The marks of a disciple: part II
08.17.03
Identify:
• Someone to follow me (sitting close to back or middle)
band of brothers video – the qualities of a leader
We are in a series called the marks of a disciple…
last week – learner
• if there are things in this book that you do not know, and you are not actively seeking to know them, then you are not a disciple
• b/c the moment at which we cease learning, is the moment at which we cease being a disciple.
• Tozer - “When we become Christians we enter the school of Christ.”
“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer (martyr)
“He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” - Jim Elliot (martyr)
painting and then luke 9:23
A disciple is a follower
…of Jesus Christ
Luke 9:23 - Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Death to agenda, plans and will
TREK INTERVIEW
I want to dissect this verse together with you this morning. b/c I’ll be very honest, it’s hard to know how to follow someone that you cannot see.
My goal is that when they would leave the service tomorrow morning they would understand the invitation; the task; and the leader.
And I will say to now this is a hard teaching. And many will not accept it. But I believe this… adventurous and romantic… friend from England named Rebecca…
the invitation
Luke 9:23 - Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Luke 9:23 - …"If anyone wishes… NASU
Anyone
“anyone” is a highly technical Greek term that means “anyone”.
The disciples were ordinary people. Good ole boys. No special gifts or talents or schooling. They were even untrained and uneducated. Most of them smelled like bait…b/c they were fishermen. Jesus didn’t choose them b/c they were politicians or lawyers or doctors or whatever…he chose them b/c they were willing. They were bass masters.
John MacArthur – Twelve ordinary men
“On the contrary, they were all too prone to mistakes, misstatements, wrong attitudes, lapses of faith, and bitter failure – no one more so than the leader of the group, Peter. Even Jesus remarked that they were slow learners and somewhat spiritually dense (Luke 24.25)”
I know there are some people thinking “I can’t do this.” I can’t give stuff up. I’m scared; what if I can’t do it.”
WP: on the mountain trek that we do each summer in Peru with the Summer Peru Project team, you don’t have to be an Olympian; don’t have to be an allstar; don’t even have to be a varsity athlete. You do have to be one thing; there is one requirement to be a soldier in the army of God – to follow the greatest and most powerful leader and commander-in-chief the universe knows, and to be a part of the greatest force that there ever has been, is or will be – the hand of God. there is one requirement: WILLING. …to study (last week), to train, to endure, to walk.
To be a disciple, you do not have to be a pastor, a priest, a youth pastor, a worship leader, a missionary, a LUGhead, a scholar…you don’t even have to be in Beta club. (‘yeah!’)
Wishes
I love the way the Lord is. No coercing, no manipulating. The choice is ours.
WP: you can be forced to come here by your parents. And let me just say if that is you, I know where you have been, I can relate; my parents made me come to church… and I hated it; so for your sake I am trying to make this as painless as possible; b/c you can be forced to come here. But you cannot be forced to follow Jesus.
Matt 9:13 - But go and learn what this means: ’I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Basically, this means that God is not looking for ROBOTS. WP: fellas, which would you rather have?... a woman who perfectly obeyed and loved you b/c she had to; or a woman who decided and said out of all the men that there are in the world…I want you, young stag? “I’ll take the one who called me a stag.”
Deut 30:19-20 - This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.
Luke 9.23 - …to come after me…
erchomai - to come or go
opiso - to the back, i.e. aback; after, back (-ward), (+get) behind, + follow.
It’s an invitation. We get lot’s of invitations – parties, weddings, dinners, dances, whatever – and the invitations I used to like most were invitations to events. WP: wrestling. …nowadays, where the events are just an excuse to hang out – a memory to share. WP: beach, invited by in-laws; I don’t belong at the beach; my childhood friends called me Clorox or Casper. I went just to hang out.
What if the creator of the universe extended you an invitation to just come and hang out? How would you respond?
Mark 3:14 - He appointed twelve-designating them apostles-that they might be with him
the task
Luke 9:23 - Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
akoloutheo – to be in the same way with; to accompany
cross
What would you think if you saw me and around my neck I was wearing an electric chair? People wear crosses.
The way of the cross was the way of death. It was for criminals. It was painful. It was cruel. It was humiliating. It was fatal.
2 people carried crosses in the bible. Jesus and an African man named Simon. He was from Libya, a town called Cyrene, located west of Egypt; we are not told his ethnicity but he could have been Jewish, black or arab. And he was drafted by the army that was Roman, b/c Jesus had been so weakened by beatings and curses and a crown of thorns and more beatings that he could not shoulder his own cross, so Simon the father of Alexander and rufus was charged to carry the cross. …But it was not his.
The point is this: NO ORDINARY PERSON WOULD VOLUNTEER TO TAKE UP THEIR OWN CROSS; NO ONE WOULD SIGN UP FOR THIS; BECAUSE IT MEANT SURE AND CERTAIN DEATH.
