No Buts!

 

January 10, 2021                                 NOTES NOT EDITED
No Buts! Obedience Will Cost You Everything
Luke 9:57-62

SIS: Partial obedience is disobedience that leads to disappointment—following Jesus is an all or nothing proposition.

Here are some actual excuses given to insurance companies to explain a client’s accident.  “A pedestrian hit me and went under my car. The other guy was all over the road. I had to swerve several times to hit him. As I approached the intersection, a stop sign appeared where no stop sign had ever appeared before. I was unable to avoid hitting the other car. The telephone pole was approaching fast. I attempted to swerve out of the way, but it hit the front of my car. To avoid an accident with the other car, I hit the pedestrian.

These excuses are about as silly as many that people use to avoid immediate, all-encompassing obedience to God. The only difference is, making excuses for disobedience has eternal consequences.

To experience the full impact of God’s love and grace in our life requires a full commitment to God’s control of our life.

Today, we are going to meet three people who made excuses for not obeying God.  A man with an UNCOUNTED Cost, a man with an UNBURIED Corpse, and a man with UNFORSAKEN Influences.

There is a great danger in not fully trusting God in your life.  It is amazing how many “excuses” a person can come up with to try to side-step the “costly commitment” of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.  Following Jesus costs much more than most are willing to pay.  So, they make excuses for not following Jesus fully.  There is great danger in not fully trusting the Lord with your life.  The Scripture tells us of three dangers lurking in our excuses for not following the Lord: 

⁵⁷ As they were traveling on the road someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go!” ⁵⁸ Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky  have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.” ⁵⁹ Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” “Lord,” he said, “first let me go bury my father.” ⁶⁰ But He told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹ Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to those at my house.” ⁶² But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

 Three men – three excuses. So typical of what we hear today in churches–“I will, but . . .” Jesus words regarding a “Yes, but” attitude cut to the quick: “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”     

Wow!  That Smarts.  Jesus isn’t very tolerant of excuses If you haven’t learned already, you soon will that “a person who is good at making excuses is seldom good for anything else.”

Excuse-making places you in perilous territory. Shallow commitment is a dangerous position.  Consider 3 examples:

1.  First, the UNCOUNTED COST—True Obedience
     is not IMPULSIVE (57-58)

⁵⁷ As they were traveling on the road someone said to Him,  “I will follow You wherever You go!” ⁵⁸ Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky  have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.

Jesus was a master at thinning out the crowds. What was he thinking?  Here was an “enthusiastic volunteer” apparently willing to follow Jesus “wherever Jesus went!”  Why then was Jesus so direct and harsh?  Because Jesus knew that temporary enthusiasm is no substitute for thoughtful commitment.  Crowds always followed Jesus.  But, they could scatter as fast as they gathered as soon as the road got a little bumpy.

Over the years, I’ve seen many “discipleship dropouts,” too many in fact. I’ve seen people get caught up in the emotion of the moment, but after the shine of a stirring revival meeting or worship service wore off, so did their commitment. Jesus warns all who would follow to make an “informed consent.”  We all know what that means.  Before a surgery they always have you sign an “informed consent.”  They tell you all the things that could go wrong with the surgery and then you have to give them permission to go ahead. Nobody (unless they ar mentally ill) gets up one day and says, “You know, I think I’ll have gall bladder surgery today.” Serious matters require serious thought.  Jesus wants the same thing from his followers.  Too often, preachers present a “soft version” of the gospel, or make emotional appeals to follow Jesus.  This never lasts.  Jesus said people who jump on the discipleship train without taking great thought for how much it is going to cost—EVERYTHING!—are like seeds sown in shallow soil that sprout quickly but dry up and whither as soon as the sun hits them.  Jesus warns us:  consider how much it is going to cost you to follow me before you jump on board. 

Toward the end of His ministry on earth Jesus sharpened His messages on commitment.  On one occasion Jesus turned to his disciples and spoke of the final judgement saying:

^{Mat 25:31} “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels  ^q with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.  ³² All the nations  ^t will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  ³³ He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom  prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you took care of Me; I was in prison and you visited Me.’

Jesus continued saying

{41}"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. {42} For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, {43} I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

The difference in the two groups is that the first counted the cost of commitment and participated with Jesus in the Kingdom.  The second group, on the left, were like the man in our original text who wanted to sign-up in the Army of the Lord, but had not “counted the cost.”

The first example of shallow commitment we face in our text is the example of  the “uncounted cost” – temporary enthusiasm without lasting commitment.   True obedience is not impulsive, but informed.

