The Unfinished Tower and a King's Rash War – Counting the Cost of Discipleship
Text - Luke 14:25-35
Introduction
Did you hear about the accidental burning of the Quran in Afghanistan?
Quote - "They should leave Afghanistan rather than disrespecting our religion, our faith. If next time they disrespect our religion, we will defend our holy Quran, religion and faith until the last drop of blood has left in our body."
In their country they swarm likes ants having their hill disrupted when their holy book is disrespected but in America when the Bible is trampled upon there's hardly a whimper.
"In God We Trust" on edge of coin. It's also on outskirts of town squares of America.
God is being scrubbed from our national forum, society, and way of life.
The things we once thought were non-negotiables as it relates to the Bible and our nation's Judeo-Christian heritage are now seemingly up for debate.
Our nation is being reinvented, slowly, but very intentionally.
"The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next." Abraham Lincoln
* We see this in the militant homosexual agenda of equal rights and gay marriages being legalized.
* We see this in the sexual revolution of the 1960's which led to the justification of murdering unwanted, innocent babies through the legalization of abortion, with the mantra "hey, it's my body, I can do what I want to with it".
* We see this in how prayer & the Bible have been removed from schools and other public venues with the inaccurate interpretation and implementation of separation of church and state in the Constitution.
And those children who grew up without the Bible as one of their text books are now leaders legislating on our behalf without any Biblical moral foundational standards with which to harken. And sadly, we the people by and large accept this with hardly a fight.
Another Abraham Lincoln quote - "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Society today is enamored it seems with the superficial events of the day and looking out for self. Being a disciple of Christ is not even on most people's radar screen. We're destroying ourselves from within by rejecting God and embracing the things of this world.
We need to be vigilant, but in the bigger picture, that of God's Kingdom, Jesus is our leader. And so we turn to His Word today to see what He says to all of this.
Question - How could a handful of original disciples get more accomplished than 2 billion current professing Christians?
Well, maybe Jesus was on to something.
Was Jesus Numerically Challenged?
Luke 14:25-27
"Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple."
Here He was with this large crowd, the envy of any pastor today, and He says something that had the potential to drive most of them away. He did that frequently. And many did walk away. But He was okay with that.
Jesus went about changing the world in a remarkably small way. Short life, few followers, handful of seed at the end.
The resurrected Lord tossed the seed into the ground and said, “I’m outta here.” He left eleven uncultured leaders, perhaps 120 people, no budget, no map, and no plan
except “make disciples and teach them to obey.”
The only assets they possessed were the Holy Spirit and an imperishable seed.
"For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." (1 Peter 1:23 NIV)
Jesus knew that shear numbers alone wouldn't cut it, but only those who really were committed to Him and His kingdom.
So He filled them with His Spirit, gave them the imperishable Seed of God's Word, and sent them out. This sold out band of believers were fully committed to the cause of Christ. When their ant hill was kicked over, they scattered and more boldly proclaimed Christ. There was no compromise, no wavering, no distractions, no doubt. They were all in.
The proof of an effective Church and committed Christian is not how large the crowd is on any given Sunday, but what the people are doing Monday through Saturday.
So He says to the large crowd, "love me more than anything & anyone else. Be a fully committed disciple. Take up your cross and follow me." It doesn't say it, but I imagine some drifted away after that. Jesus was forming His own "Gideon's Army".
Then to emphasize His point He gives us two parables to ponder and apply. The first is of an unfinished tower.
2. The Unfinished Tower
Luke 14:28-30
"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, 'This person began to build and wasn't able to finish.'
There are many Christians who start off strong. There's a zeal for Christ that can't be shut down and a passion for Him that cannot be swayed.
But over the years and at each crossroad of decision, there develops a drifting, fading, compromising sort of approach to this commitment. The world creeps in slowly and, where He was once the central focus, God begins to be pushed to the margins of our lives.
Jesus was saying, "First count the cost. Understand what it requires. This is no cake walk. It's not a Sunday School picnic. This will cost you EVERYTHING."
I believe much of why the world mocks Christianity today is they don't see a consistency in those who profess themselves as true believers. That's what Jesus was alluding to when He said, "If you merely lay the foundation but don't finish the project people will ridicule you."
