WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.820 Well, again, I say good morning to those of you who are here in person and online. 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:09.359 So glad that we can be together. 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:14.040 We are very excited this morning because this is Commitment Sunday. 00:00:14.220 --> 00:00:19.179 It's the culmination of the Home Campaign, which has been going on for some time. 00:00:19.699 --> 00:00:24.980 And we started the campaign a couple of years ago and then COVID hit, so we had to hit a 00:00:24.980 --> 00:00:30.600 brief pause on it, and now it's our joy and delight to come back and to reach this day, 00:00:30.679 --> 00:00:32.640 which is a huge, momentous occasion. 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:37.060 This is one of the biggest things, if not the biggest thing we've ever done as a church 00:00:37.060 --> 00:00:37.500 community. 00:00:37.500 --> 00:00:41.100 We have the opportunity to take this massive step of faith together. 00:00:41.379 --> 00:00:44.380 So in a little while, you're going to have an opportunity to come forward. 00:00:44.480 --> 00:00:49.700 We're all going to have an opportunity to come forward having filled out a pledge card, the 00:00:49.700 --> 00:00:54.120 amount that we intend to give to this campaign, and to bring it up as an offering and to put 00:00:54.119 --> 00:00:55.659 it in one of the offering plates up here. 00:00:56.619 --> 00:01:01.799 So in light of the fact that we're going to make this major commitment together, I thought 00:01:01.799 --> 00:01:05.739 it only appropriate that we spend a little bit of time before we do this reflecting on 00:01:05.739 --> 00:01:09.879 commitment and the role of commitment in the Christian life. 00:01:10.859 --> 00:01:15.780 Hopefully it's become clear by now in this Home Campaign series that what we're really 00:01:15.780 --> 00:01:19.780 talking about is not a campaign, it's discipleship. 00:01:19.780 --> 00:01:27.219 That all of these topics that we focused on are core aspects of what it means to follow 00:01:27.219 --> 00:01:27.620 Jesus. 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:33.420 And one of my great hopes, as I have prayed for this day for years, is that whatever 00:01:33.420 --> 00:01:40.340 commitment we make this morning to this campaign, whatever that is, we would only do it because 00:01:40.340 --> 00:01:44.240 we see it as an extension of the commitment that we've already made to Jesus. 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:49.459 And we see this act as a part of our discipleship. 00:01:49.699 --> 00:01:55.899 So this is what I want to look at this morning, this idea, this theme of commitment as a part 00:01:55.899 --> 00:01:56.780 of discipleship. 00:01:56.939 --> 00:02:02.219 And we're going to do that by looking at Luke chapter 14, verses 25 through 35. 00:02:02.399 --> 00:02:08.240 That's going to be our guide to help us understand commitment for disciples of Jesus. 00:02:08.439 --> 00:02:10.120 So we're going to see the cost of commitment. 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:13.939 commitment, we're going to see the heart of commitment, and then finally we're going to 00:02:13.939 --> 00:02:16.420 see the purpose of commitment. 00:02:16.680 --> 00:02:19.580 So let's pray and then let's open God's Word together. 00:02:20.819 --> 00:02:25.680 Lord, we thank you for your Word and I thank you that we can come in here with all kinds 00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:32.240 of distractions, anxieties, things that are tugging at our minds and hearts, Lord, and 00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:38.659 yet we can come into this space and open your Word as your people and that you will speak 00:02:38.659 --> 00:02:40.079 to us. 00:02:40.079 --> 00:02:45.719 Because these aren't just dead words on a page and you're not just a dead God, but 00:02:45.719 --> 00:02:46.859 you're a living God. 00:02:47.079 --> 00:02:49.099 And these words are living and active. 00:02:49.379 --> 00:02:53.460 And your Holy Spirit is in our midst, ministering to us even now. 00:02:53.560 --> 00:02:57.599 And so I pray that wherever we're coming from this morning, whatever view we have of you, 00:02:58.079 --> 00:03:02.340 whatever we think we need, Lord, that you would give us what we truly need, that you would 00:03:02.340 --> 00:03:06.680 do your work through your Word in us, Lord, that we might be a people who glorify you. 00:03:06.680 --> 00:03:08.740 We pray this in your Son's holy name. 00:03:09.020 --> 00:03:09.240 Amen. 00:03:11.140 --> 00:03:15.560 So first of all, we're going to talk a little bit about the cost of commitment. 