Luke. You thought I was going to say 2 Samuel, didn't you? The Gospel of Luke, chapter 9. We're
starting a new sermon series tonight in Luke's Gospel. We're going to start in chapter 9,
verse 51. If you're looking in the Pew Bible, that's page 868.
868, we're going to read Luke 59 through 61. These two paragraphs at the end of Luke chapter 9.
Let me read these for us.
When the days drew near for him to be taken up, Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem.
And he sent messengers ahead of him who went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make
preparations for him. But the people did not receive him because his face was set toward Jerusalem.
And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come
down from heaven and consume them? But he turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village.
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, I will follow you wherever you go.
And Jesus said to him, foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere
to lay his head. To another, he said, follow me. But he said, Lord, let me first go and bury my father.
Jesus said to him, leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom
of God. Yet another said, I will follow you, Lord. But let me first say farewell to those at my home.
Jesus said to him, no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.
Let's pray together.
Lord Jesus, we ask that you would bless the reading of your word, the hearing of your word,
Lord, the preaching of your word tonight. As we turn our attention towards this narrative about you
from the gospel of Luke, we pray that we would see you in fresh ways and that your spirit would do
his work in our hearts. God, help us and shape us more and more into your image, we pray. Amen.
Well, so starting this spring and going through the summer, actually, what we're doing here in the
evening service is focusing, we're going to be focusing on the topic of discipleship. What does it
mean? What does it look like to be a follower of Jesus? You know, it's interesting if you're in the
working world or even if you're in a school setting too, you can find lots and lots of resources or
classes or seminars about how to grow in your leadership skills, about how to be a good leader.
And in fact, in the last five to 10 years, you can even find lots of literature and lots of help and
lots of online stuff about how to grow as a good team member, how to be an effective member of a
team and work well with others. But Christianity makes this incredibly counter-cultural claim
that the path to real flourishing, not just spiritually, but really in the full dimension
of what it means to be human, is found first and foremost, not necessarily in being a good leader,
not necessarily in being a good team member, how all those things have their place,
but it's found most fundamentally in being a follower, a disciple.
Now that sounds kind of strange to us. After all, who wants to be a follower, right?
Trendsetter, yes. Entrepreneur, sure. Cutting edge, always. But follower, that doesn't sound very attractive.
But the call of Christianity is the call to come follow Jesus. We see it in the second paragraph of our text
tonight. Again and again and again, we find this language of following. Follow me, Jesus says.
But then again, who wants to be a mere follower?
And yet think about, I think, think about a craft like woodworking or furniture design or architecture,
even music. Think about one of these sort of robust human skills, human traditions, human crafts.
How do you go about becoming really great in that area of expertise, whatever it is?
Well, the best way is to find someone who does it really, really well.
To find a master of the art, of the craft, and spend as much time with them as possible, right?
To apprentice yourself to them, to become a learner in their school, to let them mentor you.
Because so much of what it means to become proficient and expert in a robust human skill or craft or art form
can't be learned from books or from YouTube videos.
You need to learn it in a relationship from someone who's mastered the craft.
As many of you know, my wife and I bought our first home last summer.
So we now have to take up all sorts of crafts in our home, fixing things, repairing things.
So I've tried to learn a lot of things from YouTube.
I've learned that YouTube cannot teach you everything about how to fix your house.
But friends, this is what it meant to be a disciple in the ancient world.
To be a student of a teacher.
To be better an apprentice of a craftsman.
In fact, to enter into a relationship where you would begin,
not just to learn how to do this or that skill, to learn a certain competency,
but you would actually learn how to become the sort of person who really could master that art,
that way of seeing and expressing yourself in the world.
Now imagine that there were someone to whom you could attach yourself
that wasn't just a master at this or that particular technique or profession or skill.
Imagine you could attach yourself to someone who was truly the master at the art of being human.
Of living human life as it was meant to be lived in all of its dimensions.
Imagine you could attach yourself to that person,
to be a learner at his feet,
to be an apprentice to his craft.
Imagine you could enter into a relationship with someone who through that relationship
could actually cause you to become more fully human.
Who could cause you to come alive to who you were created to be.
Well, when we talk about discipleship in Christianity,
that's what we're talking about.
