Unconditional Discipleship
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Call to Worship:
1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be feared above all gods.
Text: Mt. 8:18-22; Luk. 9:61-62
Main Point/FCF: We are all tempted at times to put conditions upon our commitment to Christ, to half-heartedly follow. But true discipleship is costly, and true faith is unconditional.
Application: Jesus calls us to surrender unconditionally to him.
18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 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.” 21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
A disciple of Christ must be willing to give up comforts for the sake of the call. (8:19-20)
A disciple of Christ must be willing to give up comforts for the sake of the call. (8:19-20)
19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 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.”
Jesus does not demand homelessness from all Christians.
Jesus does not demand homelessness from all Christians.
Some have seen in these verses a universal call to homelessness and poverty (i.e., Monks).
Notice, though, that Jesus does not tell every follower of his to sell all their property and donate it--he only demands this of some.
Missionaries have to have support. During Jesus’ ministry, disciples with homes and thriving businesses served as hosts to him and the disciples.
They gave of their means to support his ministry.
We need to be careful not to universalize examples like this, or take literally what Jesus meant to be hyperbole. Just as Jesus doesn’t want us to literally gouge out our eyes and dismember ourselves, he doesn’t demand all believers to sell all their possessions and be homeless.
But, if we’re honest with ourselves, this is not the temptation most of us face.
Our temptation is typically the other extreme--to dismiss challenges like this as somehow not applicable to us. To think that when Jesus talks about “rich people” or challenges materialism he’s only talking about the millionaires and billionaires and other folks.
Jesus may not demand all Christians to be homeless, but...
Jesus does demand a wartime mentality and willingness to serve wherever he calls us.
Jesus does demand a wartime mentality and willingness to serve wherever he calls us.
We’ve seen this quite a bit in Matthew. We are in a war between the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world. We are soldiers in a spiritual war.
Soldiers know when they sign up that they may be deployed. A soldier who refuses to be deployed at his general’s command is insubordinate and will be dismissed from the service.
When I was in seminary in Louisville, I served as a youth pastor and music minister at a small church there in the city. I was paid $50/week for each of those roles which was, needless to say, not enough to live on. In fact, it would have been a rare week that I didn’t spend more in ministry expenses and gas than what I made.
So, Jennifer had to have a job and I had to have an extra part-time job as well. So, I did pizza delivery and tutoring and whatever else to make ends meet. But, when Jennifer got pregnant with our firstborn--Josiah--we suddenly realized that we had a predicament. I was a full-time student with a couple of part time jobs, and Jennifer worked full-time. But, we barely made enough to live on as it was, and now we had to factor in several hundred dollars a month for daycare, which we couldn’t afford. But, we also couldn’t afford for Jennifer to quit her job and stay home, either.
So, as I wracked my brain for options, I realized I had to have a job that would provide a little more income than what delivering pizzas did. So, I got this crazy idea in my head--maybe I could be a part-time police officer? I’d always thought it would be a cool job. But, I couldn’t commit to full-time work really and still do classes and serve in ministry. That would be too much. So, I called the Louisville Police to ask. They directed me to leave a message for someone in recruiting where, like the naive 20-something that I was, I left a message asking if it would be possible for me to be a part-time police officer. I had to have Sundays off, of course, and Wednesday evenings, and I probably couldn’t do more than 30 hours a week. But hey, something’s better than nothing, right?
Shockingly, I never got a call back. I look back at that and think, “How stupid!” As if being a police officer is a part-time thing you can casually do in your spare time! It’s a way of life and--at times--all consuming! The men and women who serve in law enforcement and the military--along with many other jobs like the medical field--know what they’re signing up for. Yes, they may have scheduled shifts, but they have to be open to working whenever the needs are. Police officers have to be willing to go to the academy for weeks of training. They have to be willing to work holidays, evenings, and strange hours. Be on call when they’re needed. Soldiers have to be willing to pack up and move wherever their commander sends them.
These aren’t casual commitments and it’s about a lot more than a paycheck. If you’re just looking for a paycheck, you need to look elsewhere, because it isn’t worth the money. And we could say that about teachers and many other jobs as well.
Being a Christian isn’t a part-time job or a casual commitment. If all you want is fire insurance and some fringe benefits, you’ve come to the wrong place. This is a war zone. It demands your all. And sometimes you get deployed to the front lines.
We are walking testaments to that fact. In our 15 years of marriage, we’ve moved at least 16 times. At times, we have had to sell our possessions--our homes, cars, guns, tools, and toys. We’ve gone years without any sense of permanent home to the point that we no longer really have any sense of what “home” means.