00:03:16.540 --> 00:03:20.400 As we hear these words read, Jeff read this passage a moment ago. 00:03:20.480 --> 00:03:24.819 It's easy to miss, but I want you to take note of Jesus' audience here. 00:03:25.100 --> 00:03:30.680 A lot of the time we read Jesus' teaching, He's teaching His disciples, but not so here. 00:03:30.680 --> 00:03:37.560 It says in verse 25, now great crowds accompanied Him, and He turned and said to them. 00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:42.159 So this entire section is what Jesus is saying to the crowds. 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:45.960 So this is not something that He's saying privately to His disciples. 00:03:46.180 --> 00:03:50.540 He's speaking to potential disciples, potential recruits. 00:03:51.020 --> 00:03:51.800 They're interested. 00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:53.300 They want to learn more. 00:03:53.300 --> 00:03:57.820 And I think that that's worth noting because I think many of us, if we were trying to accumulate 00:03:57.820 --> 00:04:03.020 a mass of followers, we might be tempted at this point when we see all of these potential 00:04:03.020 --> 00:04:06.140 disciples, we might be tempted to dumb it down a little bit. 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:12.480 We might be tempted to sort of dumb down discipleship, a kind of try it before you buy it approach. 00:04:12.600 --> 00:04:16.379 You know, well, just give it a try, you know, follow me for a few weeks and see how it works 00:04:16.379 --> 00:04:16.660 out. 00:04:17.300 --> 00:04:20.340 But that is not what Jesus does. 00:04:20.339 --> 00:04:29.579 Jesus basically says in this entire passage, I want to make sure you understand what you're 00:04:29.579 --> 00:04:32.560 getting into if you become one of my disciples. 00:04:33.079 --> 00:04:39.979 I want to make sure you fully understand the kind of commitment that is required before you 00:04:39.979 --> 00:04:41.799 become one of my disciples. 00:04:42.179 --> 00:04:43.899 I want you to know what it might cost you. 00:04:43.899 --> 00:04:53.639 In her essay, An Expedition to the Pole, which is in Teaching a Stone to Talk, Annie Dillard 00:04:53.639 --> 00:04:59.039 tells the story of the ill-fated Franklin Expedition. 00:04:59.159 --> 00:05:04.259 I'm going to read a shortened quote from her description. 00:05:04.599 --> 00:05:07.319 I had to cut a little bit for the sake of time. 00:05:07.919 --> 00:05:08.979 Here's what she says. 00:05:08.980 --> 00:05:17.340 In 1845, Sir John Franklin and 138 officers and men embarked from England to find the Northwest 00:05:17.340 --> 00:05:21.300 Passage across the high Canadian Arctic to the Pacific Ocean. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:24.500 They sailed in two three-masted barks. 00:05:24.960 --> 00:05:31.200 Each sailing vessel carried an auxiliary steam engine and a 12-day supply of coal for the entire 00:05:31.200 --> 00:05:34.080 projected two or three years voyage. 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:37.819 Instead of additional coal, according to L.P. 00:05:37.899 --> 00:05:46.939 Kerwin, each ship made room for a 1,200-volume library, a hand organ playing 50 tunes, China 00:05:46.939 --> 00:05:53.620 place settings for officers and men, cut glass wine goblets, and sterling silver flatware. 00:05:54.659 --> 00:05:59.699 The officers' sterling silver knives, forks, and spoons were particularly interesting. 00:05:59.699 --> 00:06:05.699 The silver was of ornate Victorian design, very heavy at the handles and richly patterned. 00:06:06.439 --> 00:06:11.060 Engraved on the handles were the individual officers' initials and family crests. 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:17.980 The expedition carried no special clothing for the Arctic, only the uniforms of Her Majesty's 00:06:17.980 --> 00:06:18.279 Navy. 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:23.659 The ship set out in high dudgeon amid enormous glory and fanfare. 00:06:24.199 --> 00:06:26.000 Franklin uttered his utterance, 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:30.360 The highest object of my desire is faithfully to perform my duty. 00:06:31.240 --> 00:06:35.879 Two months later, a British whaling captain met the two barks in Lancaster Sound. 00:06:36.379 --> 00:06:41.060 He reported back to England on the high spirits of officers and men. 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:46.199 He was the last European to see any of them alive. 