Sunday, July 5, 2015

Being a True Disciple

Luke 14:25-35
… Jesus … said:  “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’

“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”  Luke 14:25-35

The last time I was the messenger on Sunday morning, we talked about parables of the Good Shepherd.  I even said those were “cush” passages, easy to talk about:  precious and true promises that we can hold on to.

John Bullard spoke several weeks ago and voiced a thought that I think all of us who have read some of the Bible have experienced.  You come to some point (or points) as you read, and you think to yourself, “God why did you have to say that?  Or, Jesus why did you have to say it that way?”  I don’t know about you, but mostly, I want things soft and safe.  Can’t we just leave out the confrontational stuff?  And maybe, just maybe, we try not to think about those passages or we try to soften them ourselves.

Today’s passage is likely one of those tough passages for you.  It is for me.  When I realized I was going to teach on this passage, I told Carl, “Well, today’s message will even things out with the last message about the Good Shepherd.”

It’s ironic (or to God’s purpose) that this message falls the day after July 4th, our national Independence Day.  I’d guess Carl did not think of this at all when preparing the series.  The reason I say ironic is that the passage and the parables here are just about the opposite of independence, at least, in terms of the way that the world sees it.

Before we dig deeper, let’s take a moment and pray, asking the Lord for humility, insight and understanding:

Lord Jesus, this passage is a whole lot more about surrender than independence.  I confess that I am fiercely independent even when it means hurt or danger or loss.  I pray for humility.  Help us see that laying aside things that we’re attached to, even things that we love, is right in contrast with our relationship with you.  We need your grace and love even just for living.  Teach us now we pray.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Before we get into the deep end of the pool, let’s look briefly and the context and scene, when, where and to whom Jesus first spoke these words.

This passage is a bit more than halfway through the book of Luke.  As to where, the place is not given specifically, but it is during a time of preaching in and around Jerusalem in Judea as well as the other side of the Jordan River.  In other words, not Galilee.    As to when, it is prior to the triumphant arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem, the crucifixion and resurrection.   As to whom, an interesting aspect of this time is that Jesus is doing more preaching and parable-telling during this time than working miracles.  There are only 4 miracles described during this time period in Luke but 23 parables.  (Luke 9:51-19:27)

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:  Luke 14:25

It seems like Jesus is always creating or drawing a crowd.  The word for crowd (also translated people or multitude) appears 175 times in the New Testament.  Back in Luke 12, it specifically says a crowd in the thousands.  Here, it says a large crowd.  Not just crowd, large crowd.  It’s one thing to see a crowd watching something at a street corner in a city.  It’s something else entirely to see a crowd out in the middle of nowhere.  What a sight it must have been.

A man walking closely with say twenty or thirty people and then followed by several hundred or even a thousand.  Do you have a picture in your mind?  The entire enrollment of Daniel High School is around a thousand students.  A small group of people being followed by a huge group of people, all shuffling along.

These people are likely from different places.  Some may have followed Jesus all the way from Galilee.  Others are from nearby towns and villages.  Some will follow for a while until they get hungry, or tired, or bored, or it gets too late.  The point is, regardless of their commitment level, they’ve stopped doing whatever it was they were doing, and started following Jesus.

They would likely even identify themselves as followers of Jesus.  If you were a reporter on the scene who came up into the crowd and you started asking what’s going on, where are you all going.  People would likely have said, “We are following Jesus.”  What Jesus?  The Jesus.  “Jesus the healer,” or” Jesus the miracle worker,” or “Jesus who speaks with authority,” or “Jesus who silences the Pharisees,” or “Jesus who forgives sins,” or “Jesus who saw everything I ever did.”

In the midst of this bustle, likely with dust being stirred all around, Jesus turns to this large crowd.  Perhaps they have gone up a rise (Judea is quite hilly), Jesus is a little higher up, and he turns looking upon the crowd and they can all see Him.  The people shuffle to a stop, looking up to see why they’ve stopped along the way and not continued on to a village or more likely destination than in the middle of the road.

