Sermon Tone Analysis

*Counting the cost.*

It is funny how things go full circle.

I grew up in Avondale, in Wainoni road, close to the Avon river – just by Kerr’s reach; and now here I am back living by the river.

A great play ground!

There was no Porrit park there – there was a farm with a guy who had race horses, with a trotting track.

I can recall trying to cross Kerr’s reach on a rotten log and, inevitably, falling in and coming home with mud up to my waist.

I sound like an old man, but the area was different – if you went past Pembrock street it was all market gardens.

Things have come full circle – it is again all devoid of houses.

Where Robin’s place was, is now an open field.

That whole area around the river got hit pretty hard in the earthquake and most of the houses around us are now gone.

But there are still one or two.

There is one in particular, the other side of the river from the rowing club.

I remember it from when I was a boy.

I remember it being built.

It stood out.

It was a fairly big place – the owners had obviously planned a grand home for themselves and the framing went up ….

And that is all that went up!

It just stopped.

That is why I remember the place – for years it was just the framing.

The people had a grand dream – but I guess they bit off more than they could chew and the money ran out.

*[P]* In fact it stood so long as just framing that the timber went all grey.

We moved out of that area to the other side of town; and that incomplete house must have been bought up or they got some more money.

Work recommenced and people lived in it.

But still to this day, that house is not finished!

We are talking over 40 years on!

If you look around the upstairs dormer windows you will see the ply showing, they still haven’t finished the cladding!

It is due for demolition now, and still it is not finished.

It is a bit like a story Jesus told in Luke: [*Luke 14:25-35*/ //Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, “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*.

“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me *cannot be My disciple*.

“For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?

“Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

“Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

“Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

“So then, *none of you can be My disciple* who does not give up *all* his own possessions.

“Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned?

“It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”/

] Many of you know my younger sister, Christina; she is enthusiastic; she gets an idea and is real keen ….

For about 5 minutes.

I remember when she was still at home she would be real keen on making a new dress, she got what were called “jiffy patterns” – because they were quick and easy to make – they only took a “jiffy” to make.

She would cut out the material; then the enthusiasm would run out.

There was a big bench seat behind the dining table, it had a lift-top and inside was all the sewing stuff – it was filled with uncompleted jiffy patterns.

You see, the thing that you are making only has any value if it is completed.

A completed bach on that section by the river would be more use than that mansion that only had the framework done.

Jesus told two stories: one of a man building a tower, the other of a king attacking a superior force – in both cases he says that they sit down first.

They count the cost, they decide whether they can carry off what they intend to do.

Jesus doesn’t want those who a4re going to give up along the way – the seed on rock soil – think it through first.

You sit down and consider – you take time and evaluate rationally.

It is not a spur of the moment thing, something done on an impulse, a rush of blood to the head in and emotional moment.

But often when the appeal goes out for people to follow Jesus it is done in an emotionally charged atmosphere, a dramatic appeal in a meeting, the music creating the right atmosphere, the emotional appeal to come forward.

Now I have a concern – we are very eager for people to follow Christ, so eager that we can sometimes be less than honest.

We want to sell Jesus, make it easy to follow Him, tell of all the advantages and blessings.

There is blessing but there is an emphasis on prosperity and blessing that is at heart outright selfishness!

There is a self-centred motive in some presentation of the Gospel – bless me, prosper me, heal me, fulfil me – discipleship is the absolute opposite!

It is laying down your life, giving up everything for Jesus, self- sacrifice.

But we present the blessings, but following Jesus is not an easy road – do I hear an amen from you who have been walking with Jesus for some years?

We appeal to people to come to Jesus, just come forward, raise your hand, meet my eye; but seldom do we speak about COUNTING THE COST *[P]*.

Jesus made it very clear what it was going to cost to follow Him.

He didn’t want people to rush into it – they had to sit down and consider carefully whether they were prepared to make the commitment required.

He didn’t make out that it was easy, sell it cheap.

He said that it was going to cost you everything.

We are so concerned that people come to Jesus that we lower the bar – don’t tell people what is involved.

By selling the Gospel cheap, we devalue it.

Jesus was quite prepared to let them walk away.

[*Mark 10:17-23*/ //As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good?

No one is good except God alone.

“You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honour your father and mother.’

” And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”

Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell *all you possess* and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

But at these words he was saddened, and *he went away* grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!”/] Did you read that?! Jesus just let him walk away!

He was quite prepared for a rich young ruler to walk away when he was not prepared to sell all his possessions and give it to the poor.

Did you notice, that as in both Luke 14 and in Mark 10 it was: “*all* his possessions”.

Do you know? - Jesus’ words are not hard to understand, just hard to accept and implement!

The Good News version says: “/none of you can be My disciple unless you give up everything you have./”

I want you consider whether you are prepared to give up everything for Jesus.

He gave up everything for you.

We go out the prison and we preach the Gospel, the Good News of salvation that is in Jesus through faith in His death and resurrection.

The message is that salvation is free, righteousness comes by faith, it is not bought; eternal life is a gift of God, that salvation is freely given, it doesn’t cost you a thing.

This is absolutely true.

Righteousness, eternal life and salvation are free gifts; they cannot be earned or bought.

You never could pay the price anyway – it was far too costly – it cost the precious blood of Jesus, a sinless sacrifice.

Jesus was the only one who could pay.

In [*John 19:30*/ //Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!”

And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit./

] My Dad loves to tell the story of the discovery to the Tebtunis papyri – some archaeologists back in the nineteenth century, when archaeology was more treasure hunting; found some crocodile mummies.

They were looking for gold and treasure and so in disgust, so the story goes, took a kick at one of these crocodiles – it split open and they found that it was stuffed with a load of old papyri.

These were rubbish, just used to stuff the animal – a load of them were nothing but bills.

And on the bottom of many of these bills were the Greek words /“tetelestai”/ – “it has been finished”.

On the cross when Jesus said: “it is finished”, He was saying that He had paid the debt of our sin in full.

Pay He did, in full, and gave it freely.

I want that to be very clear in your minds.

But the verses we read are not talking about salvation but DISCIPLESHIP – three times Jesus spoke about “being My disciple” – that is the issue!

The great commission that Jesus gave in Matthew 28 was to “make disciples”; not to get people to raise their hand in a meeting, come forward or sign a decision card.

You will not find any of those things in the Bible!

Jesus wants people who will follow Him, learn of Him, be disciplined and walk in the steps that He took.

It’s not a very good analogy – but you might think of a rugby club *[P]* – the membership is free – for real, no strings or conditions.

But when you are a member of that club you support it, there is commitment to it *[P]*.

You go along to practices, show up for the games.