Thank you, Graham. It really is great to be here this morning. Thank you for your very
warm welcome to Brunswick Evangelical. Permit me, just as I was alluding to there, permit me to
also say a huge heartfelt thank you for your prayers and your financial partnership with us
as Christian unions in Edinburgh. I've seen some wonderful gospel fruit off the back of our week
of events that we ran at the end of January, the start of February. I firmly believe that God's
mission carries on throughout the whole year. God is at work 52 weeks out of 52 in the lives of these
students that I see and that I know. But this specific week of events that we ran at the end
of January, start of February, couldn't have happened without the backing of local churches such as
yourselves. So thank you very, very much. Okay, Luke chapter 9, we've read and we've prayed. Let's
crack on. I remember sitting a few years ago with a girl called Naomi, who I worked alongside at
Chalmers for a few years. And we were reminiscing on individual time spent abroad in other countries.
We both studied Spanish. I studied at Glasgow University because I like the look of the degree
there. She studied at St. Andrews because she's much smarter than me. And I went on my year abroad
to Madrid and then we went to Argentina. And when we worked at Chalmers, we used to speak to one another
over lunch and probably other times when we should have been doing work,
about cultural mistakes that we made when we were in the countries that we were in for our years
abroad. So things that we would do that would look like perfect sense to us, that would make perfect
sense. But as locals would watch us, they would say to us, no, that's not how we do things around
here. They would have to explain to us that things were done differently in that place.
And so let me give you an example of that. When I was in Spain, I worked in a school as an English
teacher. And I remember after my first day of work, getting back to the flat of the host family
that I was living with for the year. I ran half past four in the afternoon and I felt fairly peckish,
having not really eaten much since breakfast, but I was fairly content to hold off until dinner at
5.30 sharp. Except Spaniards don't have dinner at 5.30 sharp. That would be a late lunch. So imagine
the horror when the mother of the family came home from work and explained to me with great enthusiasm
that we would be eating early at half past nine. And that was easily one of the longest and the
hungriest days I ever spent in Madrid. Another time I remember walking with a teacher to the local
primary school where this teacher's seven-year-old daughter was a pupil. And during the break,
the children were all outside playing and the two of us walked straight into the playground,
he found his daughter, scooped her up, kissed her and put her back down again.
And when I explained afterwards that in this country, in Scotland, in the UK, you'd never be
able to wander into a playground and do that, he smiled, he shrugged and he said to me,
it's not like that here. Things are different.
And if I was going to live there in Spain, then I had to rewrite my understanding of how I did things
based on the culture of the country I was in. And if that's true of a Scotsman in Spain for nine
months, it's certainly true of those that follow Jesus and follow his teaching. Anyone who wants to
believe in Christ to live in his kingdom needs to rewrite their understanding of how we do things
based on the culture of the kingdom that we now belong to, Christ's kingdom.
And you see Jesus doing throughout the whole of chapter nine, something which rewrites
the disciples' understanding of what the kingdom values and principles are.
Dr. Luke is recording for us what Christ's rule will be like. And there's much that initially looks
great in the eyes of those that follow Jesus. It's clear from the first six verses of chapter
nine that Jesus' healing kingship will be free from sickness, free from demonic spirits.
It's clear from the feeding of the 5,000 that Jesus' abundant kingship will be free from hunger.
And it's clear from the transfiguration that Jesus' powerful kingship will be one for his true
glory is revealed. And it would even appear that the disciples are starting to partially understand
who Jesus is. Peter says in verse 22, you, Jesus, are God's Messiah.
But what's obvious from what we read earlier on is that the disciples still have a very this world
view. They run the risk of interpreting everything as a we experience glory now
understanding of Jesus' kingdom. And you can see why they might think that after witnessing
everything that Jesus did and everything that Jesus said, what could possibly go wrong?
He comes as a king with an authority, with a glory unlike anything ever seen before.
However, Jesus makes it very clear that he comes as a suffering king.
His kingdom, by contrast to the expectations of the disciples, has vastly different values
and operates in a very, very different way. He mentions his death in verse 22. He mentions
a life of self-denial from 23 to 26. Jesus is rewriting his disciples' understanding,
of what it means to be a part of his kingdom. You want to follow me in my kingdom, chaps?
Well, you'll have to undergo a serious readjustment of your expectations.
You think we experience glory now? Well, it's not like that here. Things are different.
That's not how we do things around here.
And for us sitting here 2,000 years later, it's no different. Jesus is speaking to people
who would seek to follow him. Everyday men and women from all walks of life, just like us sitting here.
And it's very easy for us that genuinely follow Jesus to still allow the principles of this world,
of this day and age, to sneak into our lives and to twist our understanding of how Jesus' kingdom operates.
