Free to Follow

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We celebrate our nation’s 246 years of our good ole American Freedom and we love our life, liberty and the pursuit to happiness.

So today we are going to celebrate our freedom as we celebrate our independence.

The good news in todays message is that freedom has nothing to do with were we live, what government we live under, what oppression or persecution we face. Because as followers of Jesus, we are always free to follow Jesus no matter what.

We are free to follow Jesus but just because we are free to follow Jesus it doesn’t mean that life will be obstacle free.

However, no matter what the obstacle… no matter what keeps us tied to this world… no matter what prevents Jesus from being the top priority in our life… the truth is that we all have the same freedom to follow Jesus. Jesus gives all of us that same invitation.

Why would anyone reject Jesus’ invitation?

We live in the greatest country on the planet. We are the richest. We have the best economy, the most natural resources, the best health care system, and we are still a free country. Why would anyone reject Jesus’ invitation?

Our Americanized gospel gives us the false impression that the more we have… money, stuff, comfort, leisure, the more blessed we are.

But Jesus’ gospel highlighted the poor, the last, the faith of children. Jesus elevated the sinner, the lost, the outcast so Jesus’ gospel flips blessing upside down.

IN Matthew 19:16, We run across a man who seems to have it all together. He’s got money and he’s young, he’s a leader (Luke).

He’s living the comfortable life… he can buy whatever he wants. He’s young and up and coming… he has his good health and lots of energy. What more could this man ever want?

But then… he meets Jesus.

Jesus does the miracles… heals the sick, cleanses the lepers, forgives the sinner… giving them freedom, giving them a new life.

Jesus taught with authority about a new way to live, a radically different way, miraculously fully dependent on God, grace-filled, freedom founded, new, kingdom centered life and this young man who appeared to have everything was stuck wanting more.

Matthew 19:16–30 (NIV)

16 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” 17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

18 “Which ones?” he inquired. Jesus replied, “ ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”

20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” 26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27 Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

Pray

The Rich Young Man

He was a good law abiding Jewish young man who was rich. He obviously came from a good family with a good upbringing. We don’t know if he earned his money or it was passed down to him.

He was doing well for himself, making good financial decisions, acquiring a lot of money early on in life, he had the appearance of one who was blessed.

But he was at a place where he was plateauing in his spiritual development. He was stuck on what more could I DO? I can only DO so much. His own power and ability and resources could only take him so far.

And that became very clear when he encountered Jesus because he still had questions about life.

Key Questions from this rich young man:

What good thing must I DO to get eternal life?

Which commandments must I do?

I’m doing the commandments but… what do I still lack?

This rich young man wanted to be sure he would receive eternal life, so he asked what he could DO to get it. He viewed eternal life as something that could be achieved by what we DO.

Whenever we ask Jesus a question, be prepared for a radical, even impossible, response.

Jesus did not address the man’s question but instead HE challenged his small view of the goodness of God.

Matthew 19:17–19 (NIV)

17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 “Which ones?” he inquired. Jesus replied, “ ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Goodness is not measured by our works; in fact, there is only One who is good—God alone. Jesus wanted the man to turn his attention from himself and focus on God’s absolute goodness.

Then Jesus lists 5 of the 10 Commandments… 5-9 and then adding Leviticus 19:18—all referring to our relationship with others.

The last command Jesus lists, to love your neighbor as yourself is not one of the Ten Commandments but was a command that the Jews believed summed up the last six.

Jesus illustrated that keeping God’s commands merely points us to the One who is truly good.

Our obedience merely reflects God’s goodness.

But when it came down to it, this man only wanted life insurance…

Have you ever thought about the name of life insurance. The life insurance industry is selling a misnamed product. Life insurance is a hedge against the economic hurt of a person’s inevitable death.

If we could, we would all buy insurance against death itself and live forever. That’s what this man was looking for.

The man sincerely believed that he had not broken any commandments, yet he felt that something was lacking.