00:06:47.459 --> 00:06:53.459 For 20 years, search parties recovered skeletons from all over the frozen sea. 00:06:53.459 --> 00:06:58.419 Franklin himself, it was learned after 12 years, had died aboard ship. 00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:04.479 One search party found on the ice far from the ships a letter clip and a piece of that 00:07:04.479 --> 00:07:09.299 very backgammon board which Lady Jane Franklin had given her husband as a parting gift. 00:07:10.199 --> 00:07:14.759 Another search party found two skeletons in a boat on a sledge. 00:07:15.419 --> 00:07:17.459 They had hauled the boat 65 miles. 00:07:17.459 --> 00:07:26.180 With the two skeletons were some chocolate, some guns, some tea, and a great deal of table silver. 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:30.639 That was the Franklin expedition. 00:07:32.579 --> 00:07:39.599 Before you go on an expedition to the Arctic, it's very important to count the cost of that 00:07:39.599 --> 00:07:40.919 kind of endeavor. 00:07:42.099 --> 00:07:44.279 And Sir John Franklin failed to do that. 00:07:44.279 --> 00:07:49.359 He greatly underestimated what was going to be required of them. 00:07:50.359 --> 00:07:55.459 And so, what they did was to pack like tourists, going on a pleasure cruise. 00:07:56.159 --> 00:07:57.579 And the results were disastrous. 00:07:59.259 --> 00:08:01.899 Later in her essay, Dillard writes, 00:08:02.899 --> 00:08:10.239 Why do we people in churches seem like cheerful, brainless tourists on a packaged tour of the absolute? 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:17.840 As you see the statistics of people leaving the church right now in the West, 00:08:18.840 --> 00:08:24.980 I can only wonder how many of those people were sold a version of Christianity 00:08:24.980 --> 00:08:28.720 that promised a packaged tour of the absolute. 00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:32.360 A version of faith that said, 00:08:32.600 --> 00:08:37.200 We can bring our sterling silver and our china with us. 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:39.800 Bring your politics. 00:08:40.300 --> 00:08:41.280 Bring your priorities. 00:08:41.660 --> 00:08:42.940 Bring your preferences. 00:08:43.320 --> 00:08:44.100 Bring your wealth. 00:08:44.580 --> 00:08:45.940 Bring your allegiances. 00:08:46.300 --> 00:08:48.640 Bring your personal agendas with you. 00:08:49.480 --> 00:08:54.020 Because this trip is ultimately about your pleasure, your enjoyment. 00:08:54.200 --> 00:08:56.140 Nothing much will be required of you. 00:08:56.139 --> 00:09:04.259 It's God's job to make sure you have what you need and that you feel fulfilled in your life. 00:09:06.199 --> 00:09:10.580 And I think that Jesus doesn't want us to make that same mistake. 00:09:11.159 --> 00:09:18.799 So, Jesus very clearly calls us to count the cost before we commit to following Him. 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:19.599 He says, 00:09:19.959 --> 00:09:23.620 Before you build a tower, make sure you have enough money to finish the tower. 00:09:23.699 --> 00:09:27.279 Because otherwise, you're going to have a half-finished tower and people are going to make fun of you. 00:09:28.699 --> 00:09:29.500 And then He says, 00:09:29.620 --> 00:09:32.679 If you're a king and you're going to go to war against another nation, 00:09:32.859 --> 00:09:35.679 make sure you have the resources to win that battle. 00:09:35.939 --> 00:09:37.479 Otherwise, don't fight it. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:39.779 Don't start a fight you can't finish. 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:42.199 Instead, sue for peace. 00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:51.500 Jesus is very clear on the fact that if we commit to following Him, 00:09:51.879 --> 00:09:53.759 we need to have counted the cost. 00:09:53.860 --> 00:09:56.740 We need to be willing, as He says, to pick up our cross. 00:09:57.100 --> 00:09:59.940 We need to be willing, as He says, to renounce all that we have 00:09:59.940 --> 00:10:01.960 because it may cost us everything. 00:10:03.259 --> 00:10:04.200 It's all or none. 00:10:05.340 --> 00:10:06.500 So, this is the first thing. 00:10:06.500 --> 00:10:11.020 Jesus wants us to count the cost of committing to Him. 00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:14.080 But wait, there's more. 00:10:14.900 --> 00:10:19.720 He goes on to take aim directly at our hearts. 00:10:21.460 --> 00:10:24.120 Jesus doesn't just go after our possessions. 00:10:24.940 --> 00:10:27.300 He goes after our affections. 00:10:28.379 --> 00:10:28.740 Right? 00:10:28.780 --> 00:10:29.540 In verse 26, 00:10:29.780 --> 00:10:34.160 If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife 00:10:34.160 --> 00:10:35.940 and children and brothers and sisters, 00:10:35.940 --> 00:10:37.280 yes, and even his own life, 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:39.420 he cannot be My disciple. 00:10:39.640 --> 00:10:41.680 People sometimes point to this. 