Me First
Me First
· There is a question we ask throughout life. Young – what do with life? Mid-age – what doing w/ life? Old – what I DONE w/ life? When don’t have good answer to that question – call of SELF – FLESH rings out loudest! May cause some to max out card; some – new hobby; some – new relationship. Why? Cuz we all want purpose!
· We will never discover real purpose for our lives, for this cong, until we have individually accepted Christ’s mission for our personal lives. We will never love right, serve right, never grow right until Christ becomes the driving force of our lives and NOT what “I” want – not what SELF wants!
· Our most desperate need as Xians is to have every area of life TOTALLY committed to Christ. Our culture is not fond of commitment.
o Geo. Barna – Frog in Kettle – divorce rate climbs to nearly 50%. But, people also no longer even willing to join clubs, organizations – churches; even book clubs/CD clubs less likely to attract new members when multi-year commitment involved.
o Our challenge is to overcome self-pride, prejudice, sometimes even laziness, and once again PUT CHRIST 1st, and NOT “ME FIRST!”
· Open Bible to Luke 9. As Jesus went on Earth, crowds followed – drawn by teaching/miracles. Some actually wanted to be disciples. Jesus, b4 going back to Heaven, told apostles to “go make disciples.” Clearly Jesus WANTS disciples – wants followers. BUT – Jesus never misleads! Won’t be easy! It will REQUIRE you to commit! See, Jesus is searching for those willing to sell out to Him – not in word only, but with ALL. In text, 9:57-62, we see Jesus respond to 3 would-be followers. (RD – Lk 9:57-62).
o T – W/ 1st man, volunteering self to follow, we see 1st of 3 issues to deal with. He says, “I want to be involved.”
I. The Problem of ONLY Being “Involved.”
A. Man makes a powerful statement. Can’t question his sincerity – obviously WANTED to follow! He wanted to be part of what Jesus doing – wanted make a difference! All good! Maybe hear self described. But, Jesus makes one thing clear – DESIRE to serve must be coupled w/ right motivation and understanding of level of dedication required.
1. Man seems willing to be involved. Good. But Jesus wants more than involvement. Well, what’s difference?
2. Imagine big breakfast w/ pancakes, hash browns, ham and eggs. Difference btw involvement & commitment seen in ham & eggs. Chicken was involved – pig was COMMITTED! HUGE difference btw invovl/commit.
B. In BA, asked by elder/minister to start up Home Bible Study groups – similar to Care Groups. Worked on it; then placed sign-up sheets in adult classrooms (700 ). “Sign if interested…” 168 signed up! Split into groups – ended up w/ about 70. Frustrated! Asked minister, Bill K. His answer, “You asked if they were interested – not if they’d commit!”
1. See – being “involved” w/ Christ means you can still do what you want, act how you want, feel how you want. Committed means you’re on call for Christ 24/7! Too often we settle for being involved in Lord’s work, and not actually committing to it!
2. Jesus tells man, following may mean giving up everything! Now – don’t have to become homeless. But – must love HIM more than what we have. Must love Christ more than we love staying where we are spiritually! Commitment is what He wants from each of us – not just SUN AM – every day!
C. At heart of following Christ is surrender. Church leaders all over wonder what our dilemma really is. Many symptoms! But, our dilemma is, how we get Xians to focus our lives on Christ’s mission for us!? Answer is just this easy and just this difficult – surrender self to Christ!
1. Do it all time, really. Some surrender to peers, some to desire for more, some to pleasing self. And truth is we give control of lives to that which we surrender to!
2. Rom 6:15-16 Paul says (RD) – surrender is NOT optional! We just choose to whom or what we surrender – to what I want or what Christ wants. True commitment, not involvement, means Christ is 1st/foremost! Anything in the way of our commitment is a stumbling block.
· T – 2nd man is asked to follow, but in his response we see another problem we need to deal with…
II. (Says, “I need to do something else first.”) The Problem of Misplaced Priorities
A. Interesting, Jesus commands man to follow! Uses imperative! But, this guy answers with his own imperative! He commands Jesus, “Lord, let ME 1st go bury father.” When he says “first”’ he means in order of importance – not time! In original language, time is indefinite.
1. What mean? Means very likely father not dead – may not even be dying! This man commands Jesus to allow him to follow Christ on HIS terms. No crosses, no commitment, no dedication.
