H. Michael Brewer
Crescent Springs Presbyterian
29 February 2002
COUNTING THE COST
Luke 14:25-30
Two or three years ago I preached a few sermons on Jesus the carpenter. I wondered aloud if
remembering how Jesus made his living might shed at least a little light his life and teachings. I’ve
continued to toy with those ideas, and today’s Scripture reading brings to mind again that before
Jesus became a preacher and teacher, he was a carpenter and builder.
Any independent carpenter who wants to remain in business must learn to estimate costs and make
sure he has available whatever is required to see the job through to the end. Jesus knew what he was
talking about when he said, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and
estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a
foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began
to build and was not able to finish,’” (Luke 14:28-30 NRSV).
What is more embarrassing to a carpenter than an abandoned, unfinished building? A foundation
crowned with scaffolding and a timber skeleton is a monument to poor planning and an overextended
reach. Every by passer eyes the half-completed tower and laughs derisively at the builder who bit off
more than he could chew.
Jesus doesn’t want to discourage potential disciples, but he insists that would-be followers should
think carefully about what will be required of them if they take on the yoke of Christ. Nothing is
gained—indeed, much is lost—when the half-hearted set out to follow Jesus without considering the
costliness of true obedience and the weight of a cross laid upon our shoulders. Such lukewarm
disciples are like seeds that fall among thorns. The seeds sprout and start to grow with vigor, but they
are quickly smothered by the weeds that press upon them. Unprepared for spiritual struggle and self-
sacrifice, the casual disciple makes a good beginning, but lacks the fortitude to follow through.
Yet, this parable of the unfinished tower is more than a cautionary story. A promise of help is also
implicit here. Jesus would not urge upon us a level of devotion beyond his own commitment. If Jesus
admonished us to count the cost before following him, how much more surely has Jesus counted the
cost before undertaking our redemption. The Master Carpenter would not have promised us
wholeness and salvation if he were not able to complete the job. Every Christian is a work in
progress, and Christ will see that work through to the end. If we are not yet what we hope to be, we
have faith that Christ will continue working on us until the job is done.
We Christians are “under construction”, and the Good Carpenter will no more walk away from
our unfinished lives than he would abandon a half-built tower. We are Christ’s handiwork, and Christ
takes pride in his work. The Master Builder will see us through to completion.
We need not fear the outcome of our salvation, not unless we believe Christ has overextended
himself. Do you ever worry that Jesus has promised a job he cannot deliver? If so, you are not alone.
Old Testament believers sometimes struggled with this very doubt. For instance, Job cries out, “Your
hands fashioned and made me; now you turn and destroy me. Remember that you fashioned me like
clay; and will you turn me to dust again?” (Job 10:8-9 NRSV). Job fears that God cannot be trusted
to follow through. Perhaps God’s mind has changed, and the work God undertook in Job will never
be completed. Maybe God will scrap the project and move on to some other task.
Could this be true? Is it possible Jesus has underestimated what it will take to redeem you and me?
Is it conceivable that the Good Carpenter failed to count the cost of our salvation and now has
abandoned the job? Admittedly, our progress in discipleship often feels painfully slow or even stalled
altogether. Might our Lord walk away and turn his hand to some more promising project?
To answer this question honestly, we must first consider what prevents a carpenter, any carpenter,
from finishing a job. Many buildings are never completed because the builder ran out of money and
materials. For instance, on Calton Hill overlooking the charming city of Edinburgh, Scotland, is an
embarrassing monument to over-enthusiasm. Originally intended as a memorial to those who died in
the Napoleonic wars, the National Monument was begun before sufficient funds had been raised to
guarantee the completion of the work.
With great fanfare and pageantry, the cornerstone was laid in 1822. In the ensuing months twelve
pillars were raised at a cost of one thousand pounds apiece. Once the pillars were in place the
grandiose project ground to a halt for lack of additional money. The Monument was intended to be a
church, but nearly two centuries later, the pillars uphold no spired roof and enclose no reverent
worship space. The purposeless pillars loom on the skyline as a constant reminder of dashed hopes
and unfinished plans. With self-effacing Celtic humor, today the National Monument is popularly
called “Edinburgh’s Folly” or sometimes “Scotland’s Pride and Poverty.”
Could Jesus fall prey to the same folly? Might the Master Carpenter abandon our salvation
because he lacks the resources to complete what he has begun? No idea could be more at odds with
New Testament teaching. Scripture consistently and repeatedly bears witness to the boundless and
immeasurable bounty of Christ and his grace.
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the
riches of his grace that he lavished on us,” (Ephesians 1:7-8 NRSV). The certainty of our salvation is
guaranteed by the wealth of Christ’s grace, a wealth Christ has lavished on us. Our Savior doesn’t
dole out forgiveness with an eyedropper, but “the grace of our Lord overflowed for me,” says Paul (1
Timothy 1:14 NRSV). Indeed, Paul assures us that “the power at work within us is able to
accomplish abundantly far more than we can ask or imagine,” (Ephesians 3:20 NRSV).
In short, the gracious resources of Christ are rich, abundant, lavish, overflowing, boundless and
unimaginable. Does it sound as if Jesus might run short in his task of saving you and me? Hardly! His
blood is the sufficient sacrifice for our transgressions and his grace abounds far beyond the needs of
our sinfulness. We may rest easy knowing that the Carpenter working on you and me will never file
for bankruptcy. He has not only counted the cost, he has already paid the full price.
