Scripture reading: Luke 14:25-35
At first blush, it would seem that there are several different themes or topics running through this teaching of Jesus. The entire discourse, however, relates to one instruction, which is the cost of discipleship.
When I think of following Christ, the one phrase which sums up this set of verses is, “Be prepared.”
If you have accepted Jesus Christ into your life, be prepared. For what, you might ask? Be prepared for Jesus to mold your heart, shape your life, refine your passions, and call you to go. Your life today can be comfortable, predictable and safe. When Jesus Christ comes into your life, He begins the process of transforming your heart through the work and power of the Holy Spirit into the person He wants you to become and into the person fit for citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven. What this means for the comfortable, predictable, safe life you have carved out in this world is that it could one day come to an end in exchange for a life dedicated to serving Christ. Are you prepared for that?
If you are going to follow Christ, you have to be prepared. What happens if you are not prepared? Jesus makes this plain at the end of the chapter. “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.”
Followers of Christ who are prepared are to people in the world like salt is to food. Salt seasons and flavors food. Salt was for many generations used to preserve food, such as raw meat. We can influence people around us and even help preserve them and help them find life in Christ. However, when we are not prepared to accept the call Christ places on our lives once He has shaped our hearts for work in the Kingdom of Heaven, we become salt that has lost its effectiveness.
If you or I were to pick up a salt shaker, we probably could not tell the difference between effective and ineffective salt, until we actually tasted it. Once we put ineffective salt in our mouths, once we engage with ineffective people, our reaction is to spit it out and not use it anymore, or not engage those people any more.
This kind of people are called wells without water (Jude 11-13). They give the appearance of effectiveness and of a strong faith in Christ, but get close to them or try and work with them in ministry and watch out!
This is the message of Luke 14:28-32 in our Scripture reading. If we want to be effective followers of Christ, if we want to be a well that offers refreshing water and if we want to be salt with good flavor that points to life in heaven, then we have to be prepared for what Christ has in store. The person who embarks on a bold construction project must, if he or she wants to avoid mockery from the community, carefully plan every detail to ensure the project can be completed.
In an upscale part of the town where I live there was an empty lot for sale on a main road. Someone bought the lot and began to build a house. One day when driving by I noticed that construction was not any farther along than several weeks earlier. The structure was not even complete. The walls were up, but there was no roof and no windows. The house sat like this for several months. The owners apparently ran out of the money they needed to finish their dream.
A house that is not completed offers no shelter from the elements, no protection from criminals and no safety at night.
If we are going to accept Jesus Christ into our lives, then we must be prepared for the life He designs for us. He describes what this life might look like and how we must be prepared.
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