The Cost of Following Jesus.

Introduction:

Good morning again Connection Church.

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Jonathan Hansen. I am the pastor here, and I am so thankful that you decided to join us this morning for worshipping God together!

It is a beautiful thing to gather with the Church on the Lord’s Day!

We value coming together on the Lord’s Day. We value this because it is a chance to worship together. We worship together through singing, through the learning of truths, the reading of scripture, and the preaching of God’s Word. Since we have already worshipped together in singing learning, and reading, let us now worship together through the reading and preaching of God’s Word.

Introduction of the text:

Open with me to Matthew 8:18-22.

We are in a series studying verse by verse through the gospel of Matthew together. This is known as expository preaching. I practice this because I believe that the most important thing I can give you as your pastor is the Word of God. I am not a well educated man. I do not have some grand insight to give. I am not a great teacher. But I can open the Bible and tell you with confidence what it says. I can teach you how to read this Word and I can be faithful to what God has given me to do. I pray that I am faithful in this. Each week I enjoy reminding us of where we have come and what we have covered so far. Remember, Matthew was one of Jesus’ disciples. He is writing this account to a Jewish audience and is emphasizing that Jesus is the fulfilment of God’s promise to David known as the Davidic covenant. In short, Matthew is emphasizing the identity of Jesus. Jesus is the true sovereign, the true King, fully God and fully man. This book is to enable us to really get to know Jesus.

Now, with this in mind, and because we take Scripture to be the Inspired Word of God, and the authority for all we believe, stand with me for the reading of God’s Word.

Reading of the text:

Matthew 8:18-22

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.”

Would you pray with me

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Lord I ask that you would be with us today. Open our hearts to hear your Word. Do not let us leave here without truly coming to know you better. If someone is here who does not know you, I pray that they would come to know you today. Call to their hearts ,Lord. Please draw them unto yourself. For those who are here and are saved, help us to truly come to know who you are and how much you are worth. Let us fall in love with you, oh Lord.

Father, I ask that you would be with me. Help me to speak. Stay my mouth from saying anything that would be against you. If I would speak anything untrue or against Your Word, shut my mouth Lord. Do not let me speak it.

Lord I ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.

Oppening Illustration:

Have you ever had that moment where you find out something rather surprising about your parents or grandparents that shocked you? Sometimes it comes in the form of a story from their childhood or youth, and it reveals a formerly hidden attribute of their character. For me, it was finding out that my sassy grandmother had a lead foot when she was younger and would often utter the phrase “I’ll race you there!” Or my law enforcement father who had a rambunctious youth. I couldn’t imagine this. These things went against my pre-conceived notions of who these two people were.

I could not picture my grandmother racing people to a destination in her car. I couldn’t picture my father who strictly enforced the law being a wild child with a pension for the crazy. I had my mental images of these people and it didn’t fit with what I thought of them.

Oppening:

I want to start this sermon off by asking two questions. You see, so often I think we can get familiar and comfortable with what we know. We develop almost, a pair of glasses that we see things through. Some may call this the lens of familiarity. We become so familiar with something that we begin to see it only in the light of how we understand it. This can be a dangerous thing. Any husband who has assumed an answer from his wife can attest to this. You can hear it now, “I’m sure this is what Katharine will say.” Only, I come to find out that what I thought would be a certain thing turns out to be very far from the truth. You see, we become so familiar with aspects of who our wives or our husbands are that we assume the answer from them and then find out we are very wrong.

I think we can do this with Jesus. We can become so familiar with aspects of Jesus that we begin to dangerously assume that we can guess His answer on anything. Or even worse, we read an interaction with Jesus and when it does not line up with our understanding of Jesus, we gloss over it and assume that Jesus must have meant something else. “Jesus obviously didn't mean x, so He must have meant y.” But this is very dangerous. Far more dangerous than a husband assuming incorrectly about what his wife would say on a given subject. This may lead to a slight disagreement between husband and wife, but to do this to Jesus may mean having a false idea of who Jesus is. This could lead us, or others to eternal damnation in hell.