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize." (1 Corinthians 9:24 NIV)
Finish strong. Run the race, count the cost, build the tower, complete the task, be a fully committed disciple of Christ. This is what He was saying.
Maybe a few more faded away, but maybe some rose to the challenge.
Then Jesus moves to the next example, that of a king's rash war.
3. The King's Rash War
Luke 14:31-32
"Suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won't he 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."
Here's what He was asking, "Who's side are you on?". There are only two sides -
We're either on the side with twice as many or half as much.
It's foolish to fight against the One who will one day soon eventually and completely win the war. We may think we're doing okay living our lives, allowing God on the fringes, compartmentalizing our relationship with Him, relegating Him to a Sunday morning service now and then or a now-I-lay-me-down-to-sleep sort of arrangement, but we're really fooling ourselves to think this is good enough & going to work. It's time to pause and think about it.
If you're in the Lord's Army you're on the winning side. If not, it's time to make peace. Commit to being a sold out, all in, fully dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ.
Maybe He roused a few militant types with these words. But then He finished with this -
Luke 14:33
"In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples."
There He goes again pushing people away, making the crowd smaller, forcing people to choose. And some did. Even today, you might be pondering the same decision. Give up EVERYTHING? That's asking an awful lot, don't you think?
Conclusion
Luke 14:34-35
"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."
When salt mixes with other minerals it looses it pure effect of saltiness, even sometimes tasting bitter. It becomes good for nothing. It's useless.
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. (Matthew 5:13 NIV)
This is what Jesus was getting to. When we allow the world to become mixed in with our passion for Christ we also become useless for His Kingdom. Jesus becomes the laughing stock of society, the butt of jokes, and a curse word on the tongue. This is what He was warning us today to guard against. Don't allow the world to get in and mix with Christ.
The Church is the salt of the earth. We are the Church. You are the Church.
Count the cost of serving Him. You started strong, finish strong. Be consistent, don't fight against Him. Live an exemplary life before men. Be an all-in, fully committed disciple of Jesus Christ.
I leave you with this headline from a few day ago -
A trial court in Iran this week has issued its final verdict, ordering a Christian pastor to be put to death for leaving Islam and converting to Christianity. Supporters fear Youcef Nadarkhani, a 34-year-old father of two who was arrested over two years ago on charges of apostasy, may now be executed at any time without prior warning, as death sentences in Iran may be carried out immediately or dragged out for years.
Nadarkhani was arrested in October 2009 and was tried and found guilty of apostasy by a lower court. He was then given verbal notification of an impending death-by-hanging sentence.
His lawyers appealed the decision under the premise that Nadarkhani was never a Muslim at the age of adulthood, 15 in Islamic law.
After further review, the court ruled that Nadarkhani had not practiced Islam during his adult life but still upheld the apostasy charge because he was born into a Muslim family.
The court then gave Nadarkhani the opportunity to recant, as the law requires a man to be given three chances to recant his beliefs and return to Islam.
His first option was to convert back to Islam. When he refused, he was asked to declare Muhammad a prophet, and still he declined.
Sources say Nadarkhani has been advised by family members, lawyers and members of his church to remain silent throughout his ordeal, out of fear that authorities may use his statements against him, a strategy commonly employed by the regime.
Folks, we have it so easy. And I'm afraid our ease has made us complacent.
The fact is that our courts would be overwhelmed with cases such as this if we were to accuse and convict people of denying their faith in Christ.
"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12 NIV)
We're in a battle whether we want to be or not, and whether we like it or not. But we're on the winning side.
Be a true disciple. Count the cost, fight the good fight of faith, run the race to finish, stay pure salt, and serve Christ wholeheartedly. As we do we can see this great nation of ours turn around, back to God, back to holiness, purity, righteousness. It starts and finishes with us, His Church, His people, being consistent in our walk with Him, true disciples, shining His light, spreading His love, and seasoning our society with all Christ and His Kingdom is about.
Don't let your body be another tomb for Jesus, but let Him live in you!
Jesus finishes His challenge with these words that we need to consider today -
"Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear."
I leave you with one word today - “Finish.”
Billy Sunday was a pro Baseball player in the early 1900’s who became one of the most famous preachers of his day. He said “Stopping at third adds no more to the score than striking out.” It doesn’t matter how well you start if you fail to finish."
