Sermon for Sunday February 22, 2004

What Does it Take to Follow Jesus? by Greg Nance

Luke 9:57-62

Luke 9

John McArthur, in his book, The Gospel According to Jesus, tells about a time when he was with a minister driving through a particular city. As they passed a liquor store John happened to mention that it was an unusual-looking place. “Yes,” he said. “There is a whole chain of those stores around the city, all owned by one man. He is a member of my Sunday School class. John wondered aloud what the man was like and the minister replied, “Oh, he’s quite faithful. He is in class every week.” “Does it bother him that he owns all those liquor stores?” John asked. “We’ve talked about it some,” he said. “But he feels people are going to buy liquor anyway, so why not buy it from him?” John asked, “What is his life like?” “Well, he did leave his wife and has been living with a young girl,” the minister replied. Then after several minutes of bewildering silence from John, this minister added, “You know, sometimes it’s hard for me to understand how a Christian can live like that.” John writes, “I must confess that it is hard for me to understand how someone who teaches the Bible can assume that a man living in rebellion against God is a Christian merely because he claims to be.”

As we continue studying in Luke’s Gospel, we will see that Jesus doesn’t just tell people that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives. While this is true, it is only part of the truth. God certainly loves us with love beyond our wildest imagination. He proves it by the price he paid for us. But Jesus preached a kind of commitment that is directly tied to the cross. In this weeks chapter Jesus begins to reveal to his disciples the price he will pay for them and for us. Jesus shows his personal commitment to God’s plan for his own life. It is wonderful, but it is horrible too. Twice he says it. Verse 22 and 44. But that is not all we see here. Jesus also plainly tells us that God’s plan for his life and God’s plan for ours is tied together. Verses 23-26.

In this chapter we see Jesus training the twelve. He starts by sending them out on a short term mission trip. I can’t help thinking about our mission trips from here. Nothing is quite as effective as hands on training. You could take a class on evangelism for months and never learn as much as one personal Bible study with someone where you open your Bible and share the gospel of Jesus Christ and your faith in Him. Jesus believed in experience as a teaching tool. He commands us to go. It is not optional if we would be obedient followers of Christ.

Jesus didn’t just send them. He empowered them first. Then he instructed them. Then he involved them, by sending them out. Their campaign made such a stir it even got Herod’s attention. These 12 went out in pairs, according to Mark 6:7. They not only preached they performed signs. It was exciting! They even rounded up over 5000 men who came to Jesus. Someone has noted that this 5000 men, besides women and children is an army looking for a king. When Jesus feeds them, by turning five loaves and two fish into a feast, John 6:15 tells us that they wanted to make Jesus king by force. This was a military move. The disciples have the right heart, but the wrong ideas.

Jesus asks them, “Who do the crowds sat that I am?” (Verse 18). They tell him names of great leaders who are already dead. Jesus says, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter jumps up, “You are the Christ of God!” Peter would love to see Jesus on David’s throne as the Messiah or Christ! He’s excited! He’s pumped! He talks about the kingdom of God in ways that make men draw their swords!
Listen to Jesus warning to these excited disciples… “Don’t you tell anyone this!” (verse 21) Why? Because, they have no clue of God’s plan. They think they know and therefore it is even harder to get through to them. Jesus is very frank. Look at verse 22.
"The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day." Look also at verse 44. "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."

Matthew 16:22 tells us that Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Jesus, saying “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you!”

You see, Peter’s mind is made up. Jesus is king. Jesus doesn’t die. Peter has the perfect plan for Jesus. It doesn’t include suffering, rejection, and certainly not being killed. If Peter is thinking like this, I’m sure he’s not alone. Those 5000 men that were fed were thinking a lot more like Peter than like God.

Jesus gives Peter a stunning rebuke. “Get behind me, Satan! You do not have in mind the things of God but the things of men!”

These disciples have a lot to learn about Jesus. They have a lot to learn about what it really means to follow this leader that they think they know.

What about you and me? Do you think you know Jesus? Have you got God’s plan all figured out for your life? For some of us, there are two plans for our lives. One is the plan of God to be saved by Jesus. The other is the plan for the rest of our lives, what we do, where we go, who we chose to go with, our career, our entertainment… Oh, Jesus is my Lord and Savior for church, but the rest of my life is mine. Oh, really? Jesus doesn’t just want just your Sundays and Wednesday nights. He wants your heart, mind and soul. Jesus wants your life. He won’t settle for anything less than every part of you.

Listen to verses 57-62 again.
57 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."

Jesus response? "Great! Come on! We’d love to have you!" Right? Not exactly...

58 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

In other words, "Are you sure you know what you are getting into?"

59 Then He said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."

Jesus response? "Oh, of course! You go do that. That’s the important thing in your life right now." Right? Not exactly...
60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."