It's very easy and it's very dangerous. And Jesus will not allow it to happen.
Perhaps you're here and you're looking into Christianity for yourself.
Here it is.
Here's what it looks like to follow Jesus.
He has a terrible PR campaign.
He wants everyone who would follow him to know that it's a difficult journey
that does not lead to earthly glory and success,
but does lead to eternal glory and eternal success.
And so last week we were encouraged to stop, look and listen to Jesus.
And this week, under the heading of a detailed description of discipleship,
we're encouraged to do just exactly the same.
God says to Jesus' followers in verse 35, listen, listen to him.
And so the first thing to listen to, from verses 43 to 50,
is the caution from the king who devotes his life.
The caution from the king who devotes his life.
After what they've seen, everyone is amazed at the greatness of God.
Everyone is marvelling at all that Jesus did.
And in the middle of what looks like a crescendo, a high point in Jesus' ministry,
he delivers the most hard-hitting and devastating news.
He turns to his disciples and says, verse 44,
listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you.
The son of man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.
At the moment when Jesus looks at his most invincible, he says, I'm going to die.
At the moment when Jesus looks at his most popular, he says,
I'm going to be delivered into the hands of men.
These same crowds that are marvelling will soon shout, crucify him.
And this news was so far outside of the disciples' field of expectation
that they just can't fathom that it'll happen.
They just cannot wrap their heads around it.
But we're also told by Luke in verse 45 that it was hidden from them.
They were starting to see who Jesus was as he opened their eyes,
but only very, very gradually.
Jesus still has much to teach them.
And the full extent of Jesus' glory is seen when Jesus devotes his very own life
for the sake of the salvation of others.
Jesus' caution is that the Savior must suffer,
so if the disciples are to follow him,
then his way must also be their way.
It's a hard truth for the disciples that desperately needs to sink into their heads
and sink into their hearts.
And that's why Jesus has some strong words to say about what follows.
The disciples are arguing about who is the greatest.
You can imagine the conversation, can't you?
Well, when Jesus rescues his people, we'll be the ones in the inner circle.
I'll probably be the greatest because I was one of the first disciples picked.
I was even up in the mountain with Jesus just there.
You were down here struggling to drive an evil spirit out of a little boy.
No, some disciple you are.
Jesus has just been talking sacrifice.
And they're talking self-exaltation.
Rivalry rears its ugly head.
And so in the process of rewriting their understanding of how Jesus' kingdom is to operate,
he has to issue another severe caution.
The disciples want personal status.
They want personal grandeur.
And Jesus takes a little boy and says,
whoever welcomes this child, whoever receives this child in my name, receives me.
And whoever receives me, receives him who sent me.
This is the sort of company the disciples are to entertain.
Those that follow Jesus, regardless of status or grandeur.
The child who is following Jesus, perhaps with his parents, perhaps on his own,
he would look like the least in any kingdom.
No reputation.
No standing in society.
But if this child follows Jesus,
then whoever welcomes this child in Jesus' name,
welcomes Jesus himself.
No self-promotion.
Instead, sacrificial welcome.
And you see how it's a picture of what Jesus is doing.
He welcomes the lowest.
This child cannot offer Jesus anything.
And yet, Jesus takes the boy and puts him by his side,
knowing that he will devote his life to forgive the sins of this young boy.
And as he does that, he says to the disciples in verse 48,
it is the one who is least among you who is the greatest.
It is the least among you who is the greatest.
Who's that?
Well, it will be Jesus himself, won't it?
As he hangs on the cross.
He will be the one who will become loathed, despised, delivered into the hands of men.
He will become the least.
But Jesus knows that the path to true greatness and glory takes him via the cross.
And he wants his disciples to follow accordingly.
Jesus models and will model the selflessness and sacrificial love he wants his followers to have,
because that is what true glory looks like in Christ's kingdom.
And just in case we were starting to wonder if the disciples were beginning to comprehend,
John very helpfully clears it up for us.
His response to all this is to say,
Oh, Master, we saw someone driving at demons in your name,
and we tried to stop him because, you know, he's not one of us.
And after everything that Jesus has just been explaining,
my initial response to John is,
John, you idiot.
And yet I know exactly what it is to be in John's position.
I was helping out last week at a CU events week down in Coventry.
It's the middle of nowhere, honestly.
And on Friday morning, we were feeding back as to how the Thursday night event had gone.
And the guy sitting opposite me, who was also helping out with the week,
explained to us all that God had used him to lead two students to repentance and faith in Jesus.
And I'd love to tell you that my instinctive reaction was,
That's such good news.
