Tower Builder - Luke 14:28-30

They've allowed themselves to become somewhat involved, enough to be respectable but not enough to be uncomfortable. Their religion protects them from the hard unpleasantness of life while changing its place and shape to suit their convenience.

It's a tough quote, and yet the sad reality is that as we look at the state of the modern evangelical church, I think we find those statements to be all too entirely true. Many who are preaching today apparently want to build a large crowd, and so they give into that mentality. Even us, I fear that sometimes we may sometimes be tempted to soft-sell the gospel in order to try to convert people. And yet when you look, when you see the example and ministry of our Lord Jesus, it's quite striking that he does the opposite. You see it on a number of occasions, including the context for our texts this evening. A large crowd is gathering around Jesus and what he does is he turns to them and he gives them a message that cuts straight to the bone. He tells them what's required to follow him. And he tells them that it's difficult and it's demanding and really it's impossible and they better think long and hard about whether that's something they really want to do. You see, Jesus is not in the business of drawing large crowds. He's not interested in spectators. He's not interested in fair weather fans. He's looking for recruits. So he's challenging them. Do you have what it takes to follow me? And verses 28 through 30 illustrate just that. Jesus is using this parable to say, what's true about a building project is true about following me. You have to count the cost. So this evening, I want to study Luke 14, 28 through 30 with you. And as we do, my hope is that this will cause us to count the high cost of following Jesus, because really that's the point of the parable. This parable is intended to make us count the high cost of following Jesus. So for our study, we'll look at the three elements that go into that. So first, the cost. In order to count the cost, we have to know what it is. And so we should ask, what is the cost? Well, if we look to the broader context of this passage, we quickly find the answer. Now, we don't have the time to go through it in detail, but you'll notice in the surrounding verses, there's this driving refrain. You cannot, or he cannot be my disciple. And what precedes each one of these is an extreme demand. There's the cost of family. There's the cost of your own life. And in case that doesn't cover everything, there's the cost of everything you have. That's the cost of following Jesus. It doesn't just cost a lot. It costs everything. You see, what Jesus is saying is ultimately he will not take second place. He will not take the backseat to your aspirations and ambitions. He is not there to be a part of your program, or to be your assistant, or to be part of achieving your goals. This Jesus is here to command you, not to give advice. And so he demands your whole life. And that's really what it means to bear your own cross. He's calling you to die to yourselves, all of your sinful desires, some of the desires that come as natural to you as breathing. He calls you to bring your conscience before Him, and the things that you think are right and wrong to be defined by God's Word and not what seems natural. He calls you to bring your personality. He calls you to bring your career, to bring your family, to bring everything that you are and everything that you hope to be before him to crucify it and tell him, command me Lord, I'm yours. This is the call of Jesus. Even if it sounds ludicrous, even if Jesus's words to you seem impossible or dangerous, the call of the new covenant is to take up your cross and follow Jesus. So that means if you've got a girlfriend that can prevent you from being a disciple of Jesus, you haven't begun to understand. If you've got a dream or goal that holds more sway in your mind than Jesus, your priorities are misplaced. If you've got a job that can keep you from undying commitment to Jesus and forces you to compromise on your beliefs, your job means too much to you. And if you have a member of your family who consumes your emotions, draws out your energies, takes all of your strengths and leaves you with only marginal energy that you can give to your desire to follow after Jesus. What Jesus is saying is you're calling into question whether you can really be his disciple. Because notice, it's not that Jesus says, you know, if anybody doesn't do this, he's not gonna be a very good disciple. That would be one thing. No, he says, if you're gonna put these concerns First, if anyone or anything and even your own life is worth more to you than me, then you cannot be my disciple. This is the high cost of following Jesus. So that's the first element. And that brings us to the second, which is completion. We must count the cost to completion. Notice in verse 28, the man should

first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it.

