(All my sermons use illustrations found at www.sermoncentral.com and all scripture is NIV unless otherwise noted)
DECIPHERING DISCIPLESHIP
You and I are called to be Disciples of Christ, followers of Jesus. We are told throughout scripture that this is the way, the only way to get to heaven. Jesus tells us, John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. So we know that we must go through Jesus to get to heaven, but is that all I must do to be considered a Disciple of Jesus? I think that many of us have a problem with deciphering discipleship and so today we will see what it takes to be a real follower of Jesus. I do not want that anyone here this morning get to the time or day when they would hear:
Matt 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
In a book entitled "Quiet Talks on Service", written by a man named Dr. S. D. Gordon, a fantasy is painted for is that is strikingly poignant and says much. Dr. Gordon shows Jesus walking down the golden streets of heaven. He has just returned from earth in His ascension. All heaven is eager to greet Him and welcome Him, and the first to rush up in excitement and greet Him is Gabriel. They have known each other forever, it seems, and these two companions of old walk and arm in arm along those streets of golden. Gabriel – curious – engages Jesus in a conversation that (in the fantasy) goes something like this: "Master, You died for the whole world down there, did You not?" "Yes." "You have suffered much." "Yes," the Lord said. " And do they all know what You did for them?" replied Gabriel. "Oh, no...no; only a few in Palestine know about it so far." Gabriel replies, "Well, Master, what’s Your plan? What have You done about telling the world that You died for them, that You shed Your blood for all of them? What is your plan?" Gabriel waited expectantly, anticipating a grandiose plan – along the lines of the Creation itself.
And Jesus answered, "Well, I asked Peter and James and John and Andrew and a few other fellows to make it the business of their lives to tell others. And then the ones that they tell could tell others, and then the ones that they tell could tell others, and the ones that they tell could tell others, and on and on and finally it would reach to the farthest corner of the earth and all would know the thrill and power and blessing of the gospel."
And Gabriel is said to have replied, "But suppose Peter fails? Suppose after awhile that John just doesn’t tell anybody? What if James and Andrew are ashamed or afraid? What if the rest of them simply chicken out? What then?"
To which Jesus replies, "Gabriel, I haven’t made any other plans. I’m counting totally on them."
Today Jesus is totally counting on us to be His disciples and we need to decipher what discipleship really means:
PRAYER
I. BIBLICAL WISDOM
I think this is the first ingredient any disciple must have. And I think that those of us that allow the Holy Spirit of God to change our lives allow the wisdom of God to rule our lives. When the Apostles saw that they had way to much physical labor to do, and that it was taking time away from what God wanted them to do, they appointed Deacons. They needed servants of God to do the labor, so that they could give their full attention to the ministry of the Word and prayer. When they told the brothers to choose these men they said: Acts 6:3-4 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."
The two go hand in hand, the Holy Spirit and wisdom. Jesus even told us that in His absence the Holy Spirit would come and teach and remind us: John 14:25-26 "All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
I truly wish that we would see how important it is that we have real wisdom of God, that we know Him and that we allow him to change our hearts before we attempt to serve others. I think that the reason the Apostles wanted men that were KNOWN to be full of the Spirit and WISDOM was because they knew the battle a servant of Christ would encounter. I know this because I have dealt with it first hand.
So many people set out to serve God without the wisdom they need, and in the process they fall. In his book “Waking the Dead” by John Eldredge, he relates this story: A friend of mine wanted to teach English as a second language in an Asian country as a way of becoming a sort of undercover missionary. A beautiful dream, one that I’m sure she would have been excellent at fulfilling. But she rushed to the field unprepared in many ways. I don’t mean finances and language skills; I mean in the ways of the heart. Lurking down in her soul were some deep and unresolved issues that would set her up for a fall: among them shame and guilt from an abusive past. The team she joined was totally unfamiliar with her new heart, and they doubted its goodness; as with too many Christian ministries, shame and guilt were often used as motivators. Their old covenant religion would play right into Susan’s issues, shut down her young heart. Finally, she was unpracticed in spiritual warfare, ill-equipped for what hell would throw at her. The devil is a master at shame and guilt. She went; got hammered; she came home, defeated. Her friends wonder if she will ever try again.
