OPEN: About three years ago, Dave Barry made this observation about Christmas:
"Your standard man, at this point in the Christmas season, has purchased zero gifts. He has not yet gotten around to purchasing an acceptable gift for his wife for last Christmas.
He did give her something last year, but he could tell by her reaction to it that she had not been dreaming of getting an auto emergency kit, even tho it was the deluxe model with booster cables and an air compressor.
Clearly this gift violated an important rule, but the man had no idea what this rule was, and his wife was too upset to tell him." (Dave Barry, "Your Gift Is in the Male," Washington Post 12-12-04)
APPLY: We’re entering into a season of “gift giving”.
A week ago - Friday - was something called “Black Friday” where many people went out and spent hours (sometimes even days) in line to get bargains on gifts they wanted to buy their loved ones.
ILLUS: Diana’s sister lives in Florida and she told us that people had been standing in line at “Best Buy” since Sunday for the store’s special opening on Friday.
(pause) I think these people have way too much time on their hands.
Now wouldn’t it be a shame if - after spending all that time in line - if these people bought things for their loved ones that their loved ones didn’t want? I mean, it’s enough of a waste of their lives to have spent days in line but to have spent that time to end up getting wrong kind of gift… now that would have been a tragedy.
ILLUS: I once read of a family celebrated Christmas every year with a birthday party for Jesus.
An extra chair of honor at the table became the family’s reminder of Jesus’ presence. There was a cake with candles, along with the singing of "Happy Birthday" expressed the family’s joy in Jesus’ presence.
One year on Christmas afternoon a visitor to the home asked the five-year-old girl, "Did you get everything you wanted for Christmas?"
After a moment’s hesitation, she answered, "No, but then it’s not my birthday!"
So, since Christmas is supposed to be a celebration of Jesus’ birth wouldn’t it be a shame to give Him a gift He really didn’t want?
(pause…) So what does Jesus want for Christmas?
Our text this morning tells of 3 men who “thought” they were giving Jesus what He wanted.
1st guy tells Jesus "I will follow you wherever you go." Luke 9:57
2nd guy says he’ll follow Jesus, but he needs to go bury his daddy first.
3rd guy says he’ll follow Jesus, but he needs to say goodbye to his family first
Well… what could be wrong with this?
I mean, this is what Jesus always seems to be asking of people .
Jesus is always talking about people “following Him”
In John 1 we’re told , Jesus found “…Philip, he said to him, "Follow me." John 1:43
Matthew 9:9 tells us that “Jesus… saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.”
Mark 1:17 tells us that Peter and Andrew were in their boats fishing when Jesus said to them: "Come, follow me… and I will make you fishers of men."
In John 10:27 Jesus declared: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
And two chapters later He said “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.” John 12:26
Follow Me! (Jesus says)
From everything I can read out of Scripture, that would seem to be one of the most important things we could do. It would be one of the most valuable gifts we could give Him for Christmas (or any other time).
BUT HERE in Luke we have the story of 3 men who are willing to do just that, but Jesus tells the first man: "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Luke 9:58
He tells the 2nd man "Let the dead bury their own dead…" Luke 9:60
And He tells the 3rd man: "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." Luke 9:62
Essentially Jesus tells these guys that they’ve gone and got the wrong gift for Him!!
What happened?
What did they do wrong??
Well, after much study and consideration, it seems to me that these men all had the idea that they could give Jesus the gift of their devotion on the “cheap”.
ILLUS: A guy bought his wife a beautiful diamond ring for Christmas.
A friend of his said, "I thought she wanted one of those sporty 4-Wheel drive vehicles."
"She did," he replied. "But where I gonna find a fake Jeep?"
I suppose it’s possible to get by with a cheap imitation for a gift with some people. You could give me just about anything and I would probably not know the difference.
But you can’t do that with Jesus.
And you especially can’t get by with it when it come to this issue of “following Him”
Now it’s not real obvious from their comments what the real agendas of these 3 are but we have to remember that Jesus knows men’s hearts.
He’s Jesus. He’s God.
Several times in the Gospels were told…
“Jesus knew what they were thinking”
and “He knew what was in their hearts.”
So… it’s just a matter of working backwards on this.
If Jesus was turning these men down… or at least questioning their motives… why?
The 1st guy was a scribe (that’s what it tells us in Matthew 8:19).
This means he was a highly educated man who worked with men of position and power. He’s the type of man who would have kept the records of important meetings, as well copying Scripture and copying down the learned observations about God’s Word.
Just before this exchange with Jesus, this man would probably have seen Jesus do a number of miracles. Just a few verses before this, we’re told the story of when Jesus cast a demon out of a young man – which His disciples could not expel.
Put that together with the fact that a lot of people have been talking about Jesus being the promised Messiah… the next King of Israel. Who wouldn’t want to be close to this man of growing influence and power. Who wouldn’t want to hitch his cart to Jesus star.
In the future of those Jesus chose would be position and prominence.
But Jesus sets the record straight.
“Young man” He’s saying, “If you’re looking for power and position… look elsewhere. Because if you follow me, there will be no grand palaces and feather beds.”
The second man was a little easier for me to figure out:
Luke 9:59 tells us Jesus “said to another man, ‘Follow me.’
But the man replied, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’"
Now, excuse me… if this man’s daddy’s dead… what’s he doing out here with Jesus.
If his daddy’s dead, he ought to be home at the funeral… not out with the crowd.
In our society, you can put a funeral off for a few days because of the skill of modern science and the expertise of funeral directors. But back then, you had to bury your dead as quickly as possible. You couldn’t preserve the body like you can now. The body had to be prepared as close to the day of death as possible before it began to decompose.
So, what’s this guy doing here in front of Jesus?
