It Doesn’t Work That Way

Steve Bowyer

Words & Works of Jesus • Sermon • Submitted 2 months ago • Presented 2 months ago

Luke 9:57–62

Matthew 8:19–22

Discipleship

The Cost of Discipleship

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If Only…

It’s that time of year. Every year, my weight creeps up. I gain a few pounds over the course of the summer. As you can imagine, my wife is a wonderful cook. And, so many of you are so good to us and invite us over and we enjoy delicious, calorie laden meals.

Therefore, every year, either at the end of the year, or at the first of the year, I have to diet. If I didn’t, my weight would not stop creeping up and I’d look like one of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloons.

So, I have to drop a few pounds. So I can start all over again w/ all the good food.

If only all the home made sourdough bread did not put any weight on. Nor, the butter we slather all over it, Nor the home made jams. Mayonnaise on the sandwiches.

Nor the home made bagels, cream cheese. Nor the sourdough cinnamon rolls, warm out of the oven also slathered w/ melting butter. Nor the sourdough chocolate chip cookies. Nor the ice cream that goes w/ the cookies.

You picking up what I’m laying down? So many of you have picked up my wife’s home made sourdough goodies.

If only I didn’t have to hurt myself on my Peloton bike to keep my weight and BP down.

20 years ago, we planned our first cruise for our 20th wedding anniversary. To get ready, we both began to exercise regularly. B/C, you know, bathing suit pics on the deck of the ship. So, about every day, I was on my elliptical, and she was on the treadmill for about 30 min.

Shortly before, I had a nurse friend warn me that my BP was slightly elevated and I should keep an eye on it. It stayed that way for a couple of years. Not a major concern. But, long-term high BP is a risk for strokes.

Anyway, we had about 6 months to get ready for the cruise. When we got back, my nurse friend checked my BP again and it was normal.

The obvious conclusion was I needed to have my doc prescribe an annual cruise. Think my health ins. would go for that?

Okay, maybe it was the exercise.

If only the baked good didn’t put on the weight and my BP stayed normal w/out having to exercise.

If only. If only.

If only we could get the benefits w/out the sacrifices, commitments, and self-discipline.

But it just doesn’t work that way.

Similarly, how many ppl do you know who want all the benefits of a close relationship w/ Jesus w/out the sacrifices, commitments, and self-discipline?

Jesus said, if you want to get what His life offers, then you have to give up what your life wants.

We all want to be blessed. The sermon on the Mount in Mt. 5 says blessed are those who do these certain things. But, do we really have to? Yes.

Blessed means deeply contented in life. Satisfied. Fulfilled. Joy no matter your circumstances.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, among other things. What does that mean? It means you desire a close relationship w/ Jesus above everything else in your life and you are committed to sacrificing everything that gets in the way. Everything.

Not that we do it perfectly, but we are disciplined to put in the work to be as close to Jesus as possible, meek and pliable to the direction of God, recognizing our spiritual poverty apart from Jesus.

If only we could get all this w/out the work, w/out the sacrifice, w/out the self-discipline. But it just doesn’t work that way.

To get everything Jesus’ life offers you, you must give up everything your life wants. What you get is better than anything you have or can muster on your own. But, you don’t discover that until you’re all in with Jesus.

We’re in a section of the gospels where Jesus is shifting into high gear so the disciples know what a mature Xian looks like for them to live out and for them to teach these things.

Today, we’re looking at 3 warnings, 3 brief, pithy statements Jesus made to people who said they wanted everything He offered but their hearts were not into what it would take to get it.

It just doesn’t work that way.

3 warnings. 3 conditions. 1 commitment, lots of sacrifice, and the self-discipline to get what you say you want.

Just prior to these 3 interactions, a village in Samaria rejected Him. They said they do not want Him to come thru. They had no interest in hearing what He had to say or offer. They rejected Him

Next, 3 people want to be accepted by Jesus, but don’t what to accept their responsibility in the relationship. So, 3 warnings about how to accept and access everything Jesus offers.

Warning #1

Find Your Peace & Comfort in Christ

Luke 9:57–58 NIV

As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

A guy walks up and volunteers to follow Jesus wherever He goes. He wants to be a follower.

But Jesus knows something about this guy’s heart.

His reply, “I have no home.”

What’s that about?

Think about everything your home, your house provides you.

Safety. Security. Peace. Comfort.

When the wind is howling and the snow is piling up, how peaceful is it to settle into your favorite chair w/ a fire burning in the fireplace and a warm bowl of soup w/ a warm slice of sourdough bread fresh out of the oven?

