Thank you so much for having me and our friends from Atlanta here.
Been really enjoying your hospitality from Keith and James and the members here.
It's only been three days since we've been in Edinburgh now.
Been enjoying the city a lot, especially just the amount of walking that you have to do here,
which is healthy. It's a good thing.
My Apple Watch has been giving me shout-outs that I didn't know existed.
I got all kinds of medals yesterday for walking.
I got a gold coin or some kind for walking 81 minutes straight,
which in Atlanta, Georgia, is an eternity.
So I think another few more days here, I'm definitely going to be going home with more medals.
I'm going to, and as you can tell, yes, I am from the States,
so I don't have the beautiful accent that James has.
And I don't know if you knew this, but in the States,
if you're somebody with a British accent or a Scottish accent,
your credibility skyrockets.
So I don't know if the reverse is true,
where if you lack such an accent here, your credibility goes down.
I hope that's not the case.
But either way, you know, the good news is God's word is true,
whatever accent it's spoken in.
So I do want to go into God's word with you and read with you one verse.
And I just happen to have a ESV Bible.
So I'm going to read you that one verse from the ESV Bible.
I think the NIV that you use is a fine translation.
I just happen to have the ESV.
So let me read that for us,
and I think it will be also up on the screen as well in the ESV,
Luke chapter 9, verse 23.
So as I read this, let's give it our attentive hearing,
because this is God's word.
And he said to all,
if anyone would come after me,
let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
May God bless the reading and preaching of his word.
The gospel of Luke is structured in a way where
the first nine chapters are about revealing who Jesus is.
So you get to see Jesus is the calm in your storm.
Jesus is the source of your blessedness,
or that's a biblical word for your happiness.
He is the true Lord of the Sabbath.
He's the giver of true rest.
These wonderful revelations of who Jesus is,
chapters 1 through 9.
Here is the transition point that Luke is making now,
in the middle of chapter 9.
And it's a transition that he's, in a way,
inviting you and me to consider making.
And it's this.
Having learned these things about Jesus,
what will you do with him?
Maybe more pointedly,
for those of you who grew up learning about Jesus
and kind of living in the chapters 1 through 9,
and having been revealed to you, right,
who Jesus is,
the question Luke is asking now is,
will you go beyond knowing about him
to actually following him?
And what does that mean?
What does it mean to follow him as his disciple?
I think Jesus explains it all so simply and yet so thoroughly in this single verse,
chapter 9, verse 23.
Every phrase in this verse is important,
so I would like to chew on this slowly with you.
And I think we can break this down into three parts
and consider how Jesus' call to discipleship is,
one, it's a call to go after something.
Two, it's a call to deny.
And three, it's a call to daily carry.
These three.
It's a call to go after.
It's a call to deny.
And a call to daily carry.
Let's go through these one at a time.
Point number one,
the call to discipleship is a call to go after something.
The NIV says,
whoever wants to be my disciples,
and I think that's a fine translation
of what it says in the Greek,
that is,
if anyone will come after me,
or go after me,
because that's essentially what a disciple is.
A disciple is somebody who goes after someone.
And if you're going after someone,
you're a disciple.
But I think it's interesting that Jesus says,
if anyone would come after me,
because before that tells you,
you ought to go after Jesus,
I think it tells you something even more basic
about yourself and me.
And that is,
you are someone who goes after things.
Everybody in this world,
even if you're not going after Jesus,
is going after something.
We're creatures that go after stuff.
We latch on to things.
We get hooked on things.
We commit ourselves to things.
And we get consumed by things.
We must.
Why?
I think,
I think C.S. Lewis is a popular author around here,
so I may quote him.
I think he explains this really well
in his little book,
The Weight of Glory.
There's an excerpt that goes like this.
God has given us the morning star already.
You can go and enjoy the gift on many fine mornings
if you get up early enough.
What more, you may ask,
do we want?
Ah, but we want so much more.
The poets and the mythologies know all about it.
We do not want merely to see beauty,
though God knows even that is bounty enough.
We want something else,
which can hardly be put into words,
to be united with the beauty we see,
to pass into it,
to receive it into ourselves,
to bathe in it,
to become part of it.
