“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower.
Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money
to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it,
everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and
was not able to finish.’
“Or suppose a king is about to go to war
against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is
able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty
thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still
a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who
does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
“Salt is good, but if it loses its
saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor
for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
The last
time I was the messenger on Sunday morning, we talked about parables of the
Good Shepherd. I even said those were
“cush” passages, easy to talk about:
precious and true promises that we can hold on to.
John Bullard
spoke several weeks ago and voiced a thought that I think all of us who have
read some of the Bible have experienced.
You come to some point (or points) as you read, and you think to
yourself, “God why did you have to say that?
Or, Jesus why did you have to say it that way?” I don’t know about you, but mostly, I want
things soft and safe. Can’t we just
leave out the confrontational stuff? And
maybe, just maybe, we try not to think about those passages or we try to soften
them ourselves.
Today’s
passage is likely one of those tough passages for you. It is for me.
When I realized I was going to teach on this passage, I told Carl,
“Well, today’s message will even things out with the last message about the
Good Shepherd.”
It’s ironic
(or to God’s purpose) that this message falls the day after July 4th,
our national Independence Day. I’d guess
Carl did not think of this at all when preparing the series. The reason I say ironic is that the passage
and the parables here are just about the opposite of independence, at least, in
terms of the way that the world sees it.
Before we
dig deeper, let’s take a moment and pray, asking the Lord for humility, insight
and understanding:
Lord Jesus,
this passage is a whole lot more about surrender than independence. I confess that I am fiercely independent even
when it means hurt or danger or loss. I
pray for humility. Help us see that
laying aside things that we’re attached to, even things that we love, is right
in contrast with our relationship with you.
We need your grace and love even just for living. Teach us now we pray. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Before we
get into the deep end of the pool, let’s look briefly and the context and
scene, when, where and to whom Jesus first spoke these words.
This passage
is a bit more than halfway through the book of Luke. As to where, the place is not given
specifically, but it is during a time of preaching in and around Jerusalem in
Judea as well as the other side of the Jordan River. In other words, not Galilee. As to when, it is prior to the triumphant
arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem, the crucifixion and resurrection. As to whom, an interesting aspect of this
time is that Jesus is doing more preaching and parable-telling during this time
than working miracles. There are only 4
miracles described during this time period in Luke but 23 parables. (Luke 9:51-19:27)
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and
turning to them he said: Luke 14:25
It seems
like Jesus is always creating or drawing a crowd. The word for crowd (also translated people or
multitude) appears 175 times in the New Testament. Back in Luke 12, it specifically says a crowd
in the thousands. Here, it says a large
crowd. Not just crowd, large crowd. It’s one thing to see a crowd watching
something at a street corner in a city.
It’s something else entirely to see a crowd out in the middle of
nowhere. What a sight it must have been.
A man
walking closely with say twenty or thirty people and then followed by several
hundred or even a thousand. Do you have
a picture in your mind? The entire
enrollment of Daniel High School is around a thousand students. A small group of people being followed by a
huge group of people, all shuffling along.
These people
are likely from different places. Some
may have followed Jesus all the way from Galilee. Others are from nearby towns and villages. Some will follow for a while until they get
hungry, or tired, or bored, or it gets too late. The point is, regardless of their commitment
level, they’ve stopped doing whatever it was they were doing, and started
following Jesus.
They would
likely even identify themselves as followers of Jesus. If you were a reporter on the scene who came
up into the crowd and you started asking what’s going on, where are you all
going. People would likely have said,
“We are following Jesus.” What
Jesus? The Jesus. “Jesus the healer,” or” Jesus the miracle
worker,” or “Jesus who speaks with authority,” or “Jesus who silences the
Pharisees,” or “Jesus who forgives sins,” or “Jesus who saw everything I ever
did.”
In the midst
of this bustle, likely with dust being stirred all around, Jesus turns to this
large crowd. Perhaps they have gone up a
rise (Judea is quite hilly), Jesus is a little higher up, and he turns looking
upon the crowd and they can all see Him.
The people shuffle to a stop, looking up to see why they’ve stopped
along the way and not continued on to a village or more likely destination than
in the middle of the road.
And what
comes next? Jesus speaks … loudly, no
doubt, to reach the ears farther away.
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his
father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even
his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross
and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:26-27
This is not
the first time Jesus has delivered a message like this. He has already answered the three men who
asked about being followers. Back in
Luke 9, Jesus told them, “Foxes have
holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay
his head. … Let the dead bury their own dead” and “ No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit [or
worthy] for service in the kingdom of God.”
Here, Jesus
is talking about being a disciple. A
disciple is a learner, one who follows the teaching of another.
While harsh,
it is not hard to understand. For a disciple,
there can be nothing in between them and Jesus.
No family or other relationship, not even their own life. Think about that. I’m afraid to be embarrassed. Here Jesus is talking about another
level. He’s talking about giving up your
instinct for self-preservation. In
comparison their love of God, a disciple’s relationship must look like
hatred.
