Luke 9:51-62

All right. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome, Come on in, have a seat. Thank you for coming. My name is mike, I’m on the passage of that solar church. It’s great to be a few. We are in the gospel of Luke. Chapter nine versus 51 through 62, Section 14 of those blue workbooks in the lobby, page 506 in the house Bible. Um, And our latitude longitude, if you’re on the live stream and you slip in and you’re still sleeping is right here, this is where we are at this junction in human history. Um, looking forward to being, if you were in part 46 of our series of Luke, we’re not even halfway, which is great. We’re gonna take a break though. We’ve been doing the gospel of luke most falls for last couple falls, looking at the life and work of jesus. But we’re gonna take a break. We’re gonna take a two week series, pre thanksgiving and kind of readjust our minds to what it’s like to live in relationships with other people. We think it’s a timely way to have a timely word from the word of God to you about relationships, loved ones in laws, outlaws, mother in law’s father in law’s moms and dads, siblings. There’s a lot of family in the calendar of y’all the next couple of months and so we thought would be good to circle the mental wagons and look what scripture says on those subjects. The bible’s not silent on those subjects and then we’re jumping into advent advent christmas? Yes, yes. You either love christmas or you’re kinda anti christmas, it seems in Christianity. So we’re gonna do some hymns. Maybe there’ll be some ugly sweaters, will have some christmas decoration, maybe some eggnog, eggnog and refreshments. You can’t blame a guy for trying right eggnog, I can hope. And we’re gonna jump into an advent christmas series leading up to christmas eve service with christmas, it’ll be fun. Speaking of fun if you’re new to us and you haven’t ever plugged into community group yet. Now is the time, tis the season thanksgiving, there’s some big old thanksgiving potlucks that happened in our 15 community groups around the city, there’s christmas parties, white elephant gift exchange parties galore, assume they’ll be ugly sweaters at those two and then there’s New Year’s parties, so if you like having a good time and meeting christians socially november december january is primo for getting to know a new community groups so come join us, join with this committee groups, fill the connect card and say I want to go to a community that has fun, right that in the comment section we’ll get you connected. So let’s pray all fun aside, let’s pray, let’s let’s look at the word together here. Um, value heads with me, take a word, let’s let’s look at the passage here and let’s pray God, thank you for the gospel of luke, thank you for all the time, we’ve been looking at the words and the actions of jesus, I’m pretty, just helped me to have courage to speak and preach this passage the way it should be preached. Lord help us to have courage to understand it and wrestle with the text. Lord help us to have courage to implement this in our lives as people I wanna be, I wanna be speaking rightly, we should be listening right now and we should be acting rightly as christians. I prayed to just help your word come alive to us today. Help us to understand it, help us to get it. I pray you would bring the increase, you would turn the lights on in our heads so we can understand what is going on in the bible and what is going on with us and you help us to do business of you God here today as we look at this passage, this challenging passage help us to be encouraged and challenged by you. We commit this time to you in jesus name Amen, Amen Luke 9: verse 51. It picks up here when the days were coming to a close for him to be taken up. He determined to journey to Jerusalem, you’re like, what are you talking about? Mike, this is my first time here. I don’t know what what are you talking about? So jesus been healing, performing miracles many signs and wonders. He’s been preaching about the kingdom of God the previous nine chapters and 50 verses of the gospel of luke and here, jesus, pivoting from ministry around small cities and certainly moving around the countryside, Going across boats, healings, even possess people, feeding 5000 people, doing signs and miracles and wonders just juices ministries, thriving people love him. He’s very popular in his ministry and then here in verse 51, there’s a change and great authors then and now help us understand the shift and trajectory of where the story is going And so this, this rising star, Jesus is Jewish rabbi shifts in verse 51, and we see this when, when the days were coming to a close for him to be taken up, he determined to journey to Jerusalem. So what’s happening in this passage is juice is beginning to step towards Jerusalem, every single step he takes and jesus knows the last chapter of luke, Jesus knows what happens in the gospels, he knows God’s plan for his life, he knows he’s going to be bled out, strung out, tortured and die on the cross and then gets thrown into hell and rise from the grave on easter morning. He knows the last chapter, he’s been telling the disciples the