And what comes next?  Jesus speaks … loudly, no doubt, to reach the ears farther away.

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.  Luke 14:26-27

This is not the first time Jesus has delivered a message like this.  He has already answered the three men who asked about being followers.  Back in Luke 9, Jesus told them, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. … Let the dead bury their own dead” and “ No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit [or worthy] for service in the kingdom of God.”

Here, Jesus is talking about being a disciple.  A disciple is a learner, one who follows the teaching of another.

While harsh, it is not hard to understand.  For a disciple, there can be nothing in between them and Jesus.  No family or other relationship, not even their own life.  Think about that.  I’m afraid to be embarrassed.  Here Jesus is talking about another level.  He’s talking about giving up your instinct for self-preservation.  In comparison their love of God, a disciple’s relationship must look like hatred. 

If that doesn’t sound bad enough, Jesus tacks on that we must take up our cross.  The cross was the instrument of capital punishment.  It was routine for a person who was going to be crucified to carry their own cross.  Jesus says, take up your cross and follow me.  “Take the thing that is going to kill you one day, carry it with you, and follow me.”

It is a hard saying, is it not?

Let’s talk just a moment about this idea of hating family.  Under what pretext is this hatred?  Is Jesus inciting us to hate our family just for the sake of being mean or out of our flesh?  By no means, it would be contrary to Scripture to think that Jesus wants us to act out hatred toward our family.

And yet, there are times when we must choose to put Jesus before our family, and that can flare up into hurt which our family may interpret as hatred.  We have heard stories where people have put their faith in Jesus only to be kicked out, banished or driven away from their families.  The attitude of the family can be, “If you loved me, you’d just give it up.  Give up this Jesus.”  In fact, because you love them, you can’t give it up.  It’s paradoxical, but the most loving thing we can do for anyone (including ourselves) is to follow Jesus first.

Why?  Because if we follow Jesus, we will have the Holy Spirit inside us bringing us to be more like Jesus.  This may be one of the few and quite possibly the best hope some families may ever have to know Christ when a family member gets saved and resolutely follows Jesus loving others no matter what comes.  And that leads into Jesus’ next thought.

Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.”  Luke 14:28-30

Jesus first said the hard thing … the almost impossible thing.  Give up all your concern for any relationship.  Should you do this blindly without thinking?

No, Jesus says, “Stop.  Think.  Count the cost.”  We should be so glad that Jesus tells us what being a disciple means.  Often, I think the world tells us something that sounds too good to be true, then it hides the truth in the fine print. 

Fred told me yesterday of a fix-a-flat product.  You know, the canned air you can spray into a flat tire that has some goo in it that will seal up a small leak.  You know what the magnifying glass fine print warning was?  Contents under pressure, do not store in an automobile, risk of explosion.  Where else are you going to store fix-a-flat other than in a car?  It’s not going to do you much good anywhere else.  Rather than packaging the stuff in a safe container, they put it a warning on it that you can barely read.

How many offers have you seen for try now for three months free?  I have never seen one of these offers that will discontinue the service following the three month trial.  In every case, you have to call later and opt out.  Otherwise, they’ll just keep charging you.  Yesterday, I got an update on my phone.  It came with a new music feature.  The first time I opened it, it had a full screen thing with one button which said, “Sign up now for a FREE three month trial.”  I had to scroll down to get to the “No Thanks” button.  They made it look like you had to take the trial to use the app.  That’s what the world does.  The Father of Lies is still at work seeking to deceive and trick and enslave.

Did it ever occur to you that Jesus is being compassionate by telling the truth about what it means to be a disciple?  Jesus doesn’t want us to be surprised.  It’s just like He told the disciples at the Last Supper.  “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.”  (John 16:33)

The reason Jesus told them that they would have trouble was so that they would have peace.  No surprises.  There is a battle going on for souls.  This is for keeps.

Do ever wonder what it was like in certain events from the Bible?  What was the weather like?  Was it an especially hot or cold day?  How far had the people already walked?  Were they starting to grumble?  Were they wondering if it were worth the trouble or effort to keep following Jesus?  Were some of them wondering about what their families were going to say when they came straggling back home after “wasting” the day following Jesus?