If that
doesn’t sound bad enough, Jesus tacks on that we must take up our cross. The cross was the instrument of capital
punishment. It was routine for a person
who was going to be crucified to carry their own cross. Jesus says, take up your cross and follow
me. “Take the thing that is going to
kill you one day, carry it with you, and follow me.”
It is a hard
saying, is it not?
Let’s talk
just a moment about this idea of hating family.
Under what pretext is this hatred?
Is Jesus inciting us to hate our family just for the sake of being mean
or out of our flesh? By no means, it
would be contrary to Scripture to think that Jesus wants us to act out hatred
toward our family.
And yet,
there are times when we must choose to put Jesus before our family, and that
can flare up into hurt which our family may interpret as hatred. We have heard stories where people have put
their faith in Jesus only to be kicked out, banished or driven away from their
families. The attitude of the family can
be, “If you loved me, you’d just give it up.
Give up this Jesus.” In fact,
because you love them, you can’t give it up.
It’s paradoxical, but the most loving thing we can do for anyone
(including ourselves) is to follow Jesus first.
Why? Because if we follow Jesus, we will have the
Holy Spirit inside us bringing us to be more like Jesus. This may be one of the few and quite possibly
the best hope some families may ever have to know Christ when a family member
gets saved and resolutely follows Jesus loving others no matter what
comes. And that leads into Jesus’ next
thought.
Suppose one of you wants to build a tower.
Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money
to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it,
everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, “This fellow began to build and
was not able to finish.” Luke 14:28-30
Jesus first
said the hard thing … the almost impossible thing. Give up all your concern for any
relationship. Should you do this blindly
without thinking?
No, Jesus
says, “Stop. Think. Count the cost.” We should be so glad that Jesus tells us what
being a disciple means. Often, I think
the world tells us something that sounds too good to be true, then it hides the
truth in the fine print.
Fred told me
yesterday of a fix-a-flat product. You
know, the canned air you can spray into a flat tire that has some goo in it that
will seal up a small leak. You know what
the magnifying glass fine print warning was?
Contents under pressure, do not store in an automobile, risk of
explosion. Where else are you going to
store fix-a-flat other than in a car?
It’s not going to do you much good anywhere else. Rather than packaging the stuff in a safe
container, they put it a warning on it that you can barely read.
How many
offers have you seen for try now for three months free? I have never seen one of these offers that
will discontinue the service following the three month trial. In every case, you have to call later and opt
out. Otherwise, they’ll just keep
charging you. Yesterday, I got an update
on my phone. It came with a new music
feature. The first time I opened it, it
had a full screen thing with one button which said, “Sign up now for a FREE
three month trial.” I had to scroll down
to get to the “No Thanks” button. They
made it look like you had to take the trial to use the app. That’s what the world does. The Father of Lies is still at work seeking
to deceive and trick and enslave.
Did it ever
occur to you that Jesus is being compassionate by telling the truth about what
it means to be a disciple? Jesus doesn’t
want us to be surprised. It’s just like
He told the disciples at the Last Supper.
“In this world you will have
trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
The reason
Jesus told them that they would have trouble was so that they would have
peace. No surprises. There is a battle going on for souls. This is for keeps.
Do ever
wonder what it was like in certain events from the Bible? What was the weather like? Was it an especially hot or cold day? How far had the people already walked? Were they starting to grumble? Were they wondering if it were worth the
trouble or effort to keep following Jesus?
Were some of them wondering about what their families were going to say
when they came straggling back home after “wasting” the day following Jesus?
Is it just
at that point that Jesus stops and says, “If you think this is tough, it’s
nothing compared to being my disciple.
That’s going to take everything you’ve got.”?
Count the
cost. Is it worth it? Don’t quit before you’ve reached the
goal. If you give up now, what will your
families and friends say when you return empty-hearted and empty-handed?
Consider
what’s at stake. Jesus considered “the joy set before Him.” He endured the cross, scorning its shame and
sat down at the right hand of the Father.
(Hebrews 12:2) Paul wrote in
Philippians that he presses “on toward
the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14) There is a prize for being Jesus’ disciple.
Or suppose a king is about to go to war
against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is
able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty
thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still
a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who
does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:31-33
Or, look at
it another way, what is the alternative if we do not surrender to Jesus? James 4:6 says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” It’s also in I Peter 5:5. The repetition means it was likely a
significant verse to the early church.
(Remember Ananias and Sapphira.)
It has been
years and years, at least twenty years, but I remember a teaching that included
this verse, “God opposes the proud …”
The word oppose means literally to war against.
The teacher that I heard all those years ago described its meaning as coming
against with full battle array.
Suppose that
you were going to war with God. You are
in opposition to Him. Consider your
chances? How’s it going to work out for
you? For me? The Bible clearly says that there is no one
righteous, not one. (Romans 3:23) Job wanted nothing more than a hearing with
God over his complaint of the injustices he lived through. What was reply once God had spoken? Job answered God by saying, “I didn’t
understand. I’m sorry.”
I heard a
new description for sin the pastor’s conference. (That just sounds weird: “Hey, I learned something about sin at the
pastor’s conference!”)
