COUNTING THE COST (2): RICHEST MAN IN THE VALLEY

(Luke 14:25-35)
January 31, 2016
Read Lu 14:25-33 At the banquet at the end of the BB season, the star
player was chosen to present a gift to the coach. Clearly more comfortable on
court than speaking, he said, We got a present for you, Coach. Its not much
but it shows just what we think of you. In a similar way, our lives show
what we really think of Jesus and for many who claim Christ the answer is,
Not much. There are a lot of fair-weather disciples. But Jesus claims dont
allow for fair-weather disciples. Half-hearted commitment is no commitment
at all. Were either all in, or we arent in at all. Here Jesus is at pains to say,
Count the cost before your commit. Jesus always invites; never begs. And
He demands full commitment. Hes more than fire insurance. Hes a way of
life. True disciples love Him more than anything because Hes worth it.
So, three times in this passage we find cannot be my disciple. That
eliminates any idea that we can have one foot in and one foot out. This isnt
the Christian Hokey Pokey! Jesus didnt go half way to the cross for us. He
was all in, so He has every right to demand that if we are to be His, we must
be all in, too. Saving faith can be weak, but it cant be reserved.
So, in this passage, Jesus shows us 3 things we must renounce or we cannot
be [His] disciple. Were either all in, or we arent in at all. That means:
I.

Renounce Relationships

26

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and
wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he
cannot be my disciple. Jesus is exaggerating to make a point. It is not that we
hate our families, but that our love for Him must be so much greater. In the
movie Hawaii the intense young missionary, Abner Hale, says to his lovely
wife, Jerusha (Julie Andrews), I love you more than God. Was it wrong to
love his wife? No. Was it a problem if she ranked above God? Absolutely.
Christ must be first. Christ must be first if were really His.
Scott McKnight tells of a young Xn woman who grew up in the church did
all the right things, made all the right decisions, said all the right things. But
her faith had no vitality until a mission trip to Central America. What she saw
exposed the shallowness of her own commitment. She came back convicted of
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her materialism and selfishness. She began planning a future as a missionary.

But commitment to Christ cost her her boyfriend: I love him. But he doesnt
get it. He doesnt want to give his life for others as Christ demands. So,
would we renounce a relationship for Jesus sake? True disciples would.
II.

