The cost of discipleship
Illustration: John Wesley and the Moravians.
- during the storm the Moravians had a peace and were singing to God
- they were totally committed to God and therefore they knew their lives were in Gods hands
- John Wesley desired to have that same peace – this lead to his salvation
One of the main things people desire in their lives is to have peace. Especially a peace that comes from knowing you are going to heaven when you die. This morning we are going to see why the Moravians had a peace in crazy situation.
Read: Matthew 8:18-19
State: The scribe is offering to pay a high price for Jesus
Explain: He would have been someone who was trained in the scriptures, well respected, a leader. To follow Jesus would cost him popularity amongst other scribes, and maybe he would be outcast from the circle of leaders he moved in.
Illustrate:
It would be like finishing high school with the aim of getting into uni and then someone comes along and says “that certificate is not valid, if you want to get into uni you have to study under me”.
Apply: we can learn from this man can we not? He was willing to forsake popularity and influence for Jesus; he had come to the conclusion that Jesus was the one to follow
Read: vs. 20
State: to be a follower of Jesus we must be willing to forsake all our securities if need be.
Explain: Jesus tells the man that animals, no matter where they go, always have a safe, secure place to come back to. Eg bed
But Jesus doesn’t have a place of security because he is always being led by God to minister in different places.
- Jesus didn’t dictate to God what he was going to do, he asked God and then was obedient.
- Unfortunately today this is not the case
- Deut 5 don’t misuse the name of the Lord mean not to do something and then tag God’s name on the end.
- Biggest battle is between our new and old natures
What does our old nature tell us?
To have security you need Homes, jobs, friends, possessions, you need to look after your life at all costs. You are the one in control.
Our new nature that is governed by the bible says:
“Don’t store up treasures on this earth”
“Better to give than receive”
“If anyone would come after me he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me”
“Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it”
“I no longer live but Christ lives in me”
Apply: we must realise that as Christians, things have changed. We don’t think and act how everyone else does. People try and gain security for themselves but we have been the ultimate security of knowing we will gain eternal life.
In order to gain that we need to trust in Jesus for our salvation and live our lives in obedience to him.
Question: what stops us from being totally committed?
Read: vs 21
State: excuses stop us from being totally committed to Jesus
Explain: This disciple acknowledges Jesus but has what he thinks is a good excuse
- there was a high priority on honouring parents as they were commanded to
- his father was not yet dead
- When someone dies they gather immediately to proceed to a tomb and then mourn for 1 week in their houses – wouldn’t have had time to be chatting with Jesus.
- The man wanted to go home and wait until his father died which could take years
Question: how often do we say things to God like
“I’ll serve you completely once I get through this busy time in my life”
“I’m a bit burnt out at the moment, I’m taking 6 months off to recharge” turns into 6 yrs
Apply: if you want to, you can always find an excuse to do what you want to do. Like this man you may even convince others it’s valid. The person we don’t fool is God; he is the one we must stand before.
Illustration: D.L. Moody “the world is yet to see what God can do with I man totally devoted to Him, it is my aim to try and be that man”
Read : vs 22
State: our loyalty and commitment to Jesus surpasses all other loyalties in our life
Explain : “let the spiritually dead buried the dead”
- Let those people who are not followers of Jesus worry about that stuff, you have a higher calling now.
Illustration: missionary once said “if you are called to be a servant of Christ, don’t stoop to become a king”.
Apply: let’s get this mentality that being a disciple of Christ is the most important thing in our lives.
- As we know Jesus we learn that
- he has compassion to help us so in light of this
- we must be willing to sacrifice everything to follow him
- Loyalty to Christ is our first concern
Read: 23-27
Explain: I don’t think this was a normal storm
- these men were fishermen and experienced with storms
- Greek word for storm here is earthquake, there was a force causing these waves
- the fact that Jesus rebukes the storm as he would a demon indicates he feels that Satan is behind this storm
question: what do the disciples do?
Explain: Instead of having faith in Jesus that he can help them in any situation, they are fearful about losing their own lives.
- can you understand why Jesus gets upset with them ?
- he has just demonstrated his willingness to help 3 marginalised people and explained that to be his disciple you must sacrifice all that you have as our loyalty to him is the most important thing
- but his disciples don’t fully recognise who Jesus is
look at what they say at the end “who is this man, that even the wind and the waves obey him?”
- we have the benefit of hindsight
This passage is all about the identity of Jesus.
Apply: we know from the beginning of this chapter that Jesus desires to help us. So when we are following him we can have faith in Jesus and not be afraid.
Challenge:
If you were on that boat with John Wesley or even Jesus, how would you react?
Would you have the peace that the Moravians had?
Are you trusting and following Jesus or holding onto the securities of this world?
All I can do is pray that you get a fresh understanding of who God is like John Wesley.
All you can do is choose; choose to deny yourself and follow Christ for this is what brings eternal life