So let us not make this mistake today. Let us ask the question;

Who is Jesus?

Who is Jesus really? Let us remove our glasses of the familiar and dive into who Jesus truly is. Let us look at what Jesus did and said, and be in awe of who this Man is. I desire for us to do this every time we read Scripture, together or alone. We should always read the Bible asking the question “What does this tell me about Jesus?” That is always important, but I think it is not just important today, but vital. This passage gives us a picture of Jesus that is not often presented. So let us truly ask, “who is Jesus?”

Then, in light of who Jesus is; let us ask, What is the cost of Discipleship?

When we see in this passage who Christ really is and what He really is saying, let us examine the cost and commitment of following Him. I hope and pray we are challenged in this today.

Introduction:

Now, let us look at verse 18 and see what is said.

Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. Matthew 8:18

Explanation:

Remember, Jesus has just healed the Leper, the Centurion’s servant, Peter’s mother in law, and many others. Evening has come. It is still the same day, and there is a crowd. Jesus has been healing and casting out demons, and it has drawn attention. Sick and oppressed are crowding around Jesus. Others have come to see what Jesus is doing and what He will do. So what does Jesus do?

Jesus Left the Crowd.

He goes to leave. He gives orders to go to the other side of the sea of Galilee. What? Notice, this is not in a different day. This is not days or weeks later, after all the sick have been healed. This is the same day; the same crowd. People who had made their way to Jesus to be healed, and now He is leaving. What of those still on their way? Jesus is leaving.

Illustration:

This goes against our expectations doesn’t it? We tend to expect Jesus to heal everyone who comes to Him for healing right? A wave of the hand, a little “your faith has made thee well...” and poof, healed. But no.

We react to this like we would a physician who is in the middle of an exam who just got up and left. “Uh, excuse me doc, but my knee is still swollen. Why are you getting into that boat?”

Maybe we expect Him to stop and give a gospel presentation. A little, “come to me, all ye who are burdened. Come and ye shall be forgiven.” But no, He sees the crowd and gives order to leave.

“Look at all these people who came to hear and receive from Jesus! Wait, where is Jesus? Why is He going towards that boat?”

Argumentation:

The crowd was likely confused. They had to be wondering what was happening. There was a healer here and now that they got there, He’s leaving. But that points to the fundamental flaw in their thinking doesn’t it? They are thinking about themselves. Their fundamental concern is on what Jesus has come to do for them. Like the doctor examining their knees, they care if Jesus can make them better. They are not fundamentally concerned with who Jesus is. They come to Jesus for what He can do for them, not for who He is. They want the gifts, not the gift giver. “What can Jesus do for me?!” they seem to cry.

Aren’t we the same? Don’t we do this as well? We are fundamentally concerned with ourselves, and we project this concern upon Jesus. We tend to view Jesus as being concerned about us, don’t we? Don’t we approach Jesus with this cavalier attitude that seems to say, “Ok Jesus, what can you do for me?” We have this lens that Jesus is just something to benefit us. Come on Jesus, fix my marriage. Come on Jesus, give me good grades. Come on Jesus, give me friends. We so easily fall into the lie that Jesus is all about us. But hear this clearly please;

Jesus is not about you!

Why did Jesus go to leave the crowds? Because Jesus was here to do the Father’s will. He was on earth to accomplish the will of the Father. Jesus was more concerned with the Father’s plan than about the people around Him. Does that bother you? Does that sound unlike Christ? Then I am here to tell you that you have an incorrect view of who Jesus is. If you are here and you are offended by the fact that Jesus does not exist to please you, then you are living in idolatry and are worshipping yourself. You are trying to take the King of the universe and make Him your slave.