Matthew 19:20 NIV

20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

Even if a person could keep all these commandments perfectly, which this man claimed to have done, there would still be a lack of assurance of salvation. Obedience is not a matter of law keeping, it is a matter of the heart. Does Jesus have our whole heart?

Then Jesus tells him what he needs to do in order to fill that gap. Jesus gives him the answer to his question by freely inviting him to follow. But what’s sad is that this young man was the only one in the gospels who rejected Jesus invitation because he wasn’t willing to give up his whole heart and follow Jesus.

Matthew 19:21 NIV

21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Jesus’ words “if you want to be perfect” parallel his words in 19:17, “If you want to enter life.” Matthew is the only Gospel writer to use the word “perfect” here and in Matthew 5:48, “Be perfect … as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

The word “perfect” can be translated “mature” or “full-grown.”

The young man said he had never once broken any of the laws Jesus mentioned, so he may have felt that he had attained a certain level of perfection. But Jesus never asked for strict and flawless obedience to any set of laws as the foundation for “perfection.” Instead, he called for an understanding of how the law pointed to our heavenly Father who is himself perfect.

The law was not the standard of perfection, God was.

Those who loved God and desired eternal life would keep his laws as God required.

So Jesus lovingly broke through the young man’s pride by pointing out that despite his self-proclaimed obedience, he still had a long way to go in understanding what God desired.

Sell what you have and give to the poor.

This challenge exposed the barrier that could keep this young man out of the kingdom: his love of money.

For this young man, Money represented his pride of accomplishment and self-effort.

His attitude, ironically made him unable to keep the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me”

But that’s not the one that Jesus quoted, Jesus just exposed this young man’s heart. Jesus presented the challenge to let go of everything and live a life of perfection, maturity and real freedom.

The young man did not love God with his whole heart as he had presumed. In reality, his many possessions were his god, his idol.

His unwillingness to give up everything and follow Jesus ment that he would be violating the first and greatest commandment.

Matthew 22:37–38 (NIV)

37 Jesus said: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

The task of selling all his possessions would not, of itself, give the man eternal life. But such radical obedience would be the first step for this man to become a follower of Jesus. The emphasis is not so much on “selling” as on “following.”

The way of salvation is the way of downward mobility. It is the call to give up our privilege and power and to identify with the poor. But it is good news, not bad news. It is bad news only for those who worship Mammon. Art Gish

This man’s many possessions made his life comfortable and gave him power and prestige. When Jesus told him to sell everything he owned, Jesus was touching the very basis of the man’s security and identity.

The young man did not understand that he would be even more secure if he followed Jesus than he was with all his possessions.

The question we are all wondering is…

“Should all believers sell everything they own in order to follow Jesus?”

NO, Jesus did not ask everyone to do this. Also, we are responsible to care for our own needs and the needs of our families so that we do not become a burden on others.

No. But… If you are comforted by the fact that Jesus did not tell all HIS followers to sell all their possessions, then you may be too attached to what you have.

So hold on to what we have with an open hands because all that we have ultimately belongs to God. Be willing to give up anything if God asks us to do so. This kind of attitude allows nothing to come between us and God and keeps us from using our God-given wealth selfishly.

Matthew 16:26 NIV

26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

We are free to follow Jesus. Just like this young man had the same invitation to follow, we can follow Jesus freely as well.

We can accept or reject that invitation, the choice is ours but choose wisely.

Don’t be so in love with this world that we are unwilling to deny our desires, our possessions, our comforts.

Jesus highlights to poor for a reason because the less we have that attaches us to this world the less we have to give up.

Matthew 19:23–26 (NIV)

23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” 26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Jesus is not going to ask us to do something difficult for us… No, Jesus is going to ask us to do something that is impossible.

Camel going through the eye of a needle impossible.

Following Jesus requires us to fully rely on Jesus.

Our Salvation is not possible by the good things that we do.

Our reward, our big payout, our big blessing comes when this life is over. So, Stop acquiring and start giving.