"WHAT IT MEANS TO FOLLOW JESUS"

9.00am and 10.30am Sunday 6 April 2003

Rev Des Botting

Reading: Luke 14:25-35

When Sir Francis Drake, the famous English explorer, was planning for one if his overseas expeditions, he had difficulty enlisting crew. He would gather young men on the hillside overlooking the sea, and tell them of the beautiful sights they would experience, the sunrises, the magnificent sunsets, and the gentle breezes. However, few of the young men ever signed up. So he changed his approach. Drake began to tell them of the demands their journey would make upon them and of the hardships they would confront. He told them of the terrible winds that would blow them off course so that they would be lost for days on end. He told them of the thirst they would experience when there was no more fresh water on the ship, a thirst so fierce that they would be screaming for a drink of water. He told them of the hunger they would experience that would gnaw at their stomachs for days before food would be available. Then he would say, "If you can handle conditions like these, then I tell you that the exciting rewards of exploration and discovery are beyond your wildest dreams." There are accounts that state that upon hearing these words of challenge, some of the boys never even went home to say goodbye to their families. They simply went onboard ship, eager for the journey.

Winston Churchill, when Britain was threatened with invasion, called for "blood, toil, tears and sweat", and people from all walks of life rose to defend their nation. When President Bush spoke to the American people announcing the outbreak of the war with Iraq, he spoke plainly as to what the cost would be.

Maybe all of these took a leaf out of Jesus book, in that Jesus it made very clear from the outset the demands of discipleship. No one could ever say that they were misinformed as to what following Him would really mean.

Luke tells us that "large crowds were walking with Jesus" at this point of His ministry. No doubt they were impressed with His healings and were anxious to see for themselves the next miracle He would perform. They eagerly listened His teaching, and especially enjoyed the way in which He put the Pharisees and the religious leaders of the day in their place. There was a popular groundswell gathering momentum, and Jesus knew full well that when they came to realise the kind of Messiah He had come to be, many of those gathered around Him would quickly fall by the wayside. As John says in his Gospel, "Jesus knew what was in their hearts, and he wouldnt let them have power over him. No one had to tell him what people were like. He already knew." He knew they would be like the seed that fell on rocky ground, in the story he told of the farmer. As soon as things got hard, they would give up.

Knowing what was ahead both for Himself and for those who would follow Him, he lays down

I. What Discipleship means. Being a disciple involves much more than just being one of a class of students. One can be part of a class and yet not necessarily follow or agree with ones teacher. But to be a disciple means

1. being committed to both LEARNING and LIVING what one is taught. A disciple is a follower as well as a learner. Disciples puts into practice what they are taught. Therefore,
2. discipleship involves DISCIPLINE. The original definition of the word discipline refers to instruction to be given to disciples. These two words are intimately related. One cannot be a disciple of Jesus without coming under the discipline of the His instruction. We must live out what He has taught. And, thirdly, when a person makes a commitment to follow Jesus, it means
3. having a new MASTER. Jesus is Lord of our lives, and in our lives. He is Lord of all!

The word disciple is the term Jesus used to describe His followers. It is also what He has commanded those who follow Him to do, that is, to "Go . . . and make disciples of all nations". This is incorporated in the vision statement of our church, "To be a Spirit-filled community winning followers for Christ locally and globally." If we wanted to express in one word what the church is here for, it could be summed up in the word disciple-making. We are not only to call people to faith in Jesus Christ. We are to make them followers of Christ. The decision to follow Christ is a life-long commitment, and we as a church take seriously the responsibility of discipling all who make a profession of faith. It means being very intentional about the input we have into peoples lives. We seek to do this in several ways. Initially it is through one-on-one mentoring, or through a small group, as well as through what is preached in the Sunday services. We have a long way to go to be making disciples as thoroughly as we would like, but it is our goal.

The following are the different ways in which we seek to fulfil this command. They can be expressed under

II. The 5 Gs of Church Life. The first is

GRACE Grace is what is necessary for someone to begin the Christian life. It is both understanding what Jesus Christ has done for us, and trusting Him alone for eternal life. As the Bible says,

"You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is Gods gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own. It isnt something you have earned, so there is nothing you can brag about." The first essential to following Jesus is making a definite decision to turn from our sin and to receive this gift of Gods grace to us in Christ. This is what makes us a Christian.

There are several ways in which we can encourage people to take this step. One of them is through the "JOURNEYS" Seminar. This is a fivepart series in which Christian people tell about their journey to faith and what it means for them to be a follower of Jesus. What comes through very clearly is the difference knowing Jesus makes when facing lifes biggest issues.