2. Jesus returns command for command, “Let dead bury dead.” Makes this a matter of authority. Paul echoes this sentiment in Col 3:17 (RD). Our lives are to by lived under HIS authority. That’s who we are…HIS!
B. Wait–let’s back up…man wants to forego following to take care of father. Sounds like devoted son – what’s wrong here? Jesus often makes clear that following Him means we must understand issue of priority. He taught Mt 6:33 (RD).
1. Things of KOG are what have to be #1 in our lives. Jesus came to this world to save us from sin – to strengthen us to live life He expects us to live.
2. Our mission has to be the same. Build each other up through thick and thin. Reach lost no matter what. Whatever we do to accomplish these tasks, Jesus wants this man to know – it’s urgent that it gets done! Look @ 9:60 (RD).
C. How often is it that we want to “bury our dead” so to speak, before we devote selves to Christ? Some put family ahead, some put work, hobbies, some just don’t want to get out of comfort zone! Now, some may be thinking, Sun AM sermon – get those who don’t, to come back!
1. But see – that’s part of what we’re talking about here – moving even beyond THIS level of dedication. This “put Jesus 1st above ALL else” is NOT merely committed to showing up! This is a whole new level we’re talking about.
2. Must understand that to be the follower Christ demand, it means getting hands dirty in outreach AND in-reach. Have to reach out to lost, but have to carry each other in this walk once in a while.
3. See, our problem in church today is NOT should we do this or have this program. Problem we have to address is – are we totally devoted to cause of Christ? If we put anything ahead of edifying this body, reaching lost – figuratively, we’re commanding Jesus to allow us to go and bury our dead!
· 3rd man also volunteers to follow. But, he also has a problem to deal with. “But, what about them?” (RD-61)
III. Problem of Misdirected Focus
A. This man comes and tells Jesus he wants to follow – just wants to go tell family bye. Seems reasonable. But look at Jesus’ response (RD-62). He tells him he’s not FIT to follow! Why? Well, Jesus sees the obvious 1st in this man’s life. This is something deeper than a simple request, though. Man has his commitment to someone other than Jesus. Thing is, in this day, family farewell was much more than peck on cheek and a hug! It was a prolonged festival w/ family and friends – could take days…even weeks!
B. Aren’t we sometimes guilty of same act? We let something or someone draw us away from deeper commitment to Christ. Sometimes it IS family – never intentionally!
1. But, we work SO hard for our families – that’s good. But, sometimes, as result, we have no time for prayer, studying God’s word, no time for serving others. We can allow family commitments (GOOD things) but allow to pull us away even from assembling for worship.
2. Need to remember that Jesus told Martha in Luke 10:38-42 that spending time in communion with God takes precedent even over being a great host/hostess.
C. What is drawing force of your life? Lives are drawn toward choices we make. Jesus was raised on cross to draw us to Him. Most difficult challenge for us is to not allow “ME FIRST” to draw us away from God. Jesus exemplifies what He teaches here – He never looked back! He knew God’s plan and He knew that teaching, service, and worship were ALL part of it.
1. May have heard this b4, but look back at vs 62 and make it personal. Instead of “no one”, think of it with your name there. Because that’s what Jesus is saying – if I decide I want to follow, and then allow something else to occupy my focus, I have disqualified my self from being a follower.
2. Doesn’t mean won’t slip – make mistakes. But, when Jesus becomes driving force in lives, we will become focused and BOLD in our service, bold in our love – focused in our lives for Him!
· Does church today have problems? Yeah – but, main problems are that too many want to be involved and not committed! Too many have priorities out of whack and our focus in too many directions other than toward Jesus Christ! Challenge church faces today is that we need members – leaders – YOU to follow Christ totally!
· We need Xians who will put Christ and His church first – not ME FIRST! We can never be what we can or should be, individually or as cong. until we truly make Him our focus. Remember – our immersion into Christ was about dying! Dying to old self & rising w/ new focus – new life given over to God. There is NO WAY for Christ, the KOG to come in 2nd place without it slowing down a cong’s growth or spiritual success.
· I want to challenge you – ME – to raise level of commitment. Not JUST being here, but Him 1st in worship, prayer, service, LOVE! Jesus, even 2000 yr after life on this planet, still cries out, “Follow ME!” Will you? Initial step is immersion – baptism into Him. If need be, do that! Let us help you tonight. Real challenge for rest of us, those already in Christ, are we ready to raise our dedication level? Requires sacrifice – SURRENDER – requires your whole life. Won’t you make that commitment tonight? Whatever need – come now…