Of Utmost Concern Sermon Vi: Following Jesus To The Nth Degree Series

JESUS LEFT NO DOUBT ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO FOLLOW HIM TO THE NTH DEGREE

When we first “enrolled in His school” and became Disciples of Christ, we sang that little chorus, “If you want joy, real joy, wonderful joy, let Jesus come into your heart.” Then we learned the J-O-Y acrostic to help us understand the meaning of discipleship: Jesus first, Others second, Yourself last.

From the beginning of our Christian Experience, thru the years of growing spiritually until we reached the stage of maturity, true love has been, is now, and forever should be the theme of our relationships – with God . . . Jesus . . . others!

If we claim to follow Jesus as Lord but “have not love”, we are “resounding gong or clanging cymbal”, and therefore we accomplish little or nothing of lasting value . . . of eternal significance . . . to glorify God and magnify Jesus! Therefore . . .

Of concern to Jesus is His followers’ degree of commitment – the extent to which allegiance to Him passes the “love” test. “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?” Asked three times - until this veteran responded with his highest expression of love for Christ.

It is no secret that some folks follow Christ until the going gets rough . . . with mixed feelings . . . cautiously, depending on the way the winds of change are blowing . . . off and on - between rededications . . . all the way with a winning attitude that says, “no turning back”.

With such diversity of commitment obvious to Jesus, He told the Parable of the Great Banquet in which he lamented excuses given by those who decline to accept His invitation: “Come, for everything is now ready”.

Big mistake to reject God’s offer of salvation regardless of circumstances . . . to turn “thumbs down” when our Lord calls: “I tell you,” said Jesus, “not one of those who were invited (but declined) will get a taste of my banquet.” We see here two stark contrasts:

(+) A glorious opportunity! To accept our Lord’s invitation to follow Him is to experience the joy of feasting with our Lord in heavenly places!

(--) A harsh reality! To decline His invitation is to render a glorious experience null and void – both in “the here and now” and in “the sweet bye and bye”! So . . .

With so much at stake . . . eternity hanging in the balance . . . a cruel cross looming ahead, Jesus toughened His talk and employed shock therapy (a last resort) to dramatically induce HIs would-be followers to take Him seriously about the cost of discipleship! Luke 14:26-33 . . .

To follow Jesus at all is a matter of love . . . to varying degrees is a matter of love . . . to the Nth degree is a matter of love. “Do you love me more than these?” These what? These pleasures, persons or possessions that have kept you preoccupied too long! However, let us be clear about this matter of the discipline of Christian love:

True love never fails to think about . . . pray about . . . do what is best for those we love – our love expressed in varying degrees (eros . . . philia . . . agape) BUT in ways appropriate to our relationship with the persons we love – be they parents, spouse, family, friends, or foes.

To love Jesus first, Others second, Yourself last is the essence of what Jesus meant when He said to “crowds travelling with him”: “Whoever does not hate . . . does not bear . . . does not renounce . . . cannot be my disciple.” Strong language! Surely not socially acceptable if we take the word “hate” at face value as we often use it in English! The word used by Jesus as recorded by Luke is quite different from the word recorded by Matthew.

Matthew’s record of our Lord’s teaching about the cost of discipleship uses the word “love” to convey what Jesus said: “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me . . .” Why this variation? Because the original Aramaic term used by Jesus means not “hate” as we use it in our common vernacular but “love less” - with reference to family and friends, or, “love more” - with reference to Jesus as Lord!

Matthew spoke of “loving more” while Luke spoke of “loving less”. Either way, what it means in practical terms is that, for example, on a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your love for the Lord compared to your love for all others? The higher your rating, the greater your love!