last chapter and they don’t seem to get it. They think he’s coming back like a king, not as this current state of jesus first advent on earth, he knows what he’s walking towards an every single footstep. He takes journeying to Jerusalem is a step closer to his death and his perceived demise. This is a heavy chapter, This is a heavy pivot in this chapter, luke says, as he determined to journey to Jerusalem. Other scholars, other translations say, he set his face out toward Jerusalem. He result li set out, he stiffened his face to go to Jerusalem, jesus a man on a mission and he’s marching towards his death and that has to happen in Jerusalem. If jesus doesn’t die on the cross in Jerusalem, that domino needs to fall for the domino to fall of him rising from the dead, for us to be raptured and for us to be able to be in heaven someday of him, for God to justify mankind in the eyes of this whole cosmic plan, from genesis to revelations is pending upon him traveling to Jerusalem and then in God’s work of getting worked out in his life, has he journeyed to Jerusalem, he determined to journey to Jerusalem, he’s a man on a mission and so like there’s a question in this passage, uh there’s an argument in this passage as he’s journey to Jerusalem, there’s three conversations, he has three breakout combos of three different would be disciples and the title of this servant I’ve given is why people don’t follow jesus. It will make sense as we go through this passage, but why people don’t follow jesus, That has reverence, that’s very relevant question then and very relevant right now, why people don’t follow jesus. And the main argument, I’d like to make, this is the nail, I’m gonna sit on the table and we’re gonna just hammer this nail this entire time together. The main argument I like to make to you is your hope and confidence is in christ and christ kingdom above all else. You’re hoping your confidence is in christ and christ kingdom above all else see we as humans are created to learn by example, a little kids learning from their parents, sons and daughters learning from their moms and dads. We have good examples of bad examples growing up and maybe you didn’t have a great home life, maybe your family’s was just a wreck and you’re not looking forward to thanksgiving, but there’s teachers, there’s coaches, there’s authority figures, there’s people that have come into your life that are good examples and there’s bad examples I think of my own personal life. My father was a pastor like I get it. Yeah, my dad was a pastor, I grew up in Denver um I was born in Maryland. Dad was doing a church plant every couple of years. It seemed like he was cranking out a church plan every three years. Um I believe he’s finished his 18th church plant here in Stillwater Oklahoma where he’s retired, but every couple years there’s a church plant occurring and I learned things from my dad, I learned how he modeled how to believe the best in people being a pastor’s kid. You’re like, I don’t believe what you’re saying. It was like nobody would believe the best in people. He would see good in men and women. He’d enable people to do ministry. He had launched him into ministry. He would the whole, I see a new conversation we talk about like I see in you a potential worship leader. I see in you a great study school worker. I see and you an amazing servant of God who wants to take the trash out, you know, all this like, you know, envisioning people for where they might be gifted in. That was very good at envisioning and seeing the gifting in the congregation in front of him and raising up men, raising up pastors launching out church plants. All of that work. I, I think dad modeled for like a simple faith. If I love the bible, I love the word and I’m going to obey it. I’m not going to think about it. I’m not gonna talk about it. I’m just gonna do what it says, A real can do, get to work kind of mentality love. Mom loved us kids. Well, dad modeled a lot for me. I think of another significant pastoral team in my life was Rory and Gerry up at a church in Omaha. They raised me up as a pastor when I was a punk nine years ago. Um, I don’t know what they’re thinking even today, but those two men modeled a lot. Gary modeled a deep love for God’s word and he dug into the word more than I’ve seen any man dig into the word of God. The book of genesis. He unlocked that book. I’ve never, I didn’t know what was in that book of genesis until he walked me through that he had a deep love for understanding the word correctly. Just getting the word, I got into his mind with memorizing it, listening to it, listening to audio bibles, Gehry model, the deep hunger for God’s Word and had a deep love for his wife and raising solid kids. Rory model for me. A deep courage, private courage and public courage. Tell it like it is when a bunch of people get stiff and scared, Roy would speak up and generously kindly, clearly strongly tell it like it is. I appreciate that I need that. I love Roy’s example of loving his wife Catherine, I love his courage and a pulpit, his courage and the pews. I love Rory. I love Leading of Rory, I love Leading with Gary. I’m honored that they raised me