Faithfully Follow: Serving Jesus with Your Whole HeartLk 9:51-62063013M

We all observe it. Maybe it happened to you: You start a new job. You're excited. You look forward to getting up in the morning and going to work. But after several months of the same old thing, you get tired of the repetition. Maybe you even have problems with a fellow employee or your boss. Days and weeks drag on. You force yourself to do your job, but your efforts are half-hearted at best. That can happen in marriage too. Two people exchange vows of life-long commitment with stars in their eyes and love in their hearts. But soon each other's flaws and failings loom larger than life. "It's not the person I married," they say. They go through the motions of marriage, but they feel as if they've fallen out of love. Sometimes a similar thing happens with Christians and their relationship with Jesus. They start off on fire for the Lord, active in his church, but it all gets old and they drift away--unfortunately, to their own condemnation. That's why the Holy Spirit gives us the encouragement he does today as we continue our summer theme: FAITHFULLY FOLLOW.

Faithfully Follow: Serving Jesus with Your Whole Heart

1. Mindful of how Jesus resolutely served you.

2. Cautious of the obstacles to a life of service.

1. No service for Jesus can take place without first considering the way he served us. "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mt 20:28).So faithfully following means serving Jesus with your whole heart, Mindful of how Jesus resolutely served you.

The key word here is "resolutely": 51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. Jesus knew what was going to happen to him there, and why he needed to go to Jerusalem. He would be "taken up to heaven," but not before he "suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, and on the third day he rose from the dead." Jesus foretold all those things, including his resurrection. That he would be taken up to heaven meant all he did everything that had to be done to save the human race from sin. First he had to suffer and die in Jerusalem. But this he would do willingly. He went to Jerusalem with purpose and determination. That's the "resolutely" part. Literally, he "set his face like stone." Ever see someone do that? Have you done it yourself? You're so determined, people can see it in your face. Your features become rigid and stern, just like your mind. That's how determined Jesus was to suffer and die for the sins of the world.

On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus encountered something else: 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. Why wouldn't Jesus be welcomed in Samaria?The Jews hated the Samaritans, and the Samaritans hated the Jews. It was prejudice, racism, outright hatred, and it was wrong. As a result, if traveling, Jews would go around Samaritan territory. That's why, when Jesus sent messengers to "get things ready for him" in a Samaritan village, the people didn't welcome him when they got wind that he was going to Jerusalem. He was a Jew. But why was Jesus planning to stay in a Samaritan village in the first place? Why didn't he take the Samaritan "bypass"? He WANTED to go there; he NEEDED to go there--for the sake of the Samaritans. They needed to know the Messiah who came from the Jews too, because they only acknowledged the first five books of the Old Testament, the books of Moses, as God's Word. So Jesus went there to share the gospel with them, as he had done with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. He came to serve them too, even though they did not welcome him.

On the other hand, the disciples James and John, probably the ones Jesus sent as messengers, didn't want to take this hostility sitting down. Anyone who rejects Jesus deserves God's condemnation on the spot: 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them, 56 and they went to another village. That's how James and John got the nickname, the Boanarges, or "Sons of Thunder." Why did Jesus rebuke them? One manuscript suggests Jesus said, "You do not know what kind of spirit you are of, for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." Jesus still wanted to call them to repentance. He came to serve, evenSamaritans.

Jesus came to earth and resolutely went to Jerusalem to save you and me from sin and death. He not only went to Samaria where he encountered opposition. He came to a world where he encountered opposition. John even tells us, He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him (Jn 1:11). By his Spirit, Jesus came to another hostile place: your heart and mine, as they were by nature. He came with the good news of his love, and that our sins are all washed away because of his life and death. But there's STILL part of us that is hostile to him, and will not welcome him. It's our sinful flesh. And that very part of us can be like the Jews and the Samaritans--unwelcoming toward those who are not like us, especially if they're of different races and cultures. "What?" Pastor Miller, are you saying that there's racism or prejudice in the church?" Yep, I guess I am. Since we've been pursuing outreach to other cultures surrounding our church, yes, I've heard comments. How sad. Where is the "all nations" in the Great Commission? It shows that we're all capable of hatred toward others, because our sinful flesh even hates God. But Jesus doesn't strike us dead on the spot. Imagine if he did: slam--lightning every time we had an uncharitable thought toward someone else, or when we were in the middle of holding that grudge, a drinking binge, or committing some other sin? He doesn't do that, however. Yes, the day of Judgment will come, at the end of time, or at the end of life. We certainly don't what to be guilty of willfully sinning then, or at any other time. But NOW is the day of God's grace, to repent and trust the forgiveness of a Savior who resolutely served and saved us by going to Jerusalem to suffer and die.