Sin is betting
against God. God tells us what the
consequences of sin are. He says, “The wages of sin are death.” (Romans 6:23)
When we engage in sin, we’re betting that we know better than God. “Don’t worry, I know God says don’t do this,
but it’s okay, I’ve got it figured out, it’s going to work out okay.”
When I say
it out loud, it sound preposterous doesn’t it.
Under what circumstances would I ever think that doing something
contrary to what God says would be a good idea?
Isn’t that the epitome of pride? And, how does God relate to the proud? He puts on His full battle array.
Now, reread
those couple of verses.
Suppose you
are the king of yourself … assume you are about to go to war against God. Will you
not first sit down and consider whether you are able with your resources to
oppose the one coming against you with endless resources and omnipotent power?
If you are not able, send a delegation while the wrath of God is still a long
way off and ask for terms of peace.
Jesus has
given us the terms. Total surrender.
“In the same way, any of you who does not
give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”
So, why
don’t Christian’s really have nothing?
Based on this verse, it looks like we should just sell everything and
walk around in sackcloth or camel’s hair or something. I dare say we all have far more than we need,
and we would do well to give more away than we do.
But what
does Jesus mean when he says give up everything. Should we be living in tents?
Again, in
accordance to other Scriptures that talk about ownership and stewardship, Jesus
means giving everything up to God, telling Him it’s all His and that we will do
what He wants us to do with the stuff that He’s entrusted us with. It’s about our hearts and our devotion to
God, not about His needs.
In the Old
Testament, God says that the cattle on a thousand hills belong to Him. What use are our possessions to Him? (Psalm 50) The Word is clear that we should
use unrighteous money to do good things.
(Luke 12:33, 16:9) We should give things away when there is need and by
doing that we “store up treasures for ourselves in heaven.”
God I
release my hold on this. I give up my
rights to You, my right to TV or internet or giving full vent to my anger or
sleeping in late or $5 coffees or being careless in how I talk. Show me how to walk in the light.
God, it’s
your car or house or computer or iPod or phone or job. Tell me how to use these things properly and
for Your glory.
Paul
considered all things and all prestige of his former life garbage compared to
knowing Jesus. (Philippians 3:7-8) Why should we hold on to our old lives when
Jesus has given us new ones that are perfect and will live forever?
Jesus gives
us a hope that will not disappoint.
There is nothing in death or in life that can separate us from the love
of God in Christ Jesus. (Romans
8:38-39) In fact, we are the only thing
that can separate us from God. God gives
us the choice to come to Him. We respond
to Him or reject Him. There is nothing
else that can stop us from coming to God.
Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness,
how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the
manure pile; it is thrown out.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
I hope that
the Lord has given what your ears needed to hear today and that not only your
physical ears but the ears of your heart have perceived and taken in
truth.
In many
ways, the things the world calls church have lost their saltiness. What the world thinks the church is, is not so
important. But, some organizations
calling themselves “churches,” have lost their saltiness. In particular, I am talking about
endorsements of homosexuality and homosexual marriage. This slide has been going on for a long
time. What we saw last week is a
signpost along the way of the world rejecting God and His ways. Romans 1 is clear about the results of
rejecting God. Things don’t get
better. They get worse. This is not a new or sudden development. It is an extremely visible one.
When people
who call themselves Christians and churches reject God’s Word, then it is clear
that they have lost that characteristic of saltiness. Lampstands have been removed and will be
removed as described in Revelation 2 and 3.
They no longer have the power of preserving the world against its slide
into sin and ultimately into destruction as also described in Revelation.
I am not
saying that the true church has lost its saltiness. The church is the assembly of God’s people,
God’s children, Jesus’ disciples. As
Jesus’ followers, we must reject things contrary to God. We must hold to the truth and keep following
Jesus.
Count the
cost … the last thing I want to do is trivialize how hard it is to risk
damaging relationships that we may have had all our lives. I do not want to trivialize how hard it is to
give up our “treasures” physical or mental or emotional. And yet, the cost is not for us to give
something or bring something. The cost
is to let go. Let go of the things that
keep you from experiencing the love of Christ.
Let go of the things that keep you from sharing the joy of knowing Him
with others. When you think about it
that way, it seems like you can’t let go fast enough.
Make peace
with God before His wrath comes. As we
see the world slide deeper into sin and wars erupt and rumors of wars reach our
ears, time marches on to Jesus’ ultimate return and the judgment.
The
following comes from a Charles Spurgeon devotional called Morning and
Evening. I hope that it too helps us to
see God as He is, and love Him all the more, desiring His ways above any other
way.
Give
everything to Jesus, and rest in Him. In
His hands are rescue and protection, life and eternity. Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus,
you have broken the power of sin. Awaken
us to that reality that we would live in freedom from sin. Remove the scales on our eyes that cause us
to resent the light and temporary trials that we face. Send Your Spirit full and fresh on us each
day. Shine Jesus through us that we
would reflect Your glory. You’ve asked
us to live lives in no way more difficult than You lived for us. Help us to lead the people of a lost and
dying world to You. Save our nation we
pray. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment