Luke 14:28-33 “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If not, while the other is still far off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”

These two parables make essentially the same point. Jesus gives these two analogies for emphasis. He is not trying to discourage us from faith and following him. He does not say that the builder and the king were necessarily short on money and man power for their plans. Even in the case of the king, his ten-thousand-man army could be so superior to the twenty thousand against him that he is confident he can win.

The point is, before you build a tower or go to war, you have to take some time to determine these things first. You need to understand the cost, and you prepare yourself to do what it takes. You go into the project fully aware of what it requires, because you have given it your careful attention.

That is what Jesus is helping us do here. He is helping us give our careful attention to what faith and followership is going to mean. “In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”

“Renouncing all your possessions” is not a call to a vow of poverty. Jesus is not saying that you can’t have a bank account, drive a nice car, or live in a nice house. Abraham, Job, Solomon, Joseph of Arimathea, and Lydia were all wealthy people who had nice things and enjoyed them while they lived. It didn’t destroy their faith. It didn’t keep them from getting into heaven.

But at a moment’s notice, God could take it all away. Job found that out, didn’t he. In just a few minutes he saw his entire ranching operation and all his children wiped out. He didn’t abandon his faith. He didn’t accuse God of being unfair, at least at first. “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord,” he said. He had let go of his possessions, renounced them if you will, even while he owned them and used them. They were no longer how he measured himself nor God’s love.

Dr. Jordan was a medical doctor in Pakistan. He was also a Christian who helped set up Sunday schools across the country. He and his entire family had to flee for their lives, because their Muslim neighbors no longer intended to tolerate them. They had to leave it all behind, but they were ready. They understood the cost of discipleship and had given it their careful attention.

Maybe the Lord will let you use your possessions until the day you die. Maybe he will take them from you sooner. But now is the time to consider that you are going to have to give them up. At the very least, you will have to leave them here when he calls you home. They don’t really belong to us anyway. We are only managing them for him. When we let go of our claim and attachment to them, when we use them his way even now, we aren’t really losing anything. These are practically nothing compared to the grace and life Jesus gives those who follow him.