Tower Builders

October 18, 2015

Tower Builders    NOTES NOT EDITED

Luke 14:25-33

SIS:  Following Jesus Christ will cost you everything you are and everything you have.

From the beginning of time mankind has been building towers.  The first tower builders mentioned in the Bible are those building the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:4):

Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.

Tower building has always been a mark of man's ingenuity and perceived self-autonomy.  They are testaments in stone and steel of man's greatness.

People have been building towers for thousands of years. These have served many functions, as watchtowers, fortifications, temples, lighthouses, victory monuments, clock towers, minarets and cathedral spires. A tower can be an expression of religious devotion (minarets and spires), of power (the Tower of London) or of national pride (the Eiffel Tower). The one aim that all tower-builders share is the desire to impress, to create a sense of wonder.

So, what are we to make of this passage and all the talk about tower building?  One way to begin to get a handle on what Jesus is saying is to pay attention to the scene described in verse 1:

"Now a great multitude went with him."

This is a common scene throughout the narrative of Jesus' life -- crowds were always around Him.  Something about the Person of Jesus was magnetic.  But, Jesus is going to "thin" out the crowd with what He is about to say.  He is going to say to those casual observers -- those on-the-fringe watchers; those, fair-weather followers --

"Following me is going to cost you everything you are and everything you have."

Building a great tower or skyscraper or any edifice of any size takes both planning and resources.  Building a tower will cost you something.  So it is with following Jesus -- it will cost you something:  everything.  Jesus did NOT say, “Don’t be a Tower Builder.”  What he did say was, make sure you are willing to pay what it will cost.

1.  For starters, it will cost you your
            PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS (26)

If anyone comes to Me  and does not hate  his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.

Most preachers like to preach about the love of Jesus and His unifying power.  That is certainly part of the narrative of Jesus' life--and important part.  But it is not the whole of the matter.

Christianity also divides, as well as unites.  It requires a conscious decision to align oneself unilaterally and unequivocally with Jesus Christ alone.  Choosing to associate with Christ is at one and the same time choosing to disassociate with others.

Verse 26 is what we call in literature a "hyperbole."  It is an exaggerated statement intended to make a significant and strong point on a matter.  a  as boys my brother and I loved to play with sticks.  Sometimes they would be rifles.  Sometimes they would be spears.  My Mom would see us playing with these sticks and she would say:  "Jackie. Timmie. Put those sticks down.  You're going to poke someone's eye out."  Now, we were generally obedient boys so we would toss away our sticks and go do something else, probably just as equally damaging to some body part or the other.

But, in all the years I lived at home--until I was 18-- and with all the sticks we boys in the neighborhood played with, I don't know of one eye ever getting poked out.  My Mom was just using hyperbole to make the point that we should be careful.

Jesus uses hyperbole to describe the kind of relationship we should have with Him:  vs 26

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.

What Jesus is saying is this:  following me will cost you in personal relationships.  It will determine who you can be a close friend and hang out with and who you can't.  Following Jesus will determine who you can marry and who you can't.

The Bible says, "Do not be deceived.  Bad company corrupts good behavior." (1Cor. 15:33).  Paul admonishes believers, in regard to having intimate relationships with non-believers,  “Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord” (2Cor. 6:17).

When we are believers, we can and should have non-believing friends, but we should never let our friendship with any other person interfere with our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.   Usually, persons who are not believers will probably not be good candidates for close friends because they will grow weary of our witness and choose to disassociate from us.  In some cultures, families will consider you "dead" if you become a believer.  Or, even worse, they will seek to kill you for becoming a believer if you don't recant as we see happening so often in the Middle East and other nations.

By far, out of the five kids in our family, I was the academic one.  I'm the only one to have finished a four year degree, not to mention a post-graduate degree.  My Mom and Dad had hoped I would become a Medical Doctor.  They viewed that as one of the highest levels of success one could achieve in life -- and certainly it is one of the highest.  However, I don't do well around sick people.  I have a nasty habit of fainting. So that was out.