But here Jesus says, you must take up your cross. He says there is a cross for every disciple. Why is this necessary?
WP: someone to follow me. VOLUNTEER
3 principles for following God:
WP: __________(volunteer) actually following me through the room
• ‘I want you to follow me’ ‘right now, _____’
• ‘OK, stop, what are you doin?’ ‘I know that but why are you coming over here?’
• aaaahhh…principle #1 of following – to follow God we must meet with God
Ps 42:1-2 - As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
• ‘allright come on’ ‘allright ______, what do you want to do today?’ ‘yeah, that’s fine, but I want to know what you want to do’ ‘yeah, well I don’t want to do any of that’ ‘I’ve got other plans’ ‘you comin?...but I thought you wanted to do other stuff?’ aaahhh…
• principle #2 – to follow God we must lay down our own agenda
Luke 22:42-43 - "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."
• ‘ok I’m gonna go now, I want you to set me before you and everything else…keep me close and don’t lose me…ready’ (run out of room) ‘oh, that was so cool man; did you see that?; that was awesome’ ‘why didn’t you follow me downstairs?’ ‘______, you’re gonna let a ½ inch piece of wood stand between you and adventure?’
• principle #3 – to follow God we must fix our eyes on Jesus
Heb 12:2-3 - Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer (martyr)
… “To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self…The old life is left behind, and completely surrendered. The disciple is dragged out of his relative security into a life of absolute insecurity, from a life which is observable and calculable into a life where everything is unobservable and fortuitous, out of the realm of finite into the realm of infinite possibilities.
Death to plans, agenda, even will
Matt 4:18-22 - As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 20 At once they left their nets and followed him. 21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James and John… Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. NIV
Interesting word
deny
The word ‘deny’. arneomai – to contradict, reject; literally, to not speak, to stop saying; often translated to deny or to refuse.
Now why would you choose to do that? Nothing in our society tells us to do that. aren’t I important? Isn’t what I think important? Be true to yourself. Isn’t my personality and opinion and experience worth bringing to the table? Do I not have any say? …and we get all big inside.
The answer to those questions is NO, it does not matter. Well, tyler, isn’t that cruel? Well, not in the context of following; in the context of what we’re really dealing with; of what is really at hand.
For example, the trek:
• unfamiliarity, or new territory, is at hand – I don’t know the way, I don’t know the trail
• the elements are at hand – not only do I not know where the way is, but I don’t know when is the appropriate time to climb; ade’s been doing this all his life, he should lead
• altitude is at hand – things are completely different up here, I feel like walking around and even running and maybe playing some soccer with the locals, but my leader is screaming at me to come and sit down; he says it’s the altitude and things are not as they seem
• danger is at hand – WP: trey
here’s what Jesus said: you think you know how things exist; but you don’t, b/c what is happening is not what seems right to you; what is happening is that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. In other words…or as Morpheus puts it in the movie the Matrix “do you really think that me being faster and strength really matters in this place?” The reality is this… this room is full of souls that will last forever and there is a war going on for the eternal destination of these souls. The reality is…well, watch this…
VIDEO
Why do I need to follow Jesus? Ha, ha, ha. Everything depends on it.
(read)
The truth is - God will in fact use our personality and experience and passions; but only after we have surrendered them to him.
2 Sam 23:2 - "The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me… NIV
daily
the next word in the verse is daily. Discipleship is a long walk in the same direction. And dying to ourselves is not only our task, but it is our daily task, our daily routine, our daily duty and call.
The question that you have to ask yourself is ‘do you believe that Jesus is worth following?’
the leader
(the last word of the verse…)
Luke 9:23 - Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
If you are going to deny yourself and put your life in the hands of another; …you had better trust your leader…
the bible calls us SHEEP. Not the jury is out on this one, sheep are stupid. They really are. I’ve been to Ireland.
Ps 23 - The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. NIV
but let me be very frank with you; that is a secondary motivation. The primary motivation is this: he deserves it.
If there is anyone who deserves:
• our attention
• our loyalty
• our worship and praise
• our time
• our money
• our efforts
• our adoration
• our devotion
• us giving up our agendas and wills and plans to wholeheartedly follow, it is Jesus.
Jesus verses…
Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men…Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross…He was despised and rejected--a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins! But he was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed! All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the guilt and sins of us all.
Heb 12.3; Phil 2.6-8; Isa 53.3-6
Why we climb the mountain of knowing God? It’s not to get in shape; to beat others to the top; or just to say we did. The entire reason that we climb is for the view.
My friends, the goal is God Himself – in the flesh, Jesus Christ. The final word of Luke 9.23 is “me”.
(Tozer’s Pursuit of God)
When God divided Canaan among the 12 tribes of Israel in the book of Numbers (18); he said to Levi ‘you will receive no share of the land’; God said to him simply, “I am your share and your inheritance.” And with those words, he became richer than all his brothers put together.
The invitation
The task
The leader