In other words,
you're wired in such a way,
human beings are wired in such a way,
as to not just chase after something
we consider to be ultimately beautiful
and glorious,
but we're wired to go after it
until we enter into it,
until we're one with it.
We're wired to receive it into us,
as Lewis says,
to bathe in it and become a part of it,
if you believe it to be
a beautiful and glorious thing.
And one way people manifest this
is by putting on maybe a certain
football team jersey,
or hang a certain work of art in your home.
All these ways we go after something in life
we consider to be beautiful, glorious,
until we are in some sense
one with it.
Our team was
having a team meeting
and just talking about
the sites we should visit
and see while we're here.
And at one point,
one of our team members, Ross,
he pulled up his phone
and he showed us
a photo image of Arthur's seat.
And he said,
guys,
I need,
need,
to enter
this.
He even went as far as to say,
I need,
pointing at Arthur's seat,
I need to be one
with whatever this is.
And I said,
Ross, calm down.
We're going to go there.
We'll visit.
Don't worry.
As in,
he didn't just want to see
a photo of it.
He didn't want to hear
someone else
talking about their
experience of it.
He wanted to enter into it.
He wanted to be
one with it.
And that's the meaning
of going after something.
Go after you means
you're not satisfied
until you're one with it somehow.
A similar word
the Bible uses for that,
I think,
is the word communion.
Just think about
what that word sounds like.
The word common
and the word union
put together.
It's to have something
in common through union.
That's why Paul,
when he describes
the sacrament of communion
in 1 Corinthians,
he describes it
not as a mere
observance
of Christ,
but as a
participation
in Christ.
it's our receiving
of Christ
into ourselves,
being united
to him spiritually.
But do you know
where we first
see this communion
in the Bible?
It's in Genesis,
in the Trinity.
The triune God
who created all things
and said,
let us make mankind
in our own image.
We see God being
communal
from all eternity,
perfectly satisfied
in their union
with each other,
Father,
Son,
Holy Spirit,
in their beauty,
perfection,
and glory.
And in creating,
in creation,
God was extending
that joy,
that communal joy,
to the creatures
who are made
in his image
so that they would
join in that fellowship
and have communion
with God as well.
And because we're made
in that image,
in the image
of this triune God,
that's why we cannot
help but long
for communion
with a beauty
and glory
that is perfectly
satisfying.
We will not
stop
going after
things
until we find
this beautiful
and glorious thing.
It's how we're made.
It's how we're wired.
Now,
Jesus' point is,
of course,
come after me,
right?
Because I'm here
to restore to you
this communion
with God
that was once lost
because of sin's wages.
But here's the thing
I hope you also understand.
That is,
even if you don't,
okay,
even if you don't
go after Jesus
and have communion
with him,
because you were made
in his image,
you will have
communion
with something.
You will chase after
and latch on
to something
you consider to be
glorious,
beautiful,
ultimately,
and you will end up
uniting yourself
to it.
You'll be discipled
into it,
even if you're not
being discipled
into Christ.
It's how you're made.
It's how you're wired.
You can't help it.
So the question,
the bigger question,
is not whether
you're a disciple.
You are.
The real question is,
what are you
discipled by?
What are you
uniting yourself
to?
We're all doing it.
The only question is,
what is it?
What do you identify
yourself with
most closely?
Whose jersey
are you wearing?
Which picture
do you want to
enter into
and be one with?
We must.
What is it?
The trouble
we fall into
as a result
of our human
fallenness,
our sinful nature,
is that we latch
onto things that are
never completely
satisfying.
Never permanent
enough,
never true enough,
never secure enough,
never loving us
enough,
therefore never
satisfying enough.
And it's not
satisfying enough
because we were
not made for
these things.
We were made
for God
as Augustine
put it.
Until
we are
finding our
rest in him,
our hearts
will be restless
because he made
us for himself.
That's why Jesus
says,
come after
me.
Don't just
hear about me,
learn about me,
listen to
teachings about
me.
Come after
me
until you're
one with me,
until you're
entered into
me,
I've entered
into you,
until we have
communion,
come after
me.
He even
says,
eat me
and drink
me
and be
fully
satisfied.