We're talking about entering into a vital relationship with Jesus Christ
in the fellowship of his church
and becoming in and through that relationship alive
to who God created us to be.
Discipleship just isn't about learning how to do Bible studies
and going to prayer meetings
and doing one-on-one coffee dates every once in a while
with your pastor who keeps pestering you.
It's about becoming alive in relationship with Jesus.
Now, perhaps all this sounds a bit far-fetched to you.
Of course, maybe you're hungry to become more authentically you,
more fully human and alive.
Who isn't after all, right?
But maybe you're not so sure that becoming a follower of Jesus
is really the road to get there.
Well, let me say, if that's you,
why not at least come and listen?
Why not at least in the coming weeks
explore what Jesus has to offer?
Try it on.
Give it a shot.
What do you have to lose?
And as we kind of embark on this exploration together,
it makes sense for us to go to the Gospels.
Of course, in a sense,
the whole of Scripture was actually given to us
to shape us into disciples of Jesus.
So I suppose we could have preached
just about any part of the Bible in this series
and said,
we're doing a series on discipleship
from the second half of Jeremiah
or something like that.
But, you know,
if we want to focus with laser-like intensity
on what it means to follow Christ,
it makes sense, doesn't it,
to go to the Gospel accounts in the New Testament
where we are shown face-to-face
the person of Jesus
and shown firsthand
what it was like
for those first disciples
to actually follow Him.
And the reason why we're sort of jumping
into the middle of Luke's Gospel
this spring and summer
is because in Luke's Gospel,
starting in chapter 9, verse 51,
and going all the way to chapter 19, really,
Luke uses almost a third
of his Gospel account
to take us on a journey
of following Jesus.
In this part of Luke's narrative,
the disciples are literally
following Jesus on the way.
Now, a bit of context in Luke.
At this part of the story,
the disciples have already confessed
their belief in Jesus as the Messiah.
And now, as Jesus makes His way to Jerusalem,
where He's going to complete His mission,
He's going to, along the way,
teach His disciples all about
what it means to be His follower.
Roughly speaking, in Luke's Gospel,
if you think of chapters 1 through 9
as a unit,
they really kind of talk about
who Jesus is in a broad way,
the nature of His identity and mission.
And then if you go ahead
to chapters 20 through 24
in Luke's Gospel,
that's kind of all about
what Jesus has come to do,
the climax of His death and resurrection.
And in the middle,
from chapter 9 to 19,
we're not so much shown who He is
or what He's come to do,
but what it means to follow Him.
What does a life shaped by His person
and work by faith in Him
really look like?
That's one of the major concerns
that Luke takes up
in this middle section of his Gospel
as he takes us on this journey
with Jesus to Jerusalem.
So it's a good place for us to be
for the next few months
as we think about what it means for us
to follow Jesus today.
And in the two paragraphs
of our text tonight,
real basically tonight,
I just want us to see
two lessons about discipleship.
First, a lesson in mercy.
And second, a lesson in priority.
So let's look first
at this lesson in mercy.
In verses 51 through 56,
Jesus begins His journey to Jerusalem.
And this is a real turning point
in Luke's Gospel.
As we said, up till now,
most of the action has been
in the north, in Galilee.
But in Jerusalem,
Jesus' ministry is going to reach
its climax in Luke's Gospel.
There, He will accomplish
the work He's come to do.
Which, if you look a little earlier
in chapter 9,
in the account of Jesus' transfiguration,
it's described as His departure.
Or literally, His exodus.
That is, in Jesus' climactic event,
what He's going to go
and accomplish in Jerusalem,
God is going to accomplish
a new event of liberation
and redemption for His people.
So here Jesus sets out
and begins.
But,
just as,
back in chapter 4,
where Jesus' ministry
in Galilee begins,
how do you remember
how it begins in chapter 4?
Jesus being rejected
in Nazareth.
Jesus' public ministry
in Luke's Gospel
begins with a scene of rejection.
And so it is here.
At this turning point
in Luke's Gospel,
the journey to Jerusalem
begins also
with a story of rejection.
And this time,
not in Nazareth,
but in Samaria.
Now, many of you
are students of the Bible
and you know
that Samaria
was this region
sort of sandwiched
in between Jerusalem
in the south
and Galilee in the north.
