The Cost of Following Jesus

40 years

What we’ve learned in 40 years.

That is, Sara and I have been married almost 40 years. A few weeks ago I told the story about how we got engaged over Xmas.

We started dating 4th of July weekend earlier that year. So, do the math. We’ve been together, at various states of commitment, for over 40 years.

So, in January of 1984 we were in the very early stages of planning our wedding. We knew we loved each other and had decided to make the commitment to each other to do this for the rest of our lives. Then, in July of ‘84, we stood at the altar at NW Bible church in Dallas and formalize what we had already decided.

I’ve asked this question before, those of you who are married, who’ve been married, did you have any idea what it meant to promise to act like you live someone every day no matter what ever happens for the rest of your life?

For better or worse,

Richer or poorer;

In sickness and in health…till death.

We said the words. We meant it. Then, we’ve spent the next 40 years learning the rewards, consequences, and the ramifications of what we meant when we said it.

We’ve been thru grad school, childbirth 3x, the terrible 2s, hormones, we’ve been outnumbered by our children, Little League baseball, Upward basketball, travel teams. We’ve been thru teenage years, college, 1 wedding, we’ve moved 5 times, been on staff at 5 churches, had 4 fellow staff members at 1 church commit adultery, owned and sold 6 houses, we’ve buried our parents, settled their estates, and both been diagnosed w/ cancer, and we’re both 63 years old.

We’ve been young, we’re not so young any more.

We’ve been poor, we’ve been rich;

We’ve been healthy, we’ve been sick;

It’s been worse, but it hasn’t ever been much better.

Did you know what you were getting into when you stood at the altar w/ your dearly beloved? I thought I did. I was 24. I knew everything at 24. Or, rather, I didn’t know what I didn’t know, and have since learned that I still don’t know most of it.

Marriage is that way. W/ God’s help, you choose someone you want to learn to love. We decide to place our faith in each other to act like we love each other.

We are in love when we get married. But then, for the rest of our lives, or at least that marriage, we learn what love really is. In some marriages, we learn that we’re not loved. Sadly. I’m sorry.

In our marriage, and others like it, we learn we do know what love is.

We made a commitment to get up every day and act like we love each other no matter what else may be going on, good or bad. Nobody does this perfectly. But, the day one of us gets up and says I’ve had a bad day, I’m going to be all about me today, that’s the day the marriage takes a step back. The fewer days like that, the much better.

Marriage is a commitment to get up every day and act like we love each other no matter what else may be going on, good or bad.

Love is a verb. Emotions follow. A bond is formed when someone acts like they love you. When they do things for you that meet deep, emotional needs, you will feel something for them. Their actions prompt your feelings.

Much like marriage, our relationship w/ Jesus is very similar.

We come to understand that Jesus has acted like He loves us. He did it before we ever knew Him. His action meets a deep emotional and spiritual need of ours. Very early on, we know enough about Him, about what He’s done, and about what He will do for us, that we can choose to make a commitment to Him.

And, similar to placing our faith in a spouse, we can place our faith in Him to continue to act like He loves us. The difference is, we are imperfect as spouses and He is not.

We believe in Who we understand Him to be, we have faith in Him to save us, we commit our lives to Him. Then, we spend the rest of our lives learning what it meant when we did that.

I was 17 years old when I committed my life to Jesus. If I was ignorant of anything at 24, I was ignorant of everything at 17. But I knew enough and chose to believe in Jesus.

How old were you?

It’s fair, at first our understanding of Jesus is more like Santa Claus. He gives good gifts to good boys and girls. We’re in it to get something from Him. But, before long, if you’re going to a good church, being taught by a good preacher and you’re growing in your faith, you come to realized the Christian life is less about what you get from Jesus and more about what you give to Jesus.

Initially, it costs us nothing to become a follower of Christ, just faith. But then we learn it costs us everything to be a follower of Christ, in faith.

We’re in a section of the gospels where Jesus is teaching the disciples that when they first came to faith they knew enough to believe in Jesus. But they still had a lot to learn about being a follower of Jesus.

Today’s lesson is written about in 3 passages: Matthew 16; Mark 8; and Luke 9. We’re in the Matthew passage this morning.

It starts out where Peter accurately ID’s Jesus on behalf of all the disciples that He is the Messiah. They all know enough to be able to place their faith in Him to be saved.

