Great Buts in the bible, part 3

this post is the 3 message in our series Great Buts in the Bible. Enjoy

 

 

            Well, here we are in part three of our sermon series called Great Buts in the Bible. Excuses people make for not following God.

            We kicked off this series two weeks ago by looking at the excuses Moses gave God for not wanting to do what God had asked Him to do.

As you read through Exodus chapters 3 and 4 you will see Moses saying to God again and again, “But I can’t!”

            And as you read through Exodus 3&4 you’ll see how God was saying to Moses: “But I can!”

            God promised to be with Moses as he went and lead the people out from under the ruthless oppression of the King of Egypt.

            I can’t, but God can!

            Last Sunday, Pastor Mike reminded us, by looking at the story of Israel’s first king, Saul in 1 Samuel 15, that partial obedience is disobedience.

            Partial obedience is disobedience in three ways: It’s rebellious, it’s stubborn and it’s rejecting God’s commands.

            Today is a two for one deal. There are two excuses in one passage, and you’ll have two preachers unpacking this one passage.

But don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that the sermon will be twice as long.

            In Luke 9:23, Jesus stated that following Him would, could and should cost something.

       “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (NIV84)

            If we are going to follow Jesus, there needs to be a daily dying to self and a daily dependence on the Master.

A short time after Jesus made this statement, a shift occurs… From this point on in the life of Jesus, He will be of singular focus; He will be heading to the cross.

            Luke 9:51 tells us that: “Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem” (NLT2) from that moment on, Jesus was now beginning His journey to the cross.

            Up unto this time, Jesus had been teaching His disciples and preparing them to carry on the ministry that He would entrust to them after His death and resurrection. This had now been completed.

            Jesus now focused on Jerusalem to face the opposition He would endure that would cumulate in His death and resurrection.

            As Jesus was on His way, He came across three men, who said they would follow Jesus, or who had been given an invitation to follow Jesus.

For the sake of our “discussion” today, we’re going to look at the second and third interactions and see how their excuses prevented them from following Jesus.

As we read passage of the day, please keep Luke 9:23 in the back of your minds! We're going to come back to it again and again. 

If you have your Bible, look at Luke 9:57-62. We’re going to focus on verses 59-62, but for the sake of some context, we’ll read the entire passage:

“As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

58 But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”

59 He said to another person, “Come, follow me.” The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”

60 But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.”

61 Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.”

62 But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:57-62, NLT2)

As Jesus and His disciples were making their way to Jerusalem, by way of Samaria, they came across a man and Jesus called out to this man and said:  "Follow me." (Luke 9:59a, NIV84)

These are the same words that Jesus had spoken as He was beginning His ministry and calling His first Disciples, we can read about this in Matthew 4:

“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew.

They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.

19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said "and I will make you fishers of men."

20 At once they left their nets and followed him.….” (Matthew 4:18-20, NIV84)

The very same invitation was given to this man in Luke chapter 9, but a very different response occurred.

Look again at the man’s response to Jesus’ invitation to follow Him in the second half of Luke 9:59: “The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” (NLT2)

Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?

ILLUSTRATION- When my father passed away, I was involved in all aspects of his funeral.

            We as a family met and choose his casket, we choose his visiting hours; we picked out the floral arrangements, and we even decided who would be involved in his service of remembrance.

            So, it was noble of this man to want to bury his father before following Jesus.  

            In fact, it was his duty as a Jewish man to Honor his father and mother—the fifth commandment, one that he took seriously.

If this man was the eldest, he would have been even more responsible to see that his father received a proper burial.

            This is where things get interesting.

            If this man’s father had died, he wouldn’t have been “out on the town” that day.

            He would have been at home making preparations for the funeral, which would most likely have occurred the very same day as the death of his father.

ILLUSTRATION- When my father died, I was busy making preparations, either with the funeral home, or in my office studying and preparing for the sermon, I wasn’t “out on the town.” 

            There is no indication from this passage that this man’s father had died.

            This man said that he would follow Jesus; but he would follow Jesus at a later date.

            Remember, Jesus said that following Him would cost us something; it would cost us our life… and this man was unwilling to surrender his life over to Jesus.

            One Bible commentator had this to say about our text: “If the father’s funeral had been impending it would in all probability have occurred the same day, because the custom in Palestine was to let the burial be held the same day when the death had occurred…

            If the son had engaged in the funeral of his father, a week would have elapsed before he could have followed Jesus, and by that time our Lord would have been far away.” (Pentecost, 1981, 271)

            This man’s excuse was a mere pretext for delay.

            Could you be giving such an excuse? Has God asked you to do something, but you’ve replied with an excuse, such as:

            I’ll follow Jesus; when I’m done living my life;

            I’ll follow Jesus when I get to the end of my rope.

            I’ll follow Jesus when I’ve accomplished everything that I want to accomplish.

            All of these things in and of themselves are noble and good, but when they stand in direct opposition to what God is asking us to do, they are wrong.