Home is a place to go, out of the stressors of the world. You fight the fight in the rat race of your career and job. PPL challenge your patience. Even out doing fun things, present stressful challenges in life.

But then, you get to go home. Aaaaah.

Spouse who loves you. Pet who loves you more. Your favorite chair, book or TV show, warmth, and everything works.

Peace. Comfort. Safety and security from the dangers, perils, and stressors of the world.

But Jesus didn’t have a home. He was not advocating nor honoring homelessness. Politically a hot potato. We must care for those who need help.

But, what Jesus was advocating for was not finding your security, peace and comfort in you home, assets or your abilities.

That, “Pick yourself up by your bootstraps”, do it yourself mentality, make it happen on your own way may have served you well at times in your life. But, what Jesus is saying here, this guy put too much trust in his assets and abilities to be able to find peace and rest in Christ when things got tough.

And, things get tough in this life.

Physically, we have been able to muscle-up, or dress up and make good things happen. But what happens when your muscle mass shrinks, your hair things, your skin wrinkles, and your memory fades?

If you can afford a second home in MP you have accomplished some things in your life. If you can afford one home here you are doing okay by national standards. If something breaks, we can write a check or pull out a credit card and get it fixed. We don’t need to depend on anyone else. We’ve got the savings and ability to fix it.

What happens when you can’t pay to fix what’s broke? Cancer. Divorce. That limit doesn’t exist on your CC.

John 14:27 NIV

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

The world gives good peace. My house provides a lot. Sara is very gracious and generous. But there are things in this life that take more that what the world offers, even the good stuff, to find the peace I need.

It’s rare, but we are extended beyond the limits of our assets and abilities from time to time. What will we do then to find the peace, comfort, and security we need?

There is only one place to find what you need that is limitless. Jesus.

Lean into your relationship w/ Jesus when things start getting hairy in your life. Don’t wait until you have extended beyond the limits of your abilities.

Be self-disciplined enough to make your first step closer to Christ rather than pulling your credit card out of your wallet.

Now, Jesus will use your assets and abilities. But let Him use them. Don’t use them on your own w/out His leadership and Lordship.

That’s where this guy’s mind was. His head and his heart were more trusting in His assets and abilities than they were Jesus to provide what he would need when things got tough.

Jesus’ point here is, if you want the peace and comfort he offers, then commit to turning to Jesus first before you try it on your own. B/C, it just doesn’t work that way.

If only we could manage on our own, we wouldn’t need Jesus nor what He offers. But, it just doesn’t work that way. B/C sometimes there isn’t much peace in the house. When husbands and wives are fighting, when things are breaking, and the power is out. It can get pretty chilly inside.

Life will challenge the limits of our abilities and we can’t wait until those times to find what we need in Christ.

Reorient your life to lean into your relationship w/ Jesus first not last. Prayer is not a last resort. It’s a first option. Take it.

Warning #2

All In with Jesus

Luke 9:59–60 NIV

He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

The first guy volunteered. So will the next guy. But this guy is called by Jesus just like the disciples were. It does not say he does not eventually join up and follow. But there is a delay and Jesus dealt w/ the reasons for the delay.

Remember, delayed obedience is not obedience. Timing matters. What are you waiting for?

This guys asks for time. For what seems like a good reason. Reasonable.

One of the big 10 is to honor your father and mother. And, a proper burial was a big deal to Jews.

His father must have been sick. Though, not dead, yet. He would have already been buried. It would have been done same day or next. Nor would the guy have been out and about town if his father was too close to death.

So, what’s going w/ this guy that Jesus would have replied like this?

This guy was still too involved w/ family and friends who were not involved w/ Jesus. He had one foot in the worldly relationships and activities and one foot in w/ Jesus.

Here’s the deal, if you only have one foot in w/ Jesus, you have not feet in w/ Jesus. Either, you’re all in or all out.

Dead people can’t bury anybody. But spiritually dead ppl can. That’s His point. This guy was still too involved w/ his old friends in their worldly activities. He was not ready to sacrifice the “fun” things he did w/ them.

But, the guy might have thought, aren’t I supposed to be involved w/ ppl who don’t know Jesus so I can lead them to Him and maybe get them saved?

Sure.

Thus, Jesus’ point. This guy was not proclaiming the kingdom of God to them. This would have been an excuse why he was not giving up the old friends and activities.

They were influencing him away from Jesus. He was not influencing them toward Jesus.

It doesn’t say this guy never did figure it out. He may well have joined Jesus as a committed follower once he realized his unbelieving family and friends were not as good for him as he once thought nor as good for him as Jesus is.

Even people whom Jesus calls can be too involved in the world to receive all that Jesus offers. This guy must have been a believer. But his worldly lifestyle and activities limited severely what He received from Jesus.