Jesus ID’d

Matthew 16:13–20 NIV

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Jesus is more than 2 years into his 3-year ministry. They have seen Him do amazing things. They have heard is powerful teaching. Already, they all had come to faith, except maybe Judas.

Jesus knew their hearts. But, by asking the question and getting Peter to say the words out loud, it did something w/in him to confirm his commitment to be a follower of Jesus.

When we say it out loud, it becomes rooted in our souls that we are believers in and followers of Jesus.

Jesus started this convo by asking them what the crowds were saying about Him. They’d seen and heard powerful things, too.

JB, Elijah, and Jeremiah; to be considered one of the great prophets of God is very complimentary about Jesus, but wrong. Each of these 3 men had a message that was primarily centered around repentance. They were telling people, at different times in history, they were messing up. They needed to own it, apologize to God for it. And stop doing it.

They all said to the ppl they needed to change their ways.

The difference w/ Jesus and His teaching was, He taught repentance and the importance of changing their ways, too. But then He taught them what way to go and how to get there. Faith in Him.

Reincarnation was not a thing then. But they were trying to categorize Jesus in such a way they could understand Him. The ppl re-created a box that they thought Jesus fit in.

But, you can’t put Jesus in a box. He will blow away whatever category you try to create for Him. Let Him create His categories and no box will hold Him.

Then he asked the 12 and Peter spoke on their behalf. He nailed it. Aced the test. Many bel’d in the power of Christ. Peter and the others believed in the Person of Christ. And the Person of Christ came w/ the Power of Christ.

He is the Messiah. This is more than a title. It describes Who He is and what He came to do. He is the chosen One, Son of God, Who will take away the sins of the ppl of the world.

It cost Peter and the discs nothing to come to this conclusion. Faith alone. Just believe in Who Jesus is and what He came to do. That’s enough.

Notice, the HS has to help. God has to do the heavy lifting for someone to get to this point.

Begs the question, who chooses whom? Yes.

The HS prompts. The person responds w/ faith. The HS finishes by revealing enough about Jesus for the person to place the faith they’ve been given in Christ t/b saved.

We need God to be able to know enough about God to believe and be saved. Then, we need to choose to do it.

Confused? It is what it is. That’s the process.

Jesus then commends Peter for his faith.

Cephas is the Aramaic word for rock. Petras is the Greek word for rock. You will see Peter called both in the NT. Jesus, in a play on Peter’s name, said, on this rock, the rock of the faith you just professed and confessed, I will build my church. Faith is the foundation of the org we now are part of.

Satan cannot prevent this from happening. He can mess w/ us. You’ll see how he messed w/ Peter right away in a minute. But, understand, Satan cannot mess up God’s plan. He can mess up our lives if we let Him. And, too often, we let Him.

Jesus is the corner stone, the disciples are the foundation, and we are the blocks that Jesus has used to build his church.

He didn’t start building then. This is the conception. The church is born at Pentecost, Acts 2.

Then, Jesus honors Peter by announcing that He has given him, and the discs, keys. A key comes w/ authority.

It’s joked around churches that we give out keys at our new members’ class. Everyone gets a key. Recently, we re-keyed the church. Too many keys were still out. If you have authority in the church, an elder, ministry leader, serving somewhere; then we will give you a key so you can use the building for what you’re doing. B/C you already have authority, you get a key.

Jesus told the discs, b/c they were receiving authority from Jesus, He was giving them keys, too.

The keys Jesus gave them, is like the Master giving his servants keys to storehouse and access to the resources there.

The discs have access to Jesus’ storehouse. That storehouse holds His word, teaching. They now have the authority and power to open the doors to the truth they now have come to believe. They are saved and they can now lead others to be saved.

What gets bound are those who reject the truth about Jesus and remain bound in their sinful state and don’t get access to the kingdom. Those loosed, or freed, are those who do believe, are freed from the shackles of their guilt and sin and will be given access into the kingdom.

It is God who binds and loosens. But it the is the disciples who teach the truth about Jesus that leads to those being bound or loosed.

Don’t tell anyone all this. It’s too early. They will have their chance soon enough. For that time, Jesus will face the persecution and death. We know from Acts and tradition that eventually every one of the original 12 die young except John.