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:44.540 Skeptics will point to this and say, 00:10:44.700 --> 00:10:46.940 this is one of the reasons why I don't want to follow Jesus 00:10:46.940 --> 00:10:49.300 because He says awful, bizarre things like this. 00:10:49.320 --> 00:10:52.100 Who in the world would say, I need to hate my family. 00:10:52.620 --> 00:10:53.960 What we need to understand is, 00:10:54.220 --> 00:10:56.640 the word hate here is rhetorical. 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:01.220 What Jesus means is that He wants us to love Him 00:11:01.220 --> 00:11:04.259 more than anything else in the world. 00:11:04.259 --> 00:11:10.200 He wants us to love Him so much more that all other loves look like hate. 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:14.360 That there is such a difference between our love for Jesus and our love for anything else 00:11:14.360 --> 00:11:17.100 that these loves look like hate. 00:11:17.259 --> 00:11:19.439 If you're in a dark room and you light a candle, 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:21.519 that candle is very bright by comparison. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:25.559 But if you take that same candle and you hold it up to the sun, 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:29.879 it's going to look like a dark spot by comparison. 00:11:29.879 --> 00:11:31.899 So this is what Jesus means. 00:11:32.799 --> 00:11:36.559 And the reason that Jesus talks about hating your family, 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:39.360 you know, I mean, I heard somebody say, 00:11:39.500 --> 00:11:41.799 well, no problem, I already hate my family. 00:11:41.960 --> 00:11:42.799 You know, so that... 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:47.439 But the reason Jesus talks about hating one's family 00:11:47.439 --> 00:11:53.600 is because He's speaking to a traditional, patriarchal, family-oriented culture. 00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:56.700 In this culture, where was your highest allegiance? 00:11:57.680 --> 00:11:59.379 It was to your family. 00:12:00.220 --> 00:12:01.519 Everybody knew that. 00:12:02.300 --> 00:12:06.720 So your father, your mother, your wife, your children, your brothers and sisters, 00:12:07.139 --> 00:12:11.480 all life was meant to revolve around those relationships. 00:12:11.740 --> 00:12:14.399 And if you, for whatever reason, lost sight of that, 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:18.160 people would very quickly remind you that's where your allegiance should be. 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:21.159 So for this to apply to us, 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:25.740 we have to ask, where is our greatest allegiance? 00:12:26.959 --> 00:12:31.360 What in our culture represents our highest priorities? 00:12:31.779 --> 00:12:34.159 Now, maybe for some of us, maybe for some of you, 00:12:34.279 --> 00:12:38.139 especially if you came from a more traditional, family-oriented culture, 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:39.699 maybe this is true for you. 00:12:40.659 --> 00:12:44.639 But I think many of us probably go in the opposite direction. 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:48.500 We are highly individualistic in this culture. 00:12:49.059 --> 00:12:51.259 So for us, it may not be hate your family. 00:12:51.399 --> 00:12:53.519 It may be hate your personal autonomy. 00:12:55.179 --> 00:12:56.019 Hate your wealth. 00:12:57.179 --> 00:12:59.500 Hate the status that you have in the world. 00:13:01.480 --> 00:13:09.799 Hate your sense of the core right that you have to be able to live and do as you please. 00:13:09.799 --> 00:13:18.719 Whatever it is for us, Jesus is aiming at the things that are most central in our hierarchy of priorities. 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:22.199 And what he's saying is, in order to be my disciple, 00:13:22.479 --> 00:13:27.099 you need to love me so much more than these other things that they pale by comparison. 00:13:27.799 --> 00:13:28.599 That's his point. 00:13:29.799 --> 00:13:31.719 Now, I want to stop and just ask, 00:13:31.720 --> 00:13:37.320 As you think about the cost of this commitment and then the heart of the commitment, 00:13:37.460 --> 00:13:42.759 Jesus is going after not just our possessions, our lifestyles, but really our affections. 00:13:43.540 --> 00:13:45.259 I think we have to ask at this point, 00:13:45.360 --> 00:13:48.019 why in the world, as Jesus is talking to these great crowds, 00:13:48.360 --> 00:13:52.100 why would he make such extreme demands? 