Nobody should consider becoming a Christian unless you are willing to follow Christ fully—including persecution and perhaps death.  Christianity is not for “sissies.”  The cost of commitment is high.

There is great danger in the UNCOUNTED COST.

2.  Second, the example of the UNBURIED CORPSE—Obedience that is not IMMEDIATE is often EVASIVE (59-60)

Again, Jesus confronts a prospective disciple. This time the disciple agrees to follow Jesus after he takes care of some personal business.  Again, the words of the Lord are sharp and to the point.  Jesus declares:

Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

At first blush, the words of Jesus seem heartless and cruel.  Some scholars have attempted to soften the Lord’s words by suggesting that this was merely a “smokescreen”–an empty excuse.  Some Biblical commentators suggest that the man’s father was neither dead, nor near death. 

But, the Scripture says what it means and means what it says.  Jesus was well aware of the local customs.  Jesus knew that it was a religious and social duty of the son to provide burial services for his father.  In fact, burying your father, according to Jewish law, took precedent over studying the law, killing the Passover sacrifice, or fulfilling the rite of circumcision.  Jesus knew the importance of this man’s worldly obligations.  Yet, Jesus said what He said, anyway.

The man was being evasive and trying to look for an excuse, not accept the responsibility for an honorable duty.  We know this because we know the Jewish burial practices of that day.  They described in detail in ancient writings.  The man’s father was either not dead, or had been dead for a while.  The Jews buried their dead on the day they died.  If the man’s father had died, he wouldn’t have been out and about talking with Jesus—or anyone else.  Then, there was a seven-day morning period.  The body would be buried in what was called the “first burial.”  A year later, the tomb would be reopened and the bones collected into a “bone box” or ossuary and another burial service was held. Was the man trying to “evade Christ’s call upon his life” for a year?  Excuses are simply an attempt to evade difficult decision.  The Unburied Corpse excuse is simply an attempt to evade God’s call to duty.

The whole point of the passage is simply this: To experience the full impact of God’s love and grace in our life our obedience must be immediate. Delayed obedience is disobedience 

Service to God must be our “top priority.” To follow Jesus requires a radical change in allegiance. Following Jesus may even cost us the companionship of friends or family.

One writer sums up these two verses very well.  “Obligations due to the world must yield to those due God.” V. Doren

The words of Jesus reveal the man’s dilemma. “Let the dead bury the dead.” That is, “let others deal with the mundane matters of the day.  You have a higher calling.  So few people ever experience that higher calling to a deeper life.

Jesus recognized the battle that was raging inside this prospective disciple.  The man wanted to follow Jesus, but he didn’t want to give up the life to which he had become accustomed.  He want it all: the things of God and the things of the world.  Sadly, no one can have both.

As William Barclay points out, “The man had stirrings in his heart to get out of his spiritually dead surroundings” but because he hesitated, he never escapes.

Did you know that psychologists have identified clinically what many of us have learned through experience?  If we have a feeling or stirring to do something and we do not act upon it at that time, we most likely will never act on it at all.

For example, how many times have you felt the desire to write someone a letter, send a card, or make a phone call to give them encouragement.  We put it off until tomorrow, and more often than not, we never do it at all.  Psychologists say that when we do this the emotion of the moment becomes a substitute for the action itself.

Jesus very pointedly suggested to the man, and to you and I, that we either act upon the stirring in our heart today and make a full, unreserved break from our past lives, or perhaps we never will.  If we do not make a complete break with the world, we will forever carry around the unburied corpse of our past.

An UNCOUNTED COST and an UNBURIED CORPSE are evidence of a dangerous, shallow commitment to Christ.  We’ve met a man who was IMPULSIVE.  We met a man who was EVASIVE.  Both were disqualified for Christian Discipleship.  Now we meet a man who is INDECISIVE

3.  Third example of delayed obedience, the UNFORSAKEN INFLUENCES—INDECISION (61-62)

⁶¹ Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to those at my house.” ⁶² But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

This man never really commits to following Jesus. He is trying to live with one foot on the dock of the world and one foot in the boat of disciple ship.  That will get you wet every time!  In another place Jesus described this type of person as a “garden full of weeds.” 

¹⁸ [Many are like seed] sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word, ¹⁹ but the worries of this age,  the seduction  ^b of wealth,  and the desires  for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful (Mark 4:18-19).

