"The High Cost"
Luke 9:57-62
A sermon for 5/8/22
Fourth Sunday of Easter
Pastor John Bright
Luke 9 “57 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”
58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”
But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”
61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”
62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Pause right there. Those words I just read; they were “Breathed by God”! God wants you to hear His Word right now! So, what is your response? Do you want to formed by that Word or do you want to be informed about the words? You have to choose.
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As always on Mother’s Day – unless I have a woman to preach, you won’t get a sermon about what it’s like to be a mom. I will never know and don’t care to pretend I do!
My sermon title may be an unfortunate reminder of the inflation we are all experiencing – from gas for the car or truck to the meat for dinner – it’s all getting more expensive. Now, while this is an annoyance for most of us – it’s a significant burden for the least of these. One group that we need to remember on this day is single moms. Those mothers who are trying to raise their kids without two incomes.
I found some census data from back in 2018 – of custodial parents, 43.5 percent reported receiving the full amount of child support due and the poverty rate of custodial-mother families was 29.2 percent. While I don’t have more recent information, I doubt it has gotten much better.
This is exactly the kind of folks the church used to serve as they were instructed by God’s Word –
Psalm 82:3
“Defend the poor and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and needy.”
The high cost of following Jesus – v. 57-58
“57 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”
58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
If you have watched the first season of “The Chosen”, you may have been surprised by Jesus basically living in the open with a lean to for sleeping before He calls the Disciples. As we see the group moving around, they look like they are going on a camping trip. They live out in the open, unless invited to stay in the home of someone along the way. It really drives home the point that Jesus had no home to call His own.
Jesus knew that this potential follower had a strong need for security. We all have that need! In the “Freedom in Christ” course, Dr. Neal Anderson lists this as one of the three basic needs we all have: acceptance, significance, security. Adam and Eve had all three provided for them in the Garden of Eden. After the fall in Genesis 3, we see their security turned to fear – “9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” From this point on, “Do not be afraid” is the most repeated command in the Bible. (pg. 25)
If you have a place to live, try to think about how much security you feel because of that dwelling. When the storms come in the night- when you arrive there after a long day at work – when you gather with the family for a big event – that place gives you a sense of security.
These men and women who followed Jesus had lost all that security. They had to get it from Jesus. They had to put their trust and hope in Jesus for security. What about you and me? Have you ever seen news coverage of the aftermath of a big tornado or hurricane? Or maybe folks returning to their property after a wildfire to see everything destroyed? I remember going down to the Gulf with a youth group to do cleanup after Katrina. There was street after street with nothing but a concrete foundation and some pipes sticking up. Everything was gone.
We, too, need to receive our security from the truth found in God’s Word. It’s there, you will discover your true identity in Christ:
Romans 8:1-2 I am free from condemnation.
Romans 8:28 I am assured that God works for my good in all circumstances.
Romans 8:31-39 I am free from any condemnation brought against me and I cannot be
separated from the love of God.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 I have been established, anointed and sealed by God.
Colossians 3:1-4 I am hidden with Christ in God.
Philippians 1:6 I am confident that God will complete the good work He started in me.
Philippians 3:20 I am a citizen of heaven.
2 Timothy 1:7 I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.
1 John 5:18 I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me.
The high cost of the Kingdom – v. 59-60
“59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”
But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”
It would just as important for you and me to be there for a family funeral. Remember, it that day the burial would have been the same day as the death. That was followed by days of mourning. It’s the opposite for us with days of mourning leading up to the funeral and then folks expect us to go right back to “normal life.”
This was a hard saying by Jesus. He liked to use those when He needed to put Kingdom Principles in the proper perspective. Let me give you another example – Mark 3 “31 Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. 32 And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You.”
33 But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” 34 And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”
We often miss the point of these hard sayings – like in the example I just gave. You can’t claim to be part of the family of God if you refuse to do the will of God! Period! Ouch!
What’s the Kingdom Principle in Luke 9 that Jesus wants the grieving man to know? He taught it in the Sermon on the Mount – Matthew 6 “31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
When you follow Jesus, your first priority is the Kingdom of God. What does that look like? Got this from gotquestions.org -
“Does this mean that we should neglect the reasonable and daily duties that help sustain our lives? Certainly not. But for the Christian, there should be a difference in attitude toward them. If we are taking care of God’s business as a priority—seeking His salvation, living in obedience to Him, and sharing the good news of the kingdom with others—then He will take care of our business as He promised—and if that’s the arrangement, where is worrying?