Is it just at that point that Jesus stops and says, “If you think this is tough, it’s nothing compared to being my disciple.  That’s going to take everything you’ve got.”?

Count the cost.  Is it worth it?  Don’t quit before you’ve reached the goal.  If you give up now, what will your families and friends say when you return empty-hearted and empty-handed?

Consider what’s at stake.  Jesus considered “the joy set before Him.”  He endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the Father.  (Hebrews 12:2)  Paul wrote in Philippians that he presses “on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 3:14)  There is a prize for being Jesus’ disciple.

Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.  Luke 14:31-33

Or, look at it another way, what is the alternative if we do not surrender to Jesus?  James 4:6 says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  It’s also in I Peter 5:5.  The repetition means it was likely a significant verse to the early church.  (Remember Ananias and Sapphira.)

It has been years and years, at least twenty years, but I remember a teaching that included this verse, “God opposes the proud …” The word oppose means literally to war against.  The teacher that I heard all those years ago described its meaning as coming against with full battle array. 

Suppose that you were going to war with God.  You are in opposition to Him.  Consider your chances?  How’s it going to work out for you?  For me?  The Bible clearly says that there is no one righteous, not one. (Romans 3:23) Job wanted nothing more than a hearing with God over his complaint of the injustices he lived through.  What was reply once God had spoken?  Job answered God by saying, “I didn’t understand.  I’m sorry.”

I heard a new description for sin the pastor’s conference.  (That just sounds weird:  “Hey, I learned something about sin at the pastor’s conference!”)

Sin is betting against God.  God tells us what the consequences of sin are.  He says, “The wages of sin are death.”  (Romans 6:23)  When we engage in sin, we’re betting that we know better than God.  “Don’t worry, I know God says don’t do this, but it’s okay, I’ve got it figured out, it’s going to work out okay.”

When I say it out loud, it sound preposterous doesn’t it.  Under what circumstances would I ever think that doing something contrary to what God says would be a good idea?  Isn’t that the epitome of pride?  And, how does God relate to the proud?  He puts on His full battle array.

Now, reread those couple of verses.

Suppose you are the king of yourself … assume you are about to go to war against God. Will you not first sit down and consider whether you are able with your resources to oppose the one coming against you with endless resources and omnipotent power? If you are not able, send a delegation while the wrath of God is still a long way off and ask for terms of peace.

Jesus has given us the terms.  Total surrender.

“In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”

So, why don’t Christian’s really have nothing?  Based on this verse, it looks like we should just sell everything and walk around in sackcloth or camel’s hair or something.  I dare say we all have far more than we need, and we would do well to give more away than we do. 

But what does Jesus mean when he says give up everything.  Should we be living in tents?

Again, in accordance to other Scriptures that talk about ownership and stewardship, Jesus means giving everything up to God, telling Him it’s all His and that we will do what He wants us to do with the stuff that He’s entrusted us with.  It’s about our hearts and our devotion to God, not about His needs.

In the Old Testament, God says that the cattle on a thousand hills belong to Him.  What use are our possessions to Him?  (Psalm 50) The Word is clear that we should use unrighteous money to do good things.  (Luke 12:33, 16:9) We should give things away when there is need and by doing that we “store up treasures for ourselves in heaven.”

God I release my hold on this.  I give up my rights to You, my right to TV or internet or giving full vent to my anger or sleeping in late or $5 coffees or being careless in how I talk.  Show me how to walk in the light. 

God, it’s your car or house or computer or iPod or phone or job.  Tell me how to use these things properly and for Your glory.

Paul considered all things and all prestige of his former life garbage compared to knowing Jesus.  (Philippians 3:7-8)  Why should we hold on to our old lives when Jesus has given us new ones that are perfect and will live forever?

Jesus gives us a hope that will not disappoint.  There is nothing in death or in life that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.  (Romans 8:38-39)  In fact, we are the only thing that can separate us from God.  God gives us the choice to come to Him.  We respond to Him or reject Him.  There is nothing else that can stop us from coming to God.

Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

I hope that the Lord has given what your ears needed to hear today and that not only your physical ears but the ears of your heart have perceived and taken in truth. 

In many ways, the things the world calls church have lost their saltiness.  What the world thinks the church is, is not so important.  But, some organizations calling themselves “churches,” have lost their saltiness.  In particular, I am talking about endorsements of homosexuality and homosexual marriage.  This slide has been going on for a long time.  What we saw last week is a signpost along the way of the world rejecting God and His ways.  Romans 1 is clear about the results of rejecting God.  Things don’t get better.  They get worse.  This is not a new or sudden development.  It is an extremely visible one.

When people who call themselves Christians and churches reject God’s Word, then it is clear that they have lost that characteristic of saltiness.  Lampstands have been removed and will be removed as described in Revelation 2 and 3.  They no longer have the power of preserving the world against its slide into sin and ultimately into destruction as also described in Revelation. 

I am not saying that the true church has lost its saltiness.  The church is the assembly of God’s people, God’s children, Jesus’ disciples.  As Jesus’ followers, we must reject things contrary to God.  We must hold to the truth and keep following Jesus.

Count the cost … the last thing I want to do is trivialize how hard it is to risk damaging relationships that we may have had all our lives.  I do not want to trivialize how hard it is to give up our “treasures” physical or mental or emotional.  And yet, the cost is not for us to give something or bring something.  The cost is to let go.  Let go of the things that keep you from experiencing the love of Christ.  Let go of the things that keep you from sharing the joy of knowing Him with others.  When you think about it that way, it seems like you can’t let go fast enough.

Make peace with God before His wrath comes.  As we see the world slide deeper into sin and wars erupt and rumors of wars reach our ears, time marches on to Jesus’ ultimate return and the judgment. 

The following comes from a Charles Spurgeon devotional called Morning and Evening.  I hope that it too helps us to see God as He is, and love Him all the more, desiring His ways above any other way.

"The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power.  Nahum 1:3

"JEHOVAH "is slow to anger." When mercy comes into the world she drives winged steeds; the axles of her chariot-wheels are red hot with speed; but when wrath goes forth, it toils on with tardy footsteps, for God takes no pleasure in the sinner's death. God's rod of mercy is ever in His hands outstretched; His sword of justice is in its scabbard, held down by that pierced hand of love which bled for the sins of men. "The Lord is slow to anger," because He is GREAT IN POWER. He is truly great in power who has power over himself. When God's power restrains Himself, then it is power indeed: the power that binds omnipotence is omnipotence surpassed. A man who has a strong mind can bear to be insulted long, and only resents the wrong when a sense of right demands his action. The weak mind is irritated at a little: the strong mind bears it like a rock which moves not, though a thousand breakers dash upon it, and cast their pitiful malice in spray upon its summit. God marks His enemies, and yet He bestirs not Himself, but holds in His anger. If He were less divine than He is, He would long before have sent forth the whole of His thunders, and emptied the magazines of heaven; He would have already blasted the earth with the wondrous fires of its lower regions, and man would have been utterly destroyed; but the greatness of His power brings us mercy. Dear reader, what is your state this day? Can you by humble faith look to Jesus, and say, "My substitute, Thou art my rock, my trust"? Then, beloved, be not afraid of God's power; for by faith you have fled to Christ for refuge, the power of God need no more terrify you, than the shield and sword of the warrior need terrify those whom he loves. Rather rejoice that He who is "great in power" is your Father and Friend."

Give everything to Jesus, and rest in Him.  In His hands are rescue and protection, life and eternity.  Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus, you have broken the power of sin.  Awaken us to that reality that we would live in freedom from sin.  Remove the scales on our eyes that cause us to resent the light and temporary trials that we face.  Send Your Spirit full and fresh on us each day.  Shine Jesus through us that we would reflect Your glory.  You’ve asked us to live lives in no way more difficult than You lived for us.  Help us to lead the people of a lost and dying world to You.  Save our nation we pray.  In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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