Follow Me

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Tuesday, May 19, 2015

For VIDEO of this devotion go HERE

As the time drew near for him to ascend to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.  He sent messengers ahead to a Samaritan village to prepare for his arrival.  But the people of the village did not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem.  When James and John saw this, they said to Jesus, “Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up?”  But Jesus turned and rebuked them.  So they went on to another village.  As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”  But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”  He said to another person, “Come, follow me.”  The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”  But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead!  Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.”  Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.”  But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”  Luke 9:51-62 (NLT)

Did you ever notice how easy it is to get on somebody’s list….and how agonizingly-hard it can be to get off?  Jesus said follow me to lots of folk; but he didn’t make it easy to join the band; he wanted them to have their eyes wide-open about the cost of following.

There are three primary costs of following Jesus in this text:

      

      1.     Sometimes you must forbear

James and John wanted to call down judgment on the rude Samaritans.  Jesus rebuked them; it wasn’t their job to judge, even in the face of injustice and unfair evil attacks.

We watched “Selma” last week; Martin Luther King Jr.’s commitment to non-violent resistance of oppression was the epitome of what Jesus wanted in disciples.  James and John had a long way to go.

      2.     Sometimes you must forego

One person offered to follow Jesus in whatever direction, and to whatever length the journey took him.  Jesus said, really?  Then he laid-out the retirement plan – zero!  There would be no assurance of even a place to lie down and rest. 

Are you sure you want to follow?

      3.     Sometimes you must forge-on

The last two people in our text wanted to take care of family responsibilities first – then follow Jesus anywhere.  Jesus said, if that’s how you organize your priorities you’re not ready to follow ME.

The point is not that Jesus doesn’t value family – there’s too much Scriptural evidence otherwise.  The point is that sometimes family expectations and tradition will make it hard to keep your eye on the goal of serving the Kingdom.  And sometimes your family will just, plain, not understand.

At such times you’ve got to know that when all else is weighed – family responsibilities, cultural expectations, injustice and the cries of whatever crowd the crowd is following these days – at the end of the day, if you’re following Jesus, you’re going to have to follow Jesus.  You must forge-on.

For You Today

Is there anything that wants to take Jesus’ place?

Let the dead bury the dead…follow Christ; but do it with eyes wide-open.  It won’t be easy, and you will get tired, hungry, overstressed and underappreciated. 

Sounds like there are crosses in your future!

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[1] Title image:  By Keven Law from Los Angeles, USA, via Wikimedia Commons

Walking Under the Ashes

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  Mark 8:34 (NRSV)

This verse contains three conditions of becoming a disciple or follower of Jesus.

1.             Follow Voluntarily

If you “want” to be his follower…that is a condition – it is your decision; Jesus will not load you up on the next Gospel bus.  Each account of Jesus calling someone to follow indicated an offer, never a command.

Following voluntarily presupposes that the opposite is also a possibility – that some choose to not follow.  Those who choose so are called “the lost”.  The rich young ruler went away from Jesus and the supposition is that he was lost.  Judas began to follow, but was lost.  Following or not following is a personal decision.  This is the “entry-level” of Christianity. 

For those who choose voluntarily to follow, there is a second condition:

2.             Follow Empty-Handed

Jesus was probably speaking to almost exclusively a Jewish crowd.  They would have heard and understood Jesus to be talking about the process of proselytizing, or becoming a convert to Judaism.  When a Gentile wanted to convert to Judaism he had to renounce all his previous beliefs and separate himself from past friendships and acquaintances, even family.  He had to promise to never turn back.  He was then considered “newborn,” a person of new life. 

Jesus was demanding that we “trash” our old thinking and just follow him like our Gospel song, nothing in my hand I bring; simply to thy cross I cling. 

3.             Follow as HE Leads

Have you ever danced with someone?  Now, I’m not talking about the kind of group dancing that is popular in clubs; we’re talking ballroom stuff.  In the groups, everyone does his own thing; in ballroom forms there is a lead and the partner follows. 

This is the kind of relationship we have with Jesus.

Here’s Jesus’ lead – take up your cross. 

The disciples knew what Jesus was saying.  Twenty years before there was a rebellion against Roman authority in a little town called Sephoris.  It was only 9 miles from where Jesus lived.  A man named Varus, a farmer of Galilee, organized the farmers of the area into a rebellion army.  They attacked and killed all the Roman soldiers of the garrison at Sephoris. 

Rome sent in the armies, and scattered the armies of Varus, about 10,000 men.  Most of them went back to farming.  But the Romans captured about 2,000 of them.  The historian, Josephus, records that they were going to teach the rebels of Galilee a lesson not to be rebels.  They took them, one by one, along the road out of Sephoris, and crucified them.  They would put one on a cross, and then walk down the road until almost out of sight, and then crucify another. 

They went in every direction out of Sephoris, all over Galilee, until they had 2,000 rebels on 2000 crosses.  As you walked the roads of Galilee you were never out of sight of a crucified rebel. 

None were allowed to be taken down; they were to rot there on the crosses.  If anyone took one down, another Galilean citizen would take his place.  Jesus was 10 years old when this happened.  He knew what he was saying about taking up a cross. 

Jesus is not interested in leaders; He needs disciples who will give up their lives.  Are you willing?  Are you really willing to step up and offer your life in exchange for His?  Following a God like that is a big decision!

There is a story about the artist Rodin, who one day saw a huge carved crucifix beside a road.  He immediately loved the artwork and insisted on having it for himself.  He purchased the cross and arranged to have it carted back to his house.  But, unfortunately, it was too big for the size of the house.  So, of all things, he knocked out the walls, raised the roof, and rebuilt his home around the cross.[1]

How big is YOUR God?

If your God is not big enough to place first, before everything you know, and have him re-design your life, He’s not the God of Scripture.

Is YOUR God big enough to re-design your home, your family, and how you spend your days? 

That’s’ what it looks like when you walk under ashes.

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[1] Dr. Mickey Anders, Cross Bearing, (Best Sermons 3, Harper & Row, 1990), p.115