But it wasn't.
My instinctive reaction was,
Why couldn't that have been me?
I had to sit with someone who believed in Buddhism,
couldn't even tell me what type of Buddhism they believed in,
had no interest in Jesus,
and it was a really frustrating conversation for 40 minutes.
How come this other guy managed to enjoy success and I didn't?
But if Jesus' path is one where he devotes his life for the sake of his people,
then Jesus' caution to me, to all of us, to his disciples,
is that there can be no spiritual snobbery,
or spiritual elitism,
or spiritual jealousy.
There will always be those that are doing fruitful gospel work,
when things just aren't going well for us.
Maybe they're in a different part of the city.
Maybe they aren't just quite like us.
And yes, we have to be discerning.
Yes, we have to ask whether it's genuine gospel work or not.
But it's too easy to allow that to lapse into tribalism,
because they're not one of us.
Elitism, snobbery, is the ugliest thing in our church today.
And I feel the tug towards it in my own heart.
The Christian unions in Edinburgh are really healthy,
as I said earlier on.
It's very easy for me to think that other CUs across Scotland
just don't quite have it right.
Not like we do.
I don't want people to become Christians somewhere else.
I want them to become Christians here.
How ugly is that?
And you guys will know where risks appearing in your own hearts
and in the life of the church here.
But what will put a stop to it
is listening to the caution that comes from the king
that devotes his life.
If people are going to follow a selfless
and sacrificial King Jesus
to true glory in his kingdom,
how can we take any self-promotion on the way?
It's a real message for all who are called to be disciples.
Let there be no self-promotion, rivalry, triumphalism.
Rejoice.
Rejoice when others are doing the work of Christ's kingdom.
Not according to Luke.
The destination of the journey, according to Luke in verse 51,
is Jesus being taken up to heaven.
And so his journey through immense suffering
leads ultimately to eternal glory
and it exemplifies the journey anyone takes
who trusts in Jesus
from the temporary kingdom of this creation
to his kingdom of the new creation.
And the road of discipleship will look like self-sacrifice.
And here we see clearly in these verses
it will look like facing real rejection
and open opposition.
Jesus is going through this territory
for the first time in Luke's gospel.
He is decidedly and obviously and purposefully
extending his kingdom to the foreigners.
All are invited.
The Samaritans would have been seen
as second-class citizens in the eyes of the Jews.
But true to Jesus' character,
true to Jesus' kingdom,
the gospel comes to them on the same terms.
He has come for the insider and the outcast,
for the privileged and the poor.
But all must welcome the saviour.
It's not enough just to hear about Jesus
or to meet him.
And tragically in this case,
the Samaritans don't want anything to do with him
because, verse 53,
he was heading for Jerusalem.
They seem to understand where Jesus is going
and Samaritans reject the idea
that Jerusalem is the place
where God should be worshipped.
So maybe it was pure sectarian hatred
on the part of the Samaritans.
Regardless of the reasons,
when people will not welcome Jesus,
when they say,
we don't want you,
we don't want your message,
Jesus listens.
He doesn't try and alter his teaching
to be welcomed.
Verse 56,
he and his disciples went to another village.
Well, how are the disciples going to respond to this?
Well, once again,
just in case we're starting to wonder
that the disciples were beginning to comprehend,
James and John clear things up for us.
They asked Jesus,
verse 54,
do you want us to call fire down from heaven
to destroy them?
They want justice and vengeance
on their own terms.
And once more,
Jesus has to rewrite the principles of his kingdom
on their hearts.
He rebukes James and John.
Let's be clear here.
Jesus doesn't rebuke them
because there are no consequences
to rejecting Jesus.
No, no.
Jesus makes it very,
very clear
that there are severe
and serious consequences
to rejecting him.
However,
Jesus' correction here to James and John
comes from the king
that instead demonstrates his grace.
Wonderfully,
if you read on
in Luke's second book of the Bible,
Acts,
you'll see in chapter 8
that Peter and John,
of all people,
place their hands on many Samaritans
to receive the Holy Spirit
who have heard the gospel
and are new Christians.
I reckon John,
when he was there in Samaria
in Acts chapter 8,
probably kept pretty quiet
about what he'd said here
in Luke chapter 9.
But to see the Samaritans
who had rejected Jesus
now welcome Jesus instead
is a wonderful display
of the grace
that the king extends
towards his enemies.
Jesus makes it very clear
that whilst it won't happen
to everyone,
there are definitely those
that first resist the message
of the gospel
who latterly welcome
Christ into their lives.
I'm sure we'll know
of people like that.