And historically,
for all sorts of cultural
and ethnic reasons,
Jews and Samaritans
utterly despised each other.
But here,
in Luke 9,
notice what Jesus is doing.
Instead of taking
the long route
that he could have taken
around Samaria
to avoid
all those Samaritans
like most Jews
of that day
would have done,
Jesus goes
straight in.
And he asks
to stay
in one of their villages.
He extends
an offer to them
to be received,
to be welcomed,
to be embraced,
yes,
even by Samaritans.
And that fact
in and of itself
is saying something.
Luke especially
wants us to see
that Jesus
has come
for all people,
insiders
and outsiders.
They are all
invited to receive him,
to enter into God's kingdom,
to follow him.
But as Jesus
makes this
surprising,
shocking
embrace,
the story
takes
a different turn
in verse 53.
Instead of
receiving Jesus,
what happens?
The Samaritan village
refuses him.
And why?
Because,
Luke says,
they knew
that Jesus
and his disciples
were headed to Jerusalem.
What does that mean?
Well,
you see,
this time of year,
every year,
Jews from Galilee
would journey south
to Jerusalem
for the Passover festival.
And where would
those Jews have to do?
They would have to
either go through Samaria
or go around.
And Samaritans
typically
did not like
helping
Jewish pilgrims
going to a feast
at a place
that they regarded
as the wrong
sanctuary.
For them,
the temple in Jerusalem
was a sham
and a parody
and they weren't going
to help anyone
get there,
especially not Jews.
You know,
it would be kind of like
showing up
at a Microsoft convention
proudly wearing
your Apple t-shirt.
Here I am.
Where can I find
the iPhone booth?
Yeah,
you can't find that here.
You've got to buy a Zoom
at the corner
or whatever.
Oh wait,
they don't make those anymore.
Yeah,
my bad.
You're not going to get
a warm reception,
right?
People don't think
you belong.
You're playing
for the wrong team.
Now imagine that feeling
times about one million
and you can imagine
how a typical Jew
on his way to Jerusalem
would have been received
in a typical Samaritan village.
You don't belong here
and we're certainly
not going to help you.
And what's the disciples'
response to all this?
Well,
there's certainly
no love lost,
right?
They want to call down
fire from heaven
to consume
the whole village.
James and John
were told in Mark's gospel
were known
as the sons of thunder.
father.
And here,
unfortunately,
it seems they are
living up to their nickname.
And actually,
in doing this,
the disciples are remembering
a story from the Old Testament.
A story where the prophet Elijah,
when confronted
by hostile armies,
was able to call down
fire from heaven
and be protected.
In verse 54,
the disciples are
actually practically
quoting that story
from 1 Kings 1,
verse 10.
And if you look at
the footnote of your Bible,
some later sort of
copyists of the New Testament
actually gave us
a little bit of an
explanatory gloss there
and said,
as Elijah did.
But you know,
more than just echoing
some Old Testament scripture,
don't you see that
the disciples here,
they're being kind of angry
and maybe a little protective.
Their master
has just been rejected,
the one that they believe
to be God's king
and rejected by Samaritans,
no less.
How dare they?
Would it not be right,
after all,
to bring swift judgment
down from heaven?
Isn't that what this village
deserves?
They're rejecting God's king.
Wouldn't that teach
all these Samaritans a lesson?
Wouldn't that actually
compel the other villages
to submit?
Hey, Jesus,
if we burn up this village,
you better believe
that the next one we go to,
they're probably going
to receive you, right?
And of course,
it's easy to see
that the disciples
are way off base
and wrongheaded.
It's funny how they can
quote a passage
from 1 Kings
on the spot
to justify their anger
and prejudice,
and yet they have
so quickly forgotten
what Jesus himself
has just taught them
in recent days,
to love their enemies
and to be merciful
as our Father in heaven
is merciful.
But it's easy
to point a finger
at the disciples,
isn't it?
Aren't we so often
the same way as them?
In our own anger,
in our own self-righteousness,
when we get offended,
when we get rejected,
we lash out,
don't we?
Maybe we don't literally
call down fire from heaven,
but in our hearts,
there's kind of a low-grade
sort of judgment
and retribution
that boils just the same.
