Distracted

Marked  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  39:03
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Are you distracted?

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Welcome

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Intro

MARKED - Called by the Savior = A Follower
Called to Follow - 3 points
Accepted by Him - great physician
Distracted from Him...
Distracted From Him - Luke 9:57-62 = Mt 8.18-22
DESERT PETE - Kingston Trio = 1963
Gathering: Sermons on Evangelism Introduction > First Things First

Pete left a note on an old water well in the desert, saying that the finder would also find a jar of water under the pump with just enough water to prime the pump. All the water was to be used for that purpose; none was to be drunk. If instructions were followed, the finder would have more than enough water from the pump to care for all his needs.

A difficult decision for the thirsty man: Shall he drink from the jar first, or use it all to prime the pump?

An account similar to this is in the Bible (1 Kings 17). Elijah the prophet asked a woman to make him some food before she and her son would eat their last bit of food. What should they do? Who should be first? The concept of Jesus first is fundamental to the Christian life

Big Idea:
As Jesus calls us to follow him, we must understand that we will face many challenges and distractions.
Sermon Outlines on the Gospels Unconditional Surrender (Luke 9:57–62)

People who really love God welcome the opportunity to reassess their commitment to Him. People who haven’t fallen in love with Christ usually squirm in the pew when we approach the “would-be” disciples.

Where might you find yourself in todays text?
PRAYER
400 Prayers for Preachers Asking God’s Acceptance of Our Worship

O Eternal, almighty, and most gracious God, heaven is your throne, and earth is your footstool, holy and revered is your name; you are praised by the heavenly hosts and in the congregation of your saints on earth, and will be sanctified in all that come near unto you. We are sinful and unworthy dust, but being invited by you, are bold, through our blessed Mediator to present ourselves and our supplications before you. Receive us graciously, help us by your Spirit; let your fear be upon us: let your Word come unto us in power, and be received in love, with attentive, reverent, and obedient minds. Make it to us the savour of life unto life. Cause us to be fervent in prayer, and joyful in your praises, and to serve you this day without distraction, that we may find that a day in your courts is better than a thousand, and that it is good for us to draw near to God; through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

RICHARD BAXTER

Message

Notice: 1st person initiates and Jesus excuses 2nd Jesus initiates and person excuses, 3rd person does both… interesting
Text Lk 9:57-58
57 As they were going along the road, SCRIBE someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 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.”

Future Distractions

Admirable Announcement
Luke 22:33–34 ESV
33 Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” 34 Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”
Count The Cost
Luke 9:23–26 ESV
23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
Luke 14:27–28 ESV
27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?
Mark 10:28–31 ESV
28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Trust the Shepherd
Matthew 6:34 ESV
34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Luke 12:23–24 ESV
23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!
1 King 17:8-16
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
Text Lk 9:59-60
59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

Present Distractions

What scholars think they understand…
was the father dead already?…
Jewish Understanding
Luke: An Introduction and Commentary 2. Whole-Heartedness (9:57–62)

The Jews counted proper burial as most important; to leave the father unburied ‘was something scandalous to a Jew’ (Marshall). The duty of burial took precedence over the study of the law, the temple service, the killing of the Passover sacrifice, the observance of circumcision and the reading of the Megillah (Megillah 3b). But the demands of the kingdom are more urgent still.

Luke Comments

For a Jew this was a religious duty having precedence over everything else. Only in the case of a temporary Nazirite vow (Num 6:6–7) or if one were the high priest (Lev 21:10–11) could one be absolved from this duty.

What Jesus is not saying…
neglect your family
Mark 7:10–13 ESV
10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban” ’ (that is, given to God)— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
What Jesus is saying…
this duty is even more urgent
Matthew 10:37–39 ESV
37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Indefinite postponement… Contradiction of LORD and wait..?
“Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
spiritual death / physical death
human tradition / godly calling
Follow Me - left Zebedee in the boat with the net in his hand…
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Eight: A Many-Sided Ministry (Luke 9)

He was worried about somebody else’s funeral when he should have been planning his own!

Text Lk 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.”

Past Distractions

Elisha & Elijah
1 Kings 19:19–21 ESV
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.
Luke Context

Jesus demands unqualified commitment, far beyond what a rabbi might require of his disciples.

One More Taste! / one last kiss / one last fling
Genesis 19:17 ESV
17 And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.”
Genesis 19:26 ESV
26 But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
You have not arrived until you’ve arrived
Philippians 3:13–14 ESV
13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
No Half Hearted Duties…!
All or nothing…

Close

Luke 14:16–24 ESV
16 But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 17 And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’ ”
Application Point:
Following Jesus requires that we leave our places of comfort and security, refuse to allow excuses to keep us from immediately obeying Jesus, and avoid becoming distracted with other responsibilities and relationships.
Gathering: Sermons on Evangelism Conclusion > First Things First

Three men: One says, “I will follow,” but he has something else in mind. To Him Jesus says, “You will be disappointed.” Jesus invites the second one to follow, but the man’s answer is delay. The third volunteers to go, but he has something more important to do first.

The only correct answer is the answer of the disciples who, when they heard Christ’s call, “immediately … left their nets and followed Jesus.”

Luke 10:2 ESV
2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
END
Sermon Outlines on the Gospels Unconditional Surrender (Luke 9:57–62)

A. The would-be disciples might have been miserable in Christ’s service because they would want to keep one foot in the world and one foot in the Kingdom of God.

B. To long for other things while in the Kingdom of God is a contradiction in terms and could even turn one into a pillar of salt. The Kingdom of God is the major teaching of this unique part of Luke’s Gospel (chapters 9–19). To have it with half of a heart is like asking for a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich at a Thanksgiving dinner.

Conclusion

I have never found it easy to be a Christian, but I have consistently found it to be best. Jesus wants no summer-time soldiers or fair-weather disciples. Let’s do whatever it takes!

Prayer
Our dear God and Father…
.
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