Poor planning is another problem that might prevent the completion of a building. Many years ago
my father was hired to build a tri-level house. The owner of the lot chose a plan for his future home
and contracted with a large construction company to build the house. The company in turn hired my
father to carry out the project. The house was well underway when the client showed up one day to
review the progress on his new home. As he walked through the house, he complained to my father
that the rooms were not laid out correctly. Everything in the house was out of place. Even the
elevation of the three floors was out of kilter.
My father is used to dealing with people who can’t read blueprints, so he patiently rolled out the
plans and showed the man that everything was being built exactly according to the specs. The
homeowner admitted that he couldn’t make much sense of the blueprints, but he insisted that this
wasn’t the house he had asked for.
It turned out the man was absolutely right. The construction company had given my father the
wrong plans, and the house my father was building had almost nothing in common with the house the
man wanted. The dimensions of the foundation were the same in both blueprints, but beyond that
nothing matched—not the height of the house or the layout of the rooms or placement of stairs. At
considerable cost to the construction company, the fully framed house was torn down. Not only that,
but additional concrete had to be poured to raise the floor of the basement to the correct level. Then
my father rebuilt the whole house from scratch with fresh lumber, this time according to the correct
blueprints.
The whole project turned into a mess of delayed deadlines and cost overruns because the
construction company didn’t provide the right plans for the job. Indeed, if not for the fear of a lawsuit,
the company might have cut its losses and walked away from the contract altogether, leaving behind a
botched and unfinished house that nobody wanted.
Could this happen to Jesus? Could his intentions for us be mistaken and misguided? Might our
eternal destiny be in question because the Master Carpenter is working from the wrong plans? Once
again, the Bible declares that just the opposite is true. Christ is not making things up as he goes. He
has received the plan—the eternal and God-ordained plan—for our salvation from his Father, and the
Good Carpenter is faithfully working according to that plan.
In explaining his life work, Jesus said, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will,
but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of
all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day,” (John 6:38-39). Jesus is faithfully carrying out
God’s blueprint in all things, a blueprint that will come to completeness when the created world
reaches its appointed end.
God has a plan for us, a plan for our blessing and our salvation, and Christ is at the heart of that
plan. God’s blueprint isn’t being thrown together and redrawn each day according to whim. God’s
plan for you and me was worked out before the world began. The names of those who belong to
Christ have “been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb,”
(Revelation 13:8 NRSV). From the day God laid the foundation of the universe, God already had a
plan worked out for each and every Christian, and Christ will bring that plan to completion for our
glory.
One other problem might prevent a building project from reaching completion—poor
workmanship. Friends of mine moved into a brand new home, but their excitement soon dimmed
when they discovered one mistake after another in the “finished” product. Several outlets were dead.
Some switches didn’t work or turned on the wrong lights. A bedroom door was wrongly hung and
wouldn’t close. A kitchen window was jammed and wouldn’t open. The roof leaked, and so did the
dishwasher. The toilet filled with hot water after each flush. A crack appeared in the living room wall.
That house had so many problems that shoddy workmanship was the only explanation. The builders
didn’t care about the house, and their indifference showed in the quality of their work. A hireling does
what is required to receive the day’s wages, but a good carpenter takes pride in the work.
Christ our Carpenter is proud of his work. He builds for the joy of pleasing God. When Christ has
completed his redemption of the world, then the Son will present his workmanship to the Father.
When Christ finishes rebuilding a sin-shattered universe, he will present his finished work to his Father.
Can you for one instant believe that Christ will present anything less than his absolute best work to his
Father? If you were building something to give to the one you love most in the world, would you cut
corners or do shabby work? Of course not, and neither will the Good Carpenter. We can count on
Christ to carry out every God-given task with selfless love and unwavering devotion. Renovating the
world is more than a job; it is the Son’s eternal offering of love to the Father.
A redeemed and restored universe laid at the feet of God may be more than we can begin to
imagine, but we can put a very personal face on this scene. Not only will Christ offer a renewed
creation to God, the Carpenter will also lead you and me to God’s throne. Each of us who has
allowed the Carpenter access to our lives will find our faith vindicated as Christ completes his work in
us. By his saving work on the cross, Christ reconciles us to God and makes us the people God
always intended us to be. “As a result, he has brought you into the very presence of God, and you
are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault,” (Colossians 1:22 TEV).
Let those words sink in. Christ will present us to God holy and blameless and without a single fault.
No second-rate craftsmanship! No hidden flaws! No unfinished work! When we stand before God,
Christ will stand beside us, proud of having completed God’s plan for our lives. What this Carpenter
begins, he also finishes. He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion, (Philippians
1:6 NIV).
Some believe the universe just happened by chance. In fact, the world was built by a Carpenter
named Jesus working beside his Father. The Master Carpenter has not put away his tools. He is still
working and he will continue until all his labor is done.
Are you looking for help? What’s your challenge?
Repairing a cracked foundation?
Adding support and strength to a sagging life?
Restoring a defaced and broken existence?
Enlarging yourself?
Building a new beginning from scratch?
Whether the task is building a universe or salvaging a single broken life, when Christ is on the job,
the project is in good hands and the outcome is certain.
Soli Deo Gloria!