TITLE: HAVE YOU SIGNED ON THE DOTTED LINE?
SCRIPTURE: ST. LUKE 9:57-62
When was the last time you signed a contract? Any kind of contract – A Mortgage - A Car Loan - A New Job - A Marriage License - A School Admissions Agreement. Now consider this - How many pages was the contract? More importantly, did you make sure you read every page before you signed it?
Every relationship has a contract of sorts. The relationship between an Employer And Employee - A Husband And Wife - Even Friend To Friend. While some of these relationships have agreements in the form of a written contract or spoken vows, as the relationship continues, we discover that many of the “Terms” go unwritten and unspoken, relying –
• Less on words and more on the worth of the relationship
• Less on treatise and more on trust
The Israelites had seen God display his Worth and Trustworthiness, not only through their deliverance from slavery, but also through God’s providing for their needs on their journey to Sinai. It was at Sinai, with those experiences of God’s faithfulness fresh in their memories, they are faced with a question -- will they sign their name on the dotted line?
• LEVITICUS 26:12 “AND I WILL WALK AMONG YOU, AND WILL BE YOUR GOD, AND YE SHALL BE MY PEOPLE”
• God gave the people the 10 Commandments
• The people all answered as one and signed the contract with God
• Would you and I have done the same?
It was JOSHUA who faced his neighbors and friends in JOSHUA 24:15 - “AND IF IT SEEM EVIL UNTO YOU TO SERVE THE LORD, CHOOSE YOU THIS DAY WHOM YE WILL SERVE; WHETHER THE GODS WHICH YOUR FATHERS SERVED THAT WERE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FLOOD, OR THE GODS OF THE AMORITES, IN WHOSE LAND YE DWELL: BUT AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD.”
• He said you can cut up and clown if you want – But for me and My House
• You can play with God all you want – But for me and My House
• What he was saying is, make your own decision – But for me and My House, WE WILL SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE
No matter where we are in our faith journey, we all are faced with that reality every day – indeed, every moment of every day. When we woke up this morning -
• How many of us knew every detail the day would hold?
• How many of us have ever wondered why something happened or what next step we should take?
• Like Israel, we aren’t always given a reason, but we are given a relationship – a relationship with our God who is for us and with us
• We might not know the way, but we can know the Way
• Like Israel, we, too, are faced with a question -- Will we trust more in what we know or Who we know?
• It is an age-old question
• A present-moment opportunity
• HAVE YOU SIGNED ON THE DOTTED LINE?
We sign our name to thousands of documents in our lifetime to secure anything from homes to cell phone agreements and do it without even reading the contracts most of the time. When it comes to “belonging” to a people of God however, we turn into a conspiracy theorists and feel threatened. It’s an interesting thing to watch.
As Christians, we are already members of a body we don’t deserve to be in. Jesus is our head and we fit together to nurture and care for each other. This all came by the Gospel’s effect on our lives. We are truly members who cannot lose our membership because the dues were paid by another way back on Calvary. This is why we should use the word “PARTNERSHIP” when it comes to being a part of the local Church and to formalize the reality that already exists.
• We know most traditional churches refer to this as ‘membership” which is fine
• I think “membership” is an antiquated term for us today
• I believe we should be coming to the Church as a ‘Partnership’
• But I believe that word ‘membership’ is empty freight in our culture and is already taken Biblically through Salvation
• We aren’t trying to be hip, but clear
• Even Jesus said we are CO-LABORERS with Him – I CORINTHIANS 3:9 says “WE ARE LABORERS TOGETHER WITH GOD….”
• Understanding this, we don’t come together in ‘Membership’ but we come together in ‘Partnership’ each bringing our spiritual gifting to the body of Christ
• HAVE YOU SIGNED ON THE DOTTED LINE?
To simply attend and volunteer at a local church without partnership is nothing more than “hedging your bets” as we are ready to extricate ourselves and cancel our “belonging” when it doesn’t fit.
• It’s saying, “I love this place and love coming, but want to remain a private individual with no responsibility or covering, and covenanting with you guys is too much”
• It also reminds me of finally getting a heart tattoo on our arms but not putting a name inside the heart, because the "beloved" might change
Jesus didn’t die to create a service where people went based on convenience, but to create a Church where people were committed to each other and partnered with each other in a covenant.
• The local church is God’s instrument to change the world and to not partner to one is to be sitting on the bench
• I am part of the team, I just don’t get into the game
• Jesus died and rose - we are good to leave the bench now and partner with the team
• HAVE YOU SIGNED ON THE DOTTED LINE?
