Luke 9:23-26. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on December 26, 2021.
We are finishing the year of our Lord 2021 and headed into 2022. As we do this, it is good for us to do some self-assessment that recognizes any personal challenges of this year that we need to work on, and then focus our living for Jesus in the new year.
The Twelve disciples were called to follow Jesus. Of course, for them, it began by actually following Jesus. However, they too had to learn to spiritually follow Jesus and not just follow him around physically. The day came when Jesus left and wasn’t coming back at least not during their lifetimes. This is our challenge today. We cannot see Jesus and yet, we can still “look” like we are following Jesus. May the Holy Spirit help us to follow Jesus in word, and in deed this coming year.
Let’s get into our passage.
“Follow me,” is an important theme in the Gospels. Each of the disciples were called to follow Jesus, and this is specifically recorded of some of them. We see it with Peter and Andrew who were fishing on the Sea of Galilee in Matthew 4. It says that Jesus also “called” James and John, so it is most likely that he said the same thing. We see it with Matthew sitting at the tax collection booth in Matthew 9. We also see it with Philip in John 1.
There are those who balked at this command. At the end of this chapter in verses 51-62, several excuses are given as to why people did not follow through on following Jesus. Jesus had no place to lay his head, i.e., place to stay that was his or guaranteed. To follow Jesus was no luxury for the flesh. One man wanted to follow Jesus, but asked to bury his father first, and another man wanted to say goodbye to his family and friends.
Probably the most well know is the rich young ruler in Matthew 19, Mark 10, and Luke 18. The rich young ruler wasn’t confident that he had eternal life. Jesus pointed him to the 10 commandments and the man said that he had done those since he was a youth. Why didn’t he trust that this wasn’t enough? The answer lies in the area of relationship. If the young man had a living spiritual relationship with God, then he would have never doubted God’s salvation. Jesus tells him that he lacks one thing.
It is interesting that Jesus tells him that he is missing something, but then tells him to sell all of his possessions and give the money to the poor. He was not only missing something, but his material possessions were in the way of him getting it. This man needed to get rid of his wealth so that he could find a real relationship with God through Jesus.
It is interesting that people will read these passages and focus on how harsh Jesus sounds when people give excuses. We are told that Jesus loved the rich young ruler and was sad to see him go. Listen, the emphasis is that there will always be something, it doesn’t matter what it is, that will get in the way of you and I having a relationship with God. There will always be an excuse, an obstacle. Following Jesus is not as easy as it sounds.
Our passage is addressed to those who desire to follow Jesus, to respond to his call. He tells us exactly what a person needs, or must do, in order to follow him. The first thing is internal, inside of us. I must deny myself. Following involves giving up the direction and the way of travel. I will not always like, or agree with, where Jesus is taking me. In fact, right before this passage, Jesus had told them that he was going to suffer many things, be rejected, and killed by the religious leaders of Jerusalem. This is not what they wanted to hear, but it is exactly where Jesus was going.
Jesus is a man of peace, but he is also a man of Truth (he is Truth). It is precisely this aspect about him, that will get you killed in this world. Jesus knew that they would hate him, and kill him. He knew that his disciples would be tempted to stop it, or stop following him. They would be tempted not to stand with Jesus, and in so doing they would be choosing to stand with themselves, their thoughts, fears, and decisions. If they wanted to follow him, they would need to fight this temptation to stand away from Jesus, and deny themselves. In the crunch, Peter denied Jesus instead of denying himself. Later, he would be restored and learn the lesson. Your flesh will not, cannot, follow Jesus. It will always balk when following Jesus becomes painful and difficult. Jesus or me? That is our question. To follow Jesus is to say of yourself, “I swear that I don’t know that man!”
