SERMON: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE GOD KIND

28 February 2010

I. Introduction
-- turn in your Bibles to Luke 9

57. As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
58. Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
59. He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
60. Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
61. Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."
62. Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

-- I know I'm going old-school on you, but how many of you remember the movie, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind?" -- it's hard to believe, but that movie is over 30 years old now
-- I remember watching that as a kid and enjoying the movie, but not really comprehending everything that was going on -- as I was studying this passage, I started thinking about that movie again
-- remember in the start of the movie how the character played by Richard Dreyfuss became obsessed with these images of a mountain-like shape? -- he kept having these dreams about this mountain and he kept seeing images of it everywhere he looked -- he started drawing pictures of it -- I remember at one point that he actually took his mashed potatoes and made a mountain out of them on the dining room table
-- as the movie progressed, he realized that this mountain that he had been seeing was real and he knew that he had to go to that mountain -- he had to follow that call that was in his heart and go to that place even though he didn't really know what was going on and he didn't understand what was happening -- he dropped everything -- he left everything behind -- his family -- his job -- his responsibilities -- all of it -- to follow this call -- it changed his life and set him on a different path

-- have you ever felt a calling like this in your life? -- have you ever felt a calling that was just so big and so important that you knew that you had to follow it, even though you didn't understand it completely -- event though it meant that you had to leave everything and everyone you knew behind in order to follow it?
-- that's the focus of this passage here in the book of Luke -- really, it's the focus of the whole New Testament -- it's about following the call of Jesus -- it's about responding to Him when He stops and looks at us and says, "Come, follow Me"

-- you know, even though the Bible is filled with teachings of Jesus -- with parables and beatitudes and conversations with people who drifted into His life -- really, Jesus' message was quite simple -- you could sum it up in two short statement -- first, "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand" -- and, second, "Come, follow Me"
-- all of His teachings -- all of His messages -- even the Great Commandment and the Great Commission -- is encompassed within the meaning of these two statements, for to repent and follow Him means to turn away from the world and all our past allegiances and to follow Jesus and His ways with our whole heart and our whole being
-- our problem is that, a lot of times, we misunderstand this call of Jesus -- when we hear Him say, "Come, follow Me," we assume that all He's talking about is salvation -- all He's talking about is a one-time commitment -- that is what has led our churches to be so impotent in this world -- we've concerned ourselves with salvation -- with getting to the cross -- with getting people to their knees -- but we've never considered what to do next
-- but, when Jesus told people to follow Him, the Greek word that He used there -- in every case -- didn't just mean a one-time event -- it didn't just mean, "right now" -- it implied a future event -- it implied future action -- it meant something that was greater than the immediate moment
-- when Jesus said, "Come, follow Me," what He really meant was, "From this moment on, stat following Me and never quit -- keep on following me -- keep on doing my will and my way -- keep on in obedience to me -- keep on my path with every step -- do nothing else in your life but follow me and my ways"

-- and knowing that, it makes perfect sense -- Jesus' first call was to repent -- that means to turn away from something -- to change course -- and His call to repent was not only to repent from the sin in our lives, but to repent from the things that led us into sin -- our flesh and our world
-- and, if you repent, if you turn from one thing and stop following it, then you have to start following something else -- so that's why Jesus said, "Repent, and follow Me" -- He's given us a different course -- a different path -- a different calling -- one that will cause us to do just like Richard Dreyfuss and leave everything behind in order to follow Him

II. Scripture Lesson (Luke 9:57-62)
-- but, as Bruce Cole puts it, "there are many who think that following Jesus is important, but not the most important thing in life" [Bruce Cole, http://www.fcfonline.org/content/1/sermons/011799m.pdf]
-- we see that right here in this passage

-- this passage occurs at an important point in Jesus' ministry -- it is in Luke Chapter 9 that Jesus confirms that He is more than just a teacher -- that He is more than just a prophet -- but that He is the Messiah -- the Son of God -- God Himself -- God incarnate
-- it is in this chapter that we read Peter's magnificent confession of Christ -- when Jesus asks His disciples who the people say He is, they respond, "Some say you are John the Baptist -- others say you are Elijah -- others that you are one of the prophets" -- Jesus then asked them, "Who do you say I am?" and Peter responds, "The Messiah -- the Christ of God -- the Anointed One" and Jesus applauds Peter for recognizing who He really is
-- shortly after that, we read of the Transfiguration on the mountain -- when the incarnate Jesus was clothed in all His glory and was transfigured before the eyes of His disciples Peter, James, and John -- showing once again that He was more than just a man -- that He was the God-Man -- the Messiah -- God with us
-- and now, after Jesus has identified Himself and His purpose to His disciples, Luke tells us that He has resolutely set His face towards Jerusalem -- Jesus is going to fulfill the purpose for which He came -- and all along the way, His call continues to go out to others around them through His teachings and His actions to join Him -- to follow Him -- He proclaims to all who listen, "Come, follow Me," but even though He is surrounded by crowds of people, few really hear and respond whole-heartedly to this call to be His disciple
-- here in these verses, we read of three such people -- let's look back at this now and see what we can learn from their responses to Jesus