up many different people, imprint your life as you go. If you don’t have good role models for you at some pivotal years, adolescents and youth, you seem to be like an identity crisis floundering wondering if you have what it takes, wondering if you could handle the pressures and stress of life and the privilege of being in a christian context like this, where we have community groups is you get to see life lived out, where you can rub shoulders of people and no people well and you can have that mother, you never had that father figure and I never had that sibling, you never had that brother or sister, you never had that authority figure in your life that you can have godly examples and role models laid out for you, which is the blessing of privilege of examples we have in the crash in the christian church, but if you think of this passage, jesus role modeling for his disciples, he’s rolling modeling, how to live, how to think, how to act, how to believe, how to behave in certain situations and there’s a lot of rough situations, we’ve been looking at the last nine chapters, What do you do when you get off a boat, there’s 5000 people there. What do you do if a demon possessed man comes you, what do you do for parents grieving and what do you do with their kids dying? What do you do with some person of terminal illness comes up to you? What do you do if this fantasy attacks you? What do you do if this religious person comes to you? This wealthy person comes to, he’s modeling ministry for his disciples over and over again and we get no copy copies of copies of copies of copies down through the christian agent, this is the founding fathers of Christianity, these disciples, they model for jesus, three years on life on life, huge, massive, amazing community group they’re part of and they that model they carried with them throughout the rest of the globe as these men transported the gospel to the ends of the earth, they took the gospel to every known nation in those examples we see in this church, but we gotta look at the ultimate example in this passage of jesus modeling for us, jesus modeling for us throughout this bible in the book of luke and the chapter nine verses 51 to the rest of this chapter, jesus really clearly modeling for us and he’s answering luke is answering a question why people don’t follow jesus, what makes them that start on this path? Get off the path, jesus the ultimate role model for them and for us here and now. Our main argument, your hope and your confidence is in christ and christ kingdom above everything else. So my first point a sub pointed at one point is that Jesus models godly grits with resolution, with determination, with a divine backbone. He had a perspective for the pain and every step towards the cross was a step to his demise, Jesus marched through the rest of the book of luke and luke spells out these themes in the book of luke and there’s a theme of rejection, we see starting in this passage going forward to the end of the end of the book of luke and there’s this growing tension as people decide who is this god man, Jesus who claims to be God. There’s this tension and rejection growing as he’s journeying to Jerusalem, approaching the cross. Every sermon we read going forward, every miracle, we see every correction coaching of convo, he has his disciples the next 10 chapters as he marches to Jerusalem, he’s marching towards torture, pain, suffering and death just demonstrates Godly grit, jesus, our role model, our hope and our confidence is in christ and christ kingdom above all else, Jesus disciples obviously got this grit. They marched to the same death and 9, 11 of the 12 were martyred around the globe sharing the gospel, preaching the gospel and building the church the rest of their life. They model the same exact Godly grit. We need God on the grid. We live in a world full attention. We live in a world where Christianity is rejected at a wedding. Yesterday, I told someone as a pastor and I just saw like pity come over their face like you can’t figure anything else you have to do with your life. You know, the pastors used to be respected in those cities there in nowadays we’re a joke, tension, rejection, pain christians nowadays need to have Godly Gret jesus demonstrates and models Godly grits, I think he’s a 33 year old man and during the final chapter of his life and he knows what’s ahead of him. She is determined to journey to Jerusalem and then to hell, and then to heaven the wrath of mankind. The sins of the church would be poured out on jesus, on the cross, buried in the grave with all the sins of mankind. That is a brutal, backbreaking thing that no human could ever do. It was concerning to him on the, on the garden of Yosemite, the weight of the Wrath of God coming on to him, Jerusalem is that key domino? The domino Jerusalem. Journey to Jerusalem does not happen. The rest of mankind of the church, saving the world of reaching the nation’s doesn’t happen, it just doesn’t journey to Jerusalem redemption, salvation, the coming kingdom. His life being poured out. All happens at the end of the road in Jerusalem Because after the cross he experienced the wrath of God. Keep this