It was 42 years ago I enlisted in the United States Army. A few days ago, I stopped by our mall and visited with the Military Recruiting Office just to see what they were offering the new recruits. I picked up some brochures and from what I could see there are great incentives to join --
• A signing bonus
• Education assistance
• Repayment of college loans
• Guaranteed salary
• Paid vacations
• Retirement benefits
• Free medical and dental
• Guaranteed home loans
But with all these great programs, there is something that is never mentioned. It is almost like the elephant in the room.
• There must be the willingness for the person who signs the dotted line, to risk their life and even die for their country
• It is similar to Christian discipleship
• If we are to truly enter into the Kingdom of God, we need to count the cost and make a total dedication, not a halfhearted commitment
In our scripture for examination, Jesus had three conversations with those who wanted to follow him.
• To the first person he said -- “Count the Cost”
• To the second, the message was -- “Leave it Behind”
• To the third he said -- “Don’t Look Back”
It seems the first person had a desire to follow Jesus. I think deep down, he wanted to be part of the adventure of seeing the Kingdom of God unfold in people’s lives, to enjoy the special position of being seen as a disciple.
• It is as though he had seen the military travel posters and said, I’ll sign up
• Did you ever get caught up in the excitement of the moment and found yourself signing up for something?
Human beings continually make decisions, large and small - afterwards, there are consequences. Have you ever -
• Bought a car and later thought you had bought the wrong car
• Taken a job and then thought it was the wrong job
• Ordered a meal at a restaurant and then regretted your choice?
• Sometimes our decisions don’t lead to desirable outcomes and we wish we had made different choices
• When this happens, we are experiencing what is termed as BUYER’S REMORSE
God has designed the gift of the Holy Ghost, the baptism of His Holy Spirit, to bring all of these basic human needs to your life! However, as crazy as it seems, a lot of people continue to try to buy rightness - peace - joy - from the enemy. God has promised you all of these things by simply receiving the free gift of the Holy Ghost! It is available to you in your own “back yard” - yet so many continue to pay a high price for temporary moments of joy - peace - “right”ness. For just a few hours, under the influence of a lie from the enemy, you have Peace. You feel Joy. Things seem right.
However, as soon as the supply is exhausted you find yourself going back to the enemy of your soul to pay the high price of what he provides, all the while you have free access to the real deal! The enemy of the soul holds you hostage, exacting high charges and prices from you for what you can have for free.
• It is the Gift of God
• I know people who would seemingly rather continue to pay the ultimate price of sin just to have temporary peace and joy
• They would seemingly do anything but receive the gift of the Holy Ghost as the book of Acts says they should and can have!
• SIN BRINGS BUYERS REMORSE
• The effects are never permanent, and only satisfy for a short time
So, Jesus says in this first conversation - FOXES HAVE HOLES AND THE BIRDS OF THE AIR HAVE NESTS, BUT THE SON OF MAN HAS NOWHERE TO LAY HIS HEAD.
• It was as if Jesus stripped away the romance and excitement of ministry right before his eyes and showed there was a cost to following the Lord
• To leave everything behind
• Jesus also said, “WHOEVER LOSES HIS LIFE FOR MY SAKE SHALL FIND IT”
As we continue to read further in our text, we see in VS. 59 where Jesus said to another - FOLLOW ME. But the man replied, LORD FIRST LET ME GO AND BURY MY FATHER. Jesus said to him, “LET THE DEAD BURY THEIR OWN DEAD, BUT AS FOR YOU, GO AND PROCLAIM THE KINGDOM OF GOD.”
• In this passage of scripture, some would say that Jesus’ response was harsh
• However, if the man’s father had just died, the son would not have been there
• He would have been at home because it was Jewish tradition to bury a person on the same day they died
• They did not do as we do today and wait until Saturday or wait a week until all the family can arrive
• They buried the same day of death
What I believe probably happened was this. It was the custom on the first anniversary of the death of a parent, the son would go into the tomb, gather up the bones, and put them in a special repository.
• That was done to make extra space in the tomb
• In this instance, the son requested up to a year’s delay before he was to follow Christ
• Here, Jesus does not accept second place, but demands immediate allegiance
Our history buffs will recall when Julius Caesar was the leader of Rome, he landed his Army on the shores of Britain. He then took a bold step to ensure the success of his military campaign. Caesar ordered his men to march to the edge of the cliffs of Dover, and he commanded them to look down on the water below. To their amazement, they saw every ship that had carried them as they crossed the English Channel was now engulfed in flames.
