What Will Following Jesus Cost You?

If you have your Bibles, please take them and find Luke 9:56.  I want to share a message with you entitled, “What Will Following Jesus Cost You?” 

 

I also could have just as easily entitled this message, “The Road to Hell is Paved with What?”  I’m sure you know the answer to that question.

 

Today’s text is about following Jesus as Lord and Savior. Notice that word, follow, in verses 57, 59, and 61.

 

57 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” 

 

59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”  But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 

 

61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”

 

We are going to see three different individuals as they are considering the invitation to follow Jesus.  That same invitation will be extended to you this morning, but please understand that following Jesus will mean a radical commitment and may cost you significantly. 

 

1. Following Jesus may cost you financially, Luke 9:56b-58.

56 And they went to another village.  57 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”  58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

 

The end of verse 56 says that Jesus and His disciples went on to another village.  If you remember from last Sunday, they went to a Samaritan village, but were not welcomed. 

 

On their journey, a man came up to Jesus and said he was willing to follow Him wherever.  In other words, this man pledged his complete commitment to Christ.

 

However, in one sense, Jesus said, “Are you sure?”  In reality, Jesus said He didn’t have a home.  Animals had homes like foxes and birds, but Jesus did not.

 

What did He mean?  He meant that following Jesus may cost you comforts and specifically financially. 

 

What might that look like?  I am going to share with you some facts.  I am not soliciting pity or trying to make you feel sorry for me and my family.  Again, I’m just sharing some facts.

 

My family and I have been members of EBC since January 2015.  In 10 years, we have given over $165,000 to EBC in tithes and offerings.  That is an average of $16,500 per year.

 

Also, please understand that we have not given this much because I am the pastor.  We have given this much because we are followers of Jesus that believe that the Bible says we are to give 10% of our gross income to the Lord through our local church. 

 

Furthermore, most of you know, I have two daughters in college…at the same time.  They have an apartment.  They share a car.  My wife and I share a car.

 

Do you think we could have used that money elsewhere?  You better believe it. Do we regret giving it?  Absolutely not!

 

Following Jesus may cost you financially!

 

2. Following Jesus may cost you your family, Luke 9:59-60.

59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”  But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”  60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”

 

With our second individual, Jesus initiated the conversation with invitation to follow Him.  However, it was met with another priority. 

 

What was the priority?  It was family, and possibly even money. 

 

This man wanted to wait until he had buried his father.  However, keep in mind that his father hadn’t died yet. 

 

His father was elderly and dying, but still alive.  This man wanted to bury his dad FIRST and then follow Jesus.  He may have also been wanting to wait on his inheritance.

 

Jesus told him to let the dead bury the dead.  In other words, let the spiritually dead take care of the physically dead. 

 

Said another way, “You don’t give your attention to death.”  Instead, you have the gift of life.  Preach it to the world.

 

Jesus wasn’t saying don’t go to funerals or don’t take care of dying parents.  He was saying make sure sharing the gospel is your number one priority. 

 

In my own personal experience, there have been times when I had to choose Jesus and His bride over my extended family, and there are occasions when that is necessary. See Luke 14:26.

 

26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.

 

Following Jesus may cost you your family!

 

 

3. Following Jesus may cost you your friends, Luke 9:61-62.

61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

 

In verse 61, we find our last of three individuals.  Like the first and different from the second, this man initiated his own conversation with Jesus.

 

He said he would follow Jesus, but he had some other things to do before.  Certainly, he wanted to say good bye to his family and possibly to his friends as well.  Verse 61 just says those at his house.

 

Jesus said you need to quit thinking about the past and give your attention to the future.  Otherwise, you’re going to plow crookedly. 

 

In Matthew 12:46-50, Jesus even redefined relationships.  That includes family and friends.

 

46 While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. 47 Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.”  48 But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” 49 And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

 

Paul understand what Jesus was saying.  See Philippians 3:13-14.

 

13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

 

Following Jesus my cost you your friends!

 

 

Conclusion

If you here this morning, and you aren’t a follower to Jesus, I invite you to say yes.  If you wondering whether it is worthy in light of what it might cost you, remember Mark 10:29-30.

 

29 So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, 30 who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.

 

On the authority of God’s word, and affirmed by my own personal experience, HE IS WORTH IT!