I know so many people like this, they have not gained the wisdom they need to fight the good fight and they rush out into the field of ministry unprepared. The Bible teaches us that we must be prepared for battle.
Luke 14:31 "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
Now, I know that we may be asking where does one get this kind of wisdom? The answer is very easy, we get it from Jesus, who is the Word, and therefore we get it as we read and study the word of God. Biblical Wisdom can make us true disciples of God. We will not be real Disciples of Christ if we refuse to spend any time in His Word, learning at Bible studies, Sunday School and small groups. The truth is that we must spend time with Jesus if we want to be real followers of His. We cannot consider ourselves Christians if we really do not know much about Him. I don’t think anyone would consider themselves, a member of a team or a member of a group if they knew little to nothing about that team or group. We teach our children that they must get to know someone before they can know if they should get married. Jesus told us we must get to know Him.
John 14:7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
II. GIVE UP EVERYTHING
Everything in this world, if we are to be true disciples of Jesus we must give up everything the world has to offer and follow Him.
Luke 14:33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. Even our lives, die to the old and start the new, Jesus said: Matt 16:25-26 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
So many of us feel that we can have our cake and it to, we can do as we want and still keep Jesus happy. I love the story by Scott Peck in his book , “The Road Less Traveled” "
I spent much of my ninth summer on a bicycle. About a mile from our house the road went down a steep hill and turned sharply at the bottom. Coasting down the hill one morning, I felt my gathering speed to be ecstatic. To give up this ecstasy by applying brakes seemed an absurd self-punishment. So I resolved to simultaneously retain my speed and negotiate the corner.
"My ecstasy ended seconds later when I was propelled a dozen feet off the road into the woods. I was badly scratched and bleeding, and the front wheel of my new bike was twisted beyond use from its impact against a tree. I had been unwilling to suffer the pain of giving up my ecstatic speed in the interest of maintaining my balance around the corner. I learned, however, that the loss of balance is ultimately more painful than the giving up required to maintain balance."
So many times we consider discipleship to mean following Jesus but doing it our way. Jesus wants ALL OF US, not some, not part, not even 99%, He wants it all, everything, our very lives. Being a disciple means holding nothing back for our own desires, it means sacrificing when we don’t want to it means denying ourselves. Jesus told us that we must pick up our cross, DENY OURSELVES, and follow Him. This means giving up everything the world has to offer and focus on what He would have us to do, and go where He would have us to go. No one can be a true follower of Jesus if they are trying to hold on to their world and follow Him as well. We cannot have two masters, we cannot serve two different things, Jesus told us this: Matt 6:24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Ivan the Great was the tsar of all of Russia during the Fifteenth Century. He brought together the warring tribes into one vast empire--the Soviet Union. As a fighting man he was courageous. As a general he was brilliant. He drove out the Tartars and established peace across the nation.
However, Ivan was so busy waging his campaigns that he did not have a family. His friends and advisers were quite concerned. They reminded him that there was no heir to the throne, and should anything happen to him the union would shatter into chaos. "You must take a wife who can bear you a son." The busy soldier statesman said to them that he did not have the time to search for a bride, but if they would find a suitable one, he would marry her.
The counselors and advisers searched the capitals of Europe to find an appropriate wife for the great tsar. And find her, they did. They reported to Ivan of the beautiful dark eyed daughter of the King of Greece. She was young, brilliant, and charming. He agreed to marry her sight unseen.
The King of Greece was delighted. It would align Greece in a favorable way with the emerging giant of the north. But there had to be one condition, "He cannot marry my daughter unless he becomes a member of the Greek Orthodox Church." Ivan’s response, "I will do it!"
So, a priest was dispatched to Moscow to instruct Ivan in Orthodox doctrine. Ivan was a quick student and learned the catechism in record time. Arrangements were concluded, and the tsar made his way to Athens accompanied by 500 of his crack troops--his personal palace guard.