And of course,
we can very easily
justify our anger
and justify our judgmental spirit.
Maybe even we can
quote a Bible verse or two
in support of our own position.
But what does Jesus do?
He turns
and rebukes them
and us.
Rebukes them
because that sort of violence
has no place in his kingdom.
This is not the kind of kingdom
that's going to compel people
to submit with fire from heaven.
Jesus rebukes our desire
to judge our enemies.
Instead,
Jesus tells us
to pray for our enemies,
to love them
and do good to them.
You can see Jesus
teaching this
for yourself
back in Luke chapter 6
if you want to turn there later.
And there we find
and here we find
that it's mercy
that discipleship demands.
Jesus is patient
and long-suffering
with those
who would refuse him.
In his first coming,
Jesus didn't come
to judge his enemies
but to save them.
Jesus didn't come
to call down fire
upon them.
Why did he come?
He came to bear
the fire for them.
Remember that Jesus
is on his way
to Jerusalem after all.
And what awaits Jesus there?
Not what the disciples
are thinking.
Military conquest,
political victory,
none of those things.
Rather,
it's the cross.
Consider,
here are James and John
angry and judgmental
because the Samaritans
have refused
to welcome their king.
And yet,
in a few short weeks
when they get to Jerusalem,
are they going to end up
any better?
As the authorities
in Jerusalem
drag Jesus away
to be condemned
and crucified,
the disciples too
are going to deny him
and refuse him
and want nothing
to do with him.
Friends,
we are all
like this Samaritan village,
aren't we?
We see Jesus coming
and we push him away
and want nothing
to do with him.
But instead of calling down
rightful judgment upon us,
what does Christ do?
He undergoes
the just judgment
for us.
And when you see
what Jesus has done
for us,
that's what produces
mercy in us
as his disciples.
After Jesus'
death and resurrection,
the church is going
to take the gospel
not just to Jerusalem
and Judea,
but where?
To Samaria
and to the ends
of the earth.
It's as if the cross
and resurrection
of Jesus,
that great act
of mercy for them,
is going to utterly
break their self-righteousness
and their racial pride.
And James and John
will each,
in their own way,
lay down their lives
for the sake of Jesus
and the gospel.
No longer calling down
fire on their enemies,
but loving them
sacrificially,
just as Jesus
had done for them.
And friends,
today,
mercy is still
the shape
of true discipleship.
In light of this passage,
I think it's good
to ask ourselves,
how do we respond
when we hear of people
rejecting or refusing
Christ?
What emotions
run through our heart?
Is it anger?
Pride?
A desire for judgment?
Or do our hearts break
because they're refusing
the author of life?
And do we remind ourselves
that apart from God's grace,
we too
would still be rejecting
and refusing Him?
Following Jesus
means responding
with mercy,
even and especially
to those who reject
and despise us.
Responding with mercy
because we've received mercy.
That's the first lesson,
a lesson in mercy.
The second lesson
in our text tonight
is a lesson
about priorities.
In verses 57 through 62,
three would-be disciples
approach Jesus.
And to each one,
Jesus makes
this startling claim
that following Him
has to take priority
over every other commitment
and every other desire.
Look at this first
would-be disciple.
He says,
Jesus,
I'll follow you
wherever you go.
You can almost hear
His sort of overconfidence.
Wherever you go,
Jesus,
I'm there.
But Jesus
perhaps senses
how sure
this man is of himself
and challenges him.
The road ahead
isn't going to be
one of comfort and ease,
Jesus says,
but one of hardship
and rejection.
The Son of Man
has nowhere to lay His head.
Is this would-be follower
willing to put Jesus
ahead of His desire
for creature comforts?
Is He willing
to truly make Jesus first?
The second of these three guys
is also willing
to follow Jesus,
we learned,
but first He wants
to go bury His father.
Now,
in first century culture,
that was an incredibly
important duty.
It was almost unthinkable
to leave undone.
But Jesus says
that even this most important
filial duty,
burying your own father
must come second
to following Him.
And finally,
this third would-be
disciple promises
to follow Jesus.
If only first
He can say farewell
to His friends
and family at home.
Which seems like
a reasonable request.
And there's actually
another echo here
of the Old Testament
stories of Elijah.
