The Cost Of Discipleship

a. Lesson Intro

i. Are you a follower or a leader?

A young girl was applying to an Ivy League college with great anticipation. That is until she came to the question, “Are you a leader?” She agonized over the question for a while and finally told the truth. “No” she wrote, “I am not a leader.” She felt certain that her answer to that question would seal her fate and that she would have to start looking for other colleges. After a few weeks, she received a letter from the university that gave her the news. To her surprise, she was accepted for admission. Here’s what the letter said, “We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted for admission to the university. We have a freshman class of 4298 leaders and we think it is good to have at least one follower within the group.”

ii. It is almost a sin in our country to deny being a leader. It is assumed to be the necessary trait of an achiever, but leaders are often terribly ill equipped at learning from others.

iii. Illustration – not a good follower.

iv. A disciple is a follower and if we are going to grow in Christ, we first must learn what it means to be a follower.

v. Today we will look at an important passage in Luke Chapter 9, but instead of moving from start to finish, today let’s back into this passage, starting with its conclusion.

vi. “I will follow you wherever you go. . . “

vii. Jesus’ words in Luke 9 help us learn the real meaning of those words.

2. The Message (9:57-62)

a. (Lk 9:57-58)

i. “57As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”"

ii. New Sense of Security

1. A follower of Christ must first learn to find security in God and not in the things of this world.

a. Not in our jobs (They can fail)

b. Not in our homes (They can be destroyed)

c. Not in our savings (It can disappear)

2. Matt 6:25ff God cares for the bird and the flowers. We are more important than they.

3. (Mt 6:33) "33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

4. It is not that God demands that we all give away our riches to live in poverty, but we should be willing to put them on the table, be willing to make that choice, when God calls.

Marty Koonce is our missionary to Togo Africa, but before he accepted the call to be a missionary, he was a manager at Wal-Mart and on the rise in that company. But he felt God’s tugging to do more with his life – to take God’s good news to people across the globe. How do you give up a six figure income and move your family across the world to live in a third world county? You do so by finding security in your savior, and not your stuff.

5. When it comes to where we put our security, are we going to lead by our own desires or are we going to follow Jesus?

b. (Lk 9:59-60)

i. "59He said to another man, “Follow me.” But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”"

ii. New Sense of Responsibility

1. It was a show or respect and honor to care for aging parents in Jewish circles. And Jesus’ teaching appears to be a terrible request.

2. But his words remind us that we have to prioritize our lives, placing the most important first.

3. Let others bury dead people, that task I have for you is truly earth shaking.

4. Our typical approach is to deal with the pressing matters first in hope that once they are out of the way, we can tackle the really important matters, but the pace of life continues to throw pressing matters before us and unless we prioritize, we can spend our entire lives solving pressing matters and leave all the important things untouched.

a. A father can pursue his job and advancement to provide for his family, while missing out on the chance to do the truly important things and provide spiritual and emotional guidance for his children.

b. A college student can pursue the pleasures of her young years because you’re only young once, all the while making bad career decisions, bad relationship decisions, bad moral decisions that will affect her entire life.