He was to be baptized into the Orthodox church by immersion, as was the custom of the Eastern Church. His soldiers, ever loyal, asked to be baptized also. The Patriarch of the Church assigned 500 priests to give the soldiers a one-on-one catechism crash course. The soldiers, all 500 of them, were to be immersed in one mass baptism. Crowds gathered from all over Greece.
What a sight that must have been, 500 priests and 500 soldiers, a thousand people, walking into the blue Mediterranean. The priests were dressed in black robes and tall black hats, the official dress of the Orthodox Church. The soldiers wore their battle uniforms with of all their regalia--ribbons of valor, medals of courage. and their weapons of battle.
Suddenly, there was a problem. The Church prohibited professional soldiers from being members; they would have to give up their commitment to bloodshed. They could not be killers and church members too.
After a hasty round of diplomacy, the problem was solved quite simply. As the words were spoken and the priests began to baptize them, each soldier reached to his side and withdrew his sword. Lifting it high overhead, every soldier was totally immersed-everything baptized except his fighting arm and sword.
That is a true historical fact. The unbaptized arm. What a powerful picture of Christianity today. How many unbaptized arms are here this morning? How many unbaptized wills are here? How many unbaptized talents? Unbaptized check books? Unbaptized social activities? How many are there here this morning?
III. FOLLOW HIM
Well, we have seen to be a disciple we must have wisdom, a wisdom that comes from knowing Jesus, reading and studying the Word.
We have seen that to be a disciple of Jesus we must be willing to give up everything the world has to offer and serve Him.
But perhaps the most fundamental facts about being a disciple of Jesus’ is the one that we miss the most. We must FOLLOW HIM.
Now I know most people who are attending church think they are following Jesus, but are we really following Him, or are we leading and asking Him for a blessing from time to time. Have we made Jesus the co-pilot of our lives, or is He the pilot and we are the co-pilot.
To FOLLOW means that we do so in fair weather and in stormy times. It means that we are not just here when things are going good, but when the pain is real as well.
Garibaldi had an incredibly committed volunteer army. He would appeal for recruits in these terms: “I offer neither pay, nor quarters, nor provisions; I offer hunger, thirst, forced marches, battles and death. Let him who loves his country with his heart and not with his lips only, follow me!”
Jesus invites you to discipleship. But He lets you know up front that it is a commitment that will cost you something. It’s not going to be easy. To paraphrase Garibaldi, “Let him who loves the Lord with his heart and not with his lips only, be Jesus’ disciple!”
If we were to truly decipher discipleship we would see that it is so much more than calling ourselves Christians, it means that we will make sacrifices, it means that we will get to know our leader and it means that we will give up everything to follow Him, even our lives.
Salvation is free, ... but discipleship will cost you your life.
Volleyball was introduced as an Olympic sport in the 1964 Tokyo games. A Japanese women’s team was chosen to represent their nation for the event. Hirofumi Daimatsu, their coach, put the women through a grueling training program that resembled a Marine boot camp. The six day a week training program was quite brutal on the women both physically and mentally. Daimatsu, in fact, was trying to utterly break the women. He promised them two things: those who could not survive would be released from the team, but those who did would win the Olympic gold medal.
The training, however, did pay off and they eventually did win the gold. When they stood to receive their medals every woman was crying.
“It was a glorious moment,” said team captain Masae Kasai. “We all cried for two reasons. We had won the gold medal and had fulfilled our expectations and that of the Japanese people. Even more, we cried because this would be our last game together, and even though we had been through so much pain and anguish it was worth it. I’m sure we would all do it again.”
Even though their journey had been difficult, those women would have gone through it again for the prize of the gold. At times, our spiritual journey is difficult, but in the end we are promised a gold crown if we are faithful. We must understand what it really means to be a disciple of Jesus and work hard to fulfill our end of the arrangement.
We offer an invitation each week for those that need to answer the call of Jesus on their lives. Our invitation song is # 482, “Jesus is Calling” and we will sing verses 1,2&4.
INVITATION
