Luke 14:28 “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. (NIV)
There is a scene in the classic western, “The Magnificent 7,” where Chris, the leader of a small group of men who are good with guns, approaches a character named Harry about joining in an effort to help a small Mexican village defend itself from a large band of bandits. Harry is convinced, however, that this is just a cover for something bigger, such as gold, cattle, or payroll. “Only what I told you,” said Chris. “Sure, never mind. Just tell me when you can,” Harry replied. Exasperated, Chris says, “Harry, please don't understand me so fast!”
Like Chris, Jesus doesn’t want the enthusiastic crowd to quickly understand what was happening. All the way into Palm Sunday, understanding Jesus too fast, the crowd had Jewish liberation in mind. For them, this meant the crushing of Roman power by God’s power, through His Messiah. Jesus, in essence, told this crowd, “Please, don’t understand me so fast!”
Jesus set three radical terms for following Him:
Choose the Kingdom over even the dearest family loyalties.
Surrender your life (take up your cross daily) to the King.
Give yourself and all you have to the ownership of God.
In His words to the crowd, Jesus provides two cautionary examples. The first is about building a costly tower. The second, darker example, is about going to war against a much stronger army. Luke tells us that as Jesus came to Jerusalem, He wept over a city who would choose to go to war against Rome, without the power of God (Luke 19:41-44). So, Jesus tells the enthusiastic crowd to stop, and think before they walked with Him. Will you stick it out to the end? Do you understand the price required?
Those are both important questions for each of us to ask ourselves, and for churches to ask. Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s challenge to “cheap grace,” is still as relevant as it was when he issued it. Jesus is not a commodity to be easily purchased.
We need to affirm some things about Jesus and His call. Jesus did not come to give advice, though His teachings are profound. The beatitudes are not helpful hints for happiness, although Jesus grants us joy. Jesus did not come to make us incrementally better, although He makes us holy. He did not come to be popular, although billions have been drawn to Him. He came to be our Lord and King, and His terms of following Him haven’t changed. He came to build His church, not by adding nominal members, but by incorporating willing disciples into His body to do His will on earth as it is in heaven.
Given these realities, are we willing to walk with Him to the cross? Are we willing to give up our wills, our expectations, our goals, our dreams of success, and our desires for popularity, to simply be His—all His? Are we willing to stand with Jesus and bear the hatred and hostility of the world? All around the world through millennia, these are not hypothetical questions.
When we stop to consider this call, if we are wise, we will understand we are not up to it. Yet this is not “works salvation.” It is the grace of transformation. Those who are willing to walk with Him, will find that they are changed by Him. His Spirit will form Christ within us. The Holy Spirit will gift us and empower us to carry our cross. It all begins with our understanding the cost, and then, in trust, say “YES!”
Tim Kelley