For Anyone Willing to Do the Difficult

Luke 9:61-62 - Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

There are two bad extremes in thinking of what it means to follow Jesus. The first is called legalism. It is attempting to earn God’s favor through obeying his laws before gaining his acceptance. Huge chunks of the New Testament are dedicated to fighting this arrogant, self-sufficient, and completely futile approach to God. Read Matthew 22-23, John 3, 5, 7-8, Acts 3-5, Romans 1-8, Galatians 1-5, and the whole book of Hebrews to know more.

The other extreme is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called cheap grace. It is the idea that following Jesus only involves a single decision with no corresponding life change. The New Testament fights against this, too, although it is not nearly as common in Western Christianity these days. People do not like to hear the cost of following Jesus. We just want to stick with the rewards.

At the peak of his popularity, Jesus had three people approach him and ask to follow him. Yet, rather than a simple, “Sure! Come and join me,” in each case, Jesus warned them of the cost of following him: leaving home and family in their cases. Note that Jesus does not forbid any of them to follow him. He simply forbids them to come on their own terms and warns them that it will be costly.

This passage is sandwiched between passages in which Jesus sent his followers to spread the good news of the Kingdom of God to as many as would receive it. He was not eager to condemn those who did not, but he wanted all to know following him would not be easy.

For us today, following Jesus may not involve the loss of home and family but it does mean the loss of our own agenda and our guarantee of an easy life. Like many things in life, yet to a much greater extent, following Jesus is hard but worth it.

Insiders and Outsiders

Luke 9:49-50 - John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.”

The Disciple John was obviously special. In his own gospel, he calls himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” He was one of only three Jesus took with him to special places like the Garden of Gethsemane (when Jesus wanted to pray the night before his crucifixion), the bedroom of the little girl Jesus raised from the dead, and the Mount of Transfiguration where Jesus met with Moses and Elijah. John knew he was special. In John’s mind at the time of his words above, that must have meant others were not – at least not as - special. He must have thought either “God cannot use them” or “God should not use them.”

Jesus gave John a clear lesson that still applies for us today: God can and often does use others who have not had the same experiences we have. They may not have been on the mountain with Jesus and us, but that does not mean they are against us. So many times, we in the church have been guilty of spending our energy and resources fighting others inside because of our differences rather than using them to rescue those outside.

It seems John did not learn the lesson the first time. In the next passage, the people of Samaria did not welcome them. Now they were not just dealing with people from a different Christian denomination doing things a bit differently yet still in Jesus’ name. These were true outsiders. John wanted to judge and punish them for their outsiderness and the rejection they brought. Again, Jesus rebuked him. Jesus did not come to punish outsiders. He came to bring them inside (John 3:17), and his definition of inside is often larger than ours. I am glad John finally figured that out. He spent the last days of his life living in the very “outsider” Greek world of Ephesus and the Roman Province of Asia bring outsider Gentiles into the family of God. Let’s keep that same heart.

The Backward Step before the Forward Leap

Luke 9:41 - Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you?”

It is very rare to make steady forward progress without a setback. Undefeated seasons are almost unheard of. In 94 years of the NFL, that has happened only once including playoffs (1972 Miami Dolphins). Even though they inevitably come, setbacks and losses can be discouraging. Those times can lead us to want to quit in hopelessness. I imagine that is how the nine disciples Jesus did not take to the Transfiguration felt.

They had seen nonstop progress. Invited to follow Jesus, they saw miracle after miracle. At the beginning of Chapter 9, their own miracle-filled ministry began. Then Peter made his confession of Jesus as the Christ, and they understood more of who he was. They also must have seen their own lives in that light. It had been a steady upward journey in growing faith, knowledge, and power with Jesus, yet it all imploded in their inability to help a little boy find freedom. They were even publicly rebuked by their leader. Might they have wanted to quit altogether imagining God could never use them?

Fortunately for us, Jesus’ first disciples did not quit. They stayed walking with him. They made many more mistakes and did not get everything right, but Jesus prepared and used them. When his earthly ministry was complete, they took over, and their impact is still experienced today by the hundreds of millions of us who still follow their leader.

If you are discouraged by a setback today, don’t quit. Faith is not the absence of doubt but rather pressing on in spite of doubt and discouragement.

The Voice of God

Luke 9:35 - And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”

Some of us long for divine direction for the decisions we make. We would love to know exactly what to do in any situation. Some of us also crave the certainty comes with miraculous guidance like the voice of God from the clouds on the Mountain of Transfiguration in Luke 9. If we all heard a booming voice from heaven telling us what to do, wouldn't we do it? Wouldn't it erase all doubts?

