Christian Life Church
July 10, 2024 at 7:00 pm
Luke 9:57-62 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he 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 goodbye to my family.” 62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Locations & Times
Christian Life Church Columbia
2700 Bush River Rd, Columbia, SC 29210, USA
Wednesday 6:30 PM
The Cost of Following Jesus July 10, 2024
Luke 9:57-62
As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 59He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” 62Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
● Every great story is about the same thing.
○ The hero/heroine leaves home and they face many dangers, toils, and snares. They face some sort of wall or crisis. They either die literally or symbolically and are reborn, or there is a descendant and an ascent and they experience a miraculous salvation from outside of themselves. Then they pass that salvation on and return home. It's the same story in 1,000 iterations. From Ancient Greek mythology to George Lucas, it’s all based on this.
○ Then in the New Testament, Jesus and the writers of the New Testament lean on this idea heavily. Jesus’ invitation is “Come and follow me.” That implies that there is a journey to go on.
■ The Greek word “hodos” is used all over the New Testament. Here we see it in verse 57. It’s translated “the road.” Other versions will say “the way.”
■ And it means road or path but it can also be translated way as in way of life or just as valid of a translation could be journey.
■ To follow Jesus on the “hodos” is to go on a journey with Him.
■ Ultimately, it’s our soul’s journey to God and to God-likeness.
○ This is a journey from slavery to freedom. From wounding to wholeness. From a life based on the pleasure principle to one that is rooted in love. From false self to true. From immaturity to maturity.
○ The writers of the New Testament have a lot to say about maturity. Here is a small sampling.
■ 1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
· Paul is comparing our neurological development to our spiritual and saying there is a parallel there.
· The end goal is to grow and mature into a person of love.
■ Hebrews 5:12-14 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
· This is a rebuke.
■ 1 Peter 2:2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.
· Theres a problem with the evangelical idea of salvation where there is a moment and then you just wait to die. That is not the biblical understanding of salvation. It is something you grow up into.
■ 1 John 2:12-13 I am writing to you, dear children,because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. 13I am writing to you, fathers,because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men,because you have overcome the evil one.
· The three groups here represent three different stages of our spiritual pilgrimage.
○ Children - newborn in Christ
○ Young men - more developed Chrisitians; strong and victorious in spiritual warfare
○ The fathers - possess the depth and stability of ripe Christian experience.
· Notice the language here “stages.” What we talk about when we try and make a map of the spiritual journey is known as stage theory.
· Stage Theory
Stage Theory is similar to Personality Theory. (Meyers Brigg or Enneagram)
It’s not nearly as linear as it sounds.
You can apply Stage Theory to your life as a whole or to parts of your life.
At any point you can stop your progress, plateau, and even regress.
The Journey is not quick.
· The Three Stages
The three stages are Awakening, Purgation, Illumination, and Union.
Awakening
a. In awakening we come awake to the reality of God in a culture that is asleep. We become aware that there is more than the material, there is the spiritual.
b. We simultaneously become aware of two realities.
c. Until this happens, we are spiritually sleepwalking, or in Jesus’ language, we are spiritually dead.
d. Jesus calls this experience rebirth. When we come alive to the reality of God. It’s like our eyes are opened for the first time. The center of our being no longer is ourselves but Him.
Purgation
a. We become a beginner.
b. Immediately we come up against what we call sin.
c. 4 substages
Illumination
a. We become proficient.
b. We begin to experience transformation.
c. We don’t operate out of self but out of love.
d. When we pray, we experience God’s withness in prayer. It’s not just “oh there’s a God out there that hears me, but a God who is with me right here.”
e. Not just our behavior but the core of our being becomes integrated into God’s will.
f. Obedience becomes our standard not out of duty but out of delight.
Union
a. The highest level we can reach this side of eternity.
b. The early church fathers called these people the perfect from Jesus’ line. “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
c. This level is based on Jesus’ teaching from John 15 – 17.
d. We don't just experience God’s out there in prayer, God’s withness in prayer, but God’s in ness in prayer.
e. This is intimacy.
f. This is the end goal. Everyone almost unanimously agrees that the end goal of following Jesus, of discipleship is to abide in Jesus and His love.
Christian Life Lessons
1. What is your Stage? Where do I most feel fits me right now?
2. What do you find helpful, intimidating, and exciting about your stage?
3. What do you sense or think Jesus’ invitation to you in this stage of your discipleship journey are? What does it look like to say yes?
