Discipleship: A Call Of Abandonment And Surrender

Opening illustration: During a NASA space shuttle launch, you will hear the phrase “negative return.” It is a phrase that is part of the abort protocol. It means the shuttle has reached the point and speed at which a return to the launch site is impossible. No astronaut wants to be at “negative return” and have to abort. Negative return also means, barring a major failure, that the shuttle will make it into orbit. It is the point where you cannot turn back.

One of the recurring themes of discipleship that we find in the Gospels is the call for complete surrender.

• Jesus calls us to the point of “negative return.” It is a full-on and forward moving life-long commitment where we release the option of turning back.

• There is an old hymn that 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.”

As we look at our Scripture today, we find this is the call Jesus gives. It is a call to follow and not turn back.

Introduction: In our text today, Jesus makes some radical demands on His followers. Interestingly, just two verses later, He laments that the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few (10:2). If Jesus had hired a marketing consultant, he would have said, “Lord, if you want more workers, you’re going to have to be a bit more realistic. You just lost three good volunteers because you demanded all or nothing!”

However, Jesus didn’t lower the standard. Following Christ is like taking a class on the pass/fail system. There is no curve. You either make it or you don’t. He requires that you devote everything that you are and have to Him or nothing at all. It is important to realize that these verses are not just directed to those who are considering “full-time” Christian service. They are addressed to everyone who would consider being a follower of Christ or disciple (the terms are synonymous). The Lord draws a line in the sand: “The only way to follow Jesus is totally.”

In this text, Luke doesn’t focus on the response of the three men because he wants us to apply Jesus’ words to our own hearts: Am I following Jesus totally or just casually? As someone has observed, “There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstances permit. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.”

What does the Call of Abandonment and Surrender cost?

1. The Cost of Personal Comfort (vs. 57-58)

(a) A commendable desire (v. 57)

The unnamed disciple had the right desire in mind. It is never wrong to want to “follow (Jesus) wherever” He goes. In fact, that is exactly what Jesus commands each of us to do throughout the gospels.

In John 10, Jesus calls us to follow Him in salvation, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me … (John 10:27-28, NASB).

In Matthew 4:19, Jesus calls us to follow Him in service; “Follow Me, and I will make you … (NASB).

In Luke 9:23, He calls us to follow Him in sacrifice, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (NASB).

Truly, the desire to follow Jesus in commendable, but it is also very costly.

(b) A challenge to our comfort (v. 58)

Jesus immediately challenges this man where we all live, at the level of his comfort and possessions. Most of us work a lifetime to acquire a “comfortable” lifestyle. How that is defined may vary somewhat, but for most of us, it involves a home, a job, and certain possessions. Jesus tells us here that even the most basic “needs” must be sacrificed in order to follow Him. While He has not required all His followers to be “homeless,” He certainly sets the example for us. In other words, we are called to always choose obedience to Him over our own possessions and comfort.

This was the failing of the young man in Mark 10, who when confronted with choosing between Christ and his possessions, left saddened because he preferred his material possessions above Christ. How often have we been guilty of this same sin? How often have you been unwilling to give up something in order to obey Christ’s call to “make disciples of all nations?” How often have you spent money on your comforts while the Lord’s people suffer need?

Following Jesus is demanding! One of the first things it will demand is that you lay aside all your possessions; that you commit all your resources to Him. Have you done that? If not, perhaps you aren’t really following Him.