Take your Bibles with me and turn to Luke 9. Luke 9. We are going to read verses 51-62 in a moment.
A couple of months ago, I was looking for a second job and I had to go through - for the first time in my life - the indignity of filling out my resume, and applying for jobs online. Let me tell you, it's a humbling experience when you realize that apparently every entry-level position now requires 15 years of experience. (If you are going through that, you have my sympathy and prayers.)
The way that typically works is you see a job posting. Maybe it's on a site like Monster or Indeed - or maybe you go directly to an employer's website and search for their open positions. You open this job posting and at the very top, there is usually a brief blurb about the mission of the company:
At Acme Sprockets, we are revolutionizing the global marketplace by leveraging synergistic solutions to wrap plastic straws in paper, thereby disrupting traditional beverage-consumption paradigms and creating unprecedented value propositions for our stakeholders.
Then underneath that are usually requirements - something like:
- 8 Years of experience in Software Engineering
- A degree in Computer Science
- Proficiency with Python (the programming language, not snake handling - though honestly, either one might be useful)
- Experience with data science
- Willingness to relocate to the northern tip of Greenland
- Must be fluent in at least 12 languages, including ancient Sumerian
- Previous experience as a astronaut preferred but not required
Then there would be a description of the job you would actually be doing:
- Writing reports that no one will read
- Being in meetings about meetings about meetings
- Answering emails about when you'll have time to answer emails
- Explaining to your boss why the printer isn't working (spoiler alert: it's always out of toner)
In our text today, Jesus is going to explain to some would-be disciples what the job is. It's almost like a job description for being Jesus' disciple.
Unlike the ridiculous job description I just read you - this one is the most important job any of us will ever take on - and it will change the world.
Being Jesus disciple just means following Him. A disciple in Bible times was just someone who followed someone else and learned from them day to day in a hands on way. A disciple is like an apprentice. It means being a full-time student of Christ - but not in the classroom sort of way - but in the walking beside Him sort of way.
And the goal of being a disciple is to learn all you can about your master - all you can about Christ - so you can be like Him.
And here is why it matters so much: being Jesus disciple changes everything about you:
- It changes your attitude
- It changes your marriage
- It changes how you view your work
- It changes who you relate to
- It literally makes you a different person
Let's read our text.
[!bible] Luke 9:51-62 - KJV 51. And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, 52. And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. 53. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. 54. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? 55. But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. 56. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. 57. And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 58. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 59. And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. 61. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 62. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
This text marks a major transition in the book of Luke. Up until this point - the focus of this book has been Jesus' ministry. We've seen lots of stories of Jesus healing people and preaching and doing miracles.
Those things aren't stopping - but from this point on - Jesus steadfastly set His face to Jerusalem - in other words "Jesus is focused on the cross."
And as Jesus is focused on the cross - He has four different interactions with His disciples or would be disciples - and each one of them teaches us something about what it means to be a disciple of Christ.
As we go through this text this morning, I want to break it down into three points:
Just like a job posting, we are going to start at the top with the mission. We have to understand Jesus' mission if we are going to be His disciples.
Second, just like a job posting, we are going to look at the requirements for the job. We'll see three of them in this passage.
Finally, we are going to consider who our Boss is - and how He doesn't just expect these things of us - He exemplifies them more than anyone.
Let's pray and we'll jump into the message today.
Pray
The first thing we need to do as we consider what it means to be a disciple is...
1. Embrace the mission
Just like on a job posting, there is a section about the mission at the top. Our passage today starts with a mission.
Jesus steadfastly set his face toward Jerusalem.
What does that mean? It means that Jesus was focused on His mission. It means that Jesus was focused on the cross.
Jesus wasn't making it up as He went along. He knew that He was coming here to die and He knew that the cross is coming.
You know, there are two kinds of courage: There is the kind of courage where some bad things happen to you you weren't expecting, and you are brave and strong through those things. That's just reaction.
But there is a second type of courage - that is when you know what you are getting into, you know that pain is coming, and you march toward it anyways. You don't avoid it. Jesus had that kind of steadfast commitment and courage for His mission of dying on the cross for us.