However, even in Jesus’ earthly ministry, the Gospels only record a voice from heaven speaking three times: once at Jesus’ baptism, once here at the Transfiguration, and once just before his crucifixion in John 12:28. In each of these cases, God’s words were confirming that the real message was in Jesus. Look at the verse above: the disciples were not told to seek more supernatural voices in the clouds. They were told to listen to Jesus.

John even opens his Gospel calling Jesus “The Word.” He is God’s greatest message to mankind. We can hear him in his words recorded in the New Testament. We hear him as we walk with him day by day. (It should not be surprising that “In the Garden” is second only to “Amazing Grace” as the most popular hymn for funerals: “He walks with me and he talks with and he tells me I am his own…”) Supernatural overt revelations are wonderful when they come, but they are not the daily norm. Yet, we can listen to Jesus every day.

Get Away to Pray

Luke 9:28-29 - Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.

Smartphones are wonderful gadgets. We can be reached almost anywhere at anytime. We can connect to the Internet and the endless amount of information and entertainment it provides wherever we go. Social media is always with us. Go into any restaurant and notice how many patrons are engrossed in their gadgets and ignoring their companions. Like so many other things in life, smartphones bring good, but they also bring risk. And the risk of distraction is a huge one.

We live in a very noisy world with so many things that demand our attention. It is easy to let the subtle, yet truly important, slide to the background. Prayer is certainly one of those.

Although he did not have a smartphone, Jesus lived in a noisy, distracting world. However, he knew the importance of distraction-free prayer. This supernatural God encounter we call the Transfiguration is not the only time he got away to pray, but could the Transfiguration have happened if he did not get away from the crowds and the distractions?

Luke records that Jesus took three of his disciples to a mountain for the expresses purpose of prayer and that his transformation took place while he prayed. This event had such an impact on Peter that he wrote about it in his second letter some thirty years later. (II Peter 1:17-18) In our noisy world with such wonderful gizmos and gadgets, we need to remember what is truly important and be sure we take time to get away so we, too, can have our much-needed life transforming encounters with God.

No Casual Statement

Luke 9:20, 23-24 - Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” …If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”

It is so easy to say, “Jesus Christ.” In America, claiming to be a Christian still does not cost too much, though that is starting to change in many places. It can seem easy to take Jesus for granted and give half-hearted assent to him and who he is. Yet, Jesus warns us that there is a cost to identifying with him.

The two passages above are well known but not always connected. The first is Peter’s famous declaration: “You are the Christ…” This is the first time any of his disciples declare Jesus to be the Christ. Jesus was his given name, but Christ (“Anointed One” in Greek – translated Meshiach – or Messiah – from Hebrew) was the title reserved for one prophesied hundreds of years before. After time with Jesus, they knew he was THE ONE, and Peter was willing to speak it out loud.

However, in the very next verse, Jesus predicts his gruesome crucifixion for the very first time. Immediately after that, he says the words of verse 23 above. In other words, “I am the Christ, but I will die a horrible death on the cross. If you follow me and declare me as the Christ, you need to be willing to suffer the same fate.” 

Notice that this is not a one time declaration. With some gumption, each of us can make a stand for a while. NFL teams do not play Red Zone defense for all 60 minutes. The same for basketball teams and the full court press. Many people in the spur of the moment can make a bold declaration. (Ask me about time share salesmen on my honeymoon sometime.) However, Jesus adds the words kath hemera – daily. Taking up the instrument of our own torture shows a selfless willingness to give everything up for the one who gave everything up for us. It is a great price to pay, but, as Jesus himself ask, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”  (Lk 9:25) Declaring Jesus as your Lord is very costly but worth it all.

Give Only What You Have

Luke 9:13, 16-17 - But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” …And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

We can be overwhelmed by our lack. The problems and challenges we face are often more than we are capable of handling on our own. Sometimes it seems futile to even attempt to take them on with our meager resources. That was how Jesus’ disciples felt as they saw a sea of over 5,000 hungry faces who had interrupted their personal time with Jesus to take the Man away. They saw the problem of feeding them and asked Jesus to send them away, but Jesus put the problem back on them: “You (the Greek has an usually strong emphasis on the YOU here) give them something to eat.”

They responded by pointing out their insufficiency: five loaves and two fish. It was barely enough for the twelve. What could it do for 5,000? They gave it anyway. In Jesus’ hands it was blessed and given back to the disciples. The text is clear: The multiplication did not happen in Jesus’ hands. The bread and fish multiplied in the disciples’ hands as they gave it to the people. Once they had given all they had for the sake of others, they had more left at the end than they started with: One large basket of leftovers for each disciple.