in mind this passage. Hebrews 11, 2 Dan was sharpening at this passage. Earlier this week, he was 11. It fits perfectly into this section, keeping our eyes on jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith for the joy laid before him. He endured the cross, despising the shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. The joy set before jesus. He endured the cross. He had Godly grit to march into the will of God for his life and walk through pain and suffering and trials and persecution because of the joy set before him. How joys you, the bride of christ the church, the redeemed people fixing the unfixable people of God. All of that can only happen when jesus sets out towards Jerusalem is marching to Jerusalem, jesus models that are hoping our confidence is in christ and christ kingdom above all else. Look back at verse 51 when the days were coming to a close for him to be taken up, he determined to journey to Jerusalem. This word taken up this ascension. This is the conclusion of his earthly ministry needed to the beginning of Phase two of his heavenly ministry as our advocate in Heaven. The bible describes uses our prophet priest and king juices are profit, he tells it like it is and like it will be, he’s our priest, He sits as an office of media mediator between God and man right now, he’s our king, he shares the throne of God in heaven, where all the angels and all creatures in heaven and saints worship him as savior, King and Lord Priest and prophet forever. This word taken up. We find in the old testament and the new testament, Enoch and the book of genesis five was taken up to heaven, Elijah and second kings too was taken up to heaven and jesus in Acts 19 is taken up to heaven, taken up really sets the stage for jesus coming back down, Jesus doesn’t get taken up, he does not come back down advent is what we are celebrating in a couple of weeks here as solar Church advent sets the stage for jesus second advent. His second actor, when he comes back, jesus first coming in, his second coming look at this with me, his first coming, he came in, rode on a donkey, was a suffering servant, he came in humility and weakness, he came to suffer the wrath of God for sinners, he came and was rejected by many as messiah. He came to seek and save the lost, he came as God, incognito, that’s his first coming. Look at jesus, Second coming, just how contrast that is with the first coming, he will ride on a white horse, he will come as king and Lord, he will come and majesty and power, He will come to establish the kingdom of God for his saints, he will be recognized by all as Lord, he will come to judge and rule as king, he will come as God and all of his splendor. If you look at those side by side, it is amazing how his first advent is Second advent are wildly different. The disciples, all thought his first advent was the second advent. Here comes jesus gonna make heads roll, gonna set up a kingdom on earth that will have no end. That’s the second advent believers. I’m excited to look back at the first event, but I’m living for the second advent, I’m not living for jesus First advent, I’m living for the second advent God, Jesus had Godly grit and we to believe we need to have this perspective on being taken up. The Endgame is not the here and now, but there then and there. Where we will sit hand to hand, eye to eye, heart to heart with Jesus who saved us. We see him poorly, we understand him poorly right now, but we’ll be crystal clear who and what we are part of and what we gave our life too. And God will reward us for everything we did everything we did and didn’t do who award us for everything and he will judge us. We have to give an account for everything. We’ve done Jesus second evidence what we’re living for. Being taken up and living with God forever. That I think gives you his Godly grit, that gave him a perspective for the pain and the trial. He was about to walk through your hope and confidence is in christ and christ kingdom above all else, jesus models grit doing hard things. Look at Verse 52, he sent messengers ahead of himself, James and John and on the way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make preparations for him, but they did not welcome him because he determined to journey to Jerusalem. So you’re gonna not, you’re gonna miss it all. Like I did the first time I was reading this passage, the historical background, we have to have for clarity. The Samaritans were colonized people that were brought in by an Assyrian king and placed in this portion of Jerusalem. Outside of the city of Jerusalem in this region and all the yearly jewish men and women would travel to Jerusalem and they would travel around samaria. It’s like if you want to go to Iowa, if you want to go to Illinois, but you don’t want to go through Iowa, you’re gonna drive north or south of Iowa because you don’t want to rub shoulders of an Iowa, you don’t want to give money to an Iowa and you don’t have conversations with a person from Iowa, yep. So were you not fans of that? I proposed to my wife in Iowa, but there’s, there’s a deep prejudice that’s light hearted, A fluffy. There’s a deep prejudice here. The