If saved, he would receive eternal life. But the peace, joy, patience, self-control, courage, strength that are possible were minimal in his life.

So, when the inevitable hard times come, this guy would not be prepared and likely turn to his old friends instead of Jesus. He’d fold like a cheap tent and a dead man’s poker hand.

When Jesus calls you, He calls you out of your world and into His. It does not mean that you leave all your old friends. It does mean if they are influencing you away from Him then you need to create some distance.

But if you are influencing them to Him, then you limit your involvement to activities that Jesus would not be ashamed of.

We are not citizens of this world nor both worlds. We are citizens of heaven. And if your family and friends are influencing you to participate w/ them more than you are influencing them to participate w/ Jesus, then you need to rethink the commitment you made.

Sacrifices are made when we live for Christ. All those ‘fun’ things, that really didn’t end up fun, are not such a big deal anymore.

What Jesus offers will do more good for you than any of those activities you used to participate in.

If only, we could still get drunk on Saturday nights, show up to church on Sunday mornings. Party like it’s 1984, sleep around, gossip a lot, cheat on our taxes, pray when people are looking, cuss only when we’re not around the pastor or his wife, and still have all the peace, joy, patience, self-control, courage, and strength that Jesus offers.

As if it just doesn’t matter. But it doesn’t work that way.

Let the dead bury their dead. Come live with the living. All in w/ Jesus.

Warning #3

Finish What you Start

Luke 9:61–62 NIV

Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Here’s another volunteer. Again, his reason for his delayed participation seems reasonable. He requests to go tell his family that he is leaving to follow Jesus.

Then why did Jesus respond to him the way he did? Was Jesus insulting his family members by implying the pulled his plow? No.

What Jesus knew about this guy’s mind was he was torn in 2 directions. When things get tough, he would be very likely to run home to his mother and back to his old life. He would not be able to stay the course and finish strong. He would not hear the words when He stood before God on his judgment day, “well done good and faithful servant.”

Jesus saw weakness in this man. We are all weak. But those who are all in w/ Jesus receive His strength to use when times are tough. He bolsters our courage. When all we have is ourselves, the heavy lifting is too heavy to budge.

Again, think about this, did you understand what it meant when you stood at the altar for the first time and said, “I promise to act like I love you, and nobody else, until the day I die?”

Till death do us part, in good times and bad, tough times and easy.

Were you prepared to finish?

Are you ready to finish today?

Jesus saw this issue in this guy that he was not prepared for what it was going to take when his life got hard. During the sickness, not the health; in the worse, not the better; in the poorer, not the richer.

The likelihood was this guy would run home to his family just like he was running home this day before he would commit to leaving to follow Jesus.

Jesus does not expect perfection from those who are all in. He understands we all have days and seasons when we run away. Running home does not cost a believer his salvation. He will eventually return.

But, if someone runs never to return, then they probably never had faith in the first place. They most likely were trying to run 2 directions at once. Run one direction w/ Jesus. And another direction w/ their family and old life.

Jesus uses the plowing illustration b/c if someone is plowing their field, where must their eyes be if they are to be successful in preparing their field to plant?

If you are in farmland and drive by a farmer’s recently plowed field and you notice his lines are straight and he has maximized the space in the field and is ready to plant, then what does that tell you about where his eyes were focused when he was driving his tractor?

Straight ahead.

The farmer must pick out a fixed point in the distance and stay focused on it. He cannot look down at his tractor or the swath he is tilling up. He must stay focused on that point ahead in the distance.

The same is true if you’re mowing a midwestern lawn and you want to mow in straight lines. Find a fixed point in your neighbor’s yard and keep your eyes on it.

I’ve told the story many times of coaching my kids to play baseball or softball. Basketball, football, and soccer are much easier to teach. Offense. Defense. Goal. The offense tries to score with the ball. The defense tries to stop them.

Baseball is station to station. One of the hardest things to do is teach a child not to watch the baseball after they hit it. Why? B/C you will run to wherever you are looking.

If you are watching the ball bounce around left field, then you will run to left field and miss first base altogether.

The same is true in our spiritual lives. You will run toward whatever, or whomever, you are looking at. What your eyes are focused on is where you are headed.

If you’re plowing a field and you turn around and look back the chaos you will create in your field, besides being a source of amusement to your neighbors, it will prevent you from successfully planting and harvesting your field.

You will be unable to finish the work and eat the produce b/c you failed at the plowing stage.

There are a couple of famous stories in the bible of ppl who lost sight of their end goal and failed to finish.