Still, that left being a lawyer, so my Mom and Dad still had hopes of getting one professional out of five.  One day, while still in the Navy, I called my Mom and gave her the good news -- "I feel God is calling me to be a preacher!"   My Mom had always supported me 110%, so I was a little surprised when she -- in almost a fainting voice said:  "Why in the world would you want to be a preacher?"  Eventually, Mom got used to the idea and in typical "mom style" became my greatest supporter.  She often compared Billy Graham to me -- and not the other way around.

Choosing Jesus is to say, "All my relationships in this world must come second to Him -- everyone of them!  Jesus turned to the crowd and said:

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.

He was saying, "Following me will require that you surrender even your personal relationships to me.  Noone can be more important to you than I am.

2.  Second, following Jesus will cost your
            PERSONAL PLANS in life. (27)

Whoever does not bear his own cross 
and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

The most powerful words in this passage come from this verse, “come after me.”  While this is an accurate literal translation, the construction usually means simply, “follow me.”  Everybody follows some plan—that is, something or somebody. Some people entertain the myth that they are following nobody but themselves.  That is a delusion because if one’s self is not controlled by Christ, it is controlled by the Devil—and his plan.  We don’t control anything. 

By the year 1979, Bob Dylan had become a rock and roll legend. That year Dylan professed faith in Jesus Christ and the rock world was, well “rocked.”  Rock and rollers were known for hard drinking and harder living.  One commentator analyzed Dylan’s conversion like this:   “Nothing guarantees more scorn in rock 'n' roll circles than a man who gets religion. I mean, we pay these guys to visit hell and bring us back colour slides and here they go slipping off to heaven. It's a severe breach of contract” (Steve Turner). During his West Coast tour following his conversion, Dylan refused to play his pre-Christian standards like, “Blowing in the Wind,” that became an anthem for the anti-war movement of the 60’s.  Yet, Dylan realized that he had not been in control of his life:  drugs, sex, and rock and roll had left a void that the great ballads could not fill.  Dylan knew he needed a better plan for his life.  Out of that struggle came one of his most beloved gospel songs—delivered as only Bob Dylan could deliver it.  The song was titled, “You Gotta Serve Somebody.”  The course serves up these words of wisdom:

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed

You're gonna have to serve somebody,

It may be the devil or it may be the Lord

But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

It may have more impact if you hear Dylan express it himself. [VIDEO: 6:31]

There are only two sets of plans for your life—two, no more and no less.  The plan God has for you, Jeremiah mentions to God’s people on the eve of a dark and uncertain time in the nation’s history:

^{Jer. 29:11} For I know the plans I have for you” —this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your welfare, not for disaster,

to give you a future and a hope.

This is God’s plan—health, hope, and victory.  Then, there is the plan the Devil has for your life—a plan steeped in despair and consummating in eternal destruction.  The Devil cares not if you think you are the “captain of your own ship.”  He will gladly let you play at the helm.  The Devil knows that without Jesus in your life, he has full power to set the compass and control the rudder.  Self-control is an allusion.  Self cannot be controlled.  It must be surrendered.  We see the Devil’s plan at work in Judas (Lk. 22:3).  Judas had a plan.  He made some serious money but the Bible describes the end of the Devil’s plan for Judas in Mt. 27:5: “He went and hanged himself.”  After a number of days hanging dead from an isolated tree Acts 1:18 tells us:  “He fell headfirst and burst open in the middle, and all his insides spilled out.” And, so it will always be with the Devil’s plan, when we give into our self, and not Our Savior.

No wise person builds without a plan, and none of us live without a plan.  We are either living according to the Devil’s plan--building the tower we want--or we are living by God's plan and building the tower He wants.  The Devil’s towers will always crash and burn.  The towers built according to God’s plans will rise up and up until it touches heaven’s glory.  You need to abandon your plans, which are really the Devil’s plans, and begin living, working, and building according to the Kingdom’s plan:  “building on earth as it has already been built in heaven” to paraphrase the Lord’s Prayer.