When Elijah goes
and he calls Elisha
to be his follower,
to be his assistant,
Elisha turns and says,
okay, Elijah,
let me first go home
and say farewell first.
Then I'll come
and follow you.
And what does Elijah say?
Okay,
go ahead.
Sounds like a reasonable
thing to do.
But you see how different
Jesus' response is?
This time,
things have changed.
God's plan
at this point
is unfolding
with such importance
and with such urgency.
And Jesus Himself
is so much greater
than Elijah
that not even
the close bonds
of family affection
can override the call
to come follow Him
right now.
And of course,
the overarching point
in these three interactions
is clear.
Following Jesus' discipleship
means making Him
the uncontested priority
in your life.
And notice that
all these things
that Jesus says
must take second place
to Him
in these interactions
are in themselves
good things, right?
A safe and comfortable home
fulfilling your sort of
traditional filial duties,
family affection,
and bonds.
These are good things.
And even good things
cannot and must not
detract
from putting Christ's
uppermost
uncontested
in your allegiance.
Let me first,
the second and third
would-be disciples
say here,
let me first
go bury my father.
Let me first
go home
and say goodbye
to my family
and friends.
Friends,
I wonder how would you
finish that sentence?
Let me first.
Maybe for you
it's also a family
obligation or bond.
Maybe you're afraid
of offending your family
by becoming a Christian
or maybe there's
some duty that you feel
you have to fulfill
to them that keeps you
from serving Christ
as you ought to.
Maybe your spouse
isn't a believer
and you're not sure
how he or she would
respond if you started
genuinely following Jesus.
Let me first,
you might say.
Let me first
figure things out
with my family
and then I'll come
follow you,
Jesus.
But maybe you'd
fill in the blank
another way.
I'll follow you,
Jesus,
but let me first,
let me first get back
on my feet.
Let me get my life
together.
Let me get my act
together and then
I'll follow you.
Let me first
see where this
relationship is going
with my boyfriend
or girlfriend.
Let me first
get that into a good
place and then
I'll come follow you.
Let me first
finish up my degree
and get settled
into a career
and then I'll really
follow you,
Jesus.
Let me first
get some airtight
answers to all
my doubts
and questions
and really
make sure
that this thing
is certain
and then
I'll follow you.
And in this text
Jesus is saying
you can't do it
that way.
You can't have
a let me first
and truly be
his disciple.
He has to be
your first.
But why?
Why is Jesus
so demanding
at this point?
I mean when you
compare these two
episodes in this
text,
isn't it a wild
juxtaposition?
Didn't we just see
how Jesus is so
merciful and patient
and long-suffering
in verse 51
through 56?
Now he seems like
a complete
megalomaniac
demanding nothing
less than total
commitment right now.
Why is this a
legitimate claim
for him to make?
Why?
Three things.
First,
notice the urgency.
Isn't there an
overriding sense
of urgency
in this paragraph?
At this point
in Jesus' earthly
ministry,
things are headed
to their climax.
Now is the time
to decide.
The kingdom of God
is at hand,
Jesus kept telling
those who were
around him.
And friends,
the same is true
of us today.
There is urgency
in the call
of God's kingdom.
at a very simple
level,
none of us
knows how many
days that we
have left to live.
Preachers,
for some reason,
love to talk about
getting hit by buses
when you leave church.
I don't know why
that is.
You never know.
It could happen
to you.
But friends,
on a serious note,
you never know.
You don't know
how many days
you have left.
this could be
the moment
that God
is giving you
to come
and follow him.
The time
to decide
is now.
But notice
second
why Jesus
says this.
Notice
what we see
of Jesus'
identity
in this passage.
On the one hand,
he calls himself
the son of man,
which on the surface,
on the surface anyway,
seems like a title
of humility,
but maybe we'll get
a chance to come back
to that title
when we explore
this series
a little more.
But you know,
then,
even if he sort of
begins to present himself
as one of humility
without a place
to lay his head,
then look at his response
to the second
would-be disciple.
Let the dead
bury their own dead.
Which is to say,
let the spiritually dead,
all those people
back home,
bury the physically dead,
your father.
Okay,
now that's a harsh
thing to say,
but do you see
the claim that Jesus
is making there?