Right? There's this idea of actually taking time to seriously count the cost, not just for today, but of the whole project. Do you have what it takes to complete it? I think we often find that many people will begin projects in the spur of the moment. You know, they see something inspirational and they're They're ready to jump into action and make commitments. But as soon as the dust settles and reality kicks in and it turns out that exercising or eating healthy or volunteering or whatever is a lot harder than they thought, their motivation drops and so they're ready to quit. I mean, there's a reason why nearly half of Americans quit their New Year's resolution by the end of January. And following Jesus is no exception. It happens too often that people You know, they'll commit their lives to Jesus when they're riding on these emotional highs, and they'll pray the prayer without actually realizing what it means. And what happens is that the moment something happens, well, following Jesus is kind of hard. And, you know, I have my own plans and agenda, and Jesus is kind of getting in the way of that, so I think I can do without him. And what Jesus is saying is, I don't want those shallow acts of commitment. Because here's the thing, sooner or later you will hit an emotional plateau. And sure, you've counted the cost for today, and maybe you carried your cross yesterday. But what Jesus is asking is, what about tomorrow when things aren't so great? Maybe when God feels so distant and it just feels like he doesn't care about you. Will you obey him then? Or what about on the days when God blesses you with something that you've worked so hard for, for so long? Maybe when you have kids, or you get your dream job, or you get to finally retire, or you get your annual bonus. Will you submit those things to him? Jesus is commanding us to take a step back, get past whatever you're feeling, and do the calculations to evaluate what is the true condition of your heart. Is this something I really want to commit to, no matter what life throws at me? Is this something I really believe in? Or might there be circumstances where I feel like I won't be able to follow Jesus? We have to count the cost to completion. And this brings us to our last point, the consequence. Why must we count the cost to completion? Verse 29,

otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, this man began to build and was not able to finish.

This is just obvious. If you start building without counting the cost, you're going to look really dumb and end up with a monument to your stupidity. I mean, imagine if UVA, after beginning renovations on Alderman Library, just ran out of money and so the half-torn building just sits there on the top of the hill. That would be considered failure and incompetence on Jim Ryan's resume. The same is true of our lives. There will come a day when the living God will expose the secrets of men, and those who have not followed Jesus to the end will be mocked and be filled with shame for their failure and incompetence. At some point, they may have suffered for Christ, and they may have done mighty works in His name, but all they'll hear on that day is,

depart from me, I never knew you.

And so I hope that as you've been listening, you've been counting the cost. Because if you've been honest with yourself, there's a rub, isn't there? I mean, I've just told you that Jesus demands everything from your words and your actions and your thoughts all the way to the deepest desires in your heart that you're not even aware of. He wants you to kill those desires and submit everything to him, and that's not possible. It would be like telling someone to stop desiring to breathe. By nature, mankind is hostile to God. We want to be in charge. So how can we follow Jesus? What you need is for God to intervene in your life and draw you to his son. And that's exactly what he does in the New Covenant. This God loved us so much that he entered into this world. And entering into the world as a man, he himself was broken. He himself was slaughtered, and in our place, in his slaughter, bore the wrath that we deserved for our sins against the holy God who made us. And he resurrected from the dead and now he sends his spirit into this world and now his spirit pierces individual hearts to awaken us to the reality of God and to love this God and enjoy him forever. This is a supernatural act. A new birth that replaces our old desires with a new supernatural desire. And if the Holy Spirit is at work in your life, nothing will stop you from making this commitment to follow Jesus. Sure, your life won't be perfect, but the spirit he'll produce in you an unrelenting repentance and an undying faith that will go through completion. You see, God's power goes before his people who he calls to follow his son. He gives us his spirit to respond to his call, and when you place your faith in the finished work of Christ, you will be able to follow Jesus, sharing in the love of the Father, Son, and Spirit, and promised an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, kept for you in heaven, where you will hear your Father say,

well done, good and faithful servant, enter the joy of your master.

You see, the cost of following Jesus is everything. but the cost of rejecting him is even more. It's an eternity separated from a good and loving God. In the words of Jim Elliott,

he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for sending your son to die for our sins and sending your spirit to regenerate our hearts. We pray that your spirit now apply these truths to our heart, that we would continue to reflect on the cost of discipleship, and that he would reveal any areas in our lives that we might have kept for ourselves. We pray that our lives would be marked by repentance and faith in your son, and that your spirit would give us the strength to follow him. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.