In other words Jesus is saying, "Make your choice. Me or them."

61 And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."

Jesus response? "Ok. We’ll just wait here for you. Hurry back!" Right? Not exactly...
62 But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

In other words, "Make your decision and stick to it. This cause stands above and before all else!"

Why? What is behind these words of Jesus?
Jesus’ commitment to you is 100%. To the death. Not just any death. To death of the worst kind. Several of us will be going to see the film, “The Passion of the Christ” this Tuesday. But I have to tell you that the more I read about it, the more troubled I am about seeing it. Not because it is so brutal and bloody, but because of what it says again about Jesus commitment to me. And I know, he tells me that if I desire to come after him, I must deny myself, take up my cross and follow him. Follow Him! I’m troubled because my life is very comfortable right now. I’m troubled because I know that I need to be more committed to Jesus Christ as my Lord and master, and I’m struggling to give up my plans and just give full reign to his plans for me. I’m afraid because I know that I trust in myself too much. I think he is going to show me that he loves me so much that I wonder if I can bear it. But I’m going. And, actually, I hope he will shatter my stubbornness and break my pride. I hope he will call me to a new awareness of his grace and a deeper commitment to following him. And I hope I will see him afresh and hear and learn and obey.

Jody Dean, a CBS news anchor from Dallas, Texas wrote a review of “The Passion of the Christ” film. Let me share a portion of that review with you here:

This is not a movie that anyone will "like." I don’t think it’s a movie anyone will "love." It certainly doesn’t "entertain." There isn’t even the sense that one has just watched a movie. What it is, is an experience -- on a level of primary emotion that is scarcely comprehensible. Every shred of human preconception or predisposition is utterly stripped away. No one will eat popcorn during this film. Some may not eat for days after they’ve seen it. It hits that hard.

I can see why some people are worried about how the film portrays the Jews. They should be worried. No, it’s not anti-Semitic. What it is, is entirely shattering. There are no "winners." No one comes off looking "good" -- except Jesus. Even His own mother hesitates. As depicted, the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day merely do what any of us would have done -- and still do. They protected their perceived "place" -- their sense of safety and security, and the satisfaction of their own "rightness." But everyone falters. Caiaphas judges. Peter denies. Judas betrays. Simon the Cyrene balks. Mark runs away. Pilate equivocates. The crowd mocks. The soldiers laugh. The centurion still carries out his orders. And as Jesus fixes them all with a glance, they still turn away. The Jews, the Romans, Jesus’ friends -- they all fall. Everyone, except the Principal Figure. Heaven sheds a single, mighty tear -- and as blood and water spew from His side, the complacency of all creation is eternally shattered.

The film grabs you in the first five seconds, and never lets go. The brutality, humiliation, and gore is almost inconceivable -- and still probably doesn’t go far enough. The scourging alone seems to never end, and you cringe at the sound and splatter of every blow -- no matter how steely your nerves. Even those who have known combat or prison will have trouble, no matter their experience -- because this Man was not conscripted. He went willingly, laying down His entirety for all. It is one thing for a soldier to die for his countrymen. It’s something else entirely to think of even a common man dying for those who hate and wish to kill him. But this is no common man. This is the King of the Universe. The idea that anyone could or would have gone through such punishment is unthinkable -- but this Man was completely innocent, completely holy -- and paying the price for others. He screams as He is laid upon the cross, "Father, they don’t know. They don’t know..."

What the director of this film has done is to use all of his skill to portray the most dramatic moment of the most dramatic events since the dawn of time. There is no escape. It’s a punch to the gut that puts you on the canvas, and you don’t get up. You are simply confronted by the horror of what was done -- what had to be done -- and why. Throughout the entire film, I found myself apologizing.

What you’ve heard about how audiences have reacted is true. There was no sound after the film’s conclusion. No noise at all. No one got up. No one moved. The only sound one could hear was sobbing. In all my years of public life, I have never heard anything like that.

I told many of you that Gibson had reportedly re-shot the ending to include more "hope" through the Resurrection. That’s not true. The Resurrection scene is perhaps the shortest in the entire movie -- and yet it packs a punch that can’t be quantified. It is perfect. There is no way to negotiate the meaning out of it. It simply asks, "Now, what will you do?"

Folks, we don’t need a movie to tell us the gospel. We have a perfect message in the pages of this book, the Bible. What we need is to hear and believe and follow Jesus Christ and let him have his way in our lives… no matter what the cost. What else is there to live for? Jesus holds open before us the one and only way to lasting life and eternal joy. He is the way.

Are you a follower of Jesus Christ today? If not, why not? I know that there is a cost for following Jesus Christ. But I also know that there is a much greater cost for not following Him. Jesus chose the cross for you. Now it’s time for you and I to choose.