But how do we know if we’re truly seeking God’s kingdom first? There are questions we can ask ourselves. “Where do I primarily spend my energies? Is all my time and money spent on goods and activities that will certainly perish, or in the services of God—the results of which live on for eternity?” Believers who have learned to truly put God first may then rest in this holy dynamic: “…and all these things will be given to you as well.”
The high cost of looking forward – v. 61-62
“61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”
62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
I know I’m repeating myself from a recent sermon, but it’s relevant right here. How far will you get in your car if all you do is look in the rearview mirror? Not far at all! None of us can live in the past and have a reasonably satisfying life in the present.
One more thing, whether you realize it or not – we all have a warped view of the past. Have you seen the new cars that can take the camera views and make a whole new picture? That’s like our view of the past. It’s never just like it happened in our memories. This has been made really clear to me lately when I had a discussion with my brother about some of the events surrounding my father’s going into the nursing home.
From my point of view, he is remembering things that never happened – but that’s not how he sees it. We all do that with past memories.
If we are following Jesus and we are about the work of the Kingdom, then we have to keep our eyes forward. What are we looking to? The coming of Jesus!
1 Thessalonians 4 “13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
For millions of Believers around the world, these are words of comfort. They don’t have big houses with lots of furniture. They don’t have SUVs. They don’t have mostly good memories with a few times of hurt and pain and grief. These are the ones who cling to the last few lines of the Bible – Revelation 22:20 “He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”
If we can find our true security in Jesus –
If we can make our first priority the Kingdom of God –
If we can look to the Second Coming of Jesus with HOPE –
Then we, in this day, can begin to understand the high cost of being followers of Jesus Christ in the midst of a day when “everyone does what is right in his or her own eyes” (Judges 21:25). These are the days when we need to be light in the darkness. Will you join me in this work? Amen.
TEACHING SHEET
"The High Cost"
Luke 9:57-62
date
Over half of single moms do not receive full child support each month and almost a third of them live below the poverty line. This is exactly the kind of folks the church used to serve as they were instructed by God’s Word –
Psalm 82:3
“Defend the poor and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and needy.”
The high cost of following Jesus – v. 57-58
In the “Freedom in Christ” course, Dr. Neal Anderson lists this as one of the three basic needs we all have: acceptance, significance, security. Adam and Eve had all three provided for them in the Garden of Eden. After the fall in Genesis 3, we see their security turned to fear and from this point on, “Do not be afraid” is the most repeated command in the Bible. (pg. 25)
Romans 8:1-2 I am free from condemnation.
Romans 8:28 I am assured that God works for my good in all circumstances.
Romans 8:31-39 I am free from any condemnation brought against me and I cannot be
separated from the love of God.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 I have been established, anointed and sealed by God.
Colossians 3:1-4 I am hidden with Christ in God.
Philippians 1:6 I am confident that God will complete the good work He started in me.
Philippians 3:20 I am a citizen of heaven.
2 Timothy 1:7 I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.
1 John 5:18 I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me.
The high cost of the Kingdom – v. 59-60
Jesus used hard sayings when He needed to put Kingdom Principles in the proper perspective. Mark 3:31-35
We often miss the point of these hard sayings – like in the example I just gave. You can’t claim to be part of the family of God if you refuse to do the will of God! Period! Ouch!
What’s the Kingdom Principle in Luke 9 that Jesus wants the grieving man to know? He taught it in the Sermon on the Mount – Matthew 6:31-34. When you follow Jesus, your first priority is the Kingdom of God. What does that look like? Got this from gotquestions.org - “There are questions we can ask ourselves. “Where do I primarily spend my energies? Is all my time and money spent on goods and activities that will certainly perish, or in the services of God—the results of which live on for eternity?”
The high cost of looking forward – v. 61-62
If we are following Jesus and we are about the work of the Kingdom, then we have to keep our eyes forward. What are we looking to? The coming of Jesus! 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Revelation 22:20 “He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”
Do you find your true security in Jesus?
Do you make your first priority the Kingdom of God?
Do you look to the Second Coming of Jesus with HOPE?
This is hard in a day when “everyone does what is right in his or her own eyes” (Judges 21:25)
