"And as they were going along the road, someone said to Him, "I will follow You wherever You go." And Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." And He said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father." But He said to him, "Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God." Another also said, "I will follow You, Lord, but first permit me to say farewell to those at home." But Jesus said to him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
Good Morning beloved,
We welcome you to worship today in the name of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We're glad you're here. It's about following Jesus, isn't it? If you've been around the church for any length of time, you're pretty familiar with the phrase "following Jesus." But, what does it mean to follow Jesus? Many today would lead us to believe that it's a matter of a moment in which someone will pray a prayer and accept Christ. A moment which typically ends with the pastor welcoming them to the family of God, without knowing where or not that individual meant anything they just said. Jesus called many people to follow Him, He called Peter, Andrew, James and John to follow Him. And, at some point, He called Matthew, Philip and Bartholomew and the rest of the disciples to follow Him, along with many others, emphasizing the importance of an immediate response.
However, Jesus' call to follow Him was not merely an invitation but a command, employing the same word, "akoloutheō," a word that signifies a profound commitment that demands personal sacrifice and a change of direction in one's life. He also used it in the present imperative form, which implies a commitment to keep on following Him for a lifetime, rather than something based on an emotional response in a single moment to a carefully crafted, well-thought out Gospel presentation or meticulously selected music, intended to provoke an emotional experience, leading to a momentary commitment. I've not found one instance in the New Testament where Jesus ever did that. In fact, He did the opposite, often making things so difficult, demanding repentance from sin, strict adherence to His teachings, and the importance of complete loyalty to Him over personal relationships or familial duties, that according to John 6:66, "many of His disciples went away and were not walking with Him anymore," because the cost of following Him was just too high. Do you remember our study of the Rich Young Ruler in Matthew chapter 19 and Mark chapter 10, in which Jesus demanded he sell all of his possessions and give to the poor, and follow Me. And, earlier in our study in Luke chapter 9, He said "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Jesus always emphasized that following Him was going to cost something, even death. True Christianity is not an hour on a given Sunday, it's not a seasonal appearance on Christmas and Easter, true Christianity is a way of life, emphasizing the importance of accountability and transformation. Today, Jesus is inviting you to receive His forgiveness and salvation, and to commit your life to following Him at any cost, even a willingness to walk away from everything and everyone. Are you sure that is the type of life you really want? That's the key to our study in Luke 9:57-62, but before we begin, let's pray together.
Heavenly Father,
Father, we thank You for Your Word, for this precious reminder in the words of our beloved Savior bringing clarity to the invitations to sinners, and what a life of following Him entails, a life void of worldly possessions, or personal comforts. Lord, make me faithful to proclaim the Gospel they way You did, in Truth, with unwavering loyalty and unconditional love and a call for total commitment. I pray that myself nor any of Your under shepherds ever be tempted to abandon the Truth because it's hard, or unintentionally lead Your people to the broad road because it's easier. Love doesn't mean that we are to be tolerant of sin, it means we must warn sinners that their sin has consequences and call them to repentance, because we are on a mission of mercy and compassion. May all that we say and do be all for the glory of Christ and the growth and increase of Your kingdom principles in the world. We pray this in Jesus' precious Name.
Amen.
Today's Message: A Matter of True Discipleship
Anybody that has studied the New Testament with any degree sincerity and dedication would concur, that unless you are willing to pay the price, you can not be Jesus' disciple. During His earthly ministry, Jesus attracted a multitude of followers, each at different stages of commitment. However, for many, but for most the sacrifice He required, was just too high. Saying a prayer doesn't constitute a lifetime commitment to self-denial and following Jesus under any conditions, even if it costs you your life. Many of Christians claim to love Jesus, and boldly declaring allegiance to His teachings, yet as soon as the sermon concludes, they revert right back to pursuing their own interests. How many of you would sacrificially lay down your life for those that treat you wrongly? Have you forgotten back in our study of Matthew 5, Jesus commanded us to do good to those that hate us and despitefully use us and persecute us and even take our lives. These are conditions of salvation set by our Lord Himself. No true Christian can be content with mediocrity, we should never be satisfied with minimal spiritual growth.
As you know, over the years I have preached many, many times on the state of the church, and superficial Christianity, and I always do my best to be respectfully as direct as possible because your spiritual well-being is extremely important to me. That requires a certain gentleness because I don't particularly want to use the Word of God to "beat anybody up," spiritually, but I am compelled to encourage you to grow so that you can become everything God wants you to be. The high point of spiritual growth is not reading the Bible, memorizing every passage to be able to quote chapter and verse, I know there are a lot of pastor/teachers who put a great deal of emphasis on that. There's nothing wrong it, but the purest, most quintessential characteristic of spiritual growth is the pursuit of knowing God, aligning our desires with His will, that's our priority. His Word is merely a means to that end. Therefore, we must press on toward the mark, pursuing the high calling of God with persistent effort and dedication, overcoming obstacles and challenges with determination.
Beloved, I dare say that is a level of spiritual excellence, that is only possible to those who are truly in Christ. We live in a society where it is not uncommon today to find people who call themselves Christians indulging themselves in every conceivable form sexual deviation with anyone, any time, any place, in any way, and frankly some that are beyond my minds ability to conceive. I don't believe that any of us really needs any more detail than that, so I won't waste your valuable time or mine chronicling these deviant activities, when the point is this type of unspeakable sexually perverted behavior is occurring within the church. A substantial percentage of youth in the church have already engaged in premarital sexual intercourse, with some even seeking sexual relationships with those who are already married. It suffices to say, if you're going to claim to be in Christ, how you live matters to God.
