The Power of Commitment
Luke 9:57-62
July 9, 2005
Introduction
A certain man wanted to sell his house in Haiti for two thousand dollars and another man wanted badly to purchase the house. The problem was that the man who wanted to purchase the house could not come up with enough money to buy the house. After a great deal of negotiating the owner of the house agree to sell the house for half of the original amount under one condition. He would still own one nail that hung over the home’s front door. The agreement was made and the sale of the house was completed.
After a few years the original owner of the house wanted to buy the house back but the new owner refused to sell. So the first owner went out and found the carcass of a dead dog and hung it on the nail that he still owned in the house. Before long the house became so unliveable that the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail.
The sad reality is that the same is true of those who leave just one area of their life uncommitted to Christ. The one small unowned nail can have some rotting garbage hung on it and devastate our spiritual life. Our most desperate need as Christians is to have every area of our lives committed to walking with Christ.
Our culture is one that does not see commitment as something of importance any more. Here are just a few statistics to prove my point.
Signs of Reduced Commitments in Life (America 1990)
1. The divorce rate is climbing: half of all new marriages end in divorce
2. Adults feel that they have fewer close friends than did adults in past decades
3. Brand loyalty in consumer purchasing studies has dropped in most product categories, and by as much as 60% in some categories.
4. The proportion of people willing to join an organization is declining in relation to churches, labor unions, political parties, clubs and community associations.
5. Book clubs and record clubs are less likely to attract new members when multiple year or multi-product commitments were required.
6. The percentage of adults who sense a duty to fight for their country, regardless of the cause, has dropped.
7. The percentage of people who commit to attend events but fail to show is on the rise
8. Today’s parents are less likely to believe that it is important to remain in an unhappy marriage for the sake of the children than they were 20 years ago.
Cited from The Frog in the Kettle by George Barna
Jesus is on a great search for people who will make an unswerving commitment to follow Him. This morning open your bibles to Luke 9:57-62.
57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58 Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." 59 He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." 61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." 62 Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
I. There is a problem with mere involvement
The first man in this passage makes a very powerful and profound promise to Jesus that he would follow Him wherever he went. I believe that the man was sincere, he wanted to follow Jesus, he wanted to be a part of what Jesus was doing, and he wanted to make a difference. All of these things are good things that might motivate some of us here this morning but I want you to understand something extremely clear the desire to serve must also be coupled with the right reason for serving.
It would seem that the man described here was willing to be involved with the ministry of Jesus and there was nothing wrong with that other than the fact that Jesus was looking for something more. Jesus was looking for a total and full commitment.
The difference between involvement and commitment is like an eggs and ham breakfast - the chicken was involved but the pig was committed. - Unknown
The sad reality is that most people settle for being involved without ever making a commitment. The pun about the chicken and the pig is funny but how close to home does that hit when we honestly look at the commitments we have made in our lives.
There is a massive difference between being involved and being committed. Being involved means that you can do what you want, as you want and when you feel like doing it. Commitment means that you are at the call of Jesus 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year.
To make the decision to just being involved, and it is a decision, is one that creates a system of cheating. We cheat God of giving Him our very best, we cheat others of what we have to offer and we cheat ourselves of the blessings of Christ that come only when we become committed. Far too often we settle for being involved in the work of Christ and never actually making a commitment to it.
Commitment is what Jesus is looking for in all of our lives and He wants us to have the desire to serve Him not just on Sunday morning but each and every day that we draw breath.
Let’s use an example from right here in the life of the church. If you make the decision to show up on Sunday morning and that is the limit to your commitment, you will never truly grow deeper in your walk with God.
Why do I say this? It takes giving of yourself to the work and ministry of Christ to have a growing relationship with Him. It takes a desire to study and know the Word of God to become deeper in your walk with Him. It takes a desire to put our priorities in line with God’s priorities. This means that He is first and foremost in your life. Anything that comes between you and God in nothing more than a stumbling block in your spiritual life.
II. The Problem of misplaced priorities
The second man is called to follow Jesus but asks to go and bury his father. The response we see here almost makes Jesus seem cruel because Jesus says to let the dead bury the dead. What is going on here?
1. The man’s father was likely still alive
The man was not asking to attend his father’s funeral but rather was asking to stay and care for his family before following Jesus. There is nothing wrong with caring for your family because your family is a gift from God and you are instructed by scripture to take care of them. Jesus is driving at the issue of priority. Jesus wants us to make Him first in our lives and no other place will do.
2. Jesus wanted the man to understand the urgent nature of His mission
Jesus came into this world to save us from the power of sin and death. The mission of the church should be the same, to reach a lost and dying world with the message of saving grace through Jesus. However, we get so busy with “church work” that we never seem to get to the real work of sharing the gospel with others. Jesus wanted the man to understand that there was an urgency to winning lost people. It is an urgency that I believe that most churches have lost.
We must understand that, if we are truly going to follow Christ, we must get our hands dirty in the work of outreach. There is a lost and dying world out there that needs the hope that we have in Christ.
Our greatest problem in the church today is that we have misplaced our focus onto programs and policy instead of placing it on ministry and people. If we fail to reach people, we are not failing the church or the denomination; we are doing nothing but failing Christ Himself.
III. The Problem of misdirected focus
The third man that comes to Jesus makes a reasonable request to go back and say good-by to his family and again Jesus makes a statement that sounds rather harsh when He tells the man that he is not fit to follow. Why does Jesus do this?
1. The obvious first in the man’s life
Notice what the man says to Jesus, but first let me go back and say good-by to my family. We read this and think nothing of what is being said here other than a simple request. However, there is something deeper here than the request. The fact that is so often overlooked here is that the man had his first commitment to someone other than Jesus.
We are often guilty of this very act. There are far too many times that we allow something or someone to draw us away from a deeper relationship with Christ. We sometimes allow family commitments to draw us from church. We sometimes allow work commitments to draw us from our time reading the Bible. We allow simple intrusions to draw us from times of prayer.
2. The farewell was more than a simple good-by
Many ancient customs called for a prolonged good-by filled with festive parties. It is likely that this man had intended to have several farewell parties from both family and friends. This could take days or even weeks before it was finished.
We are much like this man because we are far to often focused on what we lose by following Jesus. Instead I believe that we should take a careful look at everything that we gain by following Jesus. We gain His presence, His peace and His power.
Conclusion
Luciano Pavarotti tells the story about how he made the choice to be a singer. At a young age his father introduced him to singing and he took to it with great skill and enthusiasm. At one time in Pavarotti’s life he was enrolled in both vocal lessons from a professional tenor and college studies to be a teacher. When he graduated from school he faced a dilemma to either become a signer or to become a teacher. When he asked his father about which course to take, his father responded: “If you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair.” Commitment is that’s the key. Choose one chair.
It is absolutely impossible to live a Christian life without having a complete commitment to following Christ.
Commitment is the Key
Until I am committed, there is a hesitancy, a chance to draw back. But the moment I definitely commit myself, then God moves also, and a whole stream of events erupt. All manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings, persons and material assistance which come my way begin to flow toward me - the moment I make a commitment. Quoted by John C. Maxwell in The Recipe for Leadership Injoy Life Club Volume 12 Number 9.
Jesus is on a search for people who will commit their lives to Him. Can He find you among those whose hearts are fully committed to Him?