He's saying that
everyone who refuses
to come follow him
is still living
in the realm
of spiritual death.
That apart from him,
they have not
and will not
come alive to God.
That he's the source
of real life.
And then the last
verse of our passage,
Jesus implies
that to follow him
is to pursue
God's kingdom.
To come after him
with wholehearted
devotion
is the same thing
as being a part
of God's healing,
righteous reign
in the world.
And when you
take a step back,
when Jesus says
all this about
following him,
you must have
given him
complete,
absolute priority
over everything else,
when Jesus says
you've got to make
me first
and nothing else,
he's making
a claim
that in the context
for a faithful
first century Jew
belonged to no one
else but God alone.
There was only one
who could claim
that sort of devotion
over all else
and it was
the Lord himself.
And Jesus is saying
you must put
me first.
Jesus is pointing us
to his identity here.
He's pointing us
to the fact
that a relationship
with him
is a relationship
with the God
who made us.
He must
take first place.
Otherwise,
you are out of joint
with the one
who made you
and sustains you
and the only one
who can save you.
But third,
why does Jesus
make such an
uncompromising demand?
Third,
consider
that what Jesus
is calling us
to do here
to make him
our complete
and utter priority
is actually
easier
in a sense
than what these
men are trying
to do.
No one puts
his hand
to the plow
and looks back
is fit
for the kingdom
of God.
What happens
if you're plowing
a field
and constantly
looking back?
I can only guess
because I've never
plowed a field.
But look,
if you've got
your hands
on that plow
and you're looking
over your shoulder,
you're not going
to be digging
nice straight rows
in the field.
They're going to be
going all over
the place.
and not only
are your rows
going to be
curved
and ugly,
you might even
strike a rock
destroying not
just your harvest
but the very
plow itself.
It's impractical
and it's maybe
even dangerous
to plow
when your attention
is divided.
C.S. Lewis
captures this
well toward the
end of mere
Christianity.
He says that how
so many of us
approach Christianity
is that on the
one hand,
we do what we
think is our
duty to God.
We keep our nose
out of trouble.
We show up for
church.
We do some good
deeds for our
neighbors.
We do all that
all the while
on the other hand,
really hoping that
there's some time
and some energy
and some money
sort of left over
that we can kind
of spend on
ourselves and our
own things.
We still want to
have a little bit
of time left over
for what he calls
our natural self,
the things that we
kind of want to do.
We're like an honest
man paying our taxes.
We'll give what is
due hoping that we've
got a little treasure
left to just kind
of enjoy on ourselves.
But that's not
going to work when
it comes to
following Jesus.
The demands of
discipleship are too
great.
Jesus' intention for
his followers is not
merely to improve
this or that aspect
of your personality,
to do a little tweak
here or a little
nudge there,
to just give you
kind of a little push.
His intention is to
remodel you from the
inside out,
to make you a new
creation,
to make us,
as Lewis will say
in another place,
not nice people,
but a new humanity.
And so if we
approach discipleship
like these three men
with one foot in
and one foot out,
it's never going to
work.
Either we're going to
end up miserable on
the road to discipleship
because we can never
keep up with the
demands and there's
never anything left
over, which is what
we really want.
We'll either be
totally miserable or
we'll just give up
altogether.
So you see what
Jesus is calling his
disciples to do
is on the one hand
harder.
Give me all of you.
Give me,
make me first
over everything else.
But what Jesus is
calling us to do
is easier.
Give me all of you
and stop trying
to live
with divided
attention
and divided
loyalties.
Give me your
whole self
and let me take
care of the rest.
This is what
discipleship means.
The Samaritans
who reject Jesus,
Jesus moves on.
But to those who
open the door to him,
like these three men,
Jesus wants to come
the whole way in.
He wants to push in,
take control,
and be first.
That's what it means
to be his disciple,
to let him displace
every other thing
that might compete
for priority in our
lives.
And of course,
that doesn't mean
that we all quit our
jobs and become
hermits or overseas
missionaries.
But it does mean
that whatever we do,
it's done through
the lens of making
Jesus first,
of following him
and obeying him,
even if it means
losing comfort and
security,
like this first one.
Even if it means
offending family
and tradition,
like the second one.