2. In view of this, faithfully follow, serving Jesus with your whole heart, Cautious of the obstacles to a life of service. One such obstacle is earthly creature comforts: 57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58 Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Life is a journey for believers in Jesus, a "camping trip" if you will. This world is not the destination, but the wilderness. So it's important to travel light. If we strive for what this world has to offer, we forfeit the kingdom for which Jesus redeemed us. The things of this world easily become a distraction, and become cumbersome to the point that we easily forget what's most important.

It's the same with family concerns: 59 He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Of course, the Fourth Commandment about honoring your father and mother apply, even in death. But Jesus said, "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me" (Mt 10:37). Ah, THERE'S the distinction: loving them MORE THAN JESUS. That was the problem here. This man was more concerned with his dead father than he was with bringing the Word of life to the living. Jesus had an advantage you and I don't have: he could see into this man's heart and knew what his heart embraced most.

Another obstacle is looking back in regret rather than looking forward in faith: 61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." 62 Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." Again, it wasn't saying goodbye or the family that were the problem. It was that the person had trouble letting go in order to rely on Jesus. Think of Lot's wife in the Old Testament when she had to leave her home and all that was familiar in Sodom, which the Lord was about to destroy because of their immorality. She looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. It was the WAY she looked back. She wasn't trusting God for what lay ahead. It was looking back in regret and longing for what she was leaving behind. As a gardener, I get Jesus illustration about looking back while plowing; you won't have a straight row. That's why they tell people to aim high in steering when they drive a car; if they don't, they'll go crooked and weave all over the place. It's the same in life if we don't remember why we're here and where we're going.

So, Jesus got a bunch of excuses from those would-be followers, all legitimate in the mind of the ones making them, but really no excuses at all. People still make excuses when it comes to following Jesus, hearing his Word, sharing his Word, serving Jesus, living for Jesus. "I'm too busy." "I'm working." "I have to take care of my family." "I need my sleep." "We had a reunion...a picnic...a funeral...out of town guests..." What reasons do you give for not reading your Bible? Being in church more often than you are? Doing stuff around here? Speaking up for Jesus in your daily life? Very easily, we can sound like those in our lesson, and we're fully convinced that our excuses are legitimate. But what would Jesus say? Wouldn't he say to you and me, we are not fit for the kingdom of God?

But what actually makes us fit for the kingdom of God? It's Jesus, isn't it? It's the way he served us resolutely, without wavering. It's how he willingly gave his sinless life for ours on the cross before arising and returning to heaven. THAT'S what makes us fit. That's why it's so important that we faithfully follow, cautious of the obstacles to serving Jesus. Repent of the excuses, and see how Jesus has already forgiven you.

And then faithfully follow serving Jesus with your whole heart, mindful of how Jesus resolutely served you, conscious of the obstacles to a life of service. Our love for him at times may ebb and wane; his love for us never fails! Amen.

Lk 9:51-62

FAITHFULLY FOLLOW.

Faithfully Follow: Serving Jesus with Your Whole Heart

1. Mindful of how Jesus resolutely served you.

2. Cautious of the obstacles to a life of service.

"The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mt 20:28).

51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem.

54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them, 56 and they went to another village.

"You do not know what kind of spirit you are of, for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."

He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him (Jn 1:11).

57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58 Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

59 He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me" (Mt 10:37).

61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." 62 Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."