ILLUSTRATION- Fine print in advertisements,
no matter if they are on my television screen, or in print, drive me crazy!
(Some of you
would argue that I don’t have far to go, but they drive me crazy nonetheless!)
Most of us have
probably seen the fine print in the advertisements at least once in our life.
Car
companies are notorious for having fine print.
They will advertise a beautiful new car and they will list off the
wonderful specifications of this car, they will give us the price, and then
tell us that only certain people qualify for this price.
Cell
phone companies also operate like this.
When a new
phone comes out, they will cook up an amazing deal, and say that everyone is
allowed to purchase the phone, but only certain people can purchase the new
phone with the amazing deal.
It
sure seems like whenever advertisers say “anyone is welcome” or “anyone can
cash in on this deal” they don’t really mean “anyone”; there is almost always a
catch.
In
Luke 9:23, Jesus said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take
up his cross daily and follow me.” (NIV)
When making the invitation to potential followers,
Jesus says: Anyone
is welcome.
Because
of the influence of advertising, whenever we hear the word “anyone” we
automatically assume there is a catch; so I want to tell you that there is no
catch, nor is there any fine print.
There are no hidden fees, anyone means anyone.
When
Jesus said anyone, the crowds would have looked at His disciples and known that
He meant anyone. Allow me to explain what I mean.
To
His society, Jesus was a Rabbi, and a rabbi was a teacher of God’s word, which
in Jesus’ day was the Old Testament.
Rabbi’s
had extensive knowledge of the first 5 books of the Old Testament, as well as
the writings of the prophets.
Rabbis
were also special because they had a group of students or disciples called
Talmid (tal-meed).
(Not to be confused with the Talmud,
which was a collection of books and commentary complied by Jewish Rabbi’s)
Every
Rabbi had a class of students, but this class was limited only to the brightest
and the best.
In
fact, the students that didn’t make the cut as a talmid, often went back into
their family's business.
Talmid’s
had to have an impressive knowledge of the Scriptures and a rabbi could quiz a
prospective student at any time, asking him to recite an entire book of the Old
Testament, or to tell him the number of times the name of the Lord was used in
the book of Leviticus.
Rabbi’s had to be thorough
because the excellence of the student reflected the excellence of the teacher.
If a rabbi let just anyone in, it
would be clear that he was not a sought after teacher.
All
of a sudden, Jesus shows up and changes the operating system, especially when
it came to Talmid’s or students. He invited anyone to follow Him; anyone
included a despised tax collector.
When
word gets out that a new Rabbi is picking followers at random, people start to
wonder what’s up.
They come from
all over to hear from this incredible Teacher named Jesus, but when they look
at His disciples they must have been confused.
They
must have stepped back and scratched their heads and thought: “These are His
students? They’re nobodies.
“Those two over
there used to be fisherman, and that guy over there, he’s the local
tax-collector!”
When
Jesus made the invitation for anyone to follow Him, people started to ponder
this idea, people who didn’t make the cut to learn from another rabbi, could
all of a sudden learn from Jesus.
Why,
even women could become students of Jesus—something that was completely unheard
of with all the other rabbi’s.
When
people looked at Jesus’ followers, they realized that when Jesus said anyone, He was telling the world
that 2) Anyone means everyone!
Though
we may not verbalize it, we don’t always like the idea of the church being for
everyone.
We
kind of like the church as it is. We like to keep things the same, while we may
never admit to such a thing, especially in a group setting like this, we like
the mantra that says “Us four and no more”
But
Luke 9:23 is here to remind us that there shouldn’t be any fine print; there
shouldn’t be any exclusion clause.
Everyone can come to Jesus, because Jesus laid down His
life for everyone!
When
Jesus said anyone, He was 3) Getting
rid of all the excuses.
When
Jesus invites anyone to follow Him, He gets rid of all the excuses people were
hiding behind.
Now
tradespeople could follow Jesus without excuse. The drop out student couldn’t
complain about his past any more.
Jesus,
with His open invitation, got rid of all of the reasons why ordinary people
couldn’t follow God.
Some
of us in this room have been holding out on having a relationship with Jesus
because we have an excuse.
It could be that
your job takes up too much of your time, or you are hiding behind a past that
you are not particularly proud of.
But
Jesus gets rid of everyone’s excuse with the word “anyone.”
Anyone is welcome to have a
relationship with Jesus.
Sexual
Past? Anyone.
Ex-Con?
Anyone.
Recently
divorced? Anyone.
Alcoholic?
Anyone.
Addict?
Anyone.
Hypocrite?
Anyone.
Anyone
can follow Jesus, because He gets rid of the excuses we so often give for not
following Him. Jesus said that anyone can follow Him.
