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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.” ~ Luke 14:28-35
The Lord Jesus has been teaching about discipleship. Some believers are ok disciples, and some are great disciples. In today's text, the Lord Jesus is spelling out how the believer is made more effective in this world for the advancement of God's kingdom.
The Lord Jesus provides three parables to explain the difficulty involved in being a disciple. The three parables are: the parable of the man building a tower, the parable about the king preparing for war, and the parable of the salt losing its flavor.
All three parables represent the believer in the Lord Jesus. The message? The disciple must “estimate the cost” to see whether he is up to the task of being a part of the building of God's kingdom. We cannot get the job done with halfheartedness. We must count the cost, and subsequently, pay the price, if we are to be successful.
The Lord Jesus had earlier identified His disciples as “the salt of the earth.” When we placed our trust in the Lord Jesus our effectiveness as the “salt” brought with it a great possibility. And, in that day, salt was a valued item, in fact, part of a soldier’s pay was given in salt.
Salt is a preservative, and God’s people in this world are helping to hold back the influence of evil. In addition, salt is an antiseptic that makes things cleaner. It may sting when it touches the wound, but it helps to kill infection. And, salt adds flavor. But, most of all, salt makes people thirsty. By the way we live our lives, we ought to make others thirsty for the Lord Jesus and the salvation that He alone can give.
Our modern salt is pure and does not lose its flavor, but the salt in the day of the Lord Jesus was impure and could lose its flavor. Once the saltiness was gone, there was no way to restore it, and the salt was thrown out and declared ineffective. When a disciple loses his effectiveness which comes from his dependency on the Lord Jesus, he “isn’t able to finish” and will eventually not be all that effective in advancing the kingdom of Christ in the hearts of people.
When we tell the Lord Jesus that we want to take up our cross and follow Him as His disciples, He then makes known to us exactly what it means to be His disciple. He wants no false expectancy, no illusions, no bargains. He wants to use us as stones for building His church, soldiers for battling His enemies, and salt for bettering the lives of the people of this world.
To some, the Lord Jesus says, “You cannot be My disciples,” because they will not forsake all for Him. Two times in v.29-30, the word “finish” is used. He uses the Greek word ekteleō which is a word of finality. When the preposition ek to the word teleō, we compound its intensity. Those whom God uses to advance His kingdom in this world are those who are fully committed to the mission. Not all Christians are such and, sadly, cannot be used of the Lord like this.
In v.35 we read, "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear." This is His call to discipleship. To the degree that we give ourselves to the Lord will determine the degree to which we will be useful to advance the gospel in the hearts of the people in this world.
Our sins are forgiven by grace through faith. We do not earn our rightness before God. Justification is a free gift. We do not work for it. We receive it. Once we are in God's kingdom, though, we discover Christianity is not a weekend hobby. We play a role in the furtherance of His kingdom in this world.
Imagine with me. You have toiled for years for God's kingdom and it is time for you to go to your real home. You die and when you arrive in heaven, there are not just a few, but a bunch of people who are grateful for your arrival. You see, they will be grateful to see you because you factored in on them coming to the Lord Jesus. You, partly, are responsible for them being there.
We invest in God's kingdom through the giving of our time, our talents, and our treasures. Be sure to factor in to what God is doing in this world today, and who knows, you may factor in on many spending eternity in heaven rather than hell.