-- verse 57

57. As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
58. Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

-- Luke tells us that as Jesus and His disciples were walking along, a man came up to them and said, "I will follow you wherever you go." -- and I think it's important to note that He came up to them as they were walking along the road
-- this seems to imply that he didn't really didn't think about what was he was doing -- he was just reacting in the heat of the moment -- here he is, minding his own business, when he sees this Jesus that everyone's been talking about -- he sees Jesus coming through, with His disciples and a crowd of people following Him, and he just gets excited and says, "I'm coming too" -- it's like someone jumping in and joining a parade without knowing why he's doing it
-- this first man was impulsive and idealistic -- he heard the message and jumped on the bandwagon without really considering the cost -- he was like the seed that falls on the shallow soil in Jesus' parable about the sower -- he sprang up quickly and promised to follow Jesus wherever He went, but it wasn't real -- and Jesus knew that when the sun came out and began to beat on him -- when the trials and troubles and persecutions that come with following Him began to fall on this young man -- he would quickly fade away and not last
-- there's many of us who get caught up in the emotions of the moment and pledge our undying loyalty to Jesus, but who fade away when times get tough
-- I once hired a student to work with me in the field -- he came to my office one day and pledged his undying loyalty to me -- no, actually, he came and told me how he wanted to be a wildlife biologist -- how he wanted to study animals and work in the field and how this job would help him in his future career -- so, I hired him
-- but, I knew I was in trouble when he showed up for work that first day in an Izod shirt, plaid shorts, and sandals -- I made him go and change and then we headed out into the field -- he was excited the whole time we were driving out there, but when we got out of the truck and stepped into that July heat and into the woods, his tone changed -- he did nothing but complain the whole time we were out there -- this was not what he thought it was going to be like -- he thought it was going to be Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom with Marlin Perkins -- he thought it was going to be the Discovery Channel -- and when it turned out to be harder than he thought, he just quit -- he just left one day, told me he'd see me on Monday, and I never saw him again
-- Jesus recognized that in this young man -- Jesus wanted to make sure this man understood what he was getting into -- Jesus pointed out that there would be no warm bed at night -- there would no comforts along the way -- to come and follow Jesus meant he was going to face hardships and trials -- Jesus might be a King, but the call was not to live in the King's court, at least, not right now
-- J.C. Ryle put it this way, "Jesus would have no man enlisted on false pretenses -- He would have it distinctly understood that there is a battle to be fought and a race to be run, a work to be done, and many hard things to be endured if we propose to follow Him -- Christ would not have us ignorant that we shall have deadly enemies -- the world, the flesh, and the devil -- and that many will hate us, slander us and persecute us if we become disciples -- He does not wish to discourage us, but He does wish us to know the truth (Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, 3:339)"
-- and the truth is, to follow Jesus doesn't mean a life of comfort and convenience -- it means a life of difficulty, because you are going opposite the way of the world -- that's why Jesus tells us to count the cost before we commit to following Him

-- verse 59

59. He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
60. Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

-- now, this second man had counted the cost -- he knew what it took to follow Jesus -- he just wasn't ready to give in to this call completely right now
-- this man put Jesus behind family obligations -- he put Jesus second -- and if you're going to follow Jesus, you have to put Him first
-- now, don't misunderstand what was going on in this interchange between Jesus and this man -- we read this and we think, "Wow! I can't believe that Jesus was so callous that He would tell the man to leave his father's side right after he has died and to come and follow Him" -- that's not what's goign on -- this phrase, "first let me go and bury my father" was a middle Eastern saying that meant, "I have to stay with my father until he passes away, and then, when he is gone and I have received my inheritance, I will follow you"
-- in other words, the man was putting his family and his familial obligations above Jesus -- he was putting his immediate needs in front of Jesus' call -- he recognized Jesus as Lord -- he recognized the cost of following Jesus -- but he was basically saying, "I can't pay that cost right now -- I'll follow you some day when my father is gone and I don't have as many obligations, but not right now"
-- we do the same, don't we? -- we tell Jesus, "I'll follow you when I retire and have more time" -- "I'll follow you when life gets less busy" -- "I'll follow you when the kids get grown and get out of school" -- "I'll follow you when I get that promotion or when my job is not so hectic" -- and so on and so on and so on
-- so, Jesus responded, "Let the dead bury their own dead" -- in other words, "make a choice -- either follow Me into the spiritual life that I offer and leave the old world behind -- let the spiritually dead people take care of themselves -- or don't"
-- when Jesus calls to us and says, "Come, follow Me," He means, "right now" -- He doesn't mean in the future -- He doesn't mean when we have less responsibilities -- He doesn't mean when our life is less hectic -- He means right now -- and that is something this man was unwilling to do