Peter denied Jesus 3 times. He had just promised to not allow anyone to kill him. He brazenly promised to take the bullet so Jesus didn’t have to die. But then when the pressure was on and his freedom and life was on the line b/c they would have arrested him and tortured him if he admitted he was w/ Jesus, he folded like that cheap tent or the dead man’s hand in poker. He wanted nothing to do w/ Jesus at the moment Jesus most needed his friend and brother.

Later, Jesus restored him to his position in leadership and ministry when he owned up to his mistake and recommitted his life to follow Jesus wherever it led. And eventually it did lead to his own crux.

Tradition has it he was crux’d upside down b/c he did not consider himself worthy of being crux’d in the same way Jesus was.

Another example of someone who literally ran home to his mother when the persecution got too intense for him was Mark.

Mark traveled with Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. The opposition grew intense and Mark couldn’t handle the heat so he quit and left them.

The next journey, Barnabas wanted to give Mark a second chance but Paul said no way. So they split up. Paul took Silas. And Barnabas found Mark and mentored him back into leadership and ministry.

Paul and Mark reconciled, in 2 Timothy, Paul asks Timothy to send Mark to visit him in prison b/c he was such and encouragement to him. And, this is the same Mark who wrote the gospel in our bible.

These are 2 example of ppl who quit when things got tough but were restored to finish strong in the end.

Jesus saw something about this guy that volunteered to follow him that told Him he was not completely dedicated and committed to finishing what he volunteered to start that day.

Before you commit to start to follow Jesus, make sure you are just as committed to finishing strong and not folding up like a cheap lawn chair when life gets hard. It will get hard.

If only we could take turns walking w/ Jesus and walking w/ our old life. If only we could straddle the fence and still benefit from everything Jesus offers.

But it doesn’t work that way. We must decide every day who we are going to follow. But if you answer vacillates between Jesus and anybody else, then you’ve got to ask the question did you make the right commitment in the first place.

If only we could do everything we wanted to do and still get everything we wanted from Jesus.

If only we could eat all the sugar and carbs we wanted to eat and still not gain any weight or worry about diabetes. If only we avoid the pain of exercise and still have a healthy cardio vascular system and not have worry about heart attacks, strokes, high BP, or anything else like that.

But it just doesn’t work that way.

Jesus laid out for us how it works. He has asked us to sacrifice everything we want to get everything he has. Of course, not only has He sac’d more for us than we ever could for Him, what we get from Him is better than anything we already have.

Following Jesus is simple. Simple to understand. Not so simple to do. But if we heed these 3 warnings and follow Jesus closely then we will be better equipped to manage our lives and thrive while we’re here.

Applications

Peace and Comfort

Don’t look to any of your assets or abilities to find you peace and comfort. Lean into your relationship w/ Jesus to get it.

Lean in early and often. Don’t wait until you need something from Him.

It doesn’t mean Jesus expects us be homeless to be a close follower. It doesn’t mean we can’t have a nice house or 2. It doesn’t mean we should regret being so handsome or pretty or wealthy.

I just means don’t expect these things to provide what they are ill equipped to provide when Jesus is perfectly equipped.

Lean into your rel w/ Jesus this week.

Influence

Who is influencing whom? Jesus does not expect you to break ties w/ all your old, unbelieving friends when you choose to follow Jesus. What He expect is for you to be able to proclaim the gospel to them and live a life that attracts them, influences them to Jesus.

If they are influencing you away from Jesus then maybe you need to create some distance.

Reorient your life to only the activities and ppl that Jesus would not be ashamed of you for participating.

Influence your friend w/ your words, lifestyle, and activities to come closer to Jesus.

What can you do this week? What do you need to stop doing this week?

Finish

If you made the commitment to start following Jesus then revisit the commitment and include finished w/ Jesus, too.

You made the commitment to your spouse to start a marriage, start a family. Today make the commitment to finish strong w/ the same spouse, a good relationship w/ your kids, and committed to walking w/ Jesus until the day you see him face to face.

Don’t quit. Don’t fold like any of the cheap objects you can think of that I didn’t.

Stay the course and finish strong.

How many ppl do you know who want all the benefits of a close relationship w/ Jesus w/out the sacrifices, commitments, and self-discipline? Are you one of them?

Jesus said, if you want to get what His life offers, then you have to give up what your life wants.

We all want to be blessed. The sermon on the Mount in Mt. 5 says blessed are those who do these certain things. But, do we really have to? Yes.

Blessed means deeply contented in life. Satisfied. Fulfilled. Joy no matter your circumstances.

If only we could get all this w/out the work, w/out the sacrifice, w/out the self-discipline. But it just doesn’t work that way.

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