sermons-call

A call to discipleship

Dr. Moheb Ghali

July 2008

(Matthew 10: 37-39)

If Jesus walked here this morning, looked you in the eyes and said: “Follow me,” Would you? Would you want to follow Jesus as one of His disciples? Many of us would say “Of course, I do.” In three verses in today’s gospel Jesus tells us what it takes to be a disciple:

"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;

And anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Before we look at these three verses, let us put them in context. Chapter 10 begins as follows: “And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity.” He told them:^“And preach as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” Their assignments, as disciples, were to proclaim the kingdom of God and to exercise the authority He gave them over unclean spirits, disease and infirmities. It is in this context of being empowered by His authority that later in the chapter we come to the three verses (37, 38 and 39) which describe what it takes to be a disciple of Jesus. As a Christian I have a choice: I can live a powerless life, or I can choose to be His disciple: be sent to proclaim the Kingdom and be empowered by His authority.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE HIS DISCIPLE?

I. Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

When Jesus called them, the disciples left everything to follow Him: Earlier in Matthew we read: “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” [Matthew 4:18-22]

Not everyone Jesus called to follow Him was willing to pay this price. One man was reluctant as he wanted to bury his dead father first:

We read in an earlier chapter: “Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead." Matthew 8:21-22]. This man was not ready to follow Jesus, he had a higher priority.

Is Jesus telling us that to be His disciples we must break the commandment to "Honor your father and your mother”? [EX 20:12] Is Jesus telling us not to love each other? No, He commands us to love one another: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." [John 13: 34- 35]

What Jesus is telling us is that we cannot possibly love others, and thus cannot possibly be His disciples, unless we love Him first, and above all else.

In the book The Four Loves C. S. Lewis describes the four basic kinds of human love – affection, friendship, eros and charity. He explores the promise and the perils of each type –when carried to their extreme the first three are selfish and destructive. Only the fourth love, charity, is not selfish or destructive, for it is “the love of and for God that deepens all love”.

The love that only He can give is far superior to what we can have on our own: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”[1 Corinthians 13: 4-7]. How does your ability to love measure by this standard?

When Jesus says: to become my disciple you have to love me more than you love anyone, He is not making a demand; he is making a statement of fact: It is not possible for you to follow Him unless you are willing to leave everyone else. Nor is it possible for you to love anyone else unless you love Jesus first. It is only by loving Him that we are able to love others, and thus be His disciples.

Loving Him first also extends to putting Him ahead of “THINGS”, whether they are wealth, power, position, pride, or security. A potential disciple asked Jesus what he must do in addition to following the Ten Commandments. Jesus told him, “go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.” [Matthew 19:21-22]. Our attachment to “THINGS” can keep us from following Jesus.

This requirement for discipleship is not as hard as it sounds: If you love Jesus more than anyone and anything, He will take your relationships with people dearest to you, and the things you gave up for Him and bless them and return them to you much richer and deeper relationships than you could ever had. Jesus says: “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.”[Matthew 19:30]

Considered what Abraham did: Abraham did not hesitate to offer his son, he loved God more than he loved his son or his wife Sarah. And God took his offering, blessed it and returned it to Abraham many times over: “because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.” [Genesis 22:16-17]

(A personal example.)

If Jesus walked IN here this morning, looked me in the eyeS and said: “Follow me,” KNOWING THAT I MUST LOVE HIM BEFORE ANYONE OR ANYTHING, WOULD I FOLLOW HIM?

LET US PRAY: Lord Jesus, I want to follow you. Please give me the desire and the will to put you ahead of (name people dearest to you). Please accept me as a disciple and use me for your glory.

II. And anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

This, too, is not a demand but a statement of fact: If you are not willing to face extreme hardships you will not be able to follow Jesus, no matter how much you want to. If, deep in your heart, you have determined that no hardship or suffering can stop you from following Jesus, then no power or principality can intimidate you or talk you out of following Jesus. And pressures and intimidations will certainly come to test your resolve. Jesus warned His disciples: "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. … In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” [John 15: 18 -19, 16:33]

Do you at times feel weary, dispirited and sorry for yourself? Do you have more than your share of troubles and pain? Do you deserve better? Just as Jesus can take your love and transform it into a deeper and richer love, once you have decided to follow Him your cross will be light, for He will give you the power to carry it. St. Paul writes: “And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”[2 Corinthians 12:7-10].

In the epistle to the Hebrews we read: “Consider (Jesus) who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews [12:3]

Your cross appears impossibly heavy only before you pick it up but do not let that discourage you. Jesus tells us: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-29]. Once you make the decision to take the cross and follow Jesus you will find that His burden is light.

(A personal example: Egypt)

If Jesus walked here this morning, looked me in the eyeS and said: “Follow me,” KNOWING THAT i HAVE TO TAKE THE CROSS, Would I FOLLOW HIM?

LET US PRAY: Lord Jesus, I want to follow you. Please give me the unshakable resolve that no suffering or hardship can keep me from following you. Please accept me as a disciple and send me with the authority of your Name.

III. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

The other night Billy Graham, in a re-broadcast of his classic crusades, was telling of a missionary who was martyred in South America. Before he was killed he wrote: “He is wise who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Do we cherish life so much that we can be coerced not to follow Jesus? To guard against this possibility, in just a few verses before today’s reading, Jesus tells His disciples: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. [Matthew 10:28]. Again, Jesus is making a statement of fact: as long as you cling to this life, you will not be able to follow Him, no matter how much you want to – for the enemy knows quite well that if it comes to saving your life or denying Jesus, you will deny Jesus. To live free from the fear of death one must be willing to die. Then no enemy can intimidate you.

St. Paul, who made the decision to follow Jesus no matter what the cost, writes: “For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain… I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you.” [Philippians 1:21-24]

If Jesus walked IN here this morning, looked me in the eyeS and said: “Follow me,” KNOWING THAT i MAY HAVE TO LOSE MY LIFE, Would I FOLLOW HIM?

LET US PRAY: Lord Jesus, I want to follow you. Please imprint on my heart the certainty that the only life that matters is the life in You. Please accept me as a disciple and train me not to lose heart until the battle is won.

IV. IF THIS IS WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A DISCIPLE, IS IT WORTH IT?

St. Paul gave up everything and endured more hardships than any of us can imagine and he thought it was worth it. He writes: “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. [Philippians 3:7-11]

In the Revelation of Jesus to John, Jesus promises: “He who overcomes … I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.” And “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.” [Revelation 3:5, 21]

HOW ABOUT YOU? IS IT WORTH IT? If He tells you this morning “Follow me.” Are you willing to be His disciple? Are you willing to pay the price to be close to Him? To be empowered by Him? To be sent by Him? Or, would you turn Him down saying: “Thanks, but I am comfortable where I am!”

If you accept the call, as a disciple you will be expected to:

Follow the Master at all times;
Listen carefully to the Master’s words, and take them to heart;
Watch carefully and learn what the Master does and how He does it;
When He judges you ready, He will send you to proclaim the kingdom of God and to exercise His authority over unclean spirits, disease and infirmities.
When you do the work He has prepared for you, Jesus will say to you: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.”

Actually the choice is rather clear: You cannot really love those dear to you unless you love Him first. Troubles are bound to come, and when they do, it is better to have Him beside you. And it is certainly wise “to give up this life that you cannot keep to gain the eternal life that you cannot lose.” To follow Him is the only smart choice!