00:13:53.700 --> 00:13:55.139 Why would he not say, 00:13:56.220 --> 00:13:57.399 try it before you buy it? 00:13:57.399 --> 00:13:58.439 Why would he not say, 00:13:58.899 --> 00:14:00.340 there's a bronze level commitment, 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:01.740 a silver level commitment, 00:14:01.899 --> 00:14:03.159 a platinum level commitment? 00:14:05.199 --> 00:14:07.139 Why would he be all or none about this? 00:14:07.159 --> 00:14:08.399 It seems so extreme. 00:14:09.000 --> 00:14:15.120 What's the purpose of commitment in the life of people who follow Jesus? 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:17.879 And the answer is, 00:14:19.159 --> 00:14:22.179 the purpose is that Jesus came to set us free. 00:14:22.179 --> 00:14:28.219 And this is the only way we will ever experience that freedom. 00:14:29.819 --> 00:14:32.879 The Bible says that the thing that wrecks our lives, 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:37.739 the thing that leads to so much injustice and suffering and brokenness in the world, 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:42.519 is that we love the wrong things in the wrong order. 00:14:44.059 --> 00:14:47.199 If you ever want to know a summary of the teachings of St. Augustine, 00:14:47.259 --> 00:14:48.319 this is essentially it. 00:14:49.199 --> 00:14:50.699 So I want to be very clear here. 00:14:50.700 --> 00:14:54.000 The problem is not that we love anything too much. 00:14:55.680 --> 00:15:00.220 The problem comes when we love something the most. 00:15:01.340 --> 00:15:02.540 And that's the difference. 00:15:03.320 --> 00:15:05.060 So let me give you a few examples of this. 00:15:05.900 --> 00:15:09.400 You cannot possibly love your parents too much. 00:15:10.100 --> 00:15:15.600 There's nowhere in the Bible that says there should be a limit to how much you love your parents. 00:15:15.680 --> 00:15:18.080 You cannot possibly love your parents too much. 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:22.060 But what happens if you love them the most? 00:15:23.040 --> 00:15:29.800 What happens when you look at that hierarchy of loves and the thing at the very top is your parents? 00:15:30.820 --> 00:15:36.440 They are where you look for meaning and identity and purpose. 00:15:36.440 --> 00:15:38.880 They're the source of those things for you. 00:15:39.420 --> 00:15:43.020 Well, what happens is they will crush you. 00:15:44.860 --> 00:15:46.460 Regardless of their intentions. 00:15:46.760 --> 00:15:48.780 They may be amazing parents. 00:15:49.340 --> 00:15:53.540 But if you love them the most, they're going to crush you. 00:15:53.740 --> 00:15:55.140 Even if they're great people. 00:15:55.139 --> 00:16:06.519 Because as adults, there are times when you may need to make decisions for yourself or make decisions for your family that may disappoint your parents. 00:16:06.659 --> 00:16:08.059 That they may disagree with. 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:11.759 Especially if you're a follower of Jesus and they are not. 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:22.220 There's a difference between honoring your parents and obeying your parents when you're an adult. 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:24.539 You have to know the difference. 00:16:25.439 --> 00:16:38.879 With all due respect, there are some marriages in this room that are held captive by the need for the approval of somebody's parent. 00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:46.100 So you can't possibly love your parents too much. 00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:52.179 But if you love them the most, that's where the problems start. 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:55.539 You cannot possibly love your kids too much. 00:16:55.899 --> 00:17:01.299 But if you love your kids the most, if they are where you find your meaning and your identity, 00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:05.180 you're not actually going to be the kind of parent they need. 00:17:05.180 --> 00:17:06.420 Right? 00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:14.519 Because what your kids need is a parent who is willing to do what is necessary, not what is easiest. 00:17:15.380 --> 00:17:16.840 And I can tell you this. 00:17:18.500 --> 00:17:24.460 My parenting comes down to basically that decision every single day. 00:17:24.460 --> 00:17:29.420 Am I going to do what's easiest for my child in this moment? 00:17:29.539 --> 00:17:32.680 Or am I going to do what's best for my child in this moment? 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:37.480 And at least in our house, what's best often feels like perhaps the hardest option. 00:17:38.940 --> 00:17:40.360 But that's what they need. 00:17:42.279 --> 00:17:42.700 Right? 00:17:42.740 --> 00:17:44.900 They need a parent who's willing to do what's necessary. 