            “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)

            Jesus is not advocating skirting around our duties, but He is looking for an undivided heart. A heart that is completely devoted to following Him.

            So, how's your heart today, are you torn between following and coming up with an excuse why you can't follow?

            Look at Jesus’ reply to the man’s excuse…. “But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:60, NLT2)

            When we follow Jesus, there is work to do; there is a Message to proclaim.

            Jesus calls us to follow Him, not only so we can “Know Him”, but also to Make Him known.

            There are lives to be transformed with the Good News of Jesus Christ, but sometimes we get caught up in making an excuse….

            If I follow Jesus, He will ruin my fun…

            If I follow Jesus my life will be boring….

            If I follow Jesus, I’ll have to sell everything and move to Antarctica.

            But this is not necessarily the case. Jesus told us in John 10:10 that He has come to give us abundant life.

            That’s abundant life when we get to heaven, but that’s also abundant life here and now.

            Jesus is not a kill joy, He is the giver of joy and life won’t make complete sense until you are following Him. 

            Are you following Him? Or are you giving Jesus an excuse as to why you can’t do what whatever it might be that He is asking you to do?

            As we’re about to see, following Jesus demands that we make a choice...

Pastor Mike: come and share the next conversation Jesus had with us.

Big Buts of the Bible, Part 1

Here is the first sermon in our new series called Big Buts of the Bible.

 

            I’m excited to be launching a brand new series today called: “Great Buts in the Bible”: Excuses we make for not following God.

            As I read the pages of Scripture, I find ordinary people doing extraordinary things because they’ve obeyed God,

            But I also read of ordinary people who may have missed an opportunity to do something extraordinary because they made an excuse as to why they couldn’t do what God had asked them to do.

            For the next few weeks, we are going to look at examples of people who were asked to do something, but made an excuse as to why they couldn’t do what they were being asked to do.

            The last sermon of this series will focus on a time in Jesus’ life when He was asked to do something, and instead of offering an excuse, He said to God, “Let your will be done.”

            So I hope this series will be beneficial to you but even more than that, I pray that God will use this series to draw you closer to Him; but first, take a look at this video.

 

http://www.sermonspice.com/product/37571/big-but

ILLUSTRATION- to the best of my knowledge, I have never told anyone in a public gathering such as, this about the first time I visited Beth’s house.

            (With an intro like that, this story can’t help but be good!)

            Beth and I had been dating for several months and she wanted to bring me home to meet her parents-- an idea that I wasn’t all that comfortable with—so we made the 3 hour trip from Sussex to what I thought was the middle of nowhere and I met her entire family.

            Things were going fine until Saturday afternoon.

            That afternoon, Beth’s younger brother, Andrew and I, went down to the gravel pit to go four-wheeling.

       We had a great time zipping up and down mountains of gravel and going fast and just being dudes.

            Like all good things, our time came to an end, and we crossed the road and proceeded to drive up Beth’s driveway, and as I was getting closer to the garage door, my finger accidently hit the gas instead of the break and I ended up crashing into the garage door, leaving a sizable dent.  (PHOTO)

            Trying to save my skin, I immediately grabbed my head and yelled “ouch!”

            I remember what happened next as if it were yesterday.

        I walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table, and said to Beth’s mother—and her aunt and uncle who were conveniently present at the time—“Is everyone a Christian in this room?”

            Almost immediately they replied: “What did you do?”

            I told them that I had hit the break but somehow the gas got pushed and the wheeler ran into the garage door.

            As a sign of God’s grace, Beth’s father wasn’t home that day, so I didn’t have to face him.

            Although the next time I saw him, it was slightly awkward.

            Talk about making a good first impression… My charm must have worked, because here we are 14 years later, together, living happily ever after.

            Some of us are really good at making excuses. I’ve given my share of excuses throughout my lifetime, and chances are pretty good that you have, at some point in time, used an excuse or two, as to why you couldn’t do what you were being asked to do.

            So had Moses.

Yes, you heard me right. Moses—the man who led God’s people—the Israelites—through the Red Sea; the same dude who received the 10 commandments, came up with an excuse as to why he couldn’t do what he was being asked to do.

Just like my first encounter with Beth's parents that really didn’t go over very well; Moses began his encounter with God by giving Him an excuse.

            We’re going to pick up our story of Moses’ life in Exodus chapter 2:23, but I want to encourage you to take a few moments this afternoon to read what comes before this verse, and read about how God was watching over Moses right from the beginning. It’s truly a remarkable story.

            If you have a Bible, turn to Exodus 2:23 for the immediate context for our lesson today:

            “Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God.

24 God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

25 He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act.” (Exodus 2:23-25, NLT2)

Pharaoh had been ruthless with God’s chosen people, the Israelites, and they cried out to God for help for years, and the time was right for God lead them out of their bondage by using one of their own, who had spent the last 40 years or so living in the desert of Midian.

Moses had come across a burning bush that didn’t burn anything else, so as he investigated a little more, a Voice called to him telling him to remove his footwear because the place where he was standing was Holy Ground.

