Real Life Selkirk
**FEB 22** Sacrificial Discipleship (Matthew 8:18-22)
  • Battle Belongs
  • Your Faithfulness To Me
  • This I Believe (The Creed)
  • Doxology

  • Sermon

    Key Passage

    Matthew 8:18–22 NIV
    When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 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.”

    Vision/Mission/Process

    Vision- We exist to reach the world for Jesus, one person at a time
    Mission- We do this by creating Biblical disciples in relational environments
    Core Value of the Month- Function as a Team

    Introduction

    Our series in Matthew has moved from The Arrival of the King to The Authority of the King
    Jesus has been introduced as the Messiah. His identity is clear to the reader.
    Last week we began into the journey of seeing who this Messiah is.
    Two weeks ago, at the end of the sermon on the mount, we saw that the crowds were amazed because Jesus taught with authority.
    Last week, we saw the authority of Jesus extends to cure diseases, like leprosy.
    We saw the authority of Jesus as he healed the servant of the centurion
    And He even healed Peter’s mother-in-law
    Jesus has shown that He is the King of the Kingdom of Heaven and that with His kingship comes tremendous power and authority.
    Today, we will take a short but powerful journey into the cost of discipleship.

    Preaching

    Matthew 8:18 NIV
    When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.
    Matthew sets our context for today.
    Jesus had been doing miracles, so a crowd started to follow Him.
    He then went up on the mountainside and preached a sermon about the Kingdom of Heaven and what it means to be His follower.
    The crowds loved it
    Then as Jesus came down from the mountain, even more crowds started following Him.
    He healed the man with leprosy, then healed the centurions son, then crashed at Peter’s mother in law’s house
    At this point, the crowds were starting to become something significant in Jesus ministry.
    We will begin to see Jesus begin to have to navigate through, around, or away from the crowds.
    This is our reminder of Jesus’ purpose here.
    Jesus wasn’t here to preach to bigger and bigger crowds. Jesus was here to make disciples and reveal the Father.
    However, because of the authority of God in Jesus, it attracted crowds.
    So here, we see Jesus begin to navigate around and away from the crowds by going across the lake
    Crowds can’t walk on water, nor can they swim. It’s likely only a small handful had boats, so this would in essence remove Jesus from the crowds.
    Jesus then interacts with two different people who want to become disciples.
    Matthew 8:19 NIV
    Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
    We normally see the teachers of the law as having a adversarial relationship to Jesus.
    Most of the religious leaders of that time were being challenged by Jesus. This included the teachers of the law and the rabbis of that day.
    However, this rabbi, this teacher of the law must have heard and seen what Jesus was saying and his heart must have been moved.
    I don’t know what caused this teacher to desire to be a student, but it had happened.
    He gives the words, “Teacher (or rabbi)” This is what other people called him.
    Now it appears that he has humbled himself and wanted to be a follower of Jesus.
    I imagine that Jesus could have probably used this guy.
    He’s a respected man. A teacher who likely had disciples and credibility.
    If Jesus wants to build this ministry, this could be good catch!
    He even appears to be sacrificial
    I’ll give up my authority and listen to your new angle of teaching.
    Now we don’t know the heart of this man, but we do know that Jesus knew his heart.
    Here is how Jesus responds:
    Matthew 8:20 NIV
    Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
    He points to the animals and the birds. They have homes. They have places to rest.
    But Jesus doesn’t.
    Matthew leaves us as readers to connect a few dots.
    Did this man respond? Did he follow? Did he walk away? It seems implied that Jesus said something that they didn’t want to hear.
    In fact, Jesus is telling this teacher the reality of His mission.
    If you are going to follow Jesus it means that our lives need to be in God’s hands, not our own.
    Think back to a couple of weeks ago about what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount.
    Matthew 6:25–26 NIV
    “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
    Matthew 6:31–33 NIV
    So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