Samaritans hated the jewish people so much that they wrote their own first five books of the bible. They made their own holy city and the jewish people hated the Samaritans so much that they went down and destroyed the temple of the Samaritans. There was common for hecklers and fights to break out as jews traveled through samaria and they, that’s why they started to go around the outskirts of samaria in jewish temples, jewish priests and teachers would pray weekly that Samaritans would die not inherit eternal life. There is a blood feud. There’s a religious feud. There’s a deep bigotry and hatred between these two people culturally religiously ethnicity. There was racial prejudice, bias, hostility and bigotry between these two people, they hated each other, hate each other’s faith, holy sites, Everything about each other. They hated our hope and our confidence in christ and christ kingdom above everything else, jesus models for us rejection. Look at verse 54 when the disciples, James and john saw this, they said Lord, why do you call us? Why do you, why do Lord do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them? These guys are nicknamed Sons of Thunder. They’re hotheads. You’ll find out in the bible there hothead hothead followers of jesus to have a little bit of racial prejudice and bias and racism in their heart. Still we don’t have any of that today. I know that mm hmm. They’re referencing Elijah and the Mount Carmel when the evil king sent two companies of 50 soldiers each to go get Elijah and bring them to the evil king. And two times in First Kings Second Kings chapter one Elijah called down fire from Heaven and burned up the enemies of God James and john were serious. They had deep prejudice bias and racial hatred towards these people. They’re young believers And verse 55, he turned and rebuked them verse 56. They went to another village jesus, Probably like these guys. They aren’t getting anything. If you look back to luke six jesus uh teaching on the beatitudes picking up at verse 27 it says this, but I say to you, but I say to you who listens love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If anyone hits you on the cheek, offer the other. If anyone takes away your coat, don’t hold back your shirt either. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do what is good to those who are good to you? What credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. But if you but if you lend to those who with whom you expect to receive but credit is that to you. Even sinners lend to sinners to be repaid in full. But love your enemies unless your enemies or Samaritans then call down burning fire from heaven on them. Fools! Hashtag fire hashtag tons of thunder. Hashtag gospel luke series. No, these guys missed it. They missed the mark. They had hatred, they had biased and prejudiced towards people and jesus is supposed to be known as merciful. And when you’re merciful Savior of mankind, you’re rejected the message. These disciples are called to carry the rest of their life is going to be rejected by many people and these aren’t the first fire and brimstone preachers. These men, these men need to be used to rejection and knowing that God mercifully offers out salvation to mankind and mankind rejects that salvation and they have that choice as free will people to reject God and the things of God, we cannot force God and things of God on people, jesus models rejection the rest of the book of luke. The disciples live a life being rejected by the people they’re called a range Look at vs 57 as they were traveling on this on the road, this is the beginning of three different interactions with Jesus and people would be disciples who came up to and said they want to follow him Verse 57 as they were traveling on the road, someone said to him, I will follow you wherever you go jesus told him foxes have dens and birds of the sky has nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head. I think if the first service got over and someone came up and said, hey pastors, we want to become a member of this church and the pastors turned to the would be new member and said, foxes have dens, birds have nests, but a member of sewer church is nowhere to lay their head, you’d be like, what are you talking about? Okay, But like think of the contrast of what you’d have to learn. If you study this passage, the jewish rabbis would have as they are, they’re prominent rabbis and the mission was exploding and growing like jesus was up to this point and that day would be disciples would have to pay like a franchise fee because being a follower of that rabbi, you’d be at the wealthiest homes, the wealthiest businesspeople, the high fluent people of each of these prominent cities, your social network would expand dramatically and they charge exuberant upward cost to be able to follow a rabbi at this day. So they’re thinking off all your jesus, there’s all these people around you, I’m gonna get loaded, I’m gonna get so rich, I’m gonna meet someone, I’m gonna find me a nice little jewish girl, I’m gonna get a rich, jewish father in law, I’m gonna meet the who’s who of every city, the rest of my life here, this is great, I’ll