Americans have developed a softer view of commitment in regard to the church. George Barna after nearly twenty-five years of collecting and studying spiritual data and trends believes that the statistics show that Americans are showing a much more limited commitment to faith. Barna explained. "Americans are willing to expend some energy in religious activities such as attending church and reading the Bible, and they are willing to throw some money in the offering basket. Because of such activities, they convince themselves that they are people of genuine faith. But when it comes time to truly establishing their priorities and making a tangible commitment to knowing and loving God, and to allowing Him to change their character and lifestyle, most people stop short. We want to be ‘spiritual’ and we want to have God’s favor, but we’re not sure we want Him taking control of our lives and messing with the image and outcomes we’ve worked so hard to produce." The truth is that this less than full commitment to Jesus Christ is nothing new. In fact it has been happening for centuries. Our text reveals three offers being made in regard to following Jesus. Two were made by individuals and one was made by Jesus. Each one of them had noticeable conditions attached to them. Jesus’ response to each of the individuals reflects the idea that true commitment requires great sacrifice. As we study this passage today, our goal is to answer the question, “Is 99.9% good enough?”
I. Commitment to Jesus requires a willingness to put aside worldly security.
A. Many people think following Jesus is a good idea until they realize what it is going to cost them.
1. We discover in Mathew 8:19 that this first man that comes to Jesus is a Teacher of the Law.
2. After the man willingly expresses his desire to follow Him, Jesus relates His common fate: He does not even have a place to lay His head.
3. Jesus’ teaching is that his followers surrender their claim to even the most basic of creature comforts—the knowledge that at the end of the day at least there will be a good place to go to sleep.
4. Jesus wants the man to understand the willingness to sacrifice that is necessary in order to be one of His disciples.
B. Jesus simply did not grab on to everyone who said that they wanted to follow.
1. Those that wanted to follow Jesus needed to realize that it would cost them something; they could not expect luxury or even a warm welcome.
2. The main emphasis here is less on the loss of creaturely comfort (a place to sleep) than with the rejection.
3. Discipleship requires resolve because it means rejection. The premise behind the remark is that disciples will have to follow the same path as the Son of Man.
4. Discipleship requires trusting God even in the midst of hardship and rejection.
5. Following Jesus is far more valuable than anything the world has to offer.
II. Commitment to Jesus must take precedent even when it competes with other loyalties.
A. The second encounter has Jesus taking the initiative and inviting the man to follow Him.
1. This man would gladly follow Jesus but first he had some other business to take care of, he needed to go bury his father.
2. For a Jew this was a religious duty having precedence over everything else. Only in the case of a temporary Nazirite vow or if one were the high priest could one be absolved from this duty.
3. If the father was already dead the funeral procedures would have been underway right then, because in Jewish society the dead were buried the same day or one of the next two days in exceptional circumstances.
4. More than likely the man is asking for permission to wait until his father died which could take years, an indefinite delay.
5. Let the dead bury their own dead. This saying contains a play on the word dead. “Let the [spiritually] dead bury their own [physical] dead.” In this pun the spiritually dead are those who do not follow Jesus.
B. Jesus demands an allegiance transcending even this greatest of obligations that a child could have to their parents under Jewish Law.
1. We are not told this man’s motives, he might have wanted to be sure that he claimed his part of the inheritance or maybe he did not want to face his father’s wrath for leaving the family business.
2. Whether his concern was fulfilling a duty, having financial security, keeping family approval or something else, he did not want to commit to Jesus just yet.
3. Jesus sensed this reluctance and challenged the man to consider that his commitment had to be complete, without reservation.
4. Jesus must come first above all human loyalties. His directive is not cold hearted; it simply called on the man to examine his priorities.
III. Commitment to Jesus involves us stepping out on faith to serve Him, without looking back.
A. The third encounter has a man that also expressed his desire to follow Jesus but like the second he had something he wanted to do first.
1. This man simply just wanted to go home and say goodbye to his family after which he would follow Jesus.
2. To understand this request, the reader needs to be aware of the story of Elijah’s call for Elisha to follow him (1 Kings 19:19–21).
3. In that story Elisha requests to go back home and Elijah allows him to do so. When he goes home, he slaughters his twenty-four oxen, cooks them over the burning plowing equipment, and feeds those at his home.
4. Luke’s point is probably that following Jesus is far more important and more urgent than following Elijah.
5. The request may include days and weeks of parties and pleas for reconsideration of commitments to Jesus.
B. The cost of discipleship does not allow anything else to be put ahead of Jesus’ call or, for that matter, to look back longingly at what is being given up.
1. Jesus’ statement about the one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back also recalls the Elijah/Elisha scene, perhaps reminding that Elisha did not look back, as he severed all ties with his former way of life.
2. Those who would follow Jesus must commit unconditionally to him, severing even family ties when the kingdom of God demands it.
3. Disciples cannot back off from the task. Discipleship is not a second job, a moonlighting task, an ice-cream social or a hobby. It is the product of God’s calling and should be pursued with appropriate seriousness.
IV. Commitment to Jesus means total dedication, not halfhearted commitment.
A. All three of these encounters illustrate the point that Jesus expects absolute commitment to Him.
1. Jesus must be “first.” He will not accept second place to anyone or anything.
2. Even a good thing, such as honoring one’s parents by seeing that they receive proper burial, cannot usurp the place of the best thing, which is to love Jesus with all one’s heart, strength, and mind.
3. Jesus’ concept of ministry does not limit it to a professional level. Everyone is called to represent him.
4. The New Testament makes it clear that gifts vary and various functions allow a diversity of ministry within the body, but everyone is gifted to contribute to the ministry of the community
5. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. (Romans 12:4-6—NIV)
B. Jesus makes it clear that service in the kingdom of God is of such vital importance that His followers must make it their top priority.
1. Jesus expects total dedication out of His followers not some half-hearted attempt at a commitment.
2. His followers must accept the cross along with the crown, judgment as well as mercy.
3. His followers must count the cost and be willing to abandon everything else that has given them security.
4. Nothing whatsoever should distract us from service for the kingdom.
5. So is 99.9% good enough? The answer is clearly no. Anything less than our all is simply unacceptable.
6. Jesus provides the greatest example of someone that gave it all for the cause of whole hearted service.
Cassie Bernall was a 17 year old with long blond hair, hair she wanted to cut off and have made into wigs for cancer patients. She was active in her youth group and was known for carrying a Bible to school. Cassie was in the school library reading her Bible when the two young killers burst in. According to witnesses, one of the killers pointed his gun at Cassie and asked, do you believe in God? Cassie paused and then answered, “Yes, I believe in God.” Why? The gunman asked. Cassie did not have a chance to respond; the gunman had already shot her dead. Cassie’s martyrdom was even more remarkable when you consider that just a few years ago she had dabbled in the occult, including witchcraft. She had embraced the same darkness and nihilism that drove her killers to such despicable acts. But two years ago, Cassie dedicated her life to Christ, and turned her life around. Her friend, Craig Moon, called her a “light for Christ.” According to the Boston Globe, on the night of her death, Cassie’s brother Chris found a poem she had written just two days prior to her death. It read:
Now I have given up on everything else
I have found it to be the only way
To really know Christ and to experience
The mighty power that brought
Him back to life again, and to find
Out what it means to suffer and to
Die with him. So, whatever it takes
I will be one who lives in the fresh
Newness of life of those who are
Alive from the dead