Renounce Rights

26

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and
wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he
cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after
me cannot be my disciple. So its not just relationships we must renounce in
coming to Christ. We must renounce our own lives. Die to self so He can live
thru us. This is a now familiar theme in Lukes gospel. This means that all the
rights and privileges that we normally reserve to ourselves we hand over to
Him. When someone carried that crossbeam on the way to his execution, he
wasnt coming back. His old life was over. So with true disciples.
Taking up ones cross does not refer to lifes everyday hardships. People
often refer to loneliness or their demanding boss, or chronic allergies as their
cross to bear. And those are difficult things. But thats not what Jesus
means. When Jesus says we must bear our own cross, He means an
unconditional surrender to Him as Lord and Master. Its a relinquishing of
our independence. You dont take up your cross and then say, You know,
this isnt working for me. I thought this would be kind of purifying, but I
think I prefer the old me. No. No. This is total surrender.
Sound extreme? It is. Jesus doesnt call for a makeover; He demands a
takeover -- separating professors from possessors. Possessors are in dead
earnest; following Jesus wherever it leads. Its a whole new life. Paul explains
it in Gal 2:20: 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live,
but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in
the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
You know, were fixated on rights in our culture. Dont tread on me is our
national motto. Thats why were the most litigious society in the world. But
let me ask how many of His personal rights did Jesus retain when He came
to earth as a man? How many? How about His right to act as God? He gave it
up as Paul describes in Phil 2:6-7: 6 who, though he was in the form of God,
did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself,
by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. How
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about His right to enjoy the treasures and pleasures of heaven? He gave it up
as Paul reminds us in II Cor 8:9: For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you
by his poverty might become rich.
How many of His personal rights did Jesus take to the cross? How many? His
right to a fair shake? He gave it up in the sham of a trial that convicted Him
illegally even tho even the Romans knew He was innocent. His right to
escape? He gave it up while at the same time noting in Mt 26:53 that He
could appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve
legions of angels? His right to avoid the excruciating pain (the hell) of
separation from the Father? He gave it up saying, My Father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you
will. His right to a dignified death, since He never did anything wrong? He
gave it up as Phil 2:8 shows: he humbled himself by becoming obedient to
the point of death, even death on a cross. How about His right to revenge?
He gave it up when He said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what
they do (Lu 23:34).
Beloved by the time Jesus died on that cross, Hed given up every right He
had. And now He is saying, If you are going to be my follower, you must
come die with me. Thats not the gospel we usually hear, is it? We hear a lot
about Jesus dying for us. We hear almost nothing about us dying with Him.
But that requirement to renounce all our rights to Him just like He
renounced all His rights for us its always been there. Never changed.
In The Grace Awakening Charles Swindoll tells of a missionary who sailed
from Liverpool to serve along the African coast. He boarded a tugboat in
Lagos to take him to the fever-invested region where he would invest the rest
of his life. A cynical slave-trader sneered at him in derision: If you go to that
place, you will die. The missionary answered: I died before I ever left
Liverpool. He was truly saved, living Christs life, not his. Did you know
that between 1880 and 1910 a third of the missionaries to Central Africa died
within the first year? They were actually advised by mission boards to bring
their own coffins. Yet they went, hating their own life for the sake of Christ.
Sounds ominous, doesnt it? Jesus meant it too. He wants us to know what we
are in for. The Lord never said it would be easy to be a Christian. That is the
21st century American aberration of the gospel. Its not easy. BUT it is good!
While taking his cross was bad news for the condemned criminal, it is the best
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news you and I could ever have. To find out that Jesus loves us enough to
pay for our sins and give direction to our life is priceless. The happiest thing
anyone can ever do is surrender their rights to Jesus. Take the pressure off.
Was the cross easy? No so why did Jesus go? Heb 12:2, looking to Jesus,
the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him
endured the cross. Jesus went for the joy He saw coming! He went seeing
that day when millions would surrender to Him, would renounce their rights
and receive eternal life. He went for the joy of pleasing the Father. He went
for the joy of seeing Satan defeated and God glorified. So when He asks us to
join Him at the cross and die to anyone and anything but Him, Hes looking
out for our eternal interest! The road to this cross is a one-way street to
glory! Death to self is never easy just eternally worth it.
Time magazine, in a Jan 17, 2005 article on suffering, told the story of a tragic
woman. Her huz was laid off. She had a miscarriage. A month later her cousin
was diagnosed with cancer. Two hurricanes struck her hometown and one of
her best friends died from a brain tumor. All in the course of a year. But she
said, Were putting our lives in Gods hands and trusting He has our best
interests at heart [death to self]. Ive clung to my faith more than ever this
year. As a consequence, I havent lost my joy. Its not natural to react to
disasters like that. But when youve been crucified with Christ and it is now
Christ living in you youre untouchable, Beloved. No permanent damage
can ever touch you. So you can have joy and peace now all that, and heaven,
too. Renouncing rights is never easy. But, let me tell you, its worth it.
III.