This is
Jesus'
call
to
discipleship,
to go
after him
and to be
satisfied
in him
ultimately.
And I think
this is
something we
have to
as saints
and believers
understand.
To be a
Christian does
not mean we
see Jesus
for who he
is.
But to be a
Christian means
we go after
Jesus because
we see him
for who he
is.
Until we're
one with him,
until we're
bathed in
him,
he's
that
beautiful
and glorious
and worthwhile.
Have you
gone after
him this
way?
Are you
going after
him this
way as
if you
must be
absolutely
identified
with him
until his
beauty,
his glory,
his life,
his character,
all that
reflects him
is reflected
in your
life,
reflected in
your character
too.
So the
first thing
this phrase
tells,
come after
me,
tells us
is this
is what
you're
wired to
do,
everyone is
doing it,
the only
question is
what are
you going
after?
And the
other thing
this tells
us is you
must go
after Christ
if you
want to be
satisfied.
Only through
Christ will
you restore
your fellowship
and communion
with your
maker,
with the
triune God
and he
will,
he will
satisfy you.
The next
thing he
reveals to
his followers
is this,
as soon
as you
take that
first step
to go
after him,
as you
put your
left foot
forward to
go after
him,
here's what
your right
foot does
immediately as
a follow
through,
you deny
yourself.
The call
to discipleship
is a call
to deny
yourself,
that's the
second point.
And I
think it's
interesting
that Jesus
says,
let him,
let him
deny
himself,
as if
he'll do
this willingly
and voluntarily,
let him,
allow him,
no need to
coerce him,
drag him
to church
against his
will,
let him
gladly,
freely,
willingly do
this,
do what?
Deny
himself.
And you
have to
ask at
this point,
why would
anybody do
that?
Why would
anybody
willingly,
voluntarily
deny
themselves
and follow
someone
else?
I mean,
don't we
all want
to affirm
ourselves?
Nobody
wants to
be challenged
and denied
and corrected
and rebuked.
I want to
be champion,
I want to
be heard,
I want to
be approved.
It seems
counterintuitive,
let him
deny himself.
Right?
It's
counterintuitive
until,
until you
realize it's
not so
counterintuitive
if,
if you
have found
something in
your life
that you
actually want
to affirm
more than
you affirm
yourself.
And that's
possible if
and only if
you found
something in
your life
that you
consider to
be more
valuable to
you than
you.
Then it
becomes a
natural movement
in your heart
to say,
hey you,
talking to
yourself,
hey you,
move over.
I want
this in.
I want to
make room
for this.
I want to
let this
beautiful and
glorious thing
into my life
and let it
take control.
Why?
It's just
more beautiful
and glorious
than myself.
I want
to let it
happen.
I want to
deny myself
so I can
affirm this.
When we
find something
more lovely
than our
own selves,
self-denial
becomes
natural.
Yielding
to it
becomes
natural.
For the
sake of
that thing
we'll turn
to even
our own
thoughts
and say,
hey,
hey thoughts,
move over.
For the
thoughts of
my beloved,
for the
knowledge of
my beloved,
the will
of my
beloved,
the desires
of my
beloved,
the one I
value and
love more
than I value
and love
myself.
if you
think about
it,
I mean,
do you
not do
this even
in your
horizontal
relationships
with one
another?
Do we
not do
this for
our
friends,
spouse,
children,
neighbors?
And it's
when you
do that,
that's when
you really
realize,
okay,
I'm doing
this.
I'm
actually
caring
about
and
valuing
the
people
around
me
because
I'm
telling
myself
to move
aside
and give
them
room,
affirm
them
and deny
myself.
I'm trying
to show
them that I
do love
them,
and at
times I
do love
them more
than I
love
myself.
And again,
I want to
reiterate here
what I
reiterated
earlier,
and that
is you
do this
whether you
do this
with God
or not.
Whatever
you consider
to be most
beautiful,
glorious,
valuable,
worthwhile
in your
life,
you will
deny
yourself
to let
it in.
And
question again
is not
whether you
do this,
but what
you do
this with.