Now,
we need to be ready for what can happen when we embrace the invitation to
“Anyone.”
Because if
anyone can come to church, that’ll kind of mess things up. All of the sudden, the church gets filled with
a lot of “un-churched” people.
If we really
accept “Anyone” into our church to follow Christ, we’ll be forced to get out of
our comfort zones and rub shoulders with people from different backgrounds;
people who have different music collections than us; people whose wardrobes
confuse or annoy us, even people who are hard to tolerate and even harder to
love.
But followers of
Jesus are willing to break down walls, and welcome “Anyone” into God’s family.
When
Jesus makes the invitation, he says, “Anyone.”
So
some of the people who respond to that invitation will have a past that you
don’t approve of. Remember that you have a past that is less than nice, too
Some of the
people who accept the open invitation of Jesus will have been involved in
lifestyles you’d be embarrassed to hear about.
Remember: You
made choices when you were younger that you are not particularly proud of
either!
Fans
don’t know how to handle new people like that. Fans prefer things to be shallow
and comfortable.
But followers are willing to listen,
willing to hear stories of brokenness and sin and still welcome people with
open arms.
When
Jesus makes His invitation, He welcomes anyone who would come after Him; but He
also makes it clear that when you choose to follow, 4) it will cost you everything.
Jesus
“…said to the
crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish
ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23, NLT2)
The
open invitation is for anyone, but it will cost anyone, everything!
Some
of us are following Jesus, but have yet to give up everything.
Some of us are
still enjoying the things we did before we became a follower of Jesus.
To
be a fully devoted follower of Christ means to turn away from your old way of
living, and commit to following Jesus with all you have; it means to burn your plows.
Elisha
is a key person in the Old Testament. He performed more miracles than his
predecessor, Elijah did, but all of that would not have been possible if Elisha
had not put an end to His old life.
What
was his old life like? Ordinary in every sense of the word. He was an ordinary
man who was out plowing a field when the Great man of God, Elijah, met him.
Elijah
comes to Elisha who is at work in the field, plowing the ground, and throws his
cloak over him, signifying a call to the Greater Life that God had for him, and
Elisha responded by setting his old life on fire:
“So Elisha returned
to his oxen and slaughtered them. He used the wood from the plow to build a
fire to roast their flesh.” (1 Kings
19:21a, NLT2)
God
called Elisha to follow Him. Elisha obeyed the call and burnt everything that
represented his former way of life, proving that anyone can come, but it demands everything.
What
do you need to burn? What do you need to let go of?
When
a talmid was finally accepted into a rabbi’s school, they would leave their
homes, their jobs, whatever was holding them back, and they would go and follow
the rabbi.
They would, literally,
follow the rabbi wherever he went.
If
the rabbi decided to go to market, his students would follow. And if a rabbi
decided to go to another town, his students would follow. If the rabbi needed
to visit some sick in the area, his students would follow.
Now,
to follow the rabbi named Jesus, this would cost even more. Because if Jesus decided
to live without a home, His students would follow.
And if Jesus
decided to go among the sinners and the shameful, His students would follow.
And if Jesus decided not to flee from persecution, His students would follow.
The
greatest teacher who ever lived, offers you the chance to become one of His
students, and when He says anyone, He means everyone, with no excuses.
While
He makes this open invitation to everyone, He also points out that it will cost
you everything.
So
what do you need to give
up in order to follow Jesus? What plows do you need to burn?
You
should have received a blank piece of paper when you came in this morning, I
would like for you to take it out now.
If you didn’t
get one, raise your hand and we’ll see that you get one. If you need a pen let
us know and we’ll see that you get one as well.
I’d
like for everyone to have a piece of paper…
If there is
something that is keeping you from being a fully devoted follower of Jesus,
then I want you to write that thing that is keeping you from following Jesus
down on your paper.
If
money is keeping you from following Jesus completely, then write money on your
paper.
If pornography
is keeping you from following Jesus completely, write pornography on your
paper.
If gossip is
keeping you from following Jesus completely, write gossip on your paper.
if there is a
person that is keeping you from following Jesus, then write that person's name
on the paper, even if that name is your name.
As
we sing our closing song, I invite you to bring your piece of paper to the
front of the church and place it on the altar.
Taking
this step will signify you burn your plows; it will signify your desire to
become a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ.
When
you get home, you might have to take additional steps at burning your plows,
but just take it one step at a time…
No
one is going to pressure you to do any of this; but Jesus makes it clear that
while anyone can come to Him, it will cost you everything.
Are you willing to accept the
open invitation and follow The Rabbi?
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