And God may be calling you to do the same. There are still hundreds of millions of people in this world that have never heard the gospel. There are something like 180 million people in this world that have no access to Scripture in a language that speaks to their hearts. The missions center where we worked in PNG is stretched to the breaking point for lack of personnel. They need doctors, teachers, preachers, translators, tradesmen, and more.
Meanwhile, here in the US, we have millions of people who call themselves Christians who think that nothing more is demanded of them than to occasionally go to church on Sunday morning and occasionally throw a $20 bill in the offering plate.
We have people who call themselves disciples of Christ who would rather be at a basketball game than at a Bible study.
We have churches filled with people who will happily argue their political cause without a care in the world who they offend but don’t want to offend anyone with the gospel.
It’s time to get serious and stop pretending. No more part-time faith. No more casual Christianity.
Foxes have holes and it’s about time we as Christians get in the foxholes because there’s a war to be fought and it is more important than your personal comfort.
Are you willing to give up your sense of home in this life if it means gaining a home in heaven?
Not only does a disciple willingly forgo comforts for the sake of the kingdom, but...
A disciple must put their allegiance to Christ above all other relationships in life. (8:21-22)
A disciple must put their allegiance to Christ above all other relationships in life. (8:21-22)
21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
Jesus is not endorsing negligence towards your family.
Jesus is not endorsing negligence towards your family.
At first, this seems to be what Jesus is insinuating, and it would have seemed that way even more for a Jew!
In fact, the Mosaic law even makes accommodations for the burial of one’s father or mother. Normally, a priest or Levite was not supposed to have contact with a dead body, but care for one’s closest relatives was considered so important that an exception was made for the burial of a close relative.
1 And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, No one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people, 2 except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 3 or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean).
So, for a Jew, these words must have been incredibly shocking!
Now, in all probability, the man’s father had not died yet. If his father had died, he would have been busy with burial and funeral arrangements, not there listening to Jesus’ sermon.
In an era where there was no morgue to keep the body cold, burial was usually done within the day because the body would start to smell if burial was delayed.
So, most commentators think that the man’s request to “bury his father” was an idiom that meant, “let me take care of my aging father. Someday, after he has died, I’ll come follow you.” So, he was probably asking for an indefinite delay.
Now, taking care of aging parents is still important. In fact, in another passage, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for twisting Scripture around to allow people to get out of their responsibility towards their aging parents:
3 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’
5 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” 6 he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.
7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8 “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
The Pharisees had devised a clever law--one of their own invention, not found in the Torah--where if a man wanted to shirk his financial responsibility to care for his aging parents, he could simply make a vow to give that money to the synagogue or temple as an offering instead. Thus, bound by oath to give the money as an offering (“corban”), they were freed from responsibility to care for their aging parents.
Jesus rebukes them and calls them hypocrites for this.
So, Jesus is not encouraging negligence towards caring for your parents or your family. You can’t use your obligations to God as an excuse to neglect your family.
Another proof for this is that one of the qualifications for being a pastor is caring well for your family:
4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?
If I, as your pastor, start to work 80+ hours a week and begin to neglect my family, always putting them on the back-burner because “ministry is more important,” then I actually end up disqualifying myself for ministry altogether.
The key, of course, is to recognize that my first ministry is to my own family. Ministry to my church comes second.
Another proof that Jesus isn’t encouraging neglect of your family is found in 1 Tim. 5:8
8 But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
So, if Jesus didn’t mean that we should neglect our families for the sake of ministry, what did he mean?
Disciples of Christ cannot use family as an excuse to delay obedience to his call.
Disciples of Christ cannot use family as an excuse to delay obedience to his call.
Our relationship with God must be the most important relationship in our lives.
Most likely, Jesus saw this man’s heart and he saw divided allegiance. This man, like the others in this passage, had conditions on his commitment to follow Christ.
I’ll follow Jesus wherever he calls me...
once my kids are grown up
once i find a spouse
once my aging parents have passed away
so long as he doesn’t ask me to be a foreign missionary
so long as _______.
You see, sometimes we feel as if there is a tension between “what’s best for the Kingdom” and “what’s best for my family.” But King is also our Heavenly Father. Whatever he calls us to do for our family is for his Kingdom. And whatever he calls us to do for the Kingdom is best for our family. There is no conflict.
Our service to our families should flow out of our commitment to serving God, not be a substitute for serving God.