Even if it means
missing our loved
ones.
But in order to
understand this call
to priority,
in order to really
put it in perspective,
I think we need to
see two final things.
First, we need to
see that what Jesus
is calling us into,
as we said in the
very beginning tonight,
is a life where we
become who we were
created to be.
In other words,
what we stand to
lose in following
Jesus is nothing
compared to what
we gain.
I remember years
ago visiting a
museum in Florence,
Italy,
the museum where
Michelangelo's sculpture
of David is on
display.
It's kind of a funny
little museum.
There's like a bunch
of junk there,
and then you turn
the corner and
there's this huge
statue.
It's like kind of
the only thing they
have, which isn't
true, but it feels
like it's the only
thing they have
there.
But flanking both
sides of this
gallery, as you
kind of turn the
corner and look,
and there's the
David, flanking
both sides of this
gallery are
sculptures by
Michelangelo that
aren't finished.
They were
sculptures in
process, and the
curators of the
museum, in a
brilliant move, put
them, and they
just placed them
along the sides of
the hall, and
there was the
David.
And you could
still see the
chisel marks all
around each one of
those figures, and
it looked as if this
sort of beautiful
figure was emerging
from a block of
stone.
And that's often
what discipleship
feels like.
God progressively
just chiseling away
at our old life,
which no doubt can be
painful and
challenging.
Is this a
priority in your
life?
Chisel it away.
Is this competing
with me?
Chisel it away.
But the end that
he has in view in
all of that
rigorous work is
glorious.
I think they call
those statues the
prisoners or
something like that
because they look
like they're sort of
trapped in stone.
And yet another way
of looking at it is
that they're being
liberated.
they're coming
out.
And at the head of
that gallery stands
the David, one of
the most stunning
works of human
sculpture ever
created.
And through the
chisel marks, we're
being liberated from
stone, friends.
And we're being made
into the image of the
true and better
David.
The one who is
truly human.
The Lord Jesus
Christ.
What we stand to lose
in following Jesus
is nothing compared
to what we gain.
He's setting us
free with each
hit of the chisel.
people.
But lastly, consider
what Jesus is calling
us to do to make
him our utter
priority, to let
nothing distract us
from following him.
Friends, that's
exactly the road
that he's traveled
for us.
Luke opens this
whole section of
his gospel in
verse 51 by saying
that Jesus set
his face to go
to Jerusalem.
He set his face
with uncompromising
priority and
determination to go
to Jerusalem.
Why?
For you.
The phrase set his
face is actually an
echo of Isaiah.
It's a brilliant
little expression by
Luke there.
In Isaiah chapter
50 verse 7
describing the
redeeming work of
the suffering servant
Isaiah says that he
set his face like
flint.
To suffer and die
in the place of
God's people so
that God could bring
about a new
exodus and so that
God could take his
people into the new
creation.
And here Luke with
one little turn of
phrase is calling
forth all of that
Old Testament theology
and pouring it right
into Jesus just as
Jesus had taught his
disciples and saying
Jesus set his face.
Jesus put the saving
plan of the father
first.
Jesus made that his
priority no matter
the cost
for you.
And friends if he did
that for you
then you need not fear
to put him first in
your life.
He will liberate you
from the stone
and he will make you
fit for the kingdom
of God.
So this then is the
beginning of the
journey of discipleship.
To see, to receive,
and to live his
mercy and to
acknowledge, receive,
and embrace him as
your priority.
Friends where are you
at on this road of
discipleship?
The risen Jesus
continues to say to
us today follow me.
follow me.
Let's pray.
Lord, we confess that
when we hear your
challenge to put all
things in second place
to you, Lord, we
acknowledge that that's
often a move that we
can't make in our own
power.
Lord, we feel trapped
by these old
allegiances and these
old things that have
gripped our life.
So, Lord, we pray
that by your spirit you
would do a liberating
work.
Lord, we thank you
that you, in your
wisdom and inspiring
scripture, left these
stories open.
Lord, that you didn't
tell us how these men
responded so that we
would be set on the
cusp with them to
respond.
So help us, Lord, by
your spirit to receive
your mercy and to put
you first in our lives
and help us as a
community to encourage
one another on this
road of discipleship, we
pray.
Amen.