For
example,
if you
find your
work
identity,
your
career path,
career
identity,
to be the
most
beautiful,
glorious
thing in
your life
worth boasting
about,
you will
deny
yourself
to get
it.
You will
deny
your health,
your diet,
you will
deny
your sleep,
you will
deny
social
interactions
to go
after that.
That will
be a natural
movement for
you if you
consider your
work identity
to be the
most beautiful
and glorious
thing in
your life.
if you
consider
having certain
pleasures
to be the
most beautiful
and glorious
thing in
life,
the most
valuable
thing in
life,
then you
will deny
yourself a
measure of
your character,
your self-control,
your patience,
maybe even your
goodness and
your purity
to go after
it.
You're wired
to go after
what you
believe will
bring beauty
and glory into
your life,
and you'll
deny yourself
to do it.
The only
question is,
what is it?
The thing
about going
after Jesus
is this,
as you go
after him
and deny
yourself for
his sake,
it will never
ruin you.
Latching
onto him,
indulging in
him,
if I may
say that,
it will never
ruin you.
If you latch
onto anything
else,
you'll self-destruct.
latch onto
Christ,
you'll come
alive.
And,
scripture says,
you will be
glorified,
as he is.
Have you
found this
to be
alive
at the
core of
your discipleship,
your going
after Jesus,
that for
his sake
you find
all other
things to
be worth
denying?
have you
found him
to be
more valuable
and worth
affirming
than your
self-affirmation?
Is he
more beautiful
and glorious,
truer,
more freeing,
more life-giving
than anything
else?
Have you
found Jesus
to be that?
Jesus is
presuming,
right,
if you're
going to
come after
me,
you see me
that way
because you
will deny
yourself
as you
come after
me.
You will.
You will
say to
yourself,
move over,
self.
I want
Jesus and
his beauty
and his
glory,
his truth,
his wisdom,
his character,
his love
in my life
more than
I want
you,
self.
Move
over
thoughts
so I
can meditate
on his
words more
than I
meditate
on what
you have
to say.
You can
at times
even say
to your
anxieties,
move over
anxieties,
I've listened
to you
long enough,
let me
tune into
his words
of reassurance,
his words
of control,
his words
of love.
And you
will do
this
willingly
and
voluntarily
because you
love him.
So let
him deny
himself.
As in
this is
what a
disciple
does
willingly
and
voluntarily.
When you
find Jesus
to be
the most
beautiful,
most glorious
thing in
your life,
you will
make room
for him.
Like we
sing in
that carol,
let every
heart
prepare him
room.
Why?
He's
bringing us
joy and
blessings
far as
the curse
is found.
Lastly,
the call
to discipleship
is a
call to
daily
carry.
Jesus
says,
and take
up his
cross
daily and
follow me.
And I
just want
to hone
in on the
word daily
for a
moment.
What's the
implication of
that word
daily?
Every day?
It implies
without ceasing,
continuously,
as in for the
rest of your
life.
every morning
you wake up.
That's daily.
What's he saying?
He's saying,
once you find
me, and you
begin to come
after me, and
you're denying
yourself as you
do it, you
find that's,
this is it.
Your daily
agenda, your
daily mission,
your daily
calling in
life.
This is the
reason you get
out of bed.
This is what
you prescribe
daily for your
body and
soul to come
after me and
get more of
me.
Because, he
says, carry
your cross and
follow me, which
is another way of
saying, imitate
me and become
more and more
like me, your
cross-carrying
savior.
As I carry the
ultimate cross for
you, he's saying
you must carry
your little cross
and follow me.
Imitate me.
Grow in your
likeness to me
daily.
That's your
mission now.
That is your
primary objective
in life.
That's your
ultimate career.
It's your
ultimate vocation.
Your
Christ-likeness.
And this is
why you should
get out of bed
every morning.
To do this
another day and
do it better than
yesterday.
To be more like
Jesus.
Of course, we
get out of bed to
get to work and
I get out of bed to
also get my kids
to school.
Hopefully on
time.
Doesn't always
happen.
To meet our
friends on time.
To make our
appointments.
That's what.
The question is
why.
Why do any of
this?
What's the
ultimate end to
it all?
And of course,
our catechism
tells us it's to
glorify God and
to enjoy him
forever.