When we first left for Papua New Guinea in 2017, Josiah was 3 1/2 years old and Isaiah was 1 1/2. I don’t know how many times I heard people say, “I could never do what you guys are doing. I could never take my kids over there.” People would often introduce us to their churches with wide eyes as “Real-life missionaries,” as if missionaries were these mythical creatures or superheroes nobody thought really existed. I always hated that for a few reasons.
First, when someone says “I could never take my kids over there”--does that mean I’m being negligent because I did? Do I love my kids less than you love yours? Am I doing something that is bad for them? NO! It was good for them. My kids have seen poverty like yours never have and probably never will. It’s real to them. They have friends who can’t afford shoes. They have life experiences that exceed what many people ten times their age have. It was good for them.
Secondly, when people say things like that, they put you in a special class of people that are somehow different than them. And if missionaries are special, and if I don’t feel special, then clearly I’m not able to be a missionary. But missionaries, pastors, ministers, aren’t anything special. They’re just normal people that Jesus looked in the eyes and said, “You, go sell your stuff and go.” In fact, knowing that God uses the foolish things to shame the wise, I’ve often thought that missionaries, pastors, and ministers are probably called into service precisely because God was looking for a tool--pun intended.
And third, when you say “I could never do that,” you are admitting that your commitment to Jesus is conditional. And if your commitment to Jesus is conditional, if you think that you could never take your kids and go overseas, you could never be a pastor, or “I’ll follow you Jesus BUT...”, then you better watch out, or before you know it, Jesus will be looking you in the eyes and saying, “Now it’s your turn.”
There are no “ifs” or “buts” in the Kingdom. Conditional Christianity is fake Christianity. Our loyalty to Christ must transcend all other loyalties in this life.
8 I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
A disciple must be willing to make a total break with their former way of life. (Luk. 9:61-62)
A disciple must be willing to make a total break with their former way of life. (Luk. 9:61-62)
61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Jesus is not forbidding farewells to family.
Jesus is not forbidding farewells to family.
The root issue in all these cases is hypocrisy or half-hearted commitment. In both cases--the one who neglects family to fulfill a “vow” and the one who neglects Christ for the supposed “good of his family,” the common denominator is external actions that do not proceed from a heart that is dedicated to following God. In both cases, the hypocrites use a seemingly legitimate situation as an excuse to avoid doing something God commands.
The same action can be either God-glorifying or sinful, depending upon the motives behind it.
Two examples of “looking back” in Scripture:
19 So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. 20 And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?”
21 And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.
Elijah, like Christ, challenges Elisha’s commitment to to prophetic ministry.
But, Elisha quickly reveals his heart through his actions. He publicly sacrifices his 12 yoke of oxen (24 oxen--a substantial financial sacrifice), demonstrating his whole-hearted commitment to the ministry.
We’re not told whether or not he got to say his goodbyes, but slaughtering and cooking 24 oxen is no quick and easy task. And, the note that “he gave it to the people” probably indicates that this was done with the help and in the presence of his family.
But, by sacrificing the oxen, Elisha “burned his bridges” and made it clear that he was totally committed to whatever God called him to.
24 Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. 25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
Lot’s wife, on the other hand, looked back on Sodom because she didn’t want to leave her life there behind. Even as God rained fire and brimstone on the city, she couldn’t bear to see it all go up in smoke.
Her heart was divided, she was not truly committed to following God, and so she was judged.
Jesus is not saying that vocational ministry must be a lifelong calling.
Jesus is not saying that vocational ministry must be a lifelong calling.
I also want to point out another thing that Jesus is NOT saying here.
It may be surprising to many of you, but leaving PNG was an extremely difficult decision for us. In fact, for me personally, I would say that I feel like it was more painful to leave the field than it was to leave for the field.
One of the lies that Satan has used against me is a twisted interpretation of this verse--guilt from feeling like I “put my hand to the plow” and then “looked back,” because we left foreign missions to return “home.”
And it’s not just missionaries that are subject to feeling like this. Many pastors, ministers, or people serving the Lord in a variety of ways find themselves at some point or another transitioning out of one form of service to God and into another. This might be leaving the mission field to take a home-based assignment for medical reasons, as many of our missionary friends have had to do. This might be stepping down from a full-time pastoring role into another area of service, or even to take a secular job.
But what is the “plow” that we’re not supposed to turn away from? Is it a particular form of ministry? Full-time vocational ministry? Foreign missions?
No. The plow is “following Jesus.” And that means wherever, whenever, and however he leads.
