June 5, 2011 “THE COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS”

MATTHEW 8:18-22                                                                                   JUNE 5, 2011

                                                                            

“THE COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS”

Our emotions are a gift of God. They are an integral part of who we are. I still remember the thrill of riding a bicycle for the first time, once I figured how not to fall. The sheer joy of my courtship with Frances remains with me to this day. And I will never forget the ecstasy of holding my new-born daughters. However, I also recognize that my emotions should not be the sole criteria in making a decision. Over the past years I have bought items on the spur of the moment, only later to regret my hasty, impulsive decision. The end result of those hasty decisions has led to many things being donated to our trash and treasure sale. And how often have you joined a club or group only to discover that you really do not have the time to do it?

Years ago I attended a Billy Graham crusade at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. It was thrilling to be there with so many people. I watched with joy the throngs who answered the call to make a decision to accept Jesus Christ. I knew of several high school classmates who made decisions that week. Many of them later joined the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and had their picture taken to be in the annual. They never attended the meetings, but they “belonged to the club”. I also observed that several who went forward during the crusade did not make any lasting changes in regard to their behavior. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association put out statistics indicating that only 3% of those who prayed the sinner’s prayer at their crusades were active in a church a year later. As any family of an alcoholic can testify: there is a big difference between people admitting one has a problem with drinking, from one who is willing to make the necessary changes to stop the addictive behavior.

Jesus did not go by the rules, surprising his listeners and his followers. Instead of addressing the crowds who came because of the miraculous healings, he left them. Matthew 8:18 (NIV) ^{18 “}When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.”
Jesus chose to be with his disciples. In this passage in Matthew, Jesus speaks to those individuals who desire to become a disciple, one of his followers.

“¹⁹ Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."  The man who came to Jesus was a scribe. In the time of Jesus few people could read or write. The scribe was one who was specially trained to handle written documents. As a part of his training he learned and taught the scriptures to the people. The scribe was impressed with Jesus and was asking permission to follow him. The scribe intended to become a disciple of Jesus. If the man was willing to follow then why would Jesus say anything that might discourage him?

²⁰ Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Jesus throws up a stop sign on the man’s enthusiasm to learn from him. Jesus indicates that even the wild animals have homes, but not the Son of Man. Jesus used the term Son of Man, which was used mainly in Ezekiel, to speak about his purpose for his ministry. Rabbis were highly esteemed by the people. They would often start their own school centered near a synagogue. However, Jesus did not follow this pattern. Once Jesus began his ministry he did not have a home to which he returned. You might recall that when he was in Capernaum he stayed at Andrew and Peter’s home. Jesus did not establish a business or institution. There would not be a comfortable life awaiting his followers. Jesus forced the scribe to reconsider his decision. Before you become one of my disciples, consider that you will not have a permanent home.

Many people come to Jesus with preconceived ideas of what it means to be a Christian disciple. We pick up these notions from other people, mostly from our families and the traditions we grew up with. Jesus confronted the scribe because he knew that the man was making a decision based on how and what he was expecting from a rabbi. Jesus was not following that pattern. When I was in seminary, I went through a period of six months when I tried to live up to what I thought a minister should be. It was the worst time in my life as I was miserable. I tried to say the right words, and have the right attitudes, and be proper as I thought a minister should be. The problem was that I was using my pre-conceived notions of the role of a pastor, instead of simply following Jesus. When people tell me that I am not like any other pastor they have ever known, I respond with a thank you. A follower of Jesus Christ is one who listens to the words of the Master.

People were coming to Jesus asking to join him without fully understanding what being a disciple meant. There were many who followed Jesus who left him because of what Jesus taught. John 6:60-66 (NIV) “⁶⁰ On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" ⁶¹ Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? ⁶² What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! ⁶³ The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. ⁶⁴ Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. ⁶⁵ He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him." ⁶⁶ From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”

Jesus was not finished with his radical call to faith. ^“21 Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." ²² But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."  Burial of the dead was considered to be very important, especially for your immediate family. Burying your parents was seen as being a part of the commandment, to honor your father and mother. Jesus later rebuked the Pharisees for not taking care of parents in Matthew 15:1-9. So what did Jesus mean? “There are three explanations: 1) some think that the man’s father had not yet died, and he wanted to stay with him until then; 2) or perhaps he was returning to fulfill the second stage of burial, which takes place after a year passes and the bones were placed in an ossuary; or 3) Jesus was speaking metaphorically “letting the spiritually dead bury the physically dead.” (NIV Application Commentary) What we do know is that Jesus was most concerned that the call to “follow me” was to be the most important of all allegiances, even before parents.  Jesus went on to say in Matthew 10:37-39 (NIV) ³⁷ “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; ³⁸ and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹ Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

John McNeill, a well known Scottish preacher of the 19^th century told of the time when his father died in Scotland. He was in the English midlands, and was advertised to preach at evangelistic services in a city on the day scheduled for his father’s burial. People would have understood if he had sent a message cancelling his speaking engagement. He said, “But I dared not cancel my speaking, for this same Jesus stood by me, and seemed to say, “Now, look, I have you. You go and preach the gospel to those people. Whether would you rather bury the dead or raise the dead? And I went to preach.” (William Barclay’s commentary on Matthew)

Each person who calls himself a Christian must answer the question for themselves: what does it mean to be a disciple. Is your definition based on tradition or is it based on the words of Jesus? Picture Jesus speaking with you. Will he ask you to reconsider your decision because he knows what is in your heart and mind? How will you answer Him if He asks you if you love (fill in the blank) more than me? During communion, ponder the great love Jesus has for you, in dying for you. Jesus does not want his followers to be swept away by a flood of emotions. He desires that you understand what it means to take up the cross and follow him.

Let us pray.