Luke 14:25-35 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
“A Tower”
Build on the Rock Summer Series 12 August 19, 2018
It is a position you do not want to be in: starting a project but not being able to complete it. We’ve talked about several different biblical building projects during the course of our summer series. Toward the very beginning of summer we spoke about the account of the Tower of Babel, a tower that got started, but was never completed. The people who wanted to build it were doing so to show their greatness and their rebellion against God, but God stepped in and made sure that it didn’t get finished. I wonder how long the foundation of that tower remained visible and how often people walked past and remembered how foolish it is to defy God. This side of heaven we will probably never know the answer to those questions. That idea, though, of an unfinished tower whose foundation stands as a testament to some sort of foolishness is exactly what Jesus speaks about in our Gospel today. In this case, the tower doesn’t get built because the builder runs out of money to build it. He didn’t plan ahead. He didn’t consider carefully. Most of us have learned from experience that those things are important. We need to plan ahead if we want to accomplish something big. That’s true for our congregation as well. As we consider potential changes and new buildings. We want to plan and consider things carefully. We plan and work to make sure we raise sufficient funds before we start a project like our Sahuarita Building. But the lesson that Jesus teaches in our sermon text is not a lesson about planning or about the importance of careful assessment, at least not about these things in and of themselves. Instead, Jesus is speaking very specifically about one thing, about being his disciple, about being his follower. As the account begins in Luke’s Gospel, we notice that Jesus has a lot of followers. There is a crowd traveling along with him apparently interested in what he had to say. But then he turns to them and says something that they are probably not expecting, something shocking and surprising. He calls on them to hate their own family members and even their own lives. He says that anyone who doesn’t do that cannot be his disciple. And then he calls this by another name: carrying a cross. So what is Jesus saying when he calls on his followers to carry a cross? What does he mean that we should hate ourselves and our own family members? Jesus is vividly pointing out that being his disciple means a whole lot more than just being part of a crowd. We know from the rest of the Bible that the large crowds that accompanied Jesus early on in his ministry eventually shrunk to be very small crowds that stuck by him through all of the difficult parts. Those many people traveling with him did not all understand what it meant to truly follow him. That’s what he was conveying to them. One commentator makes an interesting point about Jesus’ words. He says that Jesus called on his followers to hate others in the same way God hates them, just as he also calls on us to love others as God loves them. And if we understand that point, we can understand why Jesus would call on us to hate our own family members. The way that God hates people is he hates their sin and their sinfulness. And this is true even though at the same time he also loves them. God once looked at the world and hated what he saw enough to send a flood to destroy it all. And he looked at the same world, full of sinners just as guilty as those who drowned in the floodwaters, and he loved them and sent his Son to rescue them. And so, in the same way, those who would follow God and his Son Jesus Christ will also hate sin, anything that goes against or opposes God. Disciples of Jesus will be appalled by behavior that does not glorify God. And disciples of Jesus will at the same time love and want what is best for even the worst of their enemies, just like Jesus did and still does. But Jesus’ point is very clear, that you cannot truly follow him and be more connected to father or mother or wife or children or even your own life. Anyone who is more committed to anything or anyone other than Jesus cannot truly be a disciple of Jesus.
That is a powerful warning to a crowd of sinners. That is a powerful warning to a world of sinners. There are so many people and so many things that can capture our attention. There are so many things and people that we might try to rely on. There are so many things and so many people that we grow attached to and that we love, and it could and would truly hurt for those to be taken away. But that’s the point. Following Jesus involves carrying a cross. It involves things that we don’t just naturally want to do because naturally we are full of sin and only want to make ourselves comfortable and happy. The problem is that our natural way is a recipe for disaster. It is walking the wide road that leads only to hell. It doesn’t bring us closer to God, it takes us farther away from him. And the only one that can turn us around, the only one who can bring us back to God is God’s Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. He lived a life that wasn’t about preserving his earthly attachments and it wasn’t about serving his own interests. His life was consumed by helping and serving others and by doing the work his Father had set before him. And he went so far as to sacrifice even his own life for others. And then, as a victorious champion, he took up his life again. And that is why it is worth it to be his follower. It is worth it because by his death and resurrection he has changed the course of not only our lives but also our eternity. He has rescued us from hell and given to us the certain promise of heaven. That is where he is leading. That is why it is worth it to follow him. That is why it is worth it even though it may not always be easy. So Jesus uses some earthly illustrations to drive home the point. Building a tower is a big undertaking. No wonder it requires careful planning and consideration. It is easy to see how someone without the proper planning and foresight might start building a tower but never be able to complete it. Or the king about to go to war against an army twice the size of his own. He needs to first make sure he has a plan, that he has confidence that his troops can outmaneuver and outfight the opponents or else he needs to make other plans. To accomplish these big things, you have to make a big commitment. Many of the people in that crowd would later prove to be unsuccessful tower builders. They thought that they could follow Jesus just by walking around with him and hearing what he said and saying, “I am a Christian.” There are plenty today who think of Christianity in the same way. They come to church to be entertained or to hear things that they agree with or to find some new insight that will make life at home easier or better. They like to think that just being at church should be earning them points with God and that if they just get enough, then they will be all set. But what happens when difficult times come? What happens when our selfish motives are at odds with what God tells us he wants? How many people out of those great crowds stuck with Jesus all the way to the cross? Only a very few. Jesus warns that the crowds need to know what they are getting into. The path that a disciple is called to walk is not always easy and it is not always happy. Those who think that it is will eventually find out that this sort of discipleship is just as worthless as salt that isn’t salty anymore. Instead, Jesus says, “In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.” This is the same thing that Paul described in our Second Lesson (Philippians 3:4-11). He described how everything that he might have put his confidence in was worthless, except for Jesus. And because he knew Jesus as his Savior, it was absolutely worth following him even when it meant suffering like Jesus suffered. Do take note that none of these messages mean that we earn heaven by our suffering or that we deserve it because of what good disciples we become. Not at all. When Jesus calls on us to give up everything and to hate anything that would hinder our walk with him, that is all because he has already done it for us. We can’t build a tower on our own, and our own measly efforts cannot win the battle. What Jesus calls on us to do as his disciples is to completely rely on him because he has done it all for us. It is definitely not a position you want to be in: to have thought you were a disciple of Jesus, but to have lost out on that. It would be just like starting a tower and leaving it unfinished. Let us thank God for his grace to us and constantly respond to Jesus’ final words of this lesson: “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” Let us hear and take to heart what our Savior teaches.
The Text: Luke 14:25–35 (NIV) 25 Large
crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “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. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 “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? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ 31 “Or 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? 32 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. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. 34 “Salt
is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”