-- verse 61

61. Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."
62. Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

-- I read about this teenage girl who got lost in her car during a snow storm -- she remembered what her dad had once told her: "If you ever get stuck in a snow storm, wait for a snow plow and follow it."
-- Pretty soon a snow plow came by, and she started to follow it -- She followed the plow for about forty five minutes -- and, finally the driver of the truck got out and asked her what she was doing -- She explained that her dad had told her if she ever got stuck in the snow, to follow a plow.
-- The driver nodded and said, "Well, I'm done with the Wal-Mart parking lot, now you can follow me over to K-Mart."
-- we have to be careful of who we follow -- we can't go with Jesus if we're still trying to follow the ways of this world -- Jesus' call is exclusive -- Jesus' call is to follow Him and no one else, but the man in these verses had a divided heart -- he just couldn't let go of his old relationships and ways -- he wanted to follow both Jesus and the world
-- he reminds me of Lot's wife from the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah -- as you remember, as Lot and his family were fleeing the city, the angel told them to not look back -- to keep their eyes on their destination -- but Lot's wife couldn't stand -- she couldn't leave the past behind -- and when she looked back, she was turned to a pillar of salt
-- that seems to be what's going on with this man -- he just couldn't make a clean break -- he just couldn't leave the past behind -- and Jesus knew that he was going to be continually looking back and that that was going to doom him to failure as a disciple
-- we can't move forward with Jesus if we try to walk looking back -- a friend of mine was talking about the rear-view mirror syndrome just this weekend -- he said that most accidents occur because people get so focused on their rear-view mirror and what's behind them that they quit looking ahead -- and next thing you know, they've run into the back of another car
-- well, we do the same thing, too -- we tend to look back at where we've come from -- we tend to focus on what's in the past when what Jesus is doing is calling us to focus on Him and to give our whole attention to Him
-- that rear-view mirror analogy is a great one to picture this -- think about your car -- how big is your rear-view mirror? -- pretty small, right -- now how big is your windshield? -- yeah, it takes up the whole front of the car -- the message is that we should be paying attention to where we are headed rather than to where we have been
-- this man wanted to keep one foot in the past -- he wanted to try to walk forwards looking back -- but Jesus said, "You can't come with Me unless you give me all of yourself -- unless you give me all of your attention and focus and obedience -- you're not fit for service in the kingdom if you don't quit looking back and clinging to the world"

III. Closing
-- the only way to follow Jesus is completely -- when Jesus says, "Come, follow Me," He intends for us to give ourselves completely and totally to Him -- this means that we give our total being to Him -- our mind -- our heart -- our hands -- everything
-- the first man didn't want to give Jesus his mind -- he didn't think about what it meant to follow Jesus -- all he thought about was how great it would be to be counted in Jesus' number -- to be known as one of Jesus' followers -- he didn't consider the cost to following Jesus because he wouldn't give his mind to Jesus
-- the second man wouldn't give his heart to Jesus -- his loyalties were divided -- his heart was divided -- he wanted to follow Jesus, but that wasn't his first love -- his first love was his family -- and so he wouldn't give his whole heart to Jesus when He called
-- the third man was willing to give his mind and his heart to Jesus, but he wouldn't give his hands -- he still wanted to be in the world -- he still wanted to keep on doing what he had been doing -- to keep on going like he had been going while still following Jesus -- but Jesus said, "You can't stay where you are and go with me -- you can't follow if you're constantly looking back"

C.S. Lewis wrote in "Mere Christianity:"

"Christ says, "Give me all -- I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want you. -- I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. -- No half-measures are any good. -- I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there. -- I want to have the whole tree down.
-- I don't want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. -- Hand over the whole natural self -- all the desires which you think are innocent as well as the ones you think are wicked—the whole outfit. -- I will give you a new self instead. -- In fact, I will give you myself: my own will shall become yours."

-- the call to follow Jesus is life-changing -- it must be life-changing -- because anything else is not complete commitment to the call
-- if we are going to respond to Jesus' call to "Come, follow Me," then we've got to make a clean break from the world -- we've got to remember that this is not a one-time call but a continual call -- we've got to get up from the cross -- get up from our knees -- and put the world behind -- and not look back -- we've got to follow Jesus and keep following Jesus -- that's the call that Jesus has made

-- as I close this morning, I want you to consider where you are in your walk with Christ -- have you settled for less than what Christ is demanding? -- have you stopped at the cross? -- are you trying to straddle a fence, with one foot in the world and one foot in God's kingdom?
-- Jesus wants us to follow Him and no one else -- Jesus wants us to follow Him and leave all behind -- and until we do so, we will never truly experience His presence and His power in our lives
-- I want to invite you to respond to God's word this morning as you feel led -- and come to the altar if you need to physically move forward into His kingdom today as you hear His call, "Come, Follow Me"
-- let us pray