Well, I suspect his daddy’s not dead… yet.
Maybe his father is aged or ill, and this man is waiting for impending death to set his house in order.
He wanted to follow Jesus… just not right now.
The 3rd man says "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." Luke 9:61
So, what’s wrong with that?
Why wouldn’t it be reasonable to go say goodbye to your family before you made this heavy commitment to Jesus?
Remember, Jesus isn’t speaking to the man’s statements as much as to the man’s intent.
This guy is gonna go home… and then he’s not planning on coming back.
He’s like the guy who’s always saying he’ll be coming to church… but he never shows.
Someone once said: If you don’t want to do something… any excuse will do.
Each of these men had a hidden agenda.
They all wanted to follow Jesus on the cheap
But Jesus said "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23
Following Christ is not for the faint hearted.
It’s not for the casual church goer, or the part time Christian.
At one point or another in our lives we’ve got to decide to pick up His cross.
ILLUS: Charles Swindoll (The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart) One Chicago youth minister was concerned that his youth might become distracted on their upcoming mission trip to Florida’s balmy beaches. So, he fashioned a cross from 2 pieces of lumber. Just before they climbed on the bus, he showed it to the group.
"I want all of you to remember the whole purpose of our going is to glorify the name of Christ, to lift up the Cross - the message of the cross, the emphasis of the Cross, the Christ of the Cross," he announced. "So, we’re going to take this cross wherever we go."
The teenagers looked at one another, a little unsure of his plan. But they agreed to do it and dragged the cross on the bus.
· It banged back and forth in the aisle all the way to Florida.
· It went with them into restaurants.
· It stayed overnight where they stayed overnight.
· It stood in the sand while they ministered on the beach.
At first, lugging the cross around embarrassed the kids.
But later, it became a point of identification.
That cross was a constant, silent reminder of who they were and why they had come.
They eventually regarded carrying it as an honor and privilege.
(pause…) Could you do that?
(pause…) Would you do that?
Oh, you know I’m not talking about taking a literal physical cross to work, and to family gatherings, and to holiday parties. I’m talking more of consciously remembering to take your faith with you wherever you go.
If taking a huge cross with you to those events helps… go for it.
You see, that’s the kind of Christmas present Jesus is looking for.
As Jesus said in John 10:27: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
That’s the place where Jesus wants to get us to.
But it isn’t easy.
The night Jesus was crucified, He told His disciples they couldn’t follow Him where He was going. And guess who speaks up?
Peter.
Now Peter is a forthright man. He tells you exactly what is on his mind.
Peter asked, "Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you."
Then Jesus answered, "Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times! John 13:37-38
Peter meant what he said. He fully intended to follow Jesus even to the point of death.
Now, if Peter had a hard time following Jesus like he wanted to back then… you know full well there will be times when you and I will have trouble and struggle and fall down and fail.
And Jesus knows that too.
That’s why He constantly challenges in Scripture to pick our cross and follow Him.
He’s constantly challenging us to go further in our walk of faith than we’ve gone before.
· That’s part of what our “Forward in Faith” program was all about.
o We were being challenged to go deeper in our prayer life
o To go deeper in financial stewardship
o And to go deeper in our faith
It challenged our perception of Jesus could do.
It challenged us to look beyond gas prices/ heating bills/ all the negatives of our personal finance
and to focus our attention on what God could do.
ILLUS: Dixie was telling me how overwhelmed she was by all of you who showed up at the hospital to pray with her before her surgery.
But while I was visiting with her, she told me a story about her niece.
Her niece goes to another church in town… and she struggles to make her bills. She’s on disability and her mother and daughter live with her. They all work to make ends meet.
Ordinarily, Dixie’s niece makes a regular tithe to her church. But this one week, she encountered unforeseen troubles. Now, her car bill was due and she realized she didn’t have enough to pay both that bill… and her tithe.
Now I’m not sure why this woman came up with the choice she made next… but I can imagine how she came to her decision. She had committed herself to her tithe, and now her need to make a car payment threatened that commitment. And it made her angry. Not angry at God, but angry at the car payment and financial difficulty that was forcing her to make a choice.
What she decided to do could not have been easy decision, but I’m convinced she made it after much prayer and thought. Her decision? She decided she was going to give God her tithe that week… AND the money for the car payment.
As I heard Dixie tell this story, I was thinking to myself… I don’t know if I could do that.
But this woman was convicted that this is what she needed to do.
The next week, she rec’d a letter in the mail. She’d been receiving disability payments for some time now but the gov’t agency in charge of her payments had done an audit and realized they had miscalculated her payments. They had paying her less than what she qualified to receive… so they were enclosing a check for $4000.
Was that a coincidence?
I don’t think so.
You see, I’m convinced that Jesus is impressed when we pick up our crosses and follow Him
I’m convinced that Jesus is looking for people who are looking for a challenge
· they’re NOT looking for God to make them rich
· they’re NOT looking for Jesus to make them comfortable
· they ARE looking for something more that they can do for God
· they ARE looking for some new way to underwrite God’s church/missions/etc.
As Stephen Dolley, Jr. observed:
“A man who wants to do something will find a way; a man who doesn’t will find an excuse.”
CLOSE: Advertising tycoon Albert D. Lasker requested one of his top executives to move from California to the New York office. The man refused, so Lasker took a new tack.
"I have just made my will," he told the man. "I have designated you to succeed me as head of the business. This means that you will have to leave California when the time comes. Do you agree?"
"Yes."
"You will do this for me?"
"Yes."
"You will do this for me when I am dead?"
"Yes," repeated the executive.
"Then, why," demanded Lasker, "won’t you do it for me while I’m alive?"
The executive capitulated.