And right after our passage tells us this - it shows us that that one the disciples didn't understand the mission.
They were headed to Jerusalem from Galilee. Jerusalem is in Southern Israel. Galilee is in the very northern part of Israel. To get there they had to go through this place called Samaria. The Jews and Samaritans did not get along.
And Jesus sent some messengers before him to go and find lodging for their party - and the first city they went to - the Samaritans rejected Jesus. They weren't going to provide hospitality to some jew who was going to Jerusalem of all places on a messianic mission.
And James and John were like "Jesus, do you want us to call down fire from heaven and burn them up like Elijah did?"
In 1 Kings, Elijah did call down heaven and burn up a group of Samaritans. So James and John are thinking they have precedent here.
But what they are really doing is showing that they do not understand Jesus' mission at all. And that is what Jesus says to them:
[!bible] Luke 9:55-56 - KJV 55. ...Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. 56. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. ...
So if we are going to take the job of being Jesus' disciples, we have to understand and embrace His mission. Jesus came to save people. Even those people who reject Him - He wants to save.
Listen, we live in a world that is rejecting Christ. Most of the people you rub shoulders with are rejecting Christ. They make lifestyle choices that loudly proclaim that Christ isn't in their life.
But those people are not our enemies. They are our mission field. Jesus came to save those who reject Him.
Jesus told us what His mission is in Luke 19:10
[!bible] Luke 19:10 - KJV 10. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
And it's interesting - one of the first things that happens in the book of Acts is that these Samaritans who rejected Christ embrace the gospel.
Some of the loudest critics of Christ may very well embrace Him. One of the loudest critics of Christ - Saul of Tarsus - went on to become one of His greatest apostles.
So we have to embrace Jesus mission of saving the lost.
Then if you keep reading in our text, in verses 57-62, - you see three different stories of disciples who didn't understand the job requirements.
So we need to embrace the mission, the second thing we need to do is...
2. Understand the job requirements.
The rest of this chapter shows us three different job requirements for being a disciple. You don't have to have a degree, you don't have to know Python, but you do need to have these three things.
The first requirement is...
A. A willingness to be uncomfortable.
Look at verse 57. A man comes to Jesus and says "I'll go wherever you go." He was saying "Jesus, I want the job. I want to be a disciple."
And Jesus said "Ok, well, if you want to follow me, you need to understand that I don't have a place to lay my head."
Now, Jesus wasn't homeless. That's not what this was saying. Jesus enjoyed the hospitality of many rich followers and we know that Lazarus and Mary and Martha would put Him and the disciples up.
So what was the point? The point was that Jesus and His disciples were constantly traveling. They were constantly on the road. It was not a comfortable life.
The book of Matthew tells us that this man was a scribe. He was a scholar. He was probably wealthy and used to a comfortable life. He probably had a nice home that was well furnished.
And Jesus wanted this man to know that the life of following Christ is not a comfortable life. It's not about being comfortable - it's about the mission. It's about the job.
Paul put it this way in 1 Timothy 2:3-4
[!bible] 2 Timothy 2:3-4 - KJV 3. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
We are on a mission. We are in a battle. And if we are going to follow Jesus - that needs to take priority over our comfort.
Are you willing to be uncomfortable for Jesus? Are you willing to give up your lazy days to serve Him? Are you willing to be thought crazy for following Him?
You see, most people stop here. They read this job description and they think - this isn't for me. But make no mistake about it, if you follow Christ He will ask for your comfort.
So that is the first job requirement - a willingness to be uncomfortable for Jesus.
The second requirement we see in verses 59 and 60. It is...
B. A sense of urgency
Look at those verses:
[!bible] Luke 9:59-60 - KJV 59. And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.
You might look at that and think - that is so harsh. But I think you are misunderstanding the text here.
This disciple wasn't asking to go to his father's funeral. If the Father was already dead or on His deathbed, He wouldn't be there with Jesus on the road.