So, as long as you’re still serving God and following Christ, putting him first in your life, you have not turned back from the plow.
What Jesus is saying is...
Disciples can have no regrets about following Christ.
Disciples can have no regrets about following Christ.
61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Most likely, Jesus saw this man’s heart was divided. Perhaps Jesus knew that his parents and family would prevent him from following.
Perhaps the man knew this and was hoping for an excuse so that he could feign allegiance to Christ while saving himself from the difficulties of true discipleship.
Those who put their hands to the plow and look back are those who make an outward profession of faith, but inwardly are still in love with their sin and their former way of life.
Yes, the Christian life is difficult. No, the way is not easy. But what is the alternative? A life of ease and luxury now, to be followed be eternal torment?
11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The choice is either unconditional surrender and complete faith which will be rewarded with eternal life, or ease and pleasure now but eternal separation from God.
Jesus wants a blank check.
Jesus wants a blank check.
My favorite missionary from the past is Adoniram Judson. Adoniram Judson was the first American Baptist foreign missionary. Our modern International Mission Board (IMB) traces its roots to Judson’s missionary efforts. He and his wife, Nancy Hassletine, went to Burma in the early 1800s.
But, when Adoniram first felt the call to missions and settled on Burma, he was single. He fell in love with a young woman named Nancy Hassletine. But, knowing that his path was heading to the foreign mission field, he had to get not only her consent but her father’s consent as well.
Adoniram didn’t attempt to console John Hassletine with false platitudes or naive promises of his daughter’s wellfare. He wrote plainly and boldly to Mr. Hassletine to request his daughter’s hand in marriage, and their subsequent life as missionaries:
“I have now to ask, whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world, whether you can consent to her departure, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life,
whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean; to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India; to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death.
Can you consent to all this, for the sake of him who left his heavenly home, and died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing, immortal souls, for the sake of Zion, and the glory of God?
Can you consent to all this, in hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory, with the crown of righteousness, brightened with the acclamations of praise which shall redound to her Saviour from heathens saved, through her means, from eternal woe and despair?”
--Adoniram Judson (To the Golden Shore: The Life of Adoniram Judson, Courtney Anderson, p. 83.)
Imagine getting that letter! It must have made John Hasseltine’s eyes pop nearly out of his head. The father of a friend of Nancy’s, when he heard that young Judson was paying court to Nancy Hasseltine, declared stoutly that he would tie his own daughter to the bedpost rather than let her go on such a harebrained venture. What would John do?
John Hasseltine took no such action. He had concerns, of course, as any father would. But, ultimately, he left it to Nancy to make up her own mind. Whatever her choice, she had his blessing — but, he advised her to carefully consider the consequences of her actions.
Fully aware that the journey might cost her her life, Nancy consented. The two were married a short time later, and departed for South Asia right afterwards.
So, I have a question for you today: Can you consent? Will you follow Christ if he leads you, your family, or your son or daughter to the mission field? Will you follow Christ if it means you’ll never see family or friends again in this world? Will you follow him if it means subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life?Exposure to the dangers of the ocean, in the air, and when traveling about? Will you follow if he leads you into every kind of want and distress? To degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death?
Can you consent to all this, for the sake of him who left his heavenly home, and died for you and your family; for the sake of perishing, immortal souls, for the sake of Zion, and for the glory of God?
If you can consent to this, then I have a challenge for you today.
We’re going to do the offering a little differently this morning. If you have a check or cash you want to give, that’s great, bring it with you. But, in your pewbacks, there are some blank checks. Instead of having the ushers bring the offering plate to you, I’m going to ask you to come forward this morning during the invitation. If you have an offering to give, you can put that in the plate. But, if you’re willing to commit to following Christ no matter the cost, then I want you to fill out this blank check and bring that with you too. But count the cost. Don’t do it if you don’t mean it.
The Blank Check
Date: Whenever
Pay to the order of: GOD
$: All of me
my dreams, my heart, my life, my everything
Memo: wherever, however
Then sign at the bottom.
Our musicians are going to lead us in the invitation and offering, and I want to invite you to come forward when you’re ready and place your offering and your blank check in the offering plate. Why are we doing it this way? Because an offering is about more than money. And the offering up of your life to the Kingdom of God is worth far more than whatever money we might put in that plate. If you’re willing to do that, come forward as you’re ready. And if you’d like to kneel and pray at the altar, I invite you to do that as well.
Benediction:
12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good? 14 Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. 15 Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day.