Recently, I've had someone say, "You don't you preach the way you used to. Your sermons are getting more intense, and the messages are going deeper and deeper. You're not as fun as you used to be." The simplest answer is I'm not who I used to be. Through the work of the Holy Spirt, I've grown spiritually, quite frankly, I hope to keep growing even more. That's spiritual progress. You're either going to grow Christ or you're not, if you're not growing, you're either dying or already dead. I pray you'll keep that in mind.
Take out your Bibles and open them with me to the Gospel of Luke, as I'm sure you know by now, every chapter in the Gospel of Luke is rather long, with chapter 9 having sixty-two verses. Well, today we have the privilege of looking at verses 57-62, which means that we have finally reached the end of chapter 9. I pray that you will follow along with me as I read Luke 9:57-62 to set the text in our minds.
"And as they were going along the road, someone said to Him, "I will follow You wherever You go." And Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." And He said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father." But He said to him, "Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God." Another also said, "I will follow You, Lord, but first permit me to say farewell to those at home." But Jesus said to him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
Let's look at verse 57, "And as they were going along the road, someone said to Him, "I will follow You wherever You go." They're going along the road in Galilee somewhere near Capernaum, and someone said to Him, "I will follow You wherever You go." Obviously, he had been part of the massive crowd that had been seeing Jesus perform all the miracles, he may have even be one of His many disciples. Remember, being a disciple a student, a learner, which isn't the same as actually coming to saving faith. Matthew in his account of the same incident, tells us this man was not just someone, but a scribe who said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go." Scribes were the highly educated authorities in the law, they were not followers of the teachers, they were teachers who interpreted the law, the ones who had the official sanction in the Pharisees. So for a scribe to approach Him and call Him "teacher" was a tremendous statement of affirmation. So, for him to say to Jesus, "I will follow You wherever You go," is an indication his eagerness, his dedication and commitment to Him. By the way, if you're a pastor you want to get people to the point to dedication and commitment to follow Christ. But Jesus wasn’t so eager.
Verse 58, "And Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." That is a rather odd response, isn't it? Perhaps even perplexing when someone the expectation might be a warm welcome or a word of encouragement. But Jesus, knowing this man's heart
saw beyond the surface, perceiving his true intentions. So, He responds with a profound metaphor using foxes and birds to illustrate the depth of commitment required to follow Him and to contrast His own humility and lack of material wealth and worldly possessions. Jesus knew this man's desire to follow Him was a a decision based upon a fleeting emotional impulse, rather than a conscientious decision. He only wanted to add Jesus to his present lifestyle, he wasn't ready to give up his comfort and security for a life of genuine discipleship and Jesus wasn't willing to settle for a superficial emotional commitment, He demands a genuine, lifetime commitment that goes beyond mere emotional response to follow Him. Folks, this is the problem with emotionalism, there are always going to be those people who understand intellectually, who will respond externally but lack a genuine heartfelt dedication for true commitment to Christ.
Verse 59, " And He said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father." Certainly, this sounds like that is a reasonable request from someone whose father had just died, knowing Jesus moves around a lot and so he's asking Jesus to allow him some time to get his father in the ground before following Him. By the way, it is the responsibility of a son, to make sure that their burial is taken care of, in his final act of devotion to his parent. In Jewish tradition, is was customary to mourn for thirty days when your father and mother died. However, we need to understand, that was a colloquial phrase, characteristic of the language spoken, not only in that day but even in contemporary times in the Middle East. In other words, this man's father is still very much alive, he is asking Jesus to permit him to stick around until he passes so he could fulfill his responsibility to his father. To put it another way, "I'll follow You later, after my father dies, I want to hang around awhile so I can receive my inheritance!"
Verse 60, "But He said to him, "Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God." At first glance, Jesus' response sounds harsh but when you understand what is truly being said here, it makes much more sense. Obviously, He's drawing a clear distinction between those who are spiritually alive and those who are spiritually dead. The physically dead could not possibly bury their own dead. Jesus is rebuking his less than honorable intentions, get your priorities straight, temporal matters are for temporal people. If you want to be in the kingdom of God, you'd better understand that's going to require significant personal sacrifice, let the world handle the temporal affairs of this passing world. Again, Jesus is underscoring the high cost of following Him. Scripture doesn't indicate what happened next, but we know Jesus put the barriers up and now this man faced a difficult choice. We can only imagine the cost of following Jesus was just too high for him, and he wasn't willing to give up his inheritance. So, he went away sorrowfully, like the rich young ruler who wanted eternal life in Matthew 19 and Mark 10. Don't expect a life of comfort and ease if you're going to follow Jesus! It's interesting, Luke records a third man that Matthew doesn't mention in his account.
Verses 61 and 62, "Another also said, "I will follow You, Lord, but first permit me to say farewell to those at home." This man is saying, "I'm not like that other guy, I don't need to wait till my father dies to get my inheritance, You're worth following! I'll just go home and collect some money from friends and family for the journey. I'll be back in no time." Jesus responds with another proverb this one dating back to 800 B.C. that originated with a man named Hesiod. But Jesus said to him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." What He’s saying is you can't plow straight moving forward, if you're constantly looking backward. In other words, if you're going to be in the kingdom of God, you have to be willing to let go of what was, that includes your personal relationships. That's a lesson right out of Matthew 10:37-38, isn't it? "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me." And Matthew 13 tells us, "The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it." Over and over and over again, Jesus made it clear, that is the right response of one who is truly being prompted by the Holy Spirit, He consistently reiterated this same principal all throughout His ministry. The way into the kingdom of God is not up for negotiation, a true disciple is willing to lose everything, should He ask, even their own life.
Jesus' invitation is the same today, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me."
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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