This is the biggest, most devastating “but” all the buts used as excuses for anything less that absolute, all-consuming obedience to God. Churches are literally filled up with people who have “unforsaken influences.”  They really want to go ahead with God but they keep looking back over their shoulder at what they are leaving behind:  all the shiny stuff the world has to offer.  When you look at the field they are plowing for Jesus it looks like it was plowed by a “drunken sailor using a blind donkey.”  The furrows are as crooked as Lombard Street in San Francisco. 

There’s a cliché that says, “You can’t be a little bit pregnant.”  You either is or you ain’t. Well, you can’t be a little bit obedient to Christ.  You either is or you ain’t.  Either you are dead to your old life, or you are not.  Eliminating UNFORSAKEN INFLUENCES is a matter of crucifying your “Old Man (or Woman).”  Paul said it like this: 

When your “Old Man” is dead—he has no more influence over him.  Now, sometimes the “Old Man” is like the villain in a horror story—you know Jason—you have to kill him a couple of times before he stays dead.

If we do not “crucify our old, sinful nature” we will constantly be like a leaf blowing in the wind.  INDECISION will characterize our commitment to Christ.  Our allegiance will be divided.  The Bible calls this, “being double-minded.”  Listen to James 1:5-8:

⁵ Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him.  ⁶ But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. ⁸ An indecisive man is unstable in all his ways.

Here in our text Jesus describes the INDECIVIVE man with UNFORSAKEN worldly INFLUENCES as being “unfit for the Kingdom of God!” (v.62).  OUCH!  Indecisive disciples are like “unsalty salt.”  Jesus said “unsalty salt” is ““no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on by men.” (Mat. 5:13).

“Trampled under the feet!” Did you know that salt never stops be salt?  Salt is a chemical compound that is not affected by age. It is salt, whether for a day or an age. It loses its savor only by dilution with chemical elements that are foreign to its nature (copied).

The man became unfit for the kingdom by allowing “Unforsaken Influences” to distract him for full obedience to Christ.  Reflect upon that warning by Jesus:  “unfit for the kingdom!”  How many church-goers will be declared “unfit for heaven” because they never completely stepped out of the world and into the ark of God’s grace?

So many “so-called” Christian are not experiencing the full impact of

a relationship with they follow their promise of obedience with a “Big But.”  I’ll follow you Jesus, “but not when it gets hard.” Another says, “I’ll follow you Jesus, but not today.”  Still another says, “I’ll follow you Jesus, but keeps going back to the life of worldliness.”  Some all these “buts” up and Jesus declares, “You are not fit for the kingdom of God.”  (v62).

Obedience to Christ is the most costly pursuit in this world—it literally will cost you everything, even perhaps your life. 

Partial obedience is not good enough.  Delayed obedience is not good enough.  It’s all or nothing.  It’s heaven or hell.  Either you are in the boat or you are in the deep.  To be “almost saved” is to be totally lost.

Discipleship is costly, but a shallow commitment is deadly. Jesus shows us this through the example of the UNCOUNTED COST, the UNBURIED CORPSE, and the UNFORSAKEN FELLOWSHIPS.

So many people are “close” to a full commitment to the Lord.

They have stirrings in their hearts.  So many are “almost persuaded.”

To be Almost Persuaded means entirely lost. It doesn’t matter if you miss heaven by an inch or by a mile, you miss it by eternity. One of the greatest hymn-writers and soloists in the 19^th Century was a man by the name of Philip Bliss.  History records that in the 1870's sinners by the thousands walked the sawdust trail in revival meetings to give their lives to Christ as Philip Bliss sang his songs.  One of his famous hymns, familiar to many of us, Bliss wrote while waiting in a station for a train.  He wrote:

“Almost persuaded” // now to receive;

Almost persuaded” // Christ to receive;

Seems now some soul to say, // “Go, Spirit, go Thy way,

“Some more convenient day, // On thee I’ll call.”

Bliss took his lyrics from Acts 26:28 when Paul stood before King Agrippa, greatgrandson of Herod, being tried for crimes against the state.  Agrippa said sarcastically to Paul, “Almost thou persaudest me to be a Christian.”  Upon that statement of missed opportunity, Bliss built his great hymn while waiting for a train.

Only a short time later while travelling Bliss and his wife were in a train accident returning home to Chicago.  Bliss tore away the debris of the burning twisted wreckage to free himself.  Not finding his wife, he tore his way back in only to die with her at her side.  We never know when some “calamity” may snatch us from this world.  We must be ready.  We must be fully persuaded to be fully saved.  Almost Persuaded will leave us entirely lost.

When it comes to “obedience,” there can be “No Buts!”