follow you jesus as your star rises, I’ll be drug along behind you and jesus tells them He clarifies them that following has zero results and financial gain or relational gain. It costs you money and relationships to follow jesus, there’s no earthly advantage found and following jesus. So if you’re an opportunistic, what’s in it for me, kind of guy or girl, you don’t get that in Christianity, it’s not about you and what you get along the way, it’s about what you give up all the way, you’re hoping your confidence is in christ and christ kingdom above all else, jesus models for us Godly grit, he miles first rejection and jesus Miles for us possessions, financial and relational again to the relation of the rest of this time, this goes right in the face of comfortable Christianity, which is part of America. God’s home of the free land of the free home of the comfortable America christians, comfortable christians, the good life. We live here in Nebraska, the life of ease, the life of entertainment, the life of luxury, jesus led a life defined by rejection, discomfort and sacrifice. We don’t have as much coffee today as we usually do because we loaned it out to a wedding that occurred last night. That’s why I’m wearing a suit. Some of y’all are like this church is terrible. They don’t have coffee for me. No, you wouldn’t do that. You’re all perfect. You know what I’m saying? But men and women, this this this concept of comfort is a huge part of our culture. And following christ is not comfortable. It’s not it’s not, look, look at this, quote from our Kent uses a biblical scholar. He’s writing about this uh this concept, he says if your Christianity has not brought discomfort to your life, something is wrong. A committed heart knows the discomfort of loving, difficult people. The discomfort of giving until it hurts the discomfort of putting oneself out for the ministry of christ and his church. The discomfort of a life out of step of the modern culture. The discomfort of not being being disliked. The occasional sense of not having anywhere to lay your head, but christ reward, far outweighs values of anything lost. By following him. Everything about Christianity is uncomfortable. I do think it is I am in this deeply it’s not designed to play to our comforts, christians, Jesus models for us, a lack of possessions and the comforts that come with that look at verse 59 when he said to another, follow me Lord, he said first let me go and bury my father. Then he told him, let the dead bury their own dead. But you go and spread the news of the Kingdom of God. I like that seems harsh. It does seem harsh. Think about this passage. You would if you study this in the jewish culture, if your father, if you’re an oldest child, like this is probably the oldest child is what scholars think they had a responsibility to care for their fathers and bury their fathers. Their parents, honoring your parents was a very high value. But this was a multi year long process of an aged or aging parents. It’s like, alright, well they’re gonna need some help. The next 5, 10 years, I can’t follow you to my parents die and if you bury your parents, their flesh on their bones decays and a year later you take their bones out and you bury their bones somewhere else. This entire process of bearing your parents, honoring your parents, you get a pass from the jewish culture of attending synagogue, doing sacrifices, you get a big old pass of doing any religious work during that whole entire season of your aging and dying and declining parents. But beyond even that it’s key to know that failure to bury your father well would make you approach in your village where you lived perhaps the rest of your life, Jesus had a more strong radical stance than any other prophet that ever came before. The perfect prophet, Jesus had a more urgent radical message for this man, let the dead bury the dead. You’re hoping your confidence is in christ and christ kingdom above all else and jesus models for us, prestige like prestige. How do you say that mike, I think that this, this Christianity that is built for the gram, the highlight real hype life of your christian walk is very narcissistic. I don’t think Jesus would be encouraged with how christians portray themselves on social media. This self centered vanity, man centered woman centered glory seeking people seeking attention. Affirmation approval from people looking for prestige in people I don’t think honors christ, It dropped kicks worldliness. This whole thing, it’s like a worldliness is like a landmine that goes off in churches every year. It seems like some high achieving high capacity, high committed driven men and women tend to always get blown up by this landmine because Christianity is living further then and there in heaven, not to here and now, but the problem is the here and now. Hayes, well the here and now there’s a lot of prestige, a lot of accolades, a lot of social credit happens to people here and now that live for here and now. I think a lot of christian talent gets tied up with good works here and now and they stop living for then and there, high achieving high productive people seem to have trouble focusing on