    If you remember what we talked about when we went through this section of scripture: Jesus isn’t giving us a new law to follow.
    He is giving us a snapshot of Himself.
    Jesus did not worry about life, or what he would eat or drink or wear. Jesus didn’t worry about where he would lay his head.
    Jesus cared first and most about the kingdom and his righteousness and trusted that God would provide for Him.
    Jesus is calling the teacher of the law to a discipleship that wasn’t simply about a fun ministry of watching Jesus do miracles and travel around the country.
    Jesus called this teacher of the law to a discipleship of sacrifice and surrender.
    You must surrender your worries about this world if you are going to follow me.
    This man was much too quick in thinking that he could just sign up as a disciple.
    He didn’t consider the cost of following Jesus.
    This first man was too quick in his desire to follow Jesus, the next man was too slow.
    Matthew 8:21 NIV
    Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
    It says here that “another disciple” came to Jesus.
    Literally this can be translated “a disciple of another”. This is a disciple, but not likely one of Jesus’ disciples.
    We can see that there is already a teacher of the law (or rabbi) there. There are likely others that are gravitating to Jesus to see who this new teacher is.
    If rabbis are coming to check this Jesus character out, their disciples would be following closely behind.
    Again, we see a man who is likely familiar with the concept of being a disciple and who may already be committed to another rabbi approach Jesus.
    It isn’t stated here, but the implication is that he desires discipleship as well.
    We can see that Jesus also calls him in Jesus’ response.
    Matthew 8:22 NIV
    But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
    What does Jesus say?
    Follow me
    Very simple and profound. This is Jesus’ call to His disciples.
    This is a call for this man to leave his other rabbi behind.
    Likely this was something that he was already willing to do.
    He would have been another high quality candidate for Jesus to add as a disciple
    This guy already knew about discipleship and knew the law.
    He was stepping into the process while already enrolled at another school.
    He appears to understand that following Jesus would mean that he would leave his rabbi.
    But Jesus knows the heart of this man, like he knew the heart of the first man.
    They may be willing to sacrifice some, on their own terms, but would they be willing to sacrifice on Jesus’ terms?
    Jesus says, “Let the dead bury their own dead”
    The man wanted to go bury his father.
    Now, we look at this and think, “Wow, Jesus is being harsh! It looks like this guy’s dad had died and the funeral would be the next Friday. But Jesus is saying, ‘Skip your dad’s funeral’”
    I want to draw some cultural understanding to this text.
    This may seem subtle, but it is very important. The text never says that this man’s father had died.
    The way things worked back then was that the father would have the family land and family occupation. The son had an obligation to work with his dad until his dad died. Then after burying his dad, the family inheritance, land, and business would be passed on to him.
    What most scholars believe is that this guy was asking to be a disciple of Jesus, but also wanting to stay with the family business until his dad died. Then he would become a full-time disciple.
    He was asking for part-time work that might become full-time down the road.
    This is a similar situation to the first of Jesus few disciples.
    Matthew tells us in Matthew 4 that James and John were fishing with their father Zebedee (awesome name).
    But when Jesus called them to follow, they dropped their nets and left their father and followed Jesus.
    It appears that their father was ok with this, but we can see the sacrificial discipleship of these two men.
    They surrendered their careers, their stability, and the opportunity to work with their father to be a disciple of Jesus.
    Also, think of the sacrifice of Zebedee.
    Sure, James and John would be able to follow Jesus and be provided by the ministry.
    But think about what Zebedee sacrificed. He sacrificed his business, his children, and his stability all so James and John would have the opportunity to follow Jesus.
    We don’t know if these men followed or rejected.
    If you come to the conclusion of one or the other, you are adding your own facts into this story.
    The bottom line is this: there is a cost to following Jesus.
    There is sacrifice in discipleship.

