Sermon for 6/26/22 "Excuses" 17 Minutes

Luke 9:51-62

This morning I'll be reading Luke chapter 9 verses 51 through 62. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Luke 9:51-62 The verses that we will look at this morning occur during a part of Luke's description of Jesus' trip to Jerusalem. Luke 9:51–62 (HCSB) — 51 When the days were coming to a close for Him to be taken up, He determined to journey to Jerusalem. 52 He sent messengers ahead of Him, and on the way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make preparations for Him. 53 But they did not welcome Him, because He determined to journey to Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” 55 But He turned and rebuked them, 56 and they went to another village. 57 As they were traveling on the road someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go!” 58 Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.” 59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” “Lord,” he said, “first let me go bury my father.” 60 But He told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.” 61 Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to those at my house.” 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ----------------------------------------------------------- Last Sunday we looked at Galatians 3:23-29 and we seen that “Christ Is All We Need”,,, and the fact that,,, we have our fathers to thank.

We have our fathers that have made sure that we come to church,,, our church fathers that gave us the Christian example as they showed us how to live as Christians,,, we have our biblical fathers,,, like Abraham who showed us how their faith helped them to live a life pleasing to God,,, and we have our Heavenly Father to especially thank for His many blessings,,, and for the way that we have been shown by all of them,,, that “Christ Is All We Need”!

We learned that we must trust God,,, even when we cannot see the results or have any idea how they will be fulfilled.

We may be going through hard times right now that just don’t seem fair,,, or too hard,,, or for too long,,, but no matter what it is,,, we must learn to trust God,,, and He will get us through,,, even though we can’t see the way!

Christ is all that we need,,, and faith gives us access to that,,, as we were shown by the fathers that came before us.

Fathers that have shown us the way,,, and continue to guide us today,,, as we study Gods word,,, and learn more each day.

This morning we will look at these verses in Luke and see how they will help us in our walk with God this week.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 51 says: 51 When the days were coming to a close for Him to be taken up, He determined to journey to Jerusalem.

Luke is making a point when he tells us over and over that Jesus is going to Jerusalem,,, so that he can show us,,, and the readers of his day,,, that Jesus has His sights set on fulfilling the will of God,,, and nothing will get in His way.

Luke intends to show that Jesus is intent from the very beginning to do God’s will,,, and that is apparent all the way through the book of Luke.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 52 says: 52 He sent messengers ahead of Him, and on the way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make preparations for Him.

Jesus sends people ahead of them so that they will be prepared when they arrive.

Jesus has quite a large group following Him and He wants to have things ready so that they will all be comfortable.

I’m sure that Jesus knew that He would be rejected,,, but He is still showing us things that we need to do when we are leading people today.

We should do everything that we can to be ready for all things,,, and Jesus was trying,,, even though He knew what was coming.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 53 through 56 say: 53 But they did not welcome Him, because He determined to journey to Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” 55 But He turned and rebuked them, 56 and they went to another village.

The Samaritans and Jews hated each other,,, there isn’t a nice way to say it.

When the Samaritans learned that Jesus was heading to Jerusalem,,, the Samaritans were determined not to help.

They have been insulted by the Jews for too long to be nice at this point,,, even though this is Jesus they are refusing,,, they let their own pride get in the way.

But,,, we are just as guilty today,,, or really,,, it’s even worse for us,,, since we have the knowledge that we do today that tells us how to act,,, but we still reject Jesus,,, over and over,,, all because we let our worldly views get in the way!

James and John have forgotten what they have been taught by Jesus about love,,, because they ask Jesus if they should,,, call down fire from heaven to consume them?”

And this may be a reference to Elijah's call for fire in 2 Kings 1:9-12 ,,, where God destroyed by fire those who were opposing His work.

But yet,,, Jesus,,, on the other hand,,, called for tolerance,,, as Jesus,,, turned and rebuked them,,, and they went on to another village.

You see,,, what if God really did give “all” of us what we truly deserve?