• Caesar had deliberately cut off any possibility of retreat
• Since his soldiers were unable to return to the continent, their only real option was to advance forward
• So, they committed themselves and followed their leader
• They went forward and conquered Britain
When Jesus said follow me, we are called to figuratively burn our ships in the harbor, not to go back to our old way of life. To set ourselves free from any worldly entanglement and loyalties that might come between us and our Lord.
As we continue to march forward in our text another said to Jesus - “I WILL FOLLOW YOU, LORD; BUT LET ME FIRST SAY FAREWELL TO THOSE AT MY HOME.” On the surface, the third man’s request seemed reasonable, but his farewell was probably a long series of good bye parties given by his friends. Not just a simple handshake, hug or a kiss goodbye.
Christ does not call us to dishonor our parents or shirk our responsibility to our family. But if we are pressed into a choice between the two, our Lord must come first. Jesus said to him, “NO ONE WHO PUTS A HAND TO THE PLOW AND LOOKS BACK IS FIT FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD.”
• In this situation, the one who ploughs the field must look straight ahead and devote their full attention
• In Christian discipleship, once we make a decision for the Lord, we are not to look back at our old way of life, but to move forward
• II CORINTHIANS 5:17 - THEREFORE IF ANY MAN BE IN CHRIST, HE IS A NEW CREATURE: OLD THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY; BEHOLD, ALL THINGS ARE BECOME NEW
Like the Apostle Paul we must “FORGET WHAT LIES BEHIND AND STRAIN FORWARD TO WHAT LIES AHEAD.” There is a natural, human tendency for us to look back.
• Life Magazine -- has the “Year in Pictures”
• Sports Illustrated -- has the ”Year in Sports”
• We have –
o History books
o Yearbooks
o Photo albums
o Home movies and memories that allow us to look back
• And there can be great value in looking back
• We look back to learn
• We look back to affirm the places and faces and circumstances from whence we have come
It is mainly for some clue to where I am going that I search through where I’ve been; for some hint as to whom I am becoming or failing to become that I delve into what used to be.” So there is, indeed, a time for us to look back, if that looking back carries with it a positive purpose. At the same time Paul tells us to “FORGET WHAT LIES BEHIND.”
• But Paul is saying don’t look back in a way that will keep us from going forward
• Don’t look back in a way that makes us prisoners of our past
• Because looking back in the wrong way enslaves us or enslaves others to past mistakes and sins
• Looking back in the wrong way does not allow the healing of old hurts and painful memories
Especially is this true for the church. We can never “rest upon our laurels,” our past achievements.
• We never reach a point where we should be looking back
• Our faith is an expectant faith, one that always points us to the future
• As Christians we should never long for the “good old days,” but for the new and exciting days yet to come
• A church that looks back instead of ahead is a church that isn’t going anywhere!
• As individuals, as a church, God isn’t most concerned with where we’ve been, with what we used to do
• His concern is with what we’re doing right now and what we’re going to do tomorrow
• HAVE YOU SIGNED ON THE DOTTED LINE
Jesus had conversations with three individuals, and we can extend those words to us.
• To the first, and also to us, he said, “COUNT THE COST”
• To the second, and to us, he said, “LEAVE IT BEHIND”
• To the third, and to us, he said, “DON’T LOOK BACK”
• Following Christ has a cost; it is a total dedication, not a halfhearted commitment
• We need to accept the cross along with the crown and allow nothing to distract us from following him
• HAVE YOU SIGNED ON THE DOTTED LINE
I am reminded at the 1968 OLYMPICS IN MEXICO CITY, the MEN’S 26 MILE MARATHON had been over for at least one hour.
--All the runners except one had completed the race - JOHN STEVEN AQUARI OF TANZANIA
--Long after the previous runner, John Steven, Aquari was the last marathoner to enter the stadium
--His leg was bandaged and bloody
--Aquari had taken a bad fall early on in the marathon, and all he could do was limp the rest of the way
--When he entered the stadium for the final lap, only a small crowd was left, but they stood and applauded
--When he crossed the finish line, a reporter asked, “WHY DIDN’T YOU QUIT? WHY DIDN’T YOU GIVE UP?”
--Aquari said - My country did not send me 7,000 miles to start this race
--My country sent me to finish
--And so it is with our Christian faith
--We are to finish the race that has been set before us
--We must make and accept the heavy challenge of Following the Lord
--HAVE YOU SIGNED ON THE DOTTED LINE?