the then and there. The world rewards well here and now if you live for the world and here and now but worldliness blinds you and it binds you of the things of God what we sing this, we did baptism I think two weeks ago I think we’ve done a bunch of baptisms last nine years and we usually sing this this song called the I don’t know it’s called the baptism him she knows the name of the song is the song says I have decided to follow jesus, I have decided to follow jesus, I have decided to follow jesus. No turning back no turning back the cross before me, the world behind me, the cross before me, the world behind me, the cross before me, the world behind me, no turning back, no turning back though none go with me still I will follow though none go with me still I will follow though none go with me still I will follow. No turning back, no turning back every time we baptize people we sing this song and I’m not watching the here and now the person I’m thinking of the people in the past who sang that song who are not here now and they didn’t go out on church playing some missionaries. This land mine of prestige of possessions of other things blew up around them and the cost of calling following christ became so difficult that they abandoned it and picked up another savior. Another thing to live for it is that that song is encouraging its envisioning and it’s also deeply troubling to me personally, I don’t like singing it. Your hope and confidence is in christ and christ came above everything else, Jesus models, Godly grit, he models rejection, he models possessions that he models how to deal with prestige. Look at Verse 61, another said I will follow you Lord, but first let me go and say goodbye to those at my house, but Jesus said to him, no one who puts his hand on the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. No one who puts his hand on the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. You’re hoping your confidence is in christ and christ kingdom above all else, Jesus models the priority of your living. The disciples are probably thinking of Elijah and Elijah and there’s an echo here. If he Elijah left Elijah go back and say goodbye to his family before he followed the prophet in the ministry, jesus knew that this plowing agricultural context would understand that you’ve got to look forward and keep your eyes forward or else you’re plowing the oxen are going to move all over the place. You have to have a fixed point. Something you’re staring at as you march across those fields applies an expression common to the agricultural culture. They needed to keep their eyes focused and our culture, it’s like keep your eye on the ball. If you if if uh defensive lines are lined up there watching the offensive ball this afternoon. And if the ball flinches, you gotta go with the ball doesn’t move, you shouldn’t move. You’re supposed to wait till the ball moves, then you gotta go hand on the plow and looks back, Looking back. I mean, I’m reminded of Sarah, her family, her whole world was wrapped up in Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities burning down behind her and she looks back and he turned into a pillar of salt. We as christians are not designed to look back, there’s nothing back there. Everything in our past is sin destroyed, death, carnage. But for the grace of God, we’re moving forward. Thinking about what could have been should have been in the past is the beginning of the end. For christians putting her hand on the plow and looking back is dangerous, jesus call here is more radical than the call of the radical profit. We read about in the bible, let’s look at Hebrews 11 13 through 16 passage. It says this, Talking about the Hall of Faith of all the great people that we read about in the bible. It says these all these all died in faith although they had not received the things that were promised. But they saw them from a distance and greeted them and confess that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth. Now those who say such things to make it clear that they are seeking a homeland, if they’re thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity to return, but they now desire a better place, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared a city for them. There’s a priority here. Heavenly priority. That a follower of christ has to have your home is heaven. You have a heavenly homeland. That’s what keeps your head in the game is thinking and your perspective is living for that day. Then in their day, jesus not just addressing urgency but a priority in serving. Jesus think about this. The main thing that defines your life, Is it your career? Is it your relationships, is it your leisure, your hobbies, your kids, your sports is what you own the car, the clothes. What is the main thing that defines your life? Is it because your father of jesus and everything else is secondary. I heard a very chilling quote from international mission board rep they said the biggest thing keeping them from reaching the whole world. His grandma’s and grandpa’s and parents that won’t let their kids go to the machine field. The family. The priority of the moms and dads and their