4) What is stopping or hindering me in this? What sins are present for you in this stage?
The goal is not to get to the next stage. The goal is to take the next step. Every stage is good. Every season of life holds out pain and possibility.
Luke 9:57-62
As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 59He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” 62Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
● Every great story is about the same thing.
○ The hero/heroine leaves home and they face many dangers, toils, and snares. They face some sort of wall or crisis. They either die literally or symbolically and are reborn, or there is a descendant and an ascent and they experience a miraculous salvation from outside of themselves. Then they pass that salvation on and return home. It's the same story in 1,000 iterations. From Ancient Greek mythology to George Lucas, it’s all based on this.
○ Then in the New Testament, Jesus and the writers of the New Testament lean on this idea heavily. Jesus’ invitation is “Come and follow me.” That implies that there is a journey to go on.
■ The Greek word “hodos” is used all over the New Testament. Here we see it in verse 57. It’s translated “the road.” Other versions will say “the way.”
■ And it means road or path but it can also be translated way as in way of life or just as valid of a translation could be journey.
■ To follow Jesus on the “hodos” is to go on a journey with Him.
■ Ultimately, it’s our soul’s journey to God and to God-likeness.
○ This is a journey from slavery to freedom. From wounding to wholeness. From a life based on the pleasure principle to one that is rooted in love. From false self to true. From immaturity to maturity.
○ The writers of the New Testament have a lot to say about maturity. Here is a small sampling.
■ 1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
· Paul is comparing our neurological development to our spiritual and saying there is a parallel there.
· The end goal is to grow and mature into a person of love.
■ Hebrews 5:12-14 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
· This is a rebuke.
■ 1 Peter 2:2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.
· Theres a problem with the evangelical idea of salvation where there is a moment and then you just wait to die. That is not the biblical understanding of salvation. It is something you grow up into.
■ 1 John 2:12-13 I am writing to you, dear children,because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. 13I am writing to you, fathers,because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men,because you have overcome the evil one.
· The three groups here represent three different stages of our spiritual pilgrimage.
○ Children - newborn in Christ
○ Young men - more developed Chrisitians; strong and victorious in spiritual warfare
○ The fathers - possess the depth and stability of ripe Christian experience.
· Notice the language here “stages.” What we talk about when we try and make a map of the spiritual journey is known as stage theory.
· Stage Theory
Stage Theory is similar to Personality Theory. (Meyers Brigg or Enneagram)
It’s not nearly as linear as it sounds.
You can apply Stage Theory to your life as a whole or to parts of your life.
At any point you can stop your progress, plateau, and even regress.
The Journey is not quick.
· The Three Stages
The three stages are Awakening, Purgation, Illumination, and Union.
Awakening
a. In awakening we come awake to the reality of God in a culture that is asleep. We become aware that there is more than the material, there is the spiritual.
b. We simultaneously become aware of two realities.
c. Until this happens, we are spiritually sleepwalking, or in Jesus’ language, we are spiritually dead.
d. Jesus calls this experience rebirth. When we come alive to the reality of God. It’s like our eyes are opened for the first time. The center of our being no longer is ourselves but Him.
Purgation
a. We become a beginner.
b. Immediately we come up against what we call sin.
c. 4 substages
Illumination
a. We become proficient.
b. We begin to experience transformation.
c. We don’t operate out of self but out of love.
d. When we pray, we experience God’s withness in prayer. It’s not just “oh there’s a God out there that hears me, but a God who is with me right here.”
e. Not just our behavior but the core of our being becomes integrated into God’s will.
f. Obedience becomes our standard not out of duty but out of delight.
Union
a. The highest level we can reach this side of eternity.
b. The early church fathers called these people the perfect from Jesus’ line. “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
c. This level is based on Jesus’ teaching from John 15 – 17.
d. We don't just experience God’s out there in prayer, God’s withness in prayer, but God’s in ness in prayer.
e. This is intimacy.
f. This is the end goal. Everyone almost unanimously agrees that the end goal of following Jesus, of discipleship is to abide in Jesus and His love.
Christian Life Lessons
1. What is your Stage? Where do I most feel fits me right now?
2. What do you find helpful, intimidating, and exciting about your stage?
3. What do you sense or think Jesus’ invitation to you in this stage of your discipleship journey are? What does it look like to say yes?
4) What is stopping or hindering me in this? What sins are present for you in this stage?
The goal is not to get to the next stage. The goal is to take the next step. Every stage is good. Every season of life holds out pain and possibility.