We call for “fire from heaven”,,, you might say,,, when we say hatefully,,, that certain sins deserve death,,, especially,,, today it seems that it’s sexual sins,,, but whatever it is,,, it doesn’t matter,,, what it is,,,

And while that's true,,, we that are doing the complaining,,, forget that we deserve death as well,,, if not for the “grace and love” of God!

These same disciples,,, that are asking if they should call down fire from heaven,,, are the same disciples who abandon Jesus when He’s arrested.

So many times,,, we as Christians,,, forget,,, just as the disciples did,,, that Jesus came to save sinners,,, not bring fire down upon them.

Now,,, if they continue to reject Him,,, God will handle that,,, but it’s not our job to condemn them,,, unless it is our intention to lovingly show them the correct way to go.

Because,,, just as the Samaritans really did deserve “fire”,,, we must remember,,, that without the grace of God,,, that we do as well!

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 57 and 58 say: 57 As they were traveling on the road someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go!” 58 Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”

Now you must remember that Jesus is still traveling to Jerusalem,,, towards fulfilling the plan that God has for Him,,, and that’s the context that will help us to understand this passage.

These verses,,, and the rest that we look at this morning,,, help us to remember that we must have God first in our life,,, and we cannot let anything get in between us and God.

Jesus,,, I’m sure,,, knew the real intentions of these three people as they gave their excuses.

Jesus’ response to the first person,,, was that a person desiring to follow Him must give up what others consider necessities.

Jesus had no home of His own nor did His followers.

They were on their way to Jerusalem where Jesus would be put to death.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 59 and 60 say: 59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” “Lord,” he said, “first let me go bury my father.” 60 But He told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.”

Jesus called the next man with the same words with which He had called His disciples (5:27).

But,,, unlike the disciples,,, who had immediately began to follow Jesus,,, the man replied,,, that he first wanted to go and bury his father,,, and this has been interpreted in different ways.

Some have said that the man’s father was dead already,,, but that wouldn’t be right,,, because if that was the case,,, he would have already been taking care of it instead of being there to see Jesus.

It is more likely that the man’s father was possibly ready to die.

His request was to let him wait just a little while before following Jesus.

Perhaps the man also wanted to receive the inheritance from his father’s estate,,, putting worldly views first again.

Jesus’ response,,, Let the dead bury their own dead,,, implies that the spiritually dead can bury the physically dead.

The point was,,, that proclaiming the kingdom of God was so important,,, that it could not wait.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 61 and 62 say: 61 Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to those at my house.” 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

The third man simply wanted to go home and say good-by to his family.

Elijah had allowed Elisha to do this very thing when Elisha was plowing (1 Kings 19:19–20).

For those of you that have ever plowed any,,, what happens if you look behind you and get distracted?

You will probably make a mess of things,,, plow up whatever you are trying to plow around,,, and you will make matters worse instead of better.

Jesus’ words,,, should make us aware,,, that His message of the kingdom of God,,, is more important than anything else,,,—,,, even family members.

That doesn’t mean that we don’t get a chance to say goodbye,,, but it does mean that we can’t follow Jesus,,, if we don’t put Him first!

----------------------------------------------------------- And that’s God's intention all along.

We must put God first instead of any excuses that we come up with.

If we do our part,,, God will take care of everything else that is holding us back,,, but we must trust Him to take care of it and obey His commands.

Just because we have God’s grace available doesn’t mean that we just do what we want to do.

There are changes that must happen when we decide to follow Jesus.

God’s grace does make it available to all,,, but there cannot be any excuses given for not putting God first in our life.

And Jesus makes it plain in these verses that without putting God first,,, we aren’t fit for the kingdom of God.

So we need to be sure that we quit making “excuses”,,, and keep God,,, at the center of our life going forward,,, just as Jesus warned us about while He was still with the disciples,,, and teaching them,,, while on the road,,, to Jerusalem.

----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- Hymn: 337 - Oakdale Hymn: 337 - Seminary Benediction ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------