    Teaching

    There is a line that I want to communicate to you today.
    We have taught very firmly that we are made right with God through Jesus Christ alone.
    There is nothing we can do to gain merit before the Father.
    No amount of church
    No amount of sacrifice
    No amount of good deeds will ever add to my salvation.
    Jesus is enough. His sacrifice on the cross is perfect merit for God on our behalf.
    If this is the case, then where does this sacrificial discipleship come in?
    I thought I didn’t have to do anything. Salvation is free. Grace is free. All of this stuff is done by Jesus and I don’t have to do anything.
    I believe that salvation and grace are free, but they cannot be cheap.
    I want to paint a few pictures before you that I hope can articulate what sacrificial discipleship looks like.

    Marriage

    Way back in the 1900’s I met a beautiful blonde named Lisa.
    Before I met Lisa:
    Time: I spent all of my time at work, hanging out with friends or doing things I wanted to do.
    I had 24 hours a day and I spent those things how I wanted to spend them
    Eyes: I wanted to be in a relationship with a girl. I wanted to get married. I just didn’t have very many candidates at the time.
    So my eyes became a radar for prospects! Always looking.
    Money: I made a good amount of money working and I was able to save it and spend it on the things that I wanted.
    Life was pretty simple and good.
    Then I met Lisa:
    Lisa didn’t lay down the 10 Commandments of having a relationship with her.
    I met her, I liked her. Shockingly, she liked me.
    We relationally began a journey together where she became the person that I wanted to spend my life with.
    As a result of finding the value of that relationship, what changed in my life?
    Time: Did I spend my time differently? Yes. Was it because she laid down the law? No. I willingly gave up my time because spending my time to know her and be with her was the very best use of the same 24 hours a day I had before.
    Eyes: Did I keep looking for future prospects of girls? No! I surrendered the search because of who I had found
    Money: Do you think I changed how I spent my money? Absolutely. You obviously weren’t there at that point of our relationship, but I will say that Lisa never said, “You need to spend money on me.” She also never stopped me from spending money on her. So why did I spend money on her? Because I had found something in my life other than myself that I wanted to express my love to and that involved money for me.
    Eventually we got married and I gave up the bedroom in my parents house to live with her.
    I surrendered my time, my attention, my resources, and my housing situation.
    Why?
    To prove that I was married? No.
    To earn Lisa’s love? No.
    It was because of the relationship that we had built. It was worth sacrificing very important parts of my life just to know her more, to be with her more and to grow closer to her.
    Were these things necessary for me to grow closer to her?
    Time- When we were dating, if I had continued working, hanging out with friends and doing my hobbies and she got the crumbs at the end of the day, how would you describe our relationship? It wouldn’t have grown. It would be valueless.
    Eyes- When we were dating, if I had kept looking for other girls, and looking for something better, would that have impacted my relationship? Of course.
    Money- When we were dating, if I had said, “I’m working all these hours, but I’m going to spend my money on myself. Every date, you are going to have to pay for yourself. What would that have communicated to her? She has very little value to me.
    What if we got married and I decided just to continue living in my parents house and never moved in with my wife? Problems.
    True relationship requires surrender to grow.

    Paul

    Paul was a guy who didn’t love Jesus. In fact he killed people because they followed Jesus.
    But then Jesus showed up and revealed who He truly is. Then Paul saw the value of knowing Jesus.
    When we look at discipleship, it is not a system, it is not a theology. It is the description of a relationship.
    When we see who Jesus is, it is worth giving up our lives to know Him more.
    Surrender cannot be required, but it is necessary. It is what we must to do follow Him.
    I want to walk this out with you through a relational lens:
    Philippians 3:4–6 NIV
    though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
    This is who Paul was before he met Jesus.
    His life was solid. He had everything he would need. He had built a pretty good setup.
    But true relationship requires sacrifice to grow.
    When he met Jesus, the things in his life only served to get in the way of knowing Jesus.
    Literally everything was on the chopping block.
    Did Jesus demand, “Paul, I demand you give up your career as a Pharisee.” No.
    But Paul saw that these things meant nothing compared to knowing Jesus.
    If giving up being a Pharisee meant knowing Jesus more, then it was gone.
    In Paul’s eyes, only one thing mattered. Jesus.
    Philippians 3:7–8 NIV
    But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ
    This is what sacrificial discipleship looks like.
    These things are all considered a loss to Paul. They aren’t worth holding onto because he had Jesus.
    All of his status, all of his authority, even all of his righteousness.
    Philippians 3:9 NIV
    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 on the basis of faith.
    Do you see how Paul says that this is a righteousness that doesn’t come by the law?
    This isn’t being declared right because he has given these things up.
    His righteousness comes from faith in Jesus.
    He is righteous before God because of the work that Jesus did on his behalf at the cross.
    But Paul didn’t look at this as a religious transaction.
    His desire was to relationally know Jesus.
    This is the very nature of a disciple
    Following Jesus doesn’t simply mean that we follow rules
    We follow Jesus. We seek to know Him
    Paul even continues in this passage:
    Philippians 3:10–11 NIV
    I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
    Paul says, “I want to know Christ, but I also want to know Christ” This means that every part of Paul’s life is connected to Jesus.
    Jesus resurrected, I want to resurrect
    Jesus suffered, I want to suffer
    Jesus gave up his life in death, I want to become like him in death.
    Every aspect of life for Paul, whether life, death, suffering or resurrection was consumed with Jesus.
    It is no wonder that he was used by God in such a mighty way.
    Now this might sound very good theoretically. But some of you are sitting here today saying, “I’m a little nervous for when Jared begins to talk about the application of this sermon to my life.”
    Philippians 3:12–14 NIV
    Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
    I want you to know that as I was preparing this sermon, I just kept wanting to read the next set of verses and the next set of verses in Philippians.
    If you have time this week, sit down and read this book. Think of the sacrifice of relationship as you do. Allow God’s Holy Spirit to work in your heart.
    But this passage says that Paul hasn’t achieved this high calling of perfection.
    Rather, he relates the journey to a race.
    There is only one thing that matters. Jesus is the finish line.
    We must sacrifice what is behind and press on to what is ahead. Strain, fight, claw and scrap until you reach the finish line.
    There is nothing that is greater than knowing Jesus.
    What does this mean for us?