Again,
very easy for me to think
how awful of James and John
to suggest
such a thing as fire from heaven
when Jesus had very,
very clearly spoken
about welcoming the outsider.
However,
I've had some fairly choice thoughts
about those
that have rejected the gospel
and have mocked
the king that I follow.
Perhaps,
even in my darkest moments,
I've thought,
I cannot wait
until that person
stands before God
and realises
they've been wrong
all along.
It'll feel so good
when that person
kneels before God
and feels the weight
of every word
they've said against him.
Have you ever thought that?
Is that such a different attitude
to the one that James and John
display here?
I don't think it is.
Let's understand
the reality of all this.
To be on the path
to glory with Jesus
will always mean hostility
from all sorts of people
for all sorts of reasons.
Let's not be surprised by that.
Yet,
Jesus is patient
and his judgment
is withheld
for the moment.
and knowing that the king
we follow
demonstrates his grace
to his enemies
means that we too
are to extend grace
to those that oppose him.
And friends,
it's incredibly hard,
isn't it?
It can often come
at real personal cost.
cost.
And yet,
it was exactly
at a real personal cost
that Jesus
extended his grace
to us
before we were
his friends.
Realistically,
can we seek
any sort of
earthly retribution
for those that have
opposed Jesus
when we have done
exactly the same thing
and yet Jesus
has demonstrated
his grace
towards us?
Wonderfully,
thankfully,
vengeance does not
belong to us.
It belongs to the Lord.
So in turn,
we extend grace
to others.
See again here
how Jesus' way
ends up being
the way of the disciple too.
So the caution
from the king
who devotes his life,
the correction
from the king
who demonstrates his grace,
and now finally
as we close,
the call from the king
who demands our all.
The call from the king
who demands our all.
Very quickly,
three short incidents
between Jesus
and those that would
follow him.
That word is all over
our last section
this morning,
follow.
And Jesus is clarifying
the nature of the call
to follow him.
The first man
that he speaks to
wants to leap
into a commitment
to follow Jesus
without first understanding
the cost of it all.
Jesus warns him
clearly in verse 58
that whilst foxes
have dens,
birds have nests,
the son of man
has no place
to lay his head.
Jesus' path he walks
is one of homelessness
in this world.
It's a world
that he created.
Even the animals
have somewhere
they can call home.
And yet he's not
putting down
any roots
in this world
because he is
heading towards
the cross
and he is heading
towards the new
creation to come.
He is an outcast
in this world
and for any disciple
seeking to follow Jesus
we cannot
permanently invest
in the things
of this age.
We cannot put
unhealthy roots down
in this world
as our home.
Not when we weigh up
with the new creation
to come.
And Jesus is
seriously reconfiguring
how his followers
view things
in this world.
It doesn't mean
we can't enjoy things.
Please don't mishear me.
Friends,
family,
romance,
holidays,
sport,
food,
these are good
gifts to us
from God.
But the son of man,
the creator,
didn't think to take
a home for himself
in this world
when he was here
in the flesh
sharing the good news
of the kingdom
to come.
He had every right to
but he didn't.
He knew where he was headed.
And his demand
on this first man
is that he will
follow a saviour
who did not find
his home here.
That's the warning.
His people can expect
a life of exile,
not comfort,
in this creation,
awaiting the wonderful
new creation to come.
The second person
Jesus calls to follow him
gives what initially
seems like a perfectly
reasonable reaction
in verse 59.
Lord, first let me go
and bury my father.
Surely that's only reasonable.
But let's understand
that the whole
burial process
for a Jew
would have taken
roughly a year
from start to finish.
It's not even
explicitly clear
that this man's father
has died yet.
He might still have
a few years
to go first.
But regardless
of all that,
this man has not
grasped
the urgency
of Christ's call.
Nothing is more important,
not even
our earthly families.
The Bible has some
very positive things
to say about family life.
We're told to honour
our parents.
We're told to raise
our children to know
and to love Jesus.
However,
when the time comes
and it will often come,
Jesus' call
is firstly
to him
and to his kingdom
over
our earthly relationships
with family.
I've spoken to
young men and women
who have given
their lives to Jesus
at university
through various
events weeks
and these students
have parents
that are now
desperately upset
and desperately angry
that their child
goes to church
every week.
I've spoken to
students who are
thinking of perhaps
spending a year
volunteering with UCCF,
working for a church
or another Christian
movement.
They're expected
to fundraise
for the year
and often these
young men and women
come under tremendous
pressure from their parents.
Some of these parents
are Christians
and they say things like,
how are you going
to afford that?
I think you should
be getting a job,
a good job.
We've paid for you
to go through
three, four years
of university.
What a waste
it would be
if you were to
give it all up
and work for a church.
