Counting the Cost

This picture was taken at last year’s cardboard cup; where adventurous boat builders attempted to sail there cardboard craft across a Anderson’s Bay. Finishing the race was quite an achievement for some. Sinking was part of the fun but the real challenge was to build a sea worthy boat that could finish the race and win the prize.
Before you launch your waka you want to be sure that it is sea worthy.
You want to make sure that is able to get you to your destination safely
You want to know that it will do the job that it was designed for.
Before embarking on any trip out into the briny blue you need to do your homework – for not only will the success of the venture depend upon good preparation but so may your very life and the lives of those who sail with you.
Jesus tells some stories about “doing your homework” of being sure you are as prepared as possible for what lies ahead.
He is addressing those who would be his followers who were hoisting their sails to the winds of the spirit and setting a course for the Kingdom of God.
Make sure you know what you are getting yourself into says Jesus there will be rough sailing ahead it’s not for the feint hearted. Count the cost before you leave the coast.
Of course Jesus metaphors were not marine they were more land based he speaks of building a tower and setting out for a battle.
Before you build a tower say Jesus make sure you have the resources to finish the job.
I wish some of our finance companies and property developers would heed Jesus practical advice. Before you embark on spending millions of dollars of other people’s money speculate on some uncertain future and the hope that property prices will continue to spiral upward – count the cost. Count the cost of leaving investors in the lurch, count the cost of broken promises, ruined reputations and dashed hopes. In our complex world of international market forces it is even more important for financiers to count the cost most carefully.
Jesus makes it personal in the message it is rendered.
"Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn't first sit down and figure the cost so you'll know if you can complete it? If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you're going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: 'He started something he couldn't finish.'
Some people seem to spend a good deal of their life and energy on changing course. They start one project on a whim and abandon as soon as it get too difficult or a more attractive option comes along. People do that in seemingly insignificant ventures such as sports and hobbies and more consequential activities such as where they live and who they live with. More to Jesus point people respond to God’s call to faithful discipleship with initial enthusiasm but give up when slighted by their fellow traveller or get bored or drawn to something else exciting and new.
While change of direction is at times necessary and can be for the good; chopping and changing, partners or houses or careers or faith commitments can be very destructive and at the least a great waste of energy and very poor stewardship of the one life we have been given.
Taking stock once in a while at corporate level and at a personal level can have lasting benefits. I’d suggest you need to take time out at least once a year to plan for your future. Be proactive with your life rather than being reactive and buffeted about by the storms.
In particular take stock of your faith your values and your commitments. Check to see if that which you say you believe with your mouth is backed up with what you think in your head, what you feel in your heart, and how you live with your hands.
The word integrity describes the situation when all parts of a system, be that a machine a corporate body or a person, are integrated where each part fits together smoothly to make a healthy functioning whole. Take stock once a year. Give yourself an integrity check.
Are you words your thoughts, your feelings and your actions in line?
If they’re not make plans to put them in line.
Make adjustments where you see a lack of integration a lack of integrity.
The second image Jesus uses tells a parallel story of the need to do your homework and be prepared.
Can you imagine a king going into battle against another king without first deciding whether it is possible with his ten thousand troops to face the twenty thousand troops of the other? And if he decides he can't, won't he send an emissary and work out a truce?
The stakes are higher in this scenario. If the king fails it’s not just a matter of people laughing at an unfinished tower – it’s the life and death of 10,000 soldiers. It’s the future of his kingdom and the lives of all whom look to him for leadership and protection.
How we live our life may seem inconsequential to us. How committed we are to God, to church, to the Kingdom of God, may seem like a mere personal choice. Yet all of our choices have far reaching consequences.
For example I’ve been reading the recently published biography of Arnold Nordmeyer. The Presbyterian minister of Kurow who in response to the poor housing and medical conditions of the workers on the Waitaki dam projects got together with his local doctor and devised a health scheme not only for those workers but for everyone in the country. He went on to be an MP in the first Labour government, the minister of health, the minister of finance and the leader of the Labour party, he pioneered, designed and fought all his life to create the social welfare system that we take for granted today. He paid a great price, in the early days MP were paid a pittance, they spent long periods of time away from home.
Nordmeyer might have decided to remain a Presbyterian minister. He might have thought that his choice of vocation was really just a personal choice without wide reaching consequence. I’m fairly sure that if Nordmeyer had remained a clergyman that NZ would be a vastly different and significantly poorer country today. He was a man for his time who was prepared to count the cost and stick steadfastly to his chosen course believing that is was proper and right for him to do so. And while the likes of Fraser and Nash spent months at a time overseas Nordy was very reluctant to leave NZ because he had a job to do here. And thank God he did it.
The choices you make have consequences not only for yourself but for many others whom you influence knowingly and unwittingly. If you spend your life flitting about from one inconsequential project to another without ever knuckling down to see something through you may be depriving others of your God-given skills, and talents.
So take stock of your own life, count the cost and make plans to make a difference.
The kingdom of God which is expressed in a variety of ways as people demonstrate their love for God and neighbour is a project of eternal significance.
Jesus says count the cost though and be sure you know what you are letting yourself in for.
There will be a cost for your familial relationships – you might not get to spend all the time you would like with your family. There will be a price for your own ambition, you may not get that promotion you deserve or be able to afford that new house. And in extreme cases you may have to quite literally lay down your life for the cause.
We’ve been taking stock as a church, looking at where we’ve come from, what challenges we face, what strengths and resource we have and we’ve been thinking about where we’d like to head.
A number of insights are emerging, but one that is coming through strongly is our desire to as in the words of our vision statement “respond in care to community need”.
We want to give priority and strength to our community ministries. That is the way we show signs of the kingdom of God to those we live among and we want to do that as well as we can. We believe that the decisions we make in this regard have great consequences, we believe that in touching people’s lives through our community ministries we are touching them on behalf of God and building God’s kingdom among us.
So as we count the cost corporately and as we look to reach out to others through our OSCAR programme, through Naphtali, though the community lunch, through our play groups and whatever new initiates the spirit leads us into would you consider helping us to respond in care to community need? Would you consider being part of our community ministry team? There are many ways you could be involved, from administrative tasks, to helping tasks, transport perhaps, cleaning, joining in the programmes, meeting befriending and supporting or ‘clients’ helping to dream up new ways to care for the community.
As you consider your involvement and count the cost let’s return to Jesus first question. Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn't first sit down and figure the cost so you'll know if you can complete it?
When it comes to the kingdom of God, its establishment on earth and its completion when Jesus returns. You can be sure that one person has counted the cost fully and is 100% confident that he/she can see the work through to completion. God has counted the cost of the kingdom, God has paid the price and God will see it through with his/her infinite resources.
When you are seeking to plan for you future and when you are looking to see how you can best be deployed to serve in the kingdom. Be sure that God has counted the cost. Be sure that if you do your homework and if you set your face determinedly to the tasks that God calls you that your senior partner will not let you down, Your efforts will bear fruit.
As Paul wrote to the Philippians I am

“confident of this, that he/she who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”