00:17:44.900 --> 00:17:55.300 So if you get your emotional needs met through your children, it's going to be almost impossible for you to do that consistently in your home. 00:17:56.180 --> 00:17:57.200 One more example. 00:17:57.540 --> 00:18:00.380 You cannot love individual freedom too much. 00:18:00.460 --> 00:18:02.759 The Bible says that we are to be free. 00:18:03.120 --> 00:18:07.040 Jesus came to set us free that we would have life and have it abundantly. 00:18:07.140 --> 00:18:08.440 This is very clear in Scripture. 00:18:09.140 --> 00:18:12.000 But what if you love individual freedom the most? 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:13.940 What if that sits at the top of the stack? 00:18:14.940 --> 00:18:15.700 Well, guess what? 00:18:15.779 --> 00:18:19.619 Among other things, you're going to be very, very lonely in your life. 00:18:20.319 --> 00:18:21.339 You're going to be very lonely. 00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:34.299 Because all real relationships require us to prioritize the needs and preferences of other people to make massive compromises in terms of our own preferences. 00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:38.299 So you can have personal autonomy in this world. 00:18:38.299 --> 00:18:39.980 You can have total personal autonomy. 00:18:39.980 --> 00:18:42.039 But you're going to have it all by yourself. 00:18:42.620 --> 00:18:44.799 Because your relationships won't work. 00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:50.539 Unless you're willing to sacrifice a great deal of that individual freedom of choice. 00:18:50.539 --> 00:18:55.200 For the sake of loving and serving and being in relationship with other people. 00:18:55.200 --> 00:19:03.680 This is one of the big challenges for people when they think about committing themselves in life to anything. 00:19:03.799 --> 00:19:07.220 Whether it be a long-term job or a spouse. 00:19:08.019 --> 00:19:10.140 Living in a certain place for any length of time. 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:12.740 That commitment is a sacrifice of individual freedom. 00:19:13.220 --> 00:19:18.140 But it's the kind of commitment that is necessary for the things that are most valuable in life. 00:19:18.140 --> 00:19:19.019 Like relationships. 00:19:19.019 --> 00:19:25.579 And the same principle is true for virtually anything in our lives. 00:19:26.579 --> 00:19:28.359 There are a lot of things that we can love. 00:19:28.379 --> 00:19:29.019 A whole lot. 00:19:29.079 --> 00:19:32.799 But if you love any one thing the most, that's where problems come. 00:19:32.900 --> 00:19:34.339 So it could be your wealth. 00:19:34.440 --> 00:19:35.759 It could be financial security. 00:19:35.879 --> 00:19:36.700 It could be status. 00:19:36.859 --> 00:19:39.839 Whatever you love the most is going to dominate you. 00:19:40.579 --> 00:19:42.099 It will become your master. 00:19:42.099 --> 00:19:45.619 So what's the answer? 00:19:46.399 --> 00:19:47.259 What's the answer? 00:19:48.059 --> 00:19:50.159 Well, we basically have two choices. 00:19:50.859 --> 00:19:55.619 We can either try to love the things that we love in our lives less. 00:19:56.699 --> 00:20:01.059 Which requires us to sort of forcibly suppress the love. 00:20:01.500 --> 00:20:03.779 To suppress parts of our heart. 00:20:05.659 --> 00:20:06.779 That doesn't work. 00:20:07.619 --> 00:20:08.399 I've tried it. 00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:09.859 It doesn't work. 00:20:09.859 --> 00:20:15.679 The only other option is to love Jesus the most. 00:20:15.959 --> 00:20:23.259 It's that our love for Jesus grows to such an extent that all of these other loves pale by comparison. 00:20:23.399 --> 00:20:25.659 It's the only other option we have. 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:36.159 But in order to do that, we need what the Scottish preacher Thomas Chalmers referred to as the expulsive power of a new affection. 00:20:36.160 --> 00:20:43.980 He gives all of these examples of how in our lives we will have a love of something. 00:20:44.320 --> 00:20:47.279 And then that love is displaced by a love of something higher. 00:20:47.460 --> 00:20:48.420 And something better. 00:20:48.700 --> 00:20:49.880 And something more significant. 00:20:50.019 --> 00:20:52.680 And that's how love shifts in our heart. 00:20:52.759 --> 00:20:57.700 That's how the stack of the hierarchy of loves ultimately gets changed. 00:20:57.700 --> 00:21:01.000 Whatever sits at the top of that stack has to be displaced. 00:21:01.400 --> 00:21:03.819 And something else has to come in and fill it. 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:04.400 Right? 00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:05.700 So he says what cannot be destroyed. 