Another way is through the ALPHA Course, which is helpful both for those who are looking for a faith, as well as for believers. Over 10 weeks the video talks of Nicky Gumble explore key issues in life that help people to an understanding of what the Christian faith is all about, and what it means to follow Jesus. There is an opportunity during the Course for people to respond to Gods invitation, and many do so, as we saw in the video last Sunday. Its value is that it incorporates both Video teaching and group discussion where people are free to ask any question they like. This leads us to the second G of Church life, that is,

GROWTH A disciple of Jesus is one who is growing in their relationship with God and in their obedience to Him. He/she takes seriously the Bibles command, "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen." We encourage new Christians to do "STARTRITE", an 8 week course which looks at what Jesus commanded. In the Great Commission Jesus said that we are to make disciples of all nations, to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and to teach them to do all He has commanded. The "Startrite" course seeks to cover this last part of the Great Commission, that is, the teaching all of Jesus commanded. This includes Jesus commands to believe in Him, to be baptized, to share in Communion, to love, to pray, to give and to disciple others. ALPHA is also a helpful course for new Christians. Doing STARTRITE and ALPHA helps people to appreciate the value of

GROUPS This is where most growth takes place. It has certainly been true in my experience. Jesus modeled this in His ministry. Marks Gospel tells us, "Then he chose twelve of them to be his apostles, so that they could be with him." Notice it was so that they could be with Him. Groups were very much part of the life in the Church of the New Testament. In the Book of Acts it says, They broke bread together in different homes and shared their food happily and freely." One of the features of the church from its beginning was the quality of its community life. Jesus wants His church to demonstrate to the world what true community is, and so here at SDFC we encourage everyone to be part of a small group or ministry in the life of the Church. Involvement makes the difference. The small group of disciples that Jesus gathered around Him and developed into a team, following the coming of the Holy Spirit, turned the world upside down. Being part of a small group helps us to grow and be accountable as Christians. This is an important part of discipleship.

Further, if you are a believer, you have the responsibility of continuing the work Jesus began when He was here on earth. And so, discipleship also involves discovering, developing and using the

GIFTS God has given you. The Bible clearly teaches that "Each of you has been blessed with one of Gods many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others. So use your gift well." We do not have any choice in the gifts we have. "But it is the Spirit who does all this and decides which gifts to give each of us." Note that every believer has received a gift, or gifts, and that they are not for our own benefit, but to be used in the service of others. The NETWORK Course helps people identify what their gifts are, as well as where and how they can be used to build up the Body of Christ.

The last area that is important for discipleship is

GIVING We also encourage those within the church to take seriously the stewardship of their time, talents and treasure. Our giving to Gods work is a very accurate indicator of our love for God, and how seriously we take our stewardship of all that God has entrusted us with. We can never outgive God, who has been so generous to us, and God will never be anyones debtor. Jesus said, "If you give to others, you will be given a full amount in return. It will be packed down, shaken together, and spilling over into your lap. The way you treat others is the way you will be treated."

These are five ways in which we encourage Christian discipleship in the life of our church fellowship.

We turn our attention now to the passage we read from Luke as it tells us

III. What It Means To Follow Jesus. Three times in this passage in Luke Jesus introduces what He says with the words, "You cant be my disciple, unless" Each time these words are followed by a condition of discipleship. The first is that

1. He must have priority in our LOVE He says, "You cant be my disciple, unless you love me more than you love your father and mother, your wife and children, and your brothers and sisters. You cannot come with me unless you love me more that you love your own life." The Greek New Testament says, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and besides also their own life, cannot be my disciple." This sounds very harsh. But we need to understand what Jesus meant when He said this. He was saying that our love for Him must be so great that all earthly loves will seem like hatred in comparison. No love in life is to be more important that our love for Him. He must have our first loyalty. It is not hatred as we understand it, because elsewhere He tells us to love our enemies. We need to see it in light of both the first of the Ten Commandments, and Jesus teaching on the greatest commandment. When God said that His people, "Do not worship any God except me", He was saying that we are to put Him first always. When Jesus was asked what is the most important commandment in the Law, He said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind." We need to see Jesus words about discipleship in this light. Just like God, Himself, Jesus must have first place in our lives. He must come before those who are nearest and dearest to us. This will not mean that our love for our family will be any less than it should be. In fact, when we put our love for Jesus first, it leads to our loving and appreciating our dear ones even more. It gets our relationships into their right perspective. And as John tells us, we love Him because He first loved us. The reason why Jesus disciples followed Him was not only because they loved Him, but more importantly, because they knew without a shadow of doubt His deep and abiding love for them. They knew He really cared for them.
2. He must have priority in our FUTURE Jesus said, "You cannot be my disciple unless you carry your own cross and come with me." Following Jesus has a cost, which we will come to in a few moments. But it also means that we must put aside our own plans for the future, and follow His. It is as Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, "not my will but yours be done." We live to do what He wants, not what we want. As we saw a few moments ago, we have a new Master to whom we pledge our obedience.
3. He must have priority to our POSSESSIONS Again Jesus said, "So then, you cannot be my disciples unless you give away everything you own." While for some it may mean literally giving everything away, for most it means signing over the ownership rights of all they own to Jesus. Your heart will always be where your treasure is. When you follow Jesus, you acknowledge that all you are and all you own belongs to Him, and that you will take care of it and use it as He directs.

1. where that decision will LEAD you Following Jesus is a faith-stretching experience, but it never is dull. He takes you where you would never have imagined going. You find yourself doing things you never thought you could do. For Paul, it ended up with him making a complete about-turn in his life. In one account of his testimony he shares, "But the Lord told me to go, and he promised to send me far away to the Gentiles." Before he became a Christian that would have been the last thing he saw himself doing. When you follow Jesus you need to get ready for new challenges and new growth-markers on your journey. When you follow Jesus, you give up the right to know

2. how much it will COST you For some it means losing ones life. That was so for Peter and for Paul.