than salt that has lost its saltiness. G-d will stay true to us – will be stay true to G-d?

Pastor Dave

“On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely. ² Just then, in front of him, there was a man who had dropsy. ³ And Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to cure people on the sabbath, or not?” ⁴ But they were silent. So Jesus took him and healed him, and sent him away. ⁵ Then he said to them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a sabbath day?” ⁶ And they could not reply to this. ⁷ When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. ⁸ “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; ⁹ and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. ¹¹ For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”” Luke 14:1-11

Dropsy is the swelling of the body due to excess fluid retention – what we today might call “generalized edema”. Dropsy was used in the ancient Mediterranean world as a metaphor for the greedy – those who have an insatiable thirst for more (money, possessions, greed) even though their bodies already retain too much fluid. It is against this background then that Jesus tells the parable of the wedding banquet – a general story about the insatiable need for honor and power. Greed and his cousins pride and pretentiousness will not have seats at the table at the heavenly banquet in the Kingdom of G-d. While people fight for the best seats in this world, there are no seats for purchase, no VIP seating for earthly VIP’s. Jesus is looking for a heart of humility, and a willingness to serve others rather than to be served.

Pastor Dave