God’s math does not always make sense in earthly, scientific terms. Though what we have often seems inadequate, when given to others through Jesus it is multiplied and changes the world.

The Value and Limitations of Retreats

Luke 9:10-11 - On their return the apostles told him all that they had done. And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing.

The twelve disciples had just finished their first ministry trip. They had walked long distances in teams of two, preaching and healing. They were physically exhausted. However, they were emotionally and physically excited at the lives God changed through them. They wanted to tell Jesus everything that had happened. This was a key opportunity for Jesus to debrief with them, help them understand what had happened, and better prepare them for their future ministry. A time of rest, reflection, and planning for the future was a very wise, invaluable step, so Jesus “took them and withdrew.”

That retreat was short lived. Crowds of people heard about Jesus’ leaving. They saw he and the disciples go, and they followed. When that happened, Jesus could have put the priority on the retreat and told the crowds to go home, but he didn’t. The mission continued. He interrupted the retreat to help the people, because, ultimately, they were the real mission.

There are times we plan for something good that we should be able to reasonably expect but something – or, more often, someone – will interrupt. Some of these interruptions are opportunities that require us to say no to the good (that benefits us) in order to say yes to the best (that benefits others).

Both/And

Luke 9:1-2 - And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.

As people, we love to divide things into categories with labels: Republican and Democrat; spender and saver; day person and night person; the list could go on forever. What we often imply or assume is that one side is good and right and the other side is bad and wrong. Some times that is the case, but often we hurt ourselves by giving an either/or option rather than a both/and.

So much of Jesus’ ministry and instruction to his disciples is both/and. As we read in the previous passage, Jairus’ daughter’s ultimate resurrection and healing was a result of both Jairus’ human action AND Jesus’ divine, miraculous work. Luke 10 opens with the first commissioning of the twelve disciples. Jesus gave them a clear AND mission: They were to meet real physical needs (through healing) AND spiritual needs (through their preaching). They were to use natural ability (in speaking) AND supernatural ability (in healing). To be able to do this they needed both the ability (“power” in vs 1) and the right (“authority” in vs 2).

A lot of conflict in the world (and church) today stems from an either/or mentality rather than a both/and perspective. Do we need to meet people’s urgent physical and practical needs? Yes. Do we also need to change their thinking and belief systems to enact lasting change? Yes. Either by itself is not enough. Social justice is important, but we only create an attitude of dependency and entitlement without a change of thinking and systems. The message of good news is absolutely critical, but it must often be seen to be believed. Jesus’ ministry constantly integrated BOTH. So should ours.

The Relationship between Miracles and Human Action

Luke 8:53-55 - And they laughed at [Jesus}, knowing that she was dead. But taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, arise.” And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat.

Miracles are fascinating and mysterious. Many people believe they are not possible or that there is always some natural explanation for what appears to be a miracle. Others believe miracles should be a regular experience for any person with enough of the right kind of faith. (Side question: If miracles were a regular experience, would they still be miraculous?) Some take this latter view to the extreme, denying any human responsibility whatever except faith alone, saying, “I trust in God to take care of me,” without lifting a finger to help themselves. Others say they believe in the possibility of miracles but are so afraid of the extreme view that they never seek them. I think the story of Jairus is an excellent case study on the proper balance of faith, action, and the miraculous work of Jesus.

Jairus was the leader of the synagogue. That made him one of the most influential people in town. Yet, his twelve year old daughter (and only child) was dying. He expressed both faith and action to see that situation changed. He humbled himself and honored Jesus by falling to his feet (Luke 8:41) and asking for Jesus’ help. After his daughter had died and all others had given up hope, including his servants and paid mourners, he accepted Jesus’ instructions to “not fear; only believe” (Luke 8:50). All he had at that point to go on was faith. He had made his request. The outcome was in Jesus’ hands. With Jesus’ word, she came back to life (Luke 8:54).

Yet, notice that once she experienced that miraculous resurrection, Jesus instructed Jairus to give her something to eat. (Luke 8:55) If he was capable of miraculously restoring life, could not Jesus, Master of Creation, miraculously have provided nutrition, too? I believe he could have, but he did not need to, because his creation already provided the basis for nutrition in agriculture. Once the miracle of restoring life was complete, human action was needed to sustain life.

I know God still works miracles today. I believe we should seek and believe for Jesus’ intervention in our lives, but that does not absolve us of responsibility for ourselves. Spiritual growth is about growing in faith and responsibility.