family happy in the same city, in the same church is what’s keeping the mission from being advanced in the whole world. That’s one man’s opinion. But men and women, that is a chilling quote. There’s this finger in the wind. What’s popular today? I’ll follow you, jesus that’s wrapped up in prestige possessions and I think it’s priority now. It’s a priority today. I’ll follow you, jesus, jesus calls the spiritually Alive to follow him now and prioritize following him now. I’m living here and now. But for that day in heaven, if you take verse six, you want to put it in today’s today’s language, I will follow you Lord. But first let me go and say goodbye to those at my at my house. You probably thought this growing up. I know I have, I will serve you when I get to high school. Uh didn’t go as well. I want to serve you, jesus. When I’m in college, a lot of tests, A lot of Zach asked me, I’m gonna serve you when I’m out of college and I’m a single person. I’m gonna serve you, jesus when I’m married, single was hard, I’m married, I got kids, I’m gonna serve you, jesus when my kids are older because right now they’re little, they need a lot, I’m gonna show you just what I’m retired after my kids are grown and gone, I’m an empty nester, there’s hollow false promises we make to God and other people that God and others know are meaningless and we do the same thing, we do the same thing as people Luke nine Jesus calling his disciples to live with the future in mind not the past but live for the now and prioritize them now. Prioritize living for jesus, now, not later, you might not have later, you might not have tomorrow, tomorrow isn’t promised but today is available. How are you living for jesus? Today? You’re hoping your confidence is in christ and christ kingdom above everything else, jesus models for us the priority as we conclude most most times I’ve heard about anything about following christ of being a disciple of jesus christ, I feel like it’s just downplayed, It’s like for four easy payments of 29 99 For as little as 15 cents a day, you can have salvation and fire insurance and have a faith of God mm luke groups these three accounts together to help people see jesus model of discipleship and specifically spell at the cost of following jesus and answer the main question, the main argument of why people don’t follow jesus, they’re hoping their confidence is not in christ and christ kingdom above all else, they’re hoping their confidence is in their self grit, their fear of rejection, they value the possessions, they lived prestige, the praise of men and they lose priority as they live. I’ll follow jesus if it’s not too hard because I don’t do hard things. I will follow jesus if I stay healthy and all the loved ones I live with stay healthy, I’ll follow jesus. I don’t have to suffer. I’ll follow jesus as long as it keeps up appearances on the gram, I’ll follow jesus. I don’t have to share my faith. I don’t want to offend anyone. I’d rather that person go to hell than risk offense. I will follow jesus if I don’t have to spend any of my nights or weekends or be put out by people I don’t know that well. Just spells out exactly how what it looks like to follow him. He doesn’t mince words at all with us. He spells out very clearly the cost of following him. You’re hoping your conferences in christ and christ kingdom above all else and following jesus, nothing is too great a cost. The reality is we fail in every one of those areas we looked at today. If you’re a pastor or you’re a brand new recently converted pagan, you failed in every one of those areas. You fail in having Godly grit, You don’t have garlic grit, you feared rejection of man. You fear rejection of men and women, your possessions on you. You don’t own your possessions. You get wrapped up in the prestige and the, you know, the youth of life, you get wrapped up in different mixed priorities. We fail in every aspect of following christ that’s the reality of this christian walk. But our gospel application, our hope is found not in our comforts, our possessions. Hope is not found in our relationships, our family, our hope is not found in circumstances of the past. Our hope is only found in the future Hope of Heaven. And the only reason we can have a walk of God is because jesus keeps walking towards us. When you walk away from him, we get this thing called grace that makes it all work. Our walk with God is a mixed bag starts and stops with all kinds of fits as christians. I know that I’m aware of that. That’s how my walk of God has been. That’s what many of our walks of God is. But as the gospel comes real, the bible comes alive, Things that used to dominate and control. Our life becomes slowly re prioritizing changed. Our hope and confidence is in christ and christ kingdom above everything else. We bow your heads. Let’s pray God, thank you for your word. Thank you for Luke nine. I thank you for the example you set for us in the scripture about following you and what it’s gonna cost. I said just really refine our love for you, grow our love for you Lord just help us to understand who you are and what you’ve done even more as we go about today, jesus name, we pray. Amen.