Once God told Moses Who it was that was speaking to him, He gave Moses instructions as to what Moses was to do next.

Look at Exodus chapter 3 starting at verse 7:

“I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering.

8 So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land.

It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live.

9 Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them.

10 Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.” (Ex. 3:7-10, NLT2)

Talk about quite the task!! God was going to use Moses to bring His chosen people into a new land.

Take a look at Moses’ response in verse 11: “But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?” (Ex. 3:11, NLT2)

God spoke, Moses got scared, so God spoke again: 

“God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.” (Ex.3:12, NLT2)

You would think that that would be all that Moses would need: God’s Presence going with him and the reassurance that the people would worship God on Mt. Sinai, the very place where Moses was talking with God.

If you thought that, you’d be wrong. Look at the very next verse:

“But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?” (Ex. 3:13, NLT2)

Moses was worried that when he got to the people, they would want to know Who it was that sent him; so what would he say; what Name would he give to the people?

Ever graceful, God have Moses the answer:

14 God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.”

15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.

This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations.” (Ex.3:14-15, NLT2)

It was not a new god that was going to rescue the people of Israel; it would be the same God who had been with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and now this Same God would be with Moses.

That was who Moses was to tell the people who had sent him: the Great I AM. 

For the next 7 verses, God commanded Moses to go and gather the people together, remind them that God would rescue them from the Egyptians and then lead them into a new land.

God also told Moses that the King of Egypt wouldn’t let the people go without a fight, so God would perform miracle after miracle until finally, the people would be set free.

And just to sweeten the pot, as they went, the Israelites were to strip the Egyptians of their wealth… 

Even after hearing all of this; Moses still wasn’t convinced that he was the right man for the job.

Look this time at chapter 4, verse 1: “But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?” (NLT2)

In response to this, God showed Moses His power, by turning Moses’ staff into a snake and back again, by inflicting a serious skin disease on Moses’ hand and turning it back to normal again.

And if all of that wasn’t enough, Moses was to take some water out of the Nile, and as he poured it on the ground, God would turn it into blood.

That would be a sign that God was with Moses.

But once again Moses offered up an excuse: “But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.” (Ex. 4:10, NLT2)

In response to this excuse, God said: “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord?

12 Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.” (Ex. 4:11-12, NLT2)

You’d think that Moses would finally get the hint that God was going to be with him… but once again, you’d be wrong. For Moses offered up yet another excuse:

“But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.” (Ex. 4:13, NLT2)

The next verse tells us that: “(Then) the Lord became angry with Moses. “All right,” he said. “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he speaks well. And look! He is on his way to meet you now. He will be delighted to see you.

¹⁵ Talk to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with both of you as you speak, and I will instruct you both in what to do.” (Ex. 4:14-15, NLT2)

Five times Moses gave God an excuse as to why he couldn’t do what God had asked him to do.

Five times Moses said to God: “But I can’t!”

Five times God said to Moses: “But I can!”

Here’s today’s take away, you might want to write it down because you are going to need it this week: “I can’t, but God can.”

Say it with me: “I can’t, but God can.”

On your own, you can’t bring back your wayward child, but God can.

On your own you can’t deal with the diagnosis, but God can.

On your own you can’t be nice; can’t live at peace with people or even love them, but with God living in you, you can.

“I can’t, but God can.”

Jesus said: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5, NIV84)

So what is, what has, what could God be asking you to do?

Could He be asking you to let Him be the Lord of your life?

Could He be asking you to give up that destructive life choice that is holding you back from living a Christ-centered life?

Could He be asking to you take a step of faith and reach out to someone you haven’t talked to in a while?

Could He be asking you to invite your friend/neighbour/co-worker to church?

You can’t, but God can.

God can give you all that you need to do what He may be asking you to do. You just need to step out in faith and Trust in Him.

That was what God was saying to Moses: "You do what I've asked you to do, and I will help you do it"

The promise that God have to Joshua when He was charged with leading the People of Israel into the Promised Land after the death of Moses is just as true today as it was then:

“As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Joshua 1:5, NIV84)

God isn’t looking for excuses, He’s looking for obedience, because obedience brings blessing!

So what has God been asking you to do as of late?

Has He been asking you to give something up?

Has He been asking you to do something?

What has been, or what will be your answer?

“Yes, God I will”

Or

“Well, God, I’m kind of busy today, maybe tomorrow…”

If you’ve been giving God an excuse as to why you can’t do what He’s asking you to do—even though you know His ways are the best ways—I want to challenge you to take one day this week and do whatever it is God may be asking you to do.

But keep in mind, God will never ask you to do something that goes against His Word.

If you are unsure, or need some clarification as to what it is you think God might be asking you to do, ask a Pastor, or a trusted friend.

The challenge is for you to take one day and say Yes to God, but before you do that, you're going to need a prayer, so here is one for you to pray as you take one day and say Yes to God:

“God, I can’t, but you can. So please help me to obey what I believe you are asking me to do today.”

Take things one day at a time, and see how God can turn your big but into something beautiful.