No, He was asking if he could wait until His father died and then follow Jesus. That could be months, it could be years, it could even be decades away.
He was essentially saying "Jesus, I want to follow you... someday. Just not yet." He had no sense of urgency.
And Jesus answered this man. He said "let the dead bury their dead. But you go and preach the kingdom."
Listen, the time to serve Jesus is now. It is an urgent mission. In just a few verses, Jesus is going to say
[!bible] Luke 10:2 - KJV 2. Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.
We need people who will step up NOW and serve Christ. People are dying in their sins NOW. People are needing Jesus NOW. The Harvest is NOW.
We need people now. Not when you retire. Not when your kids are grown. But you need to step up and follow Christ today. There needs to be a sense of urgency about it.
So the first requirement is a willingness to be uncomfortable. The second requirement is a sense of urgency.
The third requirement is probably the hardest one:
C. A Total commitment.
Look at verses 61-62:
[!bible] Luke 9:61-62 - KJV 61. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 62. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
This third disciple had a very reasonable request. He just wanted to say goodbye to his family. That is reasonable - there is even precedent - when Elisha followed Elijah - he went and said his goodbyes first.
But Jesus said "You have to have a total commitment. You have to put your hands to the plough and not look back."
In Bible times, if you were plowing a field, you had to keep your eyes on something on the horizon - that is how you ploughed a straight line. And you had to keep with the job - you had to hold onto the plough until the job was done.
It wasn't a hard job. You didn't need a PHD to do it. But you did need to be focused and committed.
And if we are going to follow Christ, we need to do it with our full commitment. We can't keep turning around and looking at the world, looking at what we left behind, and plough a straight line. We have to keep our eye on the prize.
There was once a man from right here in Illinois who was born into a prominent and wealthy family. They had made a fortune mining silver and had generational wealth.
This guy was named William Borden. William Borden's mother trusted Christ at the great Moody Church in Chicago, and her son William did as well, and He felt called to missions. He decided to leave His comfortable lifestyle and massive fortune to give His life to serve God.
Borden had urgency and he was willing to forgo comfort.
After studying theology at Yale and Princeton, where he was both very popular and very faithful. He decided God wanted him to be a missionary to the Muslims in China and he decided to go to Egypt to study Arabic.
When he got there, he came down with cerebral meningitis, and less than three weeks after arriving in Egypt, he died from that sickness.
When they got took up his Bible from His deathbed, they found written in the front "No reserve", "no retreat" and then after he had gotten sick in Egypt he added the words "no regret."
Borden embraced the mission and he understood the job requirements.
Now, as we close this message, I want to make one more point.
I've talked about how we need to embrace the mission and understand the job requirements of being a disciple. But there is one more thing I think we need to understand about this job.
And that is that we can...
3. Learn from our Boss.
You see, there is no one who ever lived who understood the mission and lived up to the requirements like our Lord Jesus.
He didn't just accept discomfort - He gave up the comforts of Heaven to live in the mud of earth - to deal with the pain and suffering of humanity - and ultimately to go to the cross for a bunch of people who rejected Him.
He didn't just have a sense of urgency - His whole life was urgently set for one purpose - for being our Savior. For being about the Father's business. For seeking and saving the Lost. He set His face like a flint - He had an urgent focus on the mission.
He didn't just show commitment, he showed commitment all the way to the cross. He didn't take His hand off the plough or his eyes off the end goal - of dying for our sins.
And Jesus accomplished the goal. Because of what Jesus did, you can trust in His finished work and be saved from your sins and have a relationship with God.
So I want to close this morning with two applications:
First, have you trusted Christ? Are you still like the samaritans, rejecting Him? He hasn't come to destroy you - but to save you and He bore the sins of your rejection as well as all your other sins when He went to the cross.
Why not trust Him today?
Second, if you have trusted Christ, are you following Him as His disciple? Are you up for the job? Are you willing to embrace Christ's mission, even if it means discomfort, urgency and commitment?
You can start right away. Your hire date is immediate. Jesus has already made all the araangments and He will lead you every step of the way.