If I could get on my soap box for a moment, this is what the prosperity gospel does. It takes Jesus and makes Him fundamentally about us. It takes the Jesus of the Bible, the real Jesus, and it relegates Him to being a self help guide. We must abandon this idea that Jesus came to make everyone healthy and happy. This is a lie. Followers of Christ have more often than not faced severe consequences for following Jesus. The blood of those who have died for following Jesus could fill an ocean. Every day, even now, Christians give their lives to follow Jesus. Every day Christians risk being jailed, beaten, or murdered just to gather together and worship Him, like we are so freely doing right now. Following Jesus is not a joy ride. Following Jesus is a commitment to paying a high cost.

So, Who is Jesus? What is the cost of discipleship?

Let’s keep reading.

Introduction:

English Standard Version Chapter 8

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.”

Explanation:

Here we see a Scribe come up to Jesus. This scribe stops Jesus on His way to the boat and says “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

What a picture. If you remember, Jesus has been openly hostile to the scribes. But here comes one that says he is ready to go. He is committed. He is willing to sit under the teaching of Jesus. And here we expect Jesus to say, “Welcome! Of course I will accept you. I will accept anyone. I love you!” But no. Again, Jesus responds in a way that is confusing and contrary to our thoughts. But in this response, we see discipleship demands a great cost.

Discipleship Demands a Great Cost.

Jesus uses imagery that all of these people ,and we ourselves understand, to express His own poverty. In response to the scribe’s statement about willingness to follow Him, Jesus responds by emphasizing His own poverty. Jesus did not have a home or even a pillow. Jesus’ life was one of lack. He humbled Himself as Philippians 2 makes clear, Jesus did not simply humble Himself to just being human. He humbled Himself to being a servant. Jesus was homeless, and the clear indication was that following Him may very well lead to the very same life of lack. And by all indications, this scribe was unwilling to pay this price. We never hear about him again.

Jesus’ followers must be willing to sacrifice all of their comforts for Him. But why would they? What would motivate us to abandon all we own?

Illustration:

Jesus Himself addresses this in Matthew 13:44-45. Listen to this.

English Standard Version Chapter 13

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Value

45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Argumentation:

Why would someone be willing to give up all that they own? Why would someone be willing to sacrifice their home, their beds, their lives? In short, a person would be willing to do this because Jesus is worth it. Jesus is worth abandoning everything for. It is clear in this passage that Jesus is saying that being His disciple means that we must be willing to abandon everything in order to follow Him. The cost of discipleship is willingness towards poverty because Jesus is worth it.

And I have to wonder if we really view Jesus as worth it. What are we really willing to give up for Jesus? Are we really willing to give up our homes? Are we really willing to give up our beds? Are we really willing to give up even our comforts for Him? Sadly I think too many Christians are not willing to give up anything for Jesus, let alone give up everything. I fear that we live in a time where Christians are willing to cave on what they believe simply because it is unpopular. They won’t stand up for their faith because they are afraid of being ridiculed. If fear of being unpopular keeps you from Jesus, then how will you sacrifice everything to follow Him? I think for too long passages like this have been overlooked, and that must change. If you get nothing else out of this sermon, get this.

Jesus is worth giving up everything.

Introduction:

But the story doesn’t end here. Look with me at verse 21-22.

English Standard Version Chapter 8

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.”

Explantation:

We see here a disciple approach Jesus on His way to the boat. We don’t know who exactly this is, but the wording indicates that this is a close follower of Jesus, not a random observer. Tradition holds that this was likely Philip, however we have no evidence of this. But what we do know is that this disciple came to Jesus to ask leave to go and bury his recently deceased father. I will make note that it is possible that this man’s father was not yet dead, but dying. Either way however, this was a noble request. In Jewish culture this was seen as the last honor a child could pay their parent. It was important to the people of the day. We here expect Jesus to allow this, or to even praise this disciple for commitment to his parents. But no. Jesus commands the disciple to follow Him, and “leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

The gospel of Luke adds onto this account that Jesus commands this disciple to go and proclaim the kingdom of God. Jesus tells this young man to be more concerned about following Him than even the most intimate family commitment. We see here that discipleship demands great commitment.

Discipleship Demands Great Commitment.