3.  Third, following Jesus will cost your
            PERSONAL PLEASURES in life.

Read verse 27 very carefully:  Whoever does not bear his own cross  and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

Notice the word, “bear.”  Scholars do not completely understand the “meaning of this word.  In other contexts is means “to lift up.”  Other places it means to “take upon oneself” as a load or burden.  The context in this verse seems to imply something much deeper than simply “carrying a burden.” The word can also refer to a “mark” or “seal” identifying one with a leader or group.  One Greek source states this about the word translated, “bear”:  carrying is an exertion of power and thus includes an exercise and application of will.

The key issue here seems to be to “make a difficult choice to follow a risky path or undertake an arduous task.”  The word, “cross,” supports this definition of the word “bear.”  The object we are to bear is an instrument of death—death by the most indescribable and painful means.

Crucifixion was a particularly nasty way to dispatch criminals or other enemies of the State.  It not only was a very painful process often involving driving nine-inch nails through the wrists and feet, but it was a particularly “shameful” way to die.  Crosses dotted the roads and byways so those passing by could contribute words of contempt and disgust to the criminals’ days of agony upon the cross.

The cross could be seen for the antonym (or opposite) of pleasure.  So, “to bear one’s cross” means “to willfully embrace pain, scorn, shame, and even death in order to identify with Jesus Christ.”

Please understand that choosing pain over pleasure is something that everything in our nature rebels against.  Man’s first sin, in fact, involved “seeking pleasure.”  Genesis 3:6 tells us:

Then the woman saw that the tree was
good for food and delightful to look at.

Oh, yes, there is “pleasure in sin” to be sure; but such pleasure will be short-lived and the pain sin brings will last much longer.  The Proverbial Poet reminds us:  “Stolen bread tastes sweet, but it turns to gravel in the mouth” (Prv. 20:17, NLT).  A few verses later, Solomon the Wise will point out,  “The one who loves pleasure will become a poor man” (Prv. 21:17).  Men pursue pleasure as one of life’s most highly valued treasures.  The pursuit of pleasure can become an idol in a person’s life.

This worship of pleasure is a major reason why men like Joel Olsteen and other prosperity preachers are adored by the masses, while the masses have long forgotten preachers like William Booth. Booth, who established the Salvation Army against great opposition in order to reach people detested and discarded by society, said over 100 years ago:

“The chief danger that confronts the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, heaven without hell.” Booth pretty much hit the proverbial nail on the head in forecasting our present state of affairs.

We see this version of Christianity throughout the Western world today:  “a Christless, crossless, powerless Christianity.”  Tower Builders must count the cost and a great deal of that cost involves giving up the pursuit of “personal pleasures.”  This is not a “popular” message, but it is a “powerful” message.

Jesus had advice for those who might want to become “Tower Builders.”  It will cost you much.  It will cost you personal relationships.  It will cost you your personal plans.  It will cost you personal pleasures.  In reality . . . it will cost you EVERYTHING!

Tower Building is a costly, risky pursuit.  But, nothing is quite so fulfilling as being a part of building something remarkable—especially something eternal.

Many, many years ago I visited San Francisco for the first time.  Remember, I grew up in rural West Virginia.  The tallest buildings in town were three stories.  I remember riding the “Bart Train” from Oakland, under the San Francisco Bay (no real challenge for a former submariner).  I remember emerging from the San Francisco underworld, ascending up the stairs into the heart of San Francisco.  My little hillbilly eyes could not comprehend what they were seeing. Concrete and steel giants stood like royal sentries guarding the city.  I felt the same awe as that other Jack must have felt when he saw that beanstalk disappearing into the clouds.  There is something majestic about tall towers—something overwhelming, and yet inviting.

Jesus did not say, “Don’t be tower builders.”  What He did say was, “Be sure to count the cost of building a tower.”  As I write these words, my eyes begin to tear up.  I want so much to leave behind a “tower of faith” built in devotion to a Lord who has given me so much.  What could we build here in our lives today—in our families, in our churches, in our communities—if we were willing to pay the cost of “tower building?”  I believe God will visit upon us with His power and glory if we will surrender to Him our “personal relationships, our personal plans, and our personal pleasures.”  Building Towers will not be cheap.  It will not be easy.  It will be glorious.  Count the cost.  Build a tower.