Leave that
for other people.
And the tug
of feeling like
your first allegiance
is to your parents
at the expense
of honouring Jesus
is very, very real
and it's very, very hard.
Jesus' call
as king
is to demand
all of this man's life
and it's the same call
he places on any follower.
It's a deliberately
sore example here.
It's a deliberately
sore example
because it's meant
to show us
just how difficult it is.
As I said,
no small print.
Even the best
of reasons
and excuses
cannot delay,
cannot derail us.
And the last
interaction is similar.
A man says,
I will follow you,
Lord,
but first
let me go back
and say goodbye
to my family.
Surely,
again,
a fairly reasonable
excuse.
But the man
is betrayed
by his own words.
I will follow you,
but first.
These are words
that are spoken
all too often.
I know a girl
who I started
university with
who told me
that she was going
to,
and I quote,
give up God
for university
before picking him
back up again
after she graduated.
I will follow you,
but first.
And it's no surprise
that she's no longer
anywhere near
following Jesus.
And Jesus says
that this man
and anyone else
with this attitude
is similar to a man
who plows,
looking away
over his shoulder,
only to see the plow
veer off track.
We've seen it
happen ourselves.
Jesus has to be
our sole focus
before anything else.
There's no room
for Jesus plus.
The first man
is too quick,
hasn't weighed up
the cost.
The second is too slow,
hasn't grasped
the urgency.
The third is too busy
trying to juggle Jesus
alongside all these
other commitments.
And Jesus' call
is to demand everything,
not because he wants
to ruin our fun,
not because he needs
our everything
as a narcissist,
but Jesus knows
that true joy,
true discipleship,
means following him
wholeheartedly.
He knows the dangers
of allowing the principles,
the values,
the priorities
of this world
to creep into our walk
with him.
And he does not want us
to fall away from him.
So he says to his disciples,
that's not how we do
things around here.
The caution from the king
who devotes his life
is to say no to self-promotion,
no to spiritual snobbery,
no to rivalry.
The correction from the king
who demonstrates his grace
is that we will face opposition,
but we respond not with
our own flavor of vengeance,
but with grace and patience
in the same way that he did.
And the call from the king
who demands our all
is that true discipleship
means that he is the number
one priority in our lives.
It's uncomfortable,
it's urgent,
it's uncompromising,
but it's everything
that Jesus embodied
when he was on earth.
Jesus doesn't make demands
that he did not live out himself
in his own life.
Do you see that?
When we experience
all of these struggles,
when we try and soldier on
to live the life of a disciple,
we can turn to Jesus and say,
this is really difficult.
And he turns back to us
and responds with,
I know.
Trust me.
I know.
And so the take home from today
isn't moralism.
It's not be more modest,
be more gracious,
be more committed.
That's not what I'm saying.
That's not Luke chapter nine.
The take home is follow Jesus.
See how he models
that which his disciples
are to follow.
See the cross.
See the way that he reconciles us
to God and pays the debt
of our sins.
See the destination
at the end.
His kingdom for all eternity
for the believer.
Let Jesus be what motivates you
to live in such a way
that points away from ourselves,
away from this world,
to him
and to his kingdom.
let me pray for us
as we close.
Lord Jesus,
we thank you for the
honesty
and the realism
that the Bible has
towards those who follow you.
Father,
in many ways,
the personal cost
is great,
but we can look at Jesus
and we can see
the way that he
models all of these things
for us to follow.
Father,
we know this morning
that an eternity
with you,
an eternity with Christ
is so worth
the pain,
the suffering
of this day and age.
Father,
help us
by your Holy Spirit
to have our eyes
fixed upon Christ.
Help us
by your Holy Spirit
to lean upon you
not to mingle
kingdom priorities
and principles
with the principles
and priorities
of this world.
Help us,
Father,
by your Spirit
to stay distinct.
Help us to live
the life
of a disciple
that genuinely
loves you
increasingly
as the days go on,
that knows you better
and understands
the love
that you have
for us better.
Father,
we thank you
that for those of us
that this morning
have not been doing this,
we know that there is
forgiveness
because of the cross.
We're so thankful,
Father,
that we can turn back
to you,
look at what Jesus did
and say,
forgive me
and know that
that forgiveness
is ours.
And so,
Father,
would you forgive me?
Would you forgive
all of us sitting here
that have allowed
other things
to sneak in
and distort
the principles
of the kingdom
in our lives?
Give us everything
we need,
Father,
to live a life
that glorifies you
in the same way
that Jesus did.
In whose name we pray.
Amen.
Let's do it.
Lup searchчат-
By the way,
Abraham,
Jesus,