They knew enough to make the commitment to Christ. But soon after they began to learn the cost. Faith is free. Salvation is free. Being a follower of Jesus, not so much.

Salvation costs us nothing. Serving costs us everything.

The Cost to Follow

Matthew 16:21–28 NIV

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Now, there is a bit of a shift in what Jesus is teaching the discs. First, he was teaching them Who He is and what He came to do.

Then, He taught them it costs nothing to be saved. To become a Xian all you must do is have faith in these things.

Now, He began to teach what it costs to follow Christ. There will be a reward. But there is a cost to receive it.

First, he taught 4 things about what He had to do.

He had to go to Jerusalem.

He had to suffer many things at the hands of the rel leadership in Jerusalem.

He had to be killed.

He had to be raised on the 3rd day.

For Jesus to accomplish his purpose in this life He had to die. Even if Israel had accepted Him and installed Him as their King, someone was going to have to take His life. Picture Abraham raising the knife over his 13-year old son Isaac. Then, Abraham believe God would raise Isaac from the dead b/c he was child of the promise that the nation would be born to.

Instead, God provided a substitute when Abraham to the steps of faith to follow thru.

For Jesus, He is the substitute. He is our substitute so no one, no lamb in the thicket can take His place. Maybe it actually made things easier for the rel leaders to hate him so. Rome had to do the deed. But at the prompting of the temple leadership of the day.

Jesus told them, He wasn’t going to stay dead. But Peter must have missed that part.

He took him aside privately and sternly warned Him that he was not going to let any of this happen. Even if he had to physical w/ Jesus, he would not let him go to Jerusalem where the rest would take place.

Jesus had just bestowed some authority on Peter. He got his keys. But that must have gone to Peter’s head. B/C he stepped well beyond the authority Jesus gave him.

X’s reply was even stronger.

Get behind me Satan. But, it’s Peter.

This isn’t implying Peter wasn’t saved, or had lost his faith and his salvation. What Peter was doing was representing Satan’s position.

He had tried repeatedly to prevent Jesus from saving mankind by dying too soon and the wrong way. He used Herod the Great to kill all the toddler boys in the area when the Magi visited. He used crowds who attempted to throw Jesus down over a ledge of a mountain. And, he even used storms at sea.

Now Peter was allowing Satan to use Him. Notice, this didn’t stop God’s plan and Jesus still went to the cross. But it messed Peter up. He faced the anger and strong reaction of Jesus.

And this just a short time before Peter denied even knowing Jesus after his arrest. So, he went from promising to not allow this to happen to not only allowing it, but taking seat when he promised to stand in for Jesus.

This whole sorry episode messed Peter up bad. But he learned an important lesson about grace and Jesus’ love for him.

There are 3 different types or groups of people who approach Jesus.

Those who are curious. The multitudes came to be amazed by his authoritative teaching and see his powerful miracles.

Those who are convinced. Some of these are convinced Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God. But so are the demons. They know who Jesus is. But they are not saved as many ppl are. Convinced Jesus is the Son of God, but they have not taken the last important step.

Those who are committed. These have taken the step to commit their lives to Christ by coming to faith in Him. They don’t just believe Jesus is who he says he is. They have faith in Him to be saved by Him.

This is like those couples who become engaged. They are committed to one another. They have faith in each other to act like they love each other the rest of their lives.

Then, they get married, and spend the rest of their lives learning about the commitment they made to each other.

Jesus said, to be a disciple, a follower of Jesus, someone who walks closely w/ Jesus, then you must deny yourself.

Deny your own wants and desires. Desire what God desires for you.

Just b/c you can, doesn’t mean you should.

You have rights. But you willingly give up those rights to fulfill your responsibility to your relationship w/ Jesus.

Lifestyle choices. We justify so easily. Everyone else is. It’s all over TV and movies. We’re adults here. We can do this. But, should you?

You PU your cross, Luke added ‘daily’. Every day you admit, own the reality that it should have been you on that cross. Don’t beat yourself up or down. Fully and humbly appreciate the loving act Jesus performed for you by being your substitute on that cross.

Practically, how do we do these things?

How much time out of each day to you give to Jesus. Worship. Listen. Converse. Pray.

How much money out all your income do you give to Jesus’ work?