00:21:06.500 --> 00:21:08.779 We can't destroy the love that we have for things. 00:21:09.640 --> 00:21:11.080 May be dispossessed. 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:18.480 The only way to dispossess the heart of an old affection is by the expulsive power of a new one. 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:30.380 In other words, our hearts have to be captivated by a new love that so far surpasses anything else we have ever loved that it all pales by comparison. 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:34.500 And this is why the gospel is such good news. 00:21:35.579 --> 00:21:37.079 This is why we need Jesus. 00:21:37.880 --> 00:21:45.839 We ask, how is it possible for us to make the kind of commitment to Jesus that he is calling us to in this passage? 00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:49.339 And the gospel says, on your own, you can't. 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:51.579 On your own, that's impossible. 00:21:52.359 --> 00:22:01.240 The only way this becomes possible for us is when we realize that Jesus has already made this kind of commitment to us. 00:22:01.819 --> 00:22:03.839 It's the only way. 00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:05.939 When Jesus says in verse 27, 00:22:06.279 --> 00:22:11.599 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:13.799 What that sounds like he's saying is, 00:22:14.099 --> 00:22:18.639 You need to be willing to accept the reality of your own suffering and death. 00:22:18.919 --> 00:22:20.599 Accept the inevitability of that. 00:22:20.919 --> 00:22:25.439 And prove your devotion to me by being willing to suffer and die for me. 00:22:26.139 --> 00:22:31.079 But the meaning is utterly transformed because of what Jesus then does. 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:37.359 After saying this, Jesus continues his journey, ultimately leading to the cross. 00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:45.139 And what we see on the cross is Jesus being willing to suffer and die for us because of his commitment to us. 00:22:46.139 --> 00:22:49.459 And so what this means is not that we need to suffer and die for Jesus. 00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:54.279 It means that we need to identify with Jesus who suffered and died for us. 00:22:55.559 --> 00:22:56.799 Take up your cross. 00:22:57.579 --> 00:23:02.179 Identify with me as I suffer and die for you. 00:23:02.180 --> 00:23:06.740 And this is exactly what Paul means in Colossians 2 when he says, 00:23:07.360 --> 00:23:11.840 Of Christians, having been buried with him, meaning Jesus, in baptism, 00:23:12.420 --> 00:23:17.500 You were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God. 00:23:18.140 --> 00:23:23.240 When you put your faith in Jesus and when you were baptized in his name, you die. 00:23:25.380 --> 00:23:26.980 You die on the cross. 00:23:26.980 --> 00:23:32.980 And from that moment on, for the rest of your life, no matter how badly you mess up, 00:23:33.039 --> 00:23:39.279 No matter how much you might be tempted to beat yourself up or feel like God is disappointed in you, 00:23:39.880 --> 00:23:41.620 God looks at you and says, 00:23:42.039 --> 00:23:44.000 Why are you troubled by that? 00:23:44.120 --> 00:23:45.720 You already died for that. 00:23:46.799 --> 00:23:48.880 You've already paid the price for that. 00:23:48.940 --> 00:23:51.339 You already died on the cross for that. 00:23:51.860 --> 00:23:52.960 In Christ. 00:23:53.880 --> 00:23:54.720 So you're free. 00:23:54.720 --> 00:23:57.640 It's why Paul in Romans 8 can say, 00:23:57.759 --> 00:24:01.740 There's therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 00:24:03.319 --> 00:24:06.200 And when you realize what Jesus has done for you, 00:24:06.460 --> 00:24:10.299 When we realize that all of our hope rests not in our ability to commit to him, 00:24:10.460 --> 00:24:12.559 But in his willingness to commit to us. 00:24:13.140 --> 00:24:17.360 And when you realize that that commitment is absolutely unshakable and eternal, 00:24:17.579 --> 00:24:19.759 And that he committed to us while we were still sinners. 00:24:19.940 --> 00:24:21.120 As Paul says in Romans, 00:24:21.120 --> 00:24:23.059 While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 00:24:23.059 --> 00:24:25.679 He made that commitment when we were looking the other way. 00:24:26.599 --> 00:24:28.079 When you realize that, 00:24:29.019 --> 00:24:31.539 That is what begins to melt your heart. 00:24:33.319 --> 00:24:37.700 That's what begins to melt down all of these loves in the hierarchy. 00:24:38.599 --> 00:24:42.220 And that is what brings about that expulsive power of a new affection. 