Wednesday Night 9/11/24

The Cost of Christ

What is the most valuable possession you own?

Why is that so valuable to you?

I can tell you right now, for Cam, it’s his Camo John Deere hat. That boy loves that thing.

he sleeps in it sometimes.

What about you?

Who is the most valuable person in your life? … You can only choose one.

Now adults… Don’t get offended at this, this is an impossible question ok.

Ok… Now if you had to choose between your most valuable possession and the most valuable person which would you choose and why?

Was that a difficult decision for you?

Throughout History, information has become more and more accessible.

Did you know that prior to 1400 A.D. books weren’t really a thing?

Prior to 1500, there were estimated to be somewhere in the thousands of books.

Certainly there were manuscripts and scrolls and various forms of writings kept in libraries prior to 1440,

But generally, this was not something the general public had access too.

I know in my house, we have an entire wall filled with books that we read.

In my office, you’ll find multiple bookshelves full of books of which I’ve read and a few I havent.

But have you ever stopped and considered this hasn’t ALWAYS been the case?

I mean before the printing press in 1440 AD, information was not accessible.

History was passed orally, or if written, was not accessible to the masses.

For the first 1300 years after Jesus, the Bible was carefully maintained by men hand-writing copies of Scripture.

We will dig into this more at another time, but isn’t that fascinating?

I mean how much of a treasure was God’s Word when someone was having to make copies by writing it by hand.

BTW, there was no backspace.

Scribes were so meticulous during these times that if they made one single mistake, they would have to start completely over.

This was a slow, measured, treasured process.

Despite all of this though, Scripture was still not accessible to the masses until the printing press came along.

The Gutenberg printing press was able to print a Bible and then Scripture began to be a little more accessible.

Finally, after the reformation in 1517, Martin Luther almost died by being burned at the stake for making Scripture more accessible to the average man.

Imagine, being willing to die just so others could interact with and read God’s Word.

Throughout History, men have been have given their lives across the world for the sake of sharing God’s Word with Humanity.

So consider this…

Pre-books… Men devoted their lives to the careful copying of God’s Word.

Men who meticulously copied the Words of God by hand, making no errors, in efforts to preserve God’s Word.

Then, men post-books nearly died, and some have died, taking God’s Word to the nations.

Jim Elliot (1927-1956)- Who gave his life trying to take God’s Word to the Huaorani people of Ecuador.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) - Died in the final weeks of WW2 in Nazi Germany for discipling young men in a secret seminary.

Martin Luther (1483 - 1546)- nearly burned at the stake and had to go into hiding for the start of the protestant Reformation.

Corie Ten Boom - helped her father aid the escape of Jews during WW2 because they loved Jesus and wanted to follow Christ by protecting the sanctity of human life.

William Wilberforce (1759 - 1833) - Led the charge in great Britain to abolish the slave trade and ultimately slavery itself. He heard on July 26, 1833 that parliament had passed His bill to abolish the slave trade. He died 3 days later on July 29, 1833.

These are incredible stories of men and women who lived faithful lives to God’s Word.

We need not forget their stories because really they are stories about lives changed by the gospel.

They are an encouragement to us to endure!

Over the semester, we are going to look at some of these people.

I had a realization over the summer that often times I reference people from history or Joe does or another pastor does and we may not have a context for who these people are and the lives they lived.

Hudson Taylor, Charles Spurgeon, Jim Elliot, Martin Luther, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, William Wilberforce…

And women like, Joni Erickson Tada, Amy Charmichael, Corie Ten Boom.

All of them have counted the cost of following Jesus.

We would be wise to examine their lives and consider what it might cost me to follow Christ.

For tonight, I want us to get into groups and look Luke 9:57-62.

Also read Luke 9:23-25.

Answer these questions:

What is Jesus trying to communicate to all 3 people in Luke 9:57-62?

Have you counted the cost of following me?

He’s a runner. He ran to Jesus, but in His excitement, missed the full details of what following Jesus would cost him.

How might Jesus be communicating to person number 1 (Luke 9:57) that He might be making a decisions without considering the cost?

Are you someone who is quick to make decisions or slow to make decisions?

Person number 2 seems to be a waiter, (willing to follow Jesus, just not right now)? How do we see this from person 2? (Luke 9:59-60).

What is wrong with a “I’ll follow Jesus… but first…” attitude?

Person number 3 (Luke 9:61) is a waiter too… How can being a waiter prevent you from ever following Jesus now?

Read Psalm 27:14 - As we do this, I want us to consider too, what does it cost me to follow Jesus? Does God sometimes call us to run and does he also call us to wait?

How then do we live today?

Person 1 is a runner.

Persons 2 and 3 are waiters.

Are either of those things bad?

The only reason either is bad is if one isn’t considering the cost of his actions.

Person 2 and 3 (Luke 9) are waiters.

In our context, this seems like a reasonable question to ask Jesus and Jesus’ response seems kinda harsh and ridiculous.

Right?

But here’s the deal, Jewish burials and funerals were often long processes.

Also, the reality is, this guys dad is actually probably still alive.

Jarrad Lopes in his book “The Dad Tired Q&A Mixtape” says, “When he says, ‘Let me first go and bury my father,’ he is likely saying, ‘Can I follow you after I finish taking care of my dad in his old age?”

But even if his dad had already died, this man isn’t asking to attend a 2 hour funeral.

The Jewish ceremonial burial process took days if not weeks.

The point is, This guy was willing to follow Jesus, just not right now.

On his terms, he would follow Jesus.

He’s willing to follow Jesus, but he wants Jesus to wait on him for a while.

APPLICATION:

Throughout History we have men who have been waiters and runners for Jesus.

Perhaps the most well known waiter of all time is Abraham.

He was a runner when God told him to leave his home and he followed Jesus and went.

But then God told Him he would make him into a great nation and Abraham became a waiter.

Until he wasn’t anymore…

Sarah and Abraham ran too quick and caused big problems with Hagar, but that’s another story for another time.

This evening I want to challenger you to seek God.

Sometimes He will call you to run.

Sometimes he will call you to wait.

The best way to know when to run and when to wait is to stay connected to God’s Word.

It’s crazy to think people have died to make God’s Word accessible to those of us who don’t care to read it.

It’s one thing not to read the BIble because you don’t have it.

It’s quite another to have the words of the God of the universe and ignore it.

Is it not?

Isn’t that convicting?

We ask God, “Where are you Jesus...”

And he says in a muffled voice “I’m under your dirty clothes pile from Sunday bro!” Just uncover your Bible.

We all want a word from God, but few of us actually go to the Word of God.

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

Jim Elliot.

You cannot lose God’s Word.

Keep it close.

Run back to hose HEAR cards we talked about earlier this year.

Highlight, Explain, Apply, Repeat as you go to His Word.

God’s Word has stood the test of time.

We do ourselves a disservice to ignore it.

Love God’s Word, go to it. Study it.

And let’s enjoy together looking at the lives of others who have ran and waited on the God of Scripture.

May we do the same.