“Swept Into a Movement of Mercy”

September 7, 2025

Luke 14:25–33

Now large crowds were travelling with him; and he turned and said to them, ‘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. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 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? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.” 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? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

Three years ago a well-funded advertising campaign began as an attempt to reframe the story of Jesus for a modern audience. The campaign is titled: “He Gets Us.” The target audience is people disillusioned with organized religion, those who feel alienated or judged by religious communities, and even skeptics and nonbelievers.

The ads for “He Gets Us” are visually compelling and emotionally charged. They portray Jesus as one who understands people’s worries and problems because he was raised by a single mother and was often homeless and bullied.

The campaign started in Kansas City by a conservative Chrisitan foundation. It has purchased television advertising during the Super Bowl, March Madness and the Grammys.

The campaign has been criticized for its aim to spend $1 billion over three years. Some critics argue the ads miss the divinity of Jesus and portray him as superficial. Others point out the ads ignore the teaching and mission of Jesus.

There is nothing superficial about the words of Jesus from Luke chapter 14. ‘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. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

Jesus makes clear discipleship involves being the hands and feet of Jesus in the world. There is no question regarding competing loyalties, including family, self-interest, possessions and even one’s own life.

Throughout history countless stories of how God’s mercy becomes central in the lives of people who have been the heads and feet of Jesus embodying mercy for all. We call them disciples.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a disciple. He was also a Lutheran pastor and theologian in Germany during the time of Hitler. He was deeply shaped by the call to live out God’s mercy during the atrocities of World War II. Bonhoeffer abandoned the safety of exile in other countries to return to Nazi Germany, joining the resistance and advocating for justice. Sadly, his true exile was the feeling of his homeland becoming foreign and dangerous due to the Nazi regime.

Bonhoeffer believed that a true response to God’s mercy demands everything. In his famous book “The Cost of Discipleship” he laid out two radically different interpretations of grace that comes to us through Jesus’ death on the cross. The first he label “Cheap Grace.” Cheap grace leaves the believer unchanged and the world untouched. A person who believes in cheap grace may say, “Of course I make mistakes, but God’s grace covers everything. I don’t need to change my life or give up anything.”

In contrast Bonhoeffer developed the understanding of “Costly Grace.” Costly grace recognizes that our lives as followers of Jesus are not our own. Costly grace calls forth from believers an active response to what God did on the cross. Costly grace entails believers becoming channels through which God’s mercy and justice flow in this world.

During the darkest years leading up to World War II, Bonhoeffer’s home became a shelter for many. He welcomed refugees, students, and clergy into his Berlin apartment, offering them food, safety, and counsel. One student recalled arriving at Bonhoeffer’s door, weary and afraid, only to be greeted with a warm meal and gentle conversation. There was no interrogation, no suspicion — only a genuine desire to comfort and restore.

Bonhoeffer’s hospitality was not merely social; it was a radical act of discipleship in a divided and suspicious age.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was held in a German concentration camp and was hanged there in April 1945 because of his involvement in the Nazi resistance movement. He was 39 years old and was executed just weeks before the end of World War II.

Today, 80 years later the call to follow Jesus as disciples and to embody mercy and costly grace remains as urgent as ever. And it can happen in and through each of us.

Not all stories of discipleship and radical mercy are dramatic, public or printed in history books.

This is where each of us come in. Discipleship can be lived out in your daily work whether as teacher, police officer, caregiver, addiction treatment counselor, mental health counselor, medical professional and the list goes on.

Discipleship can look like an array of volunteer activities conducted through this faith community and churches across the world — from building beds for local kids, providing school supplies, stocking food pantries, providing shelter, making quilts, offering free laundry services and so much more. Imagine all the tangible and life-sustaining discipleship that religious communities provide every day.

Finally, discipleship also occurs in personal actions. Discipleship is mercy made alive whenever people choose forgiveness over resentment, work to reconcile broken relationships, stand for truth or seek peace in the face of conflict. Such choices require courage and commitment, reflecting the costly grace described by Bonhoeffer.

Living out forgiveness in family, friendships, or community is a powerful witness to discipleship which is at the heart of Christ’s teachings.

Everything you do for others has the potential to be the mercy of Jesus.

The year after the pandemic, the phrase “quiet quitting” was invented by a Gen Z worker (those born 1997 to 2012) and posted to a TikTok video which went viral.

Quiet Quitting describes a situation in which workers consciously choose to do only what their job description requires — no more, no less. The phenomenon of employees doing the bare minimum is still present today.

Now, quiet quitters do not actually quit their jobs. They do what is required but they do not look to their jobs for a sense of meaning or purpose in life.

In comparison, the life of the disciple abounds with meaning and purpose. Why? Because costly grace enlivens believers as they become channels through which God’s mercy and justice flow in this world.

The words from Jesus issues a challenge. Disciples have to be all in; there can be no quiet quitters.

What discipleship this looks like for each person will be something different. Think about your life, the gifts and abilities God gives you and how they can be enlisted to touch people, this community and beyond with God’s mercy and there is your discipleship.

The words of Jesus today are challenging and seem harsh. But know this, to follow Jesus and the costly grace he gives is to be swept into a movement of mercy that knows no limit and boundaries.