Imagine this, the young disciple’s father is at home dying or dead and as a dutiful son, he wishes to go home and perform the duty he feels he owes his father. But Jesus does not see it this way. Jesus sees this disciple’s commitment to Him as the most important. This disciple should be declaring the gospel rather than at home at his own father’s funeral.

Do we recoil at this picture of Jesus? Do we think it is too harsh? Certainly this is not the idea that we get of Jesus from modern representations. Modern representations of Jesus paint Him as willing to do anything for anyone. But we do not encounter this Jesus here. We instead encounter the real Jesus. The one who really walked this earth. The one who really died on the cross for our real sins. The real Jesus who was a real savior of real sinners like you and I. And I for one would rather have this real Jesus every time. And Jesus knew that the reality of the Kingdom of God was vital. He knew the urgency of his mission, and He was calling the disciples to live in that same urgency.

Illustration:

At the storming of the beaches of Normandy when soldiers were pouring out of the ships to invade France and free them from the hands of Nazis, the soldiers were single minded. Take the beach, take the cliffs, take France. They were committed to their mission. Their lives were committed to this mission.

Now imagine if you will, a soldier about to board one of those boats before the mission, looking to his commanding officer and saying, “Sarge, I know that storming this beach is vital to the victory of the Allied troops in taking back France, saving millions of lives, and preserving freedom in our world; but my dad is dying, maybe already dead. Can I go back and bury him, then I’ll come and help you guys invade France to free them from Nazi control.”

That would have been unthinkable! Not only would the battle have been over at that point, but as important as burying his father was, there were more important things to be done.

Argumentation:

As important as burying his father was, Jesus is telling this disciple that there are more important things to do. But I don’t think we view things this way, do we? We don’t see the spread of the Kingdom of God as the most important thing we can do. We look at examples like this and our hearts cry out, “Come on Jesus! Don’t you have any compassion! This man’s father just died and he wants to bury him. That’s important!” But we never stop to think about the even more vital thing. Serving Jesus is the most important thing. Don’t we see that? Serving Jesus is more important than this man’s burying of his own father!

I think so often we miss it with things like this. We see the importance of caring for the father after death. That is an important thing. The reality is that we are not over-emphasizing the importance of this. We aren’t. However, we are under-emphasizing the importance of following Jesus. Our flaw is that we vastly under-emphasize the importance of following Jesus. I gave the example of the battle of Normandy. I trivialized the soldier’s request to leave the battle to care for his dead father. But the fact is that the freedom of millions of people from the totalitarian rule of the evil Nazi party was so much more important than that soldiers request that it made his request look trivial. The freedom of those nations was more demanding of his commitment.

Well Christians, we must see that following Jesus and the freedom of souls from the grip of sin and hell is far more important that even the responsibility of a son to his dead father.

Now I am not saying that you should not bury your parents. Please don’t hear that. You as a child have the responsibility to bury your parents just as I will have the responsibility to bury my parents. I do not take that lightly. When my father and mother go home to be with Jesus, it is likely that as the pastor in the family, I will bear the chief responsibility to my parents to see their remains cared for. I hold that responsibility with honor. But what I am saying is that if that responsibility comes between me and following Jesus, I must throw that responsibility aside and follow Jesus. Jesus is far more important than any other responsibility I have.

Application:

As I started off today, I talked about how we tend to have a lens we see Jesus through. I challenged you to remove that lens and examine Jesus in light of the revealed Word of God. I asked us to focus on the cost of discipleship. I asked you Who is Jesus? and What is the cost of discipleship? So where has this passage lead us in light of this? Where do we go in light of this?

I must ask each one of you here two questions.

First:

Do you know Jesus?