Pause, this is not the fund-raising part of this sermon. This church is financially healthy. We’re fine. But, at times I must address the issue of how much you give just like your doctor must address how much you eat and exercise and its affect on your health.

How much time, energy, and money you give to Jesus’ work is a reflection and has an effect on your spiritual health.

How much money should you give?

The OT principle was 10% of everything you earn, harvest, take in. If we were still living by that principle, then you could easily calculate 10% of your social security income, investment income, salary, and any other amount you take in during the year.

The NT principle according to Paul in 2 Cor. is give as God has blessed you. If he’s blessed you a lot, then give a lot. If only a small amount, then give a small amount.

The national avg of church-goers is approx 1.5% of income to the church 2.5% of income to charities in total.

That would indicate the church goers in this country do not believe God has blessed them very much. Or, they are afraid to take the step of giving generously and sacrificially.

When we give, it should hurt a little. Not a lot, but a little. It would mean we can’t buy all we want.

But, if we are denying ourselves what we desire, then this is part of the process.

I will tell you that my mortgage pmt is less than 10% of my salary. So, I should be giving more to the church than my largest payment commitment in my life.

So, where are you in this. I am not trying to raise money for the church. I am trying to help you appreciate the cost of following Jesus.

How much time do you give? How much do you give to your personal relationship w/ Jesus? How much time do you give helping others in their walk w/ Jesus.

How much energy to you invest in the things of Jesus?

It didn’t cost you a thing to be saved. But it will cost you everything to walk closely as a follower of Jesus.

Then, Jesus closes w/ this. We will be rewarded for what we do. Not necessarily in this life. This is not an investment program where we hope to get rich by being rewarded w/ 1000 times what we give. We will get rich in heaven.

Blessed. Peace. Joy. Hope. Freedom. These are all possible in this life when we give all that Jesus asks us to give.

Always keep in mind where He started w/ Peter and the disciples. Jesus died for you first. Jesus gave up everything He had for you before He ever asked anything from you.

Even for these 12, he had already left heaven, the presence of God, to become a human. He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, that if there would be any other way to do the this, he’d prefer it. But, he said, “Your will, not mine.” I’ll do everything you ask me to do. Even if it costs me everything.

So, before you decide you can’t do any more for Jesus, consider what you have already done for Him compared to what He has already done for you.

You knew enough to be saved. You made your commitment. You have faith. Your reservation in heaven is set. Nothing can change that. You can’t lose it. If you have faith, it doesn’t come and go. It’s not fickle.

But, just like Paul wrote in Romans. If we’re saved, can we continue in our old lifestyle? No.

If you’re married, can you continue to live like you’re not? If you want to continue to see other ppl, then don’t get married. If you act like your not, then you probably won’t be married much longer. It makes no sense for you to act like you’re single if you made the commitment of marriage to one person.

Maybe you didn’t realize it when you made the commitment. But, I’m sure your spouse can clarify the significance of it now.

Maybe you didn’t realize what was involved when you made your commitment to Christ. But, if you paid only a little bit of attention to this message on this passage, then now you do.

What do you need to do?

Applications

Deny yourself

Is there something you’re doing, or about to do, that you need to stop? Permanently.

Then, stop it.

PU your cross

Is there something you need to start doing, or doing more of? This is between you and God, no one else, except maybe if it involves your family or close friends.

Start it this week. It’s still a new year. Make healthy changes.

Mess you up

Satan can’t mess up God’s plan. God has a way of accomplishing everything He plans and intends even though we mess up.

Satan can mess us up. But only if we let Him, and we do all too often, sometimes w/out even realizing.

But, if we do the first 2 applications, then we are much less likely to fall victim to this one.

Don’t let Satan mess you up. Resist Him, put on the full armor of God. Most of it is defensive, some of it is offensive. Do what you know is right to do.

Much like marriage, our relationship w/ Jesus is very similar.

It’s fair, at first our understanding of Jesus is more like Santa Claus. He gives good gifts to good boys and girls. We’re in it to get something from Him. But, before long, if you’re going to a good church, being taught by a good preacher and you’re growing in your faith, you come to realized the Christian life is less about what you get from Jesus and more about what you give to Jesus.

Initially, it costs us nothing to become a follower of Christ, just faith. But then we learn it costs us everything to be a follower of Christ, in faith.