It was 52 years ago today that our family arrived in Papatoetoe after the long flight from England. I still remember sitting in our home in London and Dad pointing to the other side of the World and to Papatoetoe and saying that’s where we are going. It was a big decision and there was no going back. But God looked after us and we got established fast. Within a month we joined Papatoetoe Baptist Church, started school at Central next door, and rather miraculously bought a house in Glen Avenue which was the family home until 20 years later, Dad got the call to go pastor at Paihia Baptist. By then, I was married and living in Manukau. My wife Mhairi has a very similar story, her family having moved from England to Papatoetoe the same year ours came. Looking back, it was the Lord who established us here 52 years ago to the day.
In the last few chapters of Luke, we have heard some of the hardest things that Jesus said, about hypocrisy, about the narrow gate, the unpardonable sin and even the critical importance of bearing fruit. His words were not directed just to people out there but equally to us sitting in this building today. That’s why his words hit hard especially to those who have ears to hear, the true believers.
Today is no different, it's about forsaking all to follow Jesus, it will cost you so you'd better know how much it's worth.
Luke 14:25-27
Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, “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. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
1. Jesus must be more important than anyone else
Great multitudes were following him and he spoke to them to make it clear what they were letting themselves in for. Of course what Jesus was doing was attracting the crowds. Only the toxic ones were critical of his healings and miracles. Plenty of people are attracted to Jesus, and to his words because they satisfy our deepest needs for meaning and hope in this world.
But here’s the thing - following Jesus comes with a price. Not salvation, that is the free gift of God. But the difficulties of living a godly life in this wicked world. And Jesus warned the crowds, you can’t even count on your closest relations.
Leonard Ravenhill said;
“If you want to be like Jesus, remember, He had a wilderness, a Gethsemane, and a Judas.”
You’ll be called to do things that your closest family won’t understand. To them it will feel like you have turned against them. They’ll feel it on a personal level, as a personal attack, as if you hate them. You will be misunderstood.Sometimes if you’re going to go through with what God’s asking you to do, you’ll have to put those closest to you second. It won’t be Family First.
Now let’s be very clear or otherwise you could be deceived. That does not negate your responsibility towards your family. Following the Lord will never involve you sinning. Pray that the Lord does not lead you into temptation.
But that can be really hard, it costs and you will suffer. That is a cross to bear. Following Jesus will involve suffering when our closest relations betray and cut us off because they don’t understand.
God requires us to put him first above family. He has to have the ultimate place in your heart.
Luke 14:28-30
For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it — lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’?
2. See it through to completion
While it looks like a ruined, ancient Greek temple or an incomplete castle fortress, it is actually a replica of the Parthenon in Athens built on Calton Hill to honour the Scottish soldiers who died in the Napoleonic Wars.
• The Folly: Construction began in 1826, but the project completely ran out of money and was abandoned in 1829 with only 12 columns built.
• The Nicknames: Because it was left half-finished, the locals mockingly dubbed it "Edinburgh's Folly", "Scotland's Disgrace", and the "Pride and Poverty of Scotland".
We all have the potential for our work to be remembered as folly if we don’t see it through to completion. I often reflect on that for what we’re doing in France. There comes a moment where you reach the critical point of no return. They call it Crossing the Rubicon.
• The Rubicon River was a small stream in northern Italy that marked the legal boundary of Julius Caesar’s assigned province in the Northern Alps (Cisalpine Gaul).
• The Law: Under Roman law, generals were strictly forbidden from crossing the river that flowed from the alps or bringing troops into Italy proper. Doing so was considered an act of treason, insurrection, and a capital offense punishable by death.
• The Act: On January 10 or 11, 49 BC, Caesar brought the 13th Legion across the river, famously uttering the phrase "Alea iacta est" (The die is cast).
• The Outcome: The move triggered the Great Roman Civil War against Pompey and the Senate, leading to Caesar's victory, his rise as dictator, and the collapse of the Roman Republic.
In many ways, this is the moment we are in here at PCC. The foundations for PCC were laid long ago but the building is not finished. We’ve made the critical decision to grow which is going to cost time, effort and money. There is no turning back. PCC will be at its financial limit and we will have to work hard. We throw everything we’ve got at this project and see it through to completion.
Or else it’s just like Solomon said, folly, chasing the wind.
But God has made us a promise.
Philippians 1:6
being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
It is the Lord who will see the work to completion, working in each one of us through the gifts he has given each one of us. Where would we each be and this Church be if God gave up on us?
Luke 15:31-33
Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.
3. Forsake all earthly possessions for Jesus
It is interesting that Jesus used the illustration of a war. You are entering a war and there are casualties in a war.
When someone goes off to war, they forsake all. They leave their family behind, their jobs, their comfort.
We have been blessed to have peace in New Zealand for 154 years since the Māori Wars ended and it’s been 81 years since World War II finished. God has indeed defended New Zealand. As Christians we have enjoyed that peace but now is a time of great spiritual conflict and Jesus’s words of forsaking all mean more today than ever in this country.
A soldier has to forsake all, you have to be 100% committed to win the war and you have to trust the Lord you will make it through. The Good News is that the battle belongs to the Lord. We just have to stay in the fight.
Luke 14:34-35
“Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
When you follow Jesus it’s a lifetime commitment and it’s going to cost you right until the end.
Stay in the race. We all know people who have quit the Church and where are they today? Nowhere; they have become ineffective for God’s Kingdom.
If you pull out, if you quit, you become ineffective in the World. If you have the ambition to make a difference, don’t quit. Quitters become useless to both God and Man.
In summarising this passage, following Jesus will cost you;
- Jesus must be more important than anyone else
- Forsake all earthly possessions for Jesus
- The Lord will see it though to completion, don't quit
(Addresses 3)
It’s an awesome responsibility, maybe your question is, how do I do it. By the Grace of God certainly. Because God is faithful and he will be faithful to complete it.
Remember Philippians 1:6. The Lord will see to it to complete his good work in you.
(Addresses 2)
Look forward not back. The devil loves to remind you of your past. Close that door. Once you start looking in the rear vision mirror it is easy to have second thoughts. That’s what happened to Lot’s wife.
Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Keep your eyes forward on the prize. If you do that, you can endure the pain now.
(Addresses 1)
Then one final final word! I don’t know about you but I know that it is a lot easier to do something difficult when you do it with others. That is what we do here together at PCC.
Take a look around you, at the person next to you. They are a soldier too on your side. Is your family member a Christian? They are on your side. Don’t let them be a victim of friendly fire. We win the battle together.
Hebrews 10:24-25
And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Let us pray.