That is the chief
end of our
existence.
And that's
wonderful.
How's.
What does that
look like in
all these different
spheres of life?
Scripture tells
us through all
these arenas of
life becoming for
you your school of
Christ-likeness.
To love your
neighbors as
Christ as first
loved you.
Becoming more and
more like Jesus in
those very arenas.
And making that
your daily mission.
That's why you
got sent into
those places to
begin with.
To display Christ
in you.
Your hope of
glory.
To be a
disciple daily
means that your
ultimate calling,
your ultimate
identity, your
ultimate vocation
is this.
You have become
one with Christ
and you are
daily becoming
more and more
like him.
This is the
the dailiness of
Christian discipleship
or the Christian
life.
The radical
ordinary nature
of Christian
discipleship.
And when we
deviate from this
path and fall
into sin we
return and that
is our daily
repentance.
The trouble I
think comes to
us believers
when we complicate
this very simple
faith and start
treating Christianity
more like this
sort of special
program to improve
our lives just a
little bit.
Or like a
fitness program to
sort of enrich
our lives when we
feel kind of weak
and suffering
through trials.
Or some self-help
program to better
certain aspects of
our lives.
Like you can go to
the Barnes and
Noble section and
just find whether it's
a finance section or
a health section and
you flip open the
Bible for a section
that might help
you.
And Jesus, that is
not his call.
He's not talking
about that at all.
He's not saying take
me as a sort of
useful tool to
improve your life.
He's saying I am
your life.
He's not saying let
me show you a
better way.
He's saying I am
the way.
I'm it.
I am the life.
Don't live anything
else.
Live me is what
he's saying.
Come after me
daily.
Rest of your life.
Now that you are
in me, I am in you.
Put more and more
of me on display
through all that
I've given you.
Your relationships,
your situations,
even your trials
and your sufferings.
That's his call
to discipleship.
And to kind of
sum it all up
in an image,
Jesus says this
pathway of daily
becoming more
like Christ,
imitating his
character, his
love and putting
it on display.
It looks like
this.
You carrying
your cross.
And that to
me, before it
sounds difficult,
it does sound
difficult.
It should.
Before it sounds
difficult, it
tells me Jesus
is a realist.
Jesus is not
naive.
The world might
be.
Jesus is not.
The world might
think, yeah, you
just got to love
on people.
All you need
is love.
And love is love.
Love is an
intuition.
It's a passion.
It's a feeling.
It's an instinct.
You don't need an
ancient religion to
tell you how to love
or what love is.
You just got to love.
We all have it in us.
To me, and with all
due respect to those
who believe that, and
maybe some of you
believe that, I think
that's just quite
naive.
Because we cannot
love, at least not
truly, and we don't
know love, I don't
think, until we know
how to put ourselves
to death somehow.
Until we somehow
carry a cross of
self-denial as we
approach our
neighbors.
Until we do that, I
think what we call
love is just self-love,
and it's not
self-giving.
It's a love that
only takes.
It's not sacrificial.
It's a love that
demands.
And that's not true
love.
Jesus is being very
real with us when he
says, here's what you
imitating my love and
putting that on display
looks like.
It looks like you
struggling in carrying
your cross.
Just as I did.
If you want true love,
not the selfish,
self-asserting kind,
but the self-giving,
sacrificial, right, the
truly noble and
virtuous kind, if
you're sure that's
what you want, know
this, this is what it's
going to look like.
You carrying your
cross as I carried
your ultimate cross
for you.
Your sin is upon my
shoulders.
Your sin is nailing
me there until it is
accomplished.
My dying breath
bringing you life,
letting you know that
it is finished as we
sing in our hymn.
If you want to know
true love this way,
this kind of love,
you have to look to my
cross that was for you
and learn from that
and do that for others.
And that's why I say
this idea that anybody
can love anybody.
Love is love.
It's just a passion and
an intuition and an
instinct.
I think it's quite
naive.
I want to just take,
for example,
a scenario
where, imagine,
you had a long day
at work
or in class.
You're back home.
You're ready to unwind
and de-stress.
So you have your
favorite TV show
ready to play
and you also have
your favorite
bucket of ice cream
ready to go.