Explanation:

Do you know Jesus? Do you really know Him? These verses challenge a lot of how Jesus is presented in our current church culture. Has this challenged you? It has greatly challenged me. Beloved, I fear so many of us come to know only a small glimpse of who Jesus is. I fear that we get a taste and then stop, thinking we have seen all there is to see about Jesus. I fear we get content in our theology. Theology being the study of God. But if there is one thing that we can glutton ourselves in, it is Jesus. Hear me church, we can never dive too deep into Jesus. We can remove the lens we have so wrongly placed over Jesus and we can look afresh at the Word of God and see Jesus. We can read what God has revealed about Himself and we can come to truly know Jesus. And we can follow this journey of coming to know the real Jesus from the revealed Word of God our entire lives, until we come face to face with Him at our death.

Illustration:

Charles Spurgeon compared knowing Jesus to climbing a mountain. Listen to what he says.

300 Sermon Illustrations from Charles Spurgeon Christ like a Welsh Mountain (2 Timothy 1:12)

Christ Like a Welsh Mountain

2 Timothy 1:12

Preaching Themes: Discipleship, Jesus

Our knowledge of Christ is somewhat like climbing one of our Welsh mountains. When you are at the base you see little; the mountain itself appears to be half as high as it really is. Confined in a little valley you discover scarcely anything but the rippling brooks as they descend into the stream at the base of the mountain. Climb the first rising knoll, and the valley lengthens and widens beneath your feet. Go up higher, and higher still, until you stand upon the summit of one of the great roots that start out as spurs from the sides of the mountain, you see the country for some four or five miles around, and you are delighted with the widening prospect.

But go onward, and onward, and onward, and how the scene enlarges, until at last, when you are on the summit, and look east, west, north, and south, you see almost all England lying before you. Over there is a forest in some distant country, perhaps two hundred miles away, and over there the sea, and there a shining river and the smoking chimneys of a manufacturing town, or there the masts of the ships in some well-known port. All these things please and delight you, and you say, “I could not have imagined that so much could be seen at this elevation.”

Now, the Christian life is of the same order. When we first believe in Christ we see little of him. The higher we climb the more we discover of his excellences and his beauties. But who has ever gained the summit?

I think we understand this clearly. We live in Lead SD, surrounded by the Black Hills. How far can we see from the summit of these mountains? How much perspective do we gain? How much more perspective do we gain from our climb into knowing Jesus?

Argumentation:

You see, God has revealed Himself to us in His Word, and we can come to know Him. Like the mountain, we can climb into heights of unending beauty of knowing who Christ is, and never summit. We will never have to leave the mountain. Every day can be new joys of knowing who Jesus is. But if we limit Jesus, not to what He has said about Himself, but to the small lens we look at him through, we will only ever come to know the disappointing depths of ourselves. For we are not truly looking at Jesus, we are looking at a model of who we wish Jesus were, and that is only a magnified view of ourselves.

Make no mistake, if you are here and you are saying “My Jesus would never do that.” “My Jesus wouldn’t turn someone away.” You are worshipping a false Jesus who is just a glorified version of yourself. You are committing the sin of idolatry. Stop worshipping yourself beloved, and remove the glasses and worship Jesus.

Application:

If you are a Christian and you are here and know that you are guilty of propping up a false Jesus, or of trying to manipulate Jesus into your image, I call you to repent! Turn from that sin and fall before the real Jesus. He is God. He alone is worth abandoning everything for.

If you are a Christian, and your heart is committed to knowing the real Jesus, the one who revealed Himself in Scripture, I commend you and I challenge you to carry on! Fight the good fight! You are not alone beloved. We are here running the race beside you. Let us run it together. We love you! Participate with us in the work of the ministry and let us as iron sharpens iron, strengthen each other! Come and fellowship with us regularly. Commit to being a member of this body. Join us in the gathering around the Lord’s Table. Be encouraged by our love for one another.

If you are here and you fear that you do not know who Jesus is, or you are following a false Jesus, come and follow the real Jesus! Follow the one who is worth every sacrifice you could make! Whatever it is that you are trusting in besides Jesus is hopeless and vain. I beg you, confess your sins and ask Christ to forgive you! Turn and follow Jesus! Follow the real Jesus who can save you. He alone can save you. Do not be afraid! That is all it takes, confess that you are a sinner, turn from your sins, stop having trust and faith in false things to save you and listen to the call of the Spirit. Answer that call. Place your trust, your faith in Jesus alone for salvation. He alone can save you.