The second thing a person needs in order to follow Jesus is a cross. Denying yourself represents an internal battle that must be fought and won, but picking up our cross is when that internal victory walks it out in life. The cross can be literal. The disciples all faced a world that eventually put most of them to death. However, it is more than being willing to die for Jesus, to be a martyr. You can see this by asking this question. How can a person actually lay their life down for someone else? The answer is that they have to have conquered the internal battle first, and then they readied themselves to do what they had to, even die. The cross represents the very thing that my flesh is afraid of and is running from, or seeking to save. It represents all the different ways that I am going to have to die to myself in order to keep following Jesus. Regardless of whether I will be an actual martyr or not, I must learn to put myself to death daily, my purposes and desires, and then get up and do what it is Jesus is calling me to do (or not to do as is the case).
Once you have denied yourself, and readied yourself for daily dying, now you are ready to follow Jesus, and not a second sooner.
Many people have started following Jesus over the years. However, not all have been willing to fight this battle, and take seriously that following entails giving up where you are going and how you will travel.
Only a person who has crucified themselves repeatedly, and is ready to do it again, can follow Jesus, because, in truth, he crucified himself out of love for the purposes of God the Father. I know it sounds strange to hear it said that way, but that is what he said. “No one takes it [his life] from me, but I lay it down of myself.” Jesus simultaneously paid the price for my sins and showed me the path to salvation. “Follow Me!” Only Jesus can lead us to the Father and eternal life. All other paths are dead ends, boxed canyons of self-destruction.
My worst enemy is not the Russians or the Chinese. It is not the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. It is not progressives or conservatives. It is not even the devil himself, though he is a powerful enemy. No, the worst enemy is myself. I am my own worst enemy.
Jesus highlights this in verses 24-26. The first thing we see is the problem of self-preservation. “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”
This preservation can be physical in that none of us wants to die. It is also metaphorical. I worry about preserving a way of life, or particular things that I like such as: an economic station, social standing, positions of influence, fame, and the list goes on. It is the fear that we have of losing something because we are following Jesus. Jesus is both warning and encouraging us here. You will tell yourself that you are saving your life by not following Jesus. The irony is that our sinful self can’t save itself because the path of true salvation requires the sacrifice of self, the very thing that your flesh doesn’t want to do. This is about holding onto things versus letting them go, and trusting God. If you don’t trust God, then you will be lost eternally, but if you simply let it go…, then and only then will you find eternal life. No one makes me selfish. It is what I am by nature. If I choose not to be selfish, it is because I have disciplined my nature and chosen something better.
In verse 25, we see that the fear of losing something is enhanced by our selfish-ambitions. “What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?” There are things that I desire for myself: things that I want to see, things that I want to experience, and things that I want to accomplish. We see this in the disciples before the cross. They often argued about which of them was the greatest disciple. Jesus rebuked them for this and showed them the path of serving others.
In a way, this is a type of loss as well. I am afraid of losing the potential of having the things that I desire. It is not that we can’t follow Christ and have things. It is not about the things. It is about something inside of you, an ill-attachment to those things. We can have things and do have things. The problem is precisely when following Christ threatens something that we have, or hope to have. I’m reminded of Baronelle Stutzman, the florist in the Tri-Cities of Washington State who refused to do the wedding of a homosexual couple. She did not plan on having the Attorney General of Washington taking her to court and even seeking to take her personal assets. She could have balked and said, “Fine, I’ll do it!” Instead, she stuck to Jesus. What is your ambition in life? Be careful that it is not more important to you than following Jesus.
Finally, we see in verse 26 the issue of shame, which is a symptom of pride. “For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory…” There will always come a time when my pride will be threatened by following Jesus. Today, it is things like these. “You follow ancient teachings over modern enlightenment?” “You don’t believe that this activity I am doing is moral?” “You associate with the Church that is responsible for so much evil throughout history?” Leaders and lay people of the Church have made plenty of errors, not to mention some who were flat out apostates. They were not following Jesus. However, that is precisely the issue. Are we following Jesus, or are we following an institution, erudite scholars, and charismatic leaders?
For some odd reason, Jesus was not too proud to be associated with the Church. Don’t get me wrong. He will correct, and judge, those in his Church who abuse the station he has given them. Still, he is working within and through his Church. He is standing with us, but will we stand with him? Let’s make the determination to stand with Jesus moving forward, by getting ourselves internally and externally prepared to lose some things because we are dead set on following Jesus.