Right?
So whether that's
your favorite Korean
drama,
which I'm sure
you're crazy fans of,
or Ben and Jerry's
ice cream,
whatever it is,
you're good to go,
ready to relax.
And then the phone
rings.
It's your friend.
They had the worst
day.
And they want to tell
you all about it.
What is love
in that moment?
Love would be
turning off the TV,
putting the lid back
on the ice cream,
putting it back in
the freezer,
picking up,
saying to your
friend,
go ahead.
Tell me all about it.
I'm here to listen.
Which is your doing
what?
Putting your evening
of relaxation
to death.
Putting your
unwinding to death
for the next hour
or two or three.
I don't know what
your friends are like.
As long as they
want to
talk to you.
Yeah, I'm here.
I'm here for you.
I'm listening.
Tell me what's going on.
Or let's say you're
having an argument
with your spouse.
I'm sure it doesn't
happen very often
in Scotland.
Happens quite a bit
in Atlanta, Georgia.
I counsel quite a few
couples who run into
this.
You're having an argument
with your spouse,
and it's this classic
back and forth between
what you view as the
right thing and what
your spouse thinks
is the right thing.
It's a conflict.
It's escalating.
What does it mean
to love your spouse
in that moment?
I'm tired.
Let's stop talking
about this.
Let's go to bed.
That's not love.
That's not making
that's a ceasefire.
But the war is
technically still
going on.
That's like North Korea
and South Korea
right now, by the way.
It's a ceasefire.
They're not at peace.
Here's one thing
love could do
in that moment.
Regardless of what
the other person's
speck in their eye is,
you acknowledging
the log in your own eye,
you owning that first,
and you confessing it first.
Honey,
regardless of what you did,
I should not have
spoken to you that way.
That was sinful,
the way I spoke to you.
Please forgive me.
Owning your sin
while not saying anything
about the other person's sin.
What are you doing there?
You're putting your ego
to death.
You're killing your pride.
You're crucifying
your self-righteousness
and your defensiveness.
And that's love.
This is why true love
isn't just a natural thing
that just bubbles up
and wells up in it.
Or love isn't just an instinct.
It's just,
that's not just a passion.
It's cross-carrying.
And this is how we love
like Christ,
and this is Christian
discipleship.
Our carrying
our cross daily
in the very spheres of life
that God has called us
into daily
and to carry our cross
there.
Take up your cross
daily
and follow me.
The only way
any of us
will even begin
to consider
practicing this
is if you
really consider yourself
to be a true
recipient of this.
This beautiful
self-giving love
of Jesus.
If you've received it,
then you probably know
what it means
to give it.
That's when you'll say,
I want to be one
with
a lover
of my soul
and I want to
imitate him
and put him
on display
in my life.
I'm okay
with denying
my ego,
denying my pride
and denying
my comfort
and letting him
show.
Because he is
the one I value
the most.
He is the most
beautiful
and glorious
thing I've ever
encountered.
This cross-carrying
power of Christ.
His love.
His love
is my Arthur's
seat
that I must
enter into
and be one
with.
It's the only
way we'll know
how to do this.
It's if you
really have
received this
yourself.
What does
Jesus say
of the woman
crying at his
feet?
Mercy.
She loves
much because
she knows
she's forgiven
much.
Are you
forgiven
much?
I heard
my seminary
professor say
it very simply
and it still
hits me.
If you think
you're a little
sinner,
tiny little
sinner,
you have a
tiny little
savior.
If you think
you're a great
big sinner,
then you believe
in a great and
big savior.
Have you received
this great
mercy of God
for your
great sins?
grace, then
out of that,
out of that
gratitude,
out of that
rejoicing,
out of that
thankfulness and
your love for
him, you'll
extend that
mercy to those
around you.
It's all because
for you,
Jesus is not
useful,
he's beautiful.
His love for you,
his grace for you,
his mercy,
his kindness
towards you,
is beautiful
and it's
captivated you.
you want
nothing more
than you
putting him
therefore on
display and
that's God's
call for our
discipleship.
May the Lord
help us in
this.
Let's pray.
Our gracious
heavenly father,
we do ask
for you