Application:

My second question for you from this passage is this:

Are you committed to following Jesus at all cost?

This is one I must ask all of you. If you are here and you claim to be following Christ, are you committed to following Jesus at all cost?

Explanation:

I must ask this because following Jesus will cost you. Following Jesus is recognizing His authority as Lord of your life. He is King and we bow to Him as King. But are you commited to your King? Following Jesus is a laying down of ourselves as the lords of our lives. We surrender and recognize that Jesus is King. In this way, it costs us everything.

By the grace of God through faith in what Christ did for us we are forgiven of our sins and are placed into right standing with God. We go from being enemies of the state to being sons and daughters of God. We die to ourselves daily and live to Christ. In this manner we surrender all to Christ.

We have no claim over our own lives. But often we as Christians can live in a manner, pretending that we are still the lord of our lives. But Christ is not just our savior but our Lord.

Illustration:

When we are living in a way that is declaring that we are the lord’s of our lives we are like an insane man attempting to sit on a king’s throne. Imagine that; a broken, crazed, beggar wanders into the palace and tries to sit on the kings throne. Let’s say for sake of argument that he makes it. He ends up sitting on the throne, then begins to make declarations and attempt to give laws, however all the while he is declaring that the king is actually still on the throne. We would be shocked if the true king spared his life. But this is what we do when we act as lords over our own lives but declare God is King over our lives.

Argumentation:

Why do I give this example? Because following Christ will cost us. It may cost us our homes or our comforts. We must, as loyal subjects, surrender our possessions or even our lives to the service of our King. This requires commitment. Our primary commitment must be to our King. Our Lord and His mission are our primary concern. Allowing anything to come between this prime commitment is divine treason.

Because of this I ask you, are you committed to the cost of following Jesus? This is one of the most vital questions a Christian can ask. Hear me beloved, hard times will come. Even now, the hard times are coming. You will face trial and tribulation. The only way you will endure is a commitment to the cost of following Jesus. What will happen if our religious liberty is restricted or removed? What will you do?

For centuries Christians have rested in Christ when trials come. When the cost was made clear, commitment to Christ held them fast. But it is more than the personal benefit of peace in the midst of storm. The fact is that the war is real. We are in a fight where we hold a unique responsibility to share the gospel with people on their way to hell. We are the instrument God uses to share the only hope on earth. All other hopes are ultimately hopeless. But we have the right and responsibility to share this true hope with others.

Whatever else may come, this truly is a mission of more importance than anything that may come between. Just like in Luke’s account of this, we must be like the disciple and share the good news of the Kingdom of God.

But ultimately we do this as an extension of our ultimate purpose. To use the Star Trek term, it is our “prime directive.” This ultimate purpose is to glorify God. We, as everything else, exist to glorify God. As we discussed last week, Jesus is the only one worthy of praise and glory. That was true last week, it is true now, it’s true forever. We exist to glorify God.

Many of you have heard me talk about this, but as you can see I have the phrase “Sola Scriptura” burned into this pulpit. I have this here because it is a constant reminder that I do not preach my own words, but I am committed to preaching the Word of God as the sole authority and the sufficient authority from this pulpit. However, this is part of a longer phrase from the Protestant reformation and the inspiration for the statements of beliefs here at Connection Church Lead. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to scripture alone, for the glory of God alone. The building of God’s kingdom is for the glory of God alone. We commit to follow Christ at all cost because our purpose is to glorify God. We do not exist to build our own kingdoms. We exist to build God’s Kingdom. We do not exist for our own glory, we exist to glorify God. I call each of you here, commit to following Jesus at all costs for the glory of God. God is greatly glorified when His servants are committed to following Him at all costs. God alone deserves the glory.

Close in prayer:

As we close, one way that we enjoy glorifying God corporately is to close out in singing. Let us sing this chorus together. Will you stand with me and let us glorify God in singing together.