THE COMMITMENT OF A SERVANT-LEADER
Luke 9:57-62
(I preached this message during my employment at Philippine Missionary Institute)
Illustration:
S. I. McMillen, in his book "None of These Diseases," tells a story of a young woman who wanted to go to college, but her heart sank when she read the question on the blank application that asked, "Are you a leader?" Being both honest and conscientious, she wrote, "No," and returned the application, expecting the worst. To her surprise, she received this letter from the college:
"Congratulations, you are accepted in this seminary! There were about 1,452 new leaders enrolled in this seminary this Academic year and we decided to include at least 1 follower."
A great number of people called themselves Christians who want to be served than to serve. There are many who aspire in leadership but very few will aspire to servant-hood. So I believe all of you here are leaders or aspiring to become leaders and not followers.
Do you believe that a good leader is a good follower? So, today I will preach about becoming a good follower rather than a good leader so that when you become good followers of the Lord Jesus Christ then you will become good Christian leaders.
This morning my topic is about commitment, the foundation of becoming a good follower. Let’s talk about commitment in serving the Lord found in Luke 9:57-62 in our Scripture:
“And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has no place to lay his head. And he said to another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, first let me go and bury my father. Jesus said to him, Let the dead bury their dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow you; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said to him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
These three persons in the passage were perhaps just representations of the many Christians today. Many were attracted to follow Jesus because He had performed great miracles. Jesus enabled the blind to see, the lame to walk, and cast out demons. Many had seen how Christ multiplied 5 loaves and 2 fishes into enough food to feed 5000 people.
Many people who experienced these things may perhaps have thought, “If Jesus can do all these things then surely He can meet all of my needs. If I want to benefit and gain from this then I must follow Him. This is one great opportunity that I must not miss.”
And many, like these three persons in our passage would then come and express their desire to follow Jesus. But Jesus did not welcome them. In fact He turned away many who wanted to follow Him. Why?
Did He not desire to have more followers? No, He wanted something more important than that: He wanted commitment from those who would serve Him.
Today the Lord Jesus still requires that same kind of commitment from those who would serve Him. Let us look carefully at the 3 IMPORTANT POINTS IN COMMITTING OUR LIVES TO FOLLOW JESUS CHRIST.
I. YOU MUST BE WILLING TO SACRIFICE FOR JESUS (V.57)
According to v.57 the first man promised, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
This sounds very good. But what exactly did he mean by saying this? Perhaps he was thinking more about the glory of being a follower of Christ. He was thinking of how glorious it would be to be closely associated with such a great person.
Here was an exciting growing movement, a worthy cause. “I must join…I must join!” the man thought. And Jesus could see that.
So, in His reply, Jesus did not want the first man to think of the glory of being His follower. He wanted him to know that there is a price to pay.
And Jesus therefore said to him, “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”
Jesus was saying that even the very poor creatures have a relatively comfortable life compared to His life. He was saying “If you really want to follow Me, you are willing to live/sacrifice the way I live.”
[The problem nowadays in the Philippines is that most Christians workers drop-out when they experience hardship in life. They want to assure of support before serving the Lord. They have no peace of mind in serving the Lord if they are not assured of financial support.]
Illustration.
I remember the children in World War II. At the close of the war, the Allied armies gathered up many hungry orphans. They were placed in camps where they were well-fed. Despite excellent care, they slept poorly. They seemed nervous and afraid. Finally, a psychologist came up with the solution. Each child was given a piece of bread to hold after he was put to bed. This particular piece of bread was just to be held—not eaten. The piece of bread produced wonderful results. The children went to bed knowing instinctively they would have food to eat the next day. That guarantee gave the children a restful and contented sleep.
A servant-leader of the Lord Jesus should enduring hardship, discomfort and inconvenience. And even if it means that you may be persecuted, and rejected by those around you.
You know no successful persons who haven’t experience difficulties. They faced them and overcame them
There is quotation that says: “There is no blessing if there is no bleeding”
II. YOU MUST BE AVAILABLE IN SERVING JESUS (V. 59)
No one can claim to have commitment if he does not make himself available.
In verse 59 we find a man who was also busy doing something else and so was not available to Christ. He said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
Now this sounds like a very good and reasonable excuse. What then did Jesus reply, “Let the dead bury their dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God”?
Was Jesus being unkind or insensitive to the man’s needs? Not at all. God’s Word shows us that Jesus was always most compassionate and concerned to those who were distressed. When He was dying on the cross, He even asked His disciple, John, to look after His mother.