    Jesus

    Paul gives us a good picture of how Jesus sacrificed for relationship.
    Do you remember our premise today that sacrifice is necessary for relationship?
    Philippians 2:3–5 NIV
    Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
    Think of these verses in terms of sacrifice.
    I have to sacrifice my own selfish ambition
    Before I met Lisa, I had some selfish ambition. It wasn’t necessarily wrong, but I did.
    I had to sacrifice that to know Lisa
    Paul had selfish ambition before knowing Jesus
    He had to sacrifice that.
    I have to sacrifice my vain conceit— my own greatness
    I have to sacrifice my priority of self above others
    I must sacrifice my own interests
    Is this not what Jesus did?
    In writing this, Paul was very tricky. He gave this list of instructions and sacrifice for living with each other, then said, “Oh yeah, this is how Jesus sacrificed for you. Because He loves you. Because He desires relationship with you to the point of ultimate sacrifice.”
    He said, “When you pursue relationship with others, remember the model of Jesus in relationship to us:
    Philippians 2:6–8 NIV
    Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
    In every way we are instructed to sacrifice for relationship with one another, we look at Jesus as the model because He did it for us.
    Do you now see why Paul would say, “I want to be like him in suffering and death?”
    Because that is literally the sacrifice Jesus made to have relationship with Paul.
    The depths of Jesus sacrifice to know us, love us and for us to experience the love of the Father through Him were literally everything.
    How do we not see this? See this love? See this sacrifice?
    Then respond with the same heart.
    When we see the depths of God’s love for us and the sacrifice of Himself to be in relationship with us.
    Then we see Jesus as God in the flesh, inviting us to follow Him. We cannot let the temporary things of this world get in the way.
    Our time, our resources, our attention.
    Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also
    He desires our heart, because we have his heart. God loves us.
    In Matthew 13, we will come across this passage about relational sacrifice:
    Matthew 13:44–46 NIV
    “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
    When we see the love of God and His extraordinary sacrifice through Jesus, we have found the treasure of the highest value.
    It is worth everything as we strain on in this race of life to seek after and know God more.
    If discipleship is a philosophy, principle, or system, then nothing is required
    If discipleship is a transforming relationship with a loving God, then everything is required.
    We want grace. We want mercy. But Jesus is grace and mercy. We need to reorient our hearts to the reality that we need Jesus. And there is sacrifice in that journey to know Him.
    May we not be the prospective disciples that balk when Jesus identifies parts of our lives that are holding us back from knowing Him.
    Sacrifice may not make sense.
    Sacrifice may mean that parts of our time are given up
    Given up pursuing Him
    Given up serving Him
    Given up shining His love into our world
    Sacrifice may mean that we begin to sacrifice our money to give and spend in ways that bring glory to Him
    Sacrifice may mean step by step eliminating things from our lives that we see getting in the way of the race we are running.
    These things may not make total sense. They may hurt. They may bring tears to our eyes.
    But on the other side of them is Jesus. A Jesus we will never know unless we sacrifice.
    The plea of our heart is, “I want to know Christ. Nothing holds value in my life except knowing Him”
    Gospel
    Communion
    Happy Feet Announcement Week 1
    Direction Team Meeting March 1

      • Matthew 8:18–22NIV2011

      • Matthew 8:18NIV2011

      • Matthew 8:19NIV2011

      • Matthew 8:20NIV2011

      • Matthew 6:25–26NIV2011

      • Matthew 6:31–33NIV2011

      • Matthew 8:21NIV2011

      • Matthew 8:22NIV2011

      • Philippians 3:4–6NIV2011

      • Philippians 3:7–8NIV2011

      • Philippians 3:9NIV2011

      • Philippians 3:10–11NIV2011

      • Philippians 3:12–14NIV2011

      • Philippians 2:3–5NIV2011

      • Philippians 2:6–8NIV2011

      • Matthew 13:44–46ESV

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