00:24:42.859 --> 00:24:43.859 Jesus' affection. 00:24:44.700 --> 00:24:47.500 We love because he first loved us. 00:24:47.500 --> 00:24:51.960 And the reason, by the way, 00:24:52.039 --> 00:24:54.480 That Jesus desires this kind of commitment from us, 00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:56.740 Is not only to set us free. 00:24:56.839 --> 00:24:59.859 There's one additional reason that we see here in the text. 00:25:01.900 --> 00:25:05.880 The reason, the other reason that Jesus wants us to make this kind of commitment, 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:08.519 And to be set free by this kind of commitment, 00:25:08.859 --> 00:25:13.500 Is because that makes us the kind of people that this world most desperately needs. 00:25:13.500 --> 00:25:19.960 Verse 34 implies that when you are someone who is completely committed to Jesus 00:25:19.960 --> 00:25:21.680 In the way that this passage talks about, 00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:24.279 You become like salt for the world. 00:25:25.059 --> 00:25:27.420 You become like salt for the world. 00:25:27.720 --> 00:25:28.839 And in the ancient world, 00:25:28.980 --> 00:25:30.839 Salt was used for two primary things, 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:32.619 In addition to enhancing flavor. 00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:34.700 It was used as a preservative, 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:36.900 To protect against decay. 00:25:37.400 --> 00:25:39.000 And it was used as a fertilizer, 00:25:39.000 --> 00:25:42.980 To promote growth of things that are good. 00:25:43.920 --> 00:25:46.720 And so Jesus is saying that committed disciples, 00:25:46.940 --> 00:25:48.279 People who are all in, 00:25:48.579 --> 00:25:49.880 Fully sold out for him, 00:25:50.180 --> 00:25:52.680 That those people are the kind of people who, 00:25:52.839 --> 00:25:53.720 Wherever they live, 00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:54.740 Wherever they work, 00:25:54.859 --> 00:25:55.920 Wherever they are, 00:25:56.460 --> 00:26:00.519 They are like a preventative against decay in our society. 00:26:01.420 --> 00:26:06.400 That those people prevent the kind of decay that would otherwise happen around them. 00:26:06.519 --> 00:26:07.559 Because of that commitment. 00:26:07.559 --> 00:26:09.379 And he says they're like a fertilizer. 00:26:09.679 --> 00:26:14.019 That the good and the true and the beautiful grows up around them 00:26:14.019 --> 00:26:18.579 Because they've been set free from the tyranny of lesser loves. 00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:24.740 So Jesus is saying committed disciples are like salt in the world. 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:28.079 And to bring this all together, friends, 00:26:28.159 --> 00:26:30.839 This is what the home campaign is really all about. 00:26:31.019 --> 00:26:33.480 This is why commitment matters so much. 00:26:33.480 --> 00:26:37.180 Because we believe that we are called to be a salty people. 00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:40.200 A salty community in this city. 00:26:40.420 --> 00:26:43.700 And we want to be here as long as God would have us be here. 00:26:43.940 --> 00:26:47.519 That we want to be salt for many, many, many, many generations. 00:26:47.519 --> 00:26:50.779 That we might preserve against the decay that happens here. 00:26:50.860 --> 00:26:53.920 That we might also promote the growth of all good things. 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:55.019 All beautiful things. 00:26:55.120 --> 00:26:56.019 All true things. 00:26:56.019 --> 00:26:57.339 That bring glory to God. 00:26:58.160 --> 00:26:58.900 Let's pray. 00:27:00.980 --> 00:27:05.440 Lord, we thank you and recognize that none of this is possible apart from you. 00:27:06.059 --> 00:27:14.240 I pray that everything we do this morning would be done in light of the commitment that you have made to us in Jesus Christ. 00:27:14.240 --> 00:27:17.480 That Lord, even when we try to let go. 00:27:17.700 --> 00:27:19.759 Even when we try to run the other way. 00:27:20.140 --> 00:27:21.460 You hold on. 00:27:21.819 --> 00:27:22.559 You pursue. 00:27:23.299 --> 00:27:26.559 You pour your love and your grace into our lives. 00:27:26.980 --> 00:27:31.620 And we pray that in light of your love and your commitment and your presence, Lord. 00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:34.140 We would be set free from lesser loves. 00:27:34.940 --> 00:27:41.740 That we would feel able, willing, even excited and delighted to give ourselves fully to you. 00:27:42.180 --> 00:27:43.940 Lord, we pray this in your son's holy name. 00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:44.480 Amen.