So let us be careful how we understand this situation. One important thing to observe is that this man was together with Jesus at this point in time and not in his own home. This shows that his father was probably not dead yet. If his father had already died, he would not have been where Jesus was. He would have been at home, since it is always the Jewish custom/tradition to bury someone on the very same day that he died. So probably what this second prospective disciple was really saying was this, “Lord, please excuse me this time. Please wait until my father dies and is buried, and then after that, I will follow you. I cannot be available to you now, but maybe later on.”
Perhaps at some time of our lives we may have also done this. We know that God wants us to bring our loved ones and friends to Christ, or be involved in Church activities. But at the same time, there are other things in our lives which distracted us and call for our attention. So we end up postponing the things we should do. In effect we tell the Lord, “Please wait until a time when I am free. Don’t ask me to do things for you now. There are other things that I need to do first.”
There are two important rules you must follow:
First of all, remember that no matter how busy you are, you must always set aside time for the Lord. You must always maintain a healthy balance between the time you spend for your work, your career and family, and the time you spend for the Lord. Do not allow yourself to become so busy that you have no time left for the things of God.
Secondly, you need to keep your priorities in the right order. There are times when God’s work must come first, before everything else, even over important family relationships.
When Jesus said to the man, “Let the dead bury their dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God” He meant that God’s kingdom takes priority even over the duties that he had to his parents. Things like this must not become an excuse or obstacle to involvement in the work of God’s Kingdom.
Illustration:
A Nashville newspaper carried a story of Mrs. Lilia Craig who hasn’t missed attending church in 1,040 Sundays (20 years) although she is in her eighties. There are many questions raised: Doesn’t it ever rain or snow in her town on Sunday? Doesn’t she ever have an unexpected company? Doesn’t she ever beg off to attend picnics, family reunions, or have head aches, colds, nervous spells, become angry at the minister, or had her feelings hurt by someone else and felt justified in staying home to hear a good sermon on radio or TV?
Dearly beloved, when Christ calls you to follow Him, He wants availability from you, not in some future time that is convenient to you. He wants it from you right now, in the present time.
Remember this quotation: “God doesn’t require your ability but only your availability.”
III. YOU MUST BE SINGLE-MINDED IN FOLLOWING JESUS (V. 62)
Look at verse 62: Jesus said, “No man, having put his hand to plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
If a farmer wants to plow a straight line he must concentrate fully on controlling the direction of the plow. He must keep his eyes looking in front and no where else, otherwise he will start to drift off course.
Good plowing requires single-mindedness. In the same way, our commitment to the Lord requires us to be single-minded.
Why did Jesus need to emphasize this point to the third prospective disciple? Because our Lord knows what is in every person’s heart. Perhaps he knew that this man’s attentions were divided.
The man said “Let me go and bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.”
God knows that his heart is divided and his attention would seriously affect his commitment in Christ’s kingdom. A person with divided attention and loyalties is unfit for promoting God’s kingdom.
Illustration:
Julius Caesar is one of the greatest commanders of western history. When Julius Caesar landed in the shores of Britain with his army, he took a bold decision and step to ensure the success of his military ventures. Ordering his men to march at the edge of the cliffs of Dover, he commanded them to look down at the water below. To their amazement, they saw every ship in which they had crossed the channels engulfed in flames. Caesar had deliberately cut off any possibility of retreat. Now his soldiers were unable to return but to advance and conquer.
In the same way, Jesus said, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23
Let us be like the Apostle Paul who said in Philippians 3:13,14: “… this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are before. I press on toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
When we serve the Lord, then He will bless us: Seek ye first the kingdom of God…and all the things shall be added.
Conclusion
I would like to end this message with a true to life history of a person who fully committed his life to Jesus Christ…
In Yorkshire, England, during the early 1800s, two sons were born to a family named Taylor. The older one set out to make a name for himself by entering Parliament and gaining public prestige. But the younger son chose to give his life to Christ. He committed his life in serving God. With that commitment, Hudson Taylor served the Lord in China. As a result, he is known and honored on every continent as a faithful missionary and the founder of the China Inland Mission (now known as Overseas Missionary Fellowship). For the other son, however, there is no lasting monument. When you look in the encyclopedia to see what the other son has done, you find these words, “the brother of Hudson Taylor.”
If you want to succeed in life as Servant-Leader, the only requirement is your true commitment in Jesus.
Be willing to sacrifice for Jesus; be available to serve Him, and be single-minded in following Christ.
Perhaps someone may say, “This is too hard for me to do. How can I commit my life to Jesus?”
There is one way that is sure to work for this:
Deut. 10:12-13 says, “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, … LOVE Him and SERVE the Lord your God with all thy heart…”
Commitment is not a problem if you really love God. And He will always be your no.1 priority in your life.
God bless!