Renounce Riches

33

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot
be my disciple. Renounce means to take leave of or to say goodbye to.
For example, Mark 6:46, And after he had taken leave of them, he went up
on the mountain to pray. Something more important demanded His attention,
so He said, Goodbye. And Jesus is saying thats what you must do with
everything youve got. Kiss it goodbye. Your riches will never get you into
heaven, but they may well keep you out whether little or lot. This is where
the rich, young ruler would not go. He said Goodbye to Jesus rather than
saying Goodbye to his money. He wanted to go half-way. He was willing to
commit everything to Jesus except his things. But for those who are true
disciples of Jesus, they are stewards of everything and owners of nothing.
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Did you know Jesus talked more about money than any other single subject?
Why? Because He knows it is the thing that most gets people in its grip.
Money is a boa constrictor. Its grip feels comfortable at first, but it squeezes
and squeezes until there is no life left. Of course, its not the money itself.
Money is neutral. It is the love of it that kills. Paul didnt say that money is
the root of all evil in I Tim 6:10. He didnt, did he? He said the love of money
is the root of all evil. You know what that means? It doesnt matter whether
you have it or not. It is the simple want of it that destroys people and sends
them to hell. They either want what they dont have or they want more of what
they do have more than they want Jesus, and so they cannot be His disciples.
Charles Spurgeon said one way you know Jesus is precious to you is that
nothing else is. Everything else is expendable. Your money isnt precious to
you anymore. Your possessions arent precious to you anymore. These
things dont have a hold on you anymore. Tim Keller adds, If youre in
your right mind, you can look at the world and you can say, World, you
owe me nothing, and you cannot frighten me. I dont care what the stock
market is doing. I dont need this or that from you, because Im rich. Im
rich beyond the dreams of the wildest billionaire. As a result, it doesnt
matter what you do. It doesnt matter. Im rich. When you can say that and
mean it, youre a disciple. But if not, Jesus says, any one of you who does not
renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. If Jesus were to say to you
no, when Jesus says to you, Its me or your possessions, how will you
answer? Do you really believe in Him? Or is it just a game? I dont know
what God will do with His wealth and possessions in your hands. I just
know they are His not yours and He will want to use them to bring others to
Himself. If Hes given you something, its for a reason that he may have
something to share with anyone in need (Eph 4:28). Were stewards, not
owners, Beloved, if we are true disciples.
God doesnt give us material wealth primarily to spend on our own luxury.
Charles Lindberg became an instant hero in 1927 when he became the first
person to made a Trans-Atlantic solo flight. A reporter asked him just before
take-off what he had with him. He said, Five sandwiches and a container of
water. That man said, Why so little? Lindberg replied, If I get to Paris, I
wont need any more; and if I dont get to Paris, I wont need any more. It
is the desire for more than we will ever need in this life that condemns so
many people in the life to come. Remember what Jesus said to the rich man
who stockpiled his wealth for years in Luke 10:20: Fool! This night your
soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they
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be? Dont stockpile more than you will ever need, Beloved. Give it away.
Invest it in eternity. Your riches will never get you into heaven, but they may
well keep you out.
Conc So, were back to the question. Are you a disciple of Jesus? Then in
honor of what He has already done for you, you have renounced
relationships, rights and riches. He comes before anyone or anything in your
life. Thats discipleship. Theres no such thing as a half-way Christian. Were
either all in, or were not in at all. C. S. Lewis said it this way: Christ says,
Give me all. I dont want so much of your time and so much of your money
and so much of your work: I want you. I have not come to torment your
natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I dont want to
cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree
down. I dont want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out.
Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent
as well as the ones you think wickedthe whole outfit.
The story is told of a rich man living in a mansion on a hill overlooking all his
holdings. He was not a believer but he had a faithful Christian gardener,
Honest John, who prayed diligently for his master. One night John had a
dream in which he heard a voice say that the richest man in the Valley would
die at the stroke of midnight the next night. Frightened for his boss, John went
to tell him the next day only to be met with a hearty laugh: Thanks for the
kind thoughts, Honest John, but dont worry about me. Youre just having
indigestion. Go on back to work; Ill be fine. So John left.
Meantime, the richest man in the Valley was amused, but just slightly
concerned, so he called his doctor and said, Can you come over for a game
of cards tonight about 10:00? Doc thought the late hour was a bit unusual
but agreed to come. He noticed his host watching the clock as the hour got
later and asked, Anything wrong? Not a thing, his host replied, chiding
himself for having any concern at all about Johns warning. 12:00 came and
went without incident; the game broke up and the Master went to bed. But at
1:00 he was awakened by the doorbell. He found a young woman crying on
his doorstep. He said, Who are you? What do you want? She replied, I
just thought youd like to know that my father died tonight at midnight, she
said. Your father? Who is that? She replied, Hes Honest John. Honest
John the richest man in the Valley not in relationships, rights or riches, but
because he knew Jesus. Its not what you have, Beloved. Its who has you.
Thats what determines real wealth. So count the cost and then go with
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Christ. Be rich in Him. But you must be all in, or not in at all!? And let me
tell you its sweet to be all in!!! Lets pray.