Hearing God
Being a Living Sacrifice • Sermon • Submitted
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Alright, we are continuing our series on Being a Living Sacrifice. In the last two weeks we’ve really looked at the fact that this is less about being a sacrifice, and more about being invited into a life of Obedience and that obedience leads to maturity.
In reading Hebrews 5:11-14 we are encouraged to do more than just “drink the milk” of basic Christianity but to mature in our understanding, our discipleship of Jesus, our following of His way.
That’s what this is all about. We are following Jesus.
John Mark Comer has dedicated his life to working out and helping others in their discipleship to Jesus, and he uses the word Apprentice more than discipleship, because it’s really a better description of what the greek word actually means when we talk about discipleship.
When we hear the word disciple, what does that mean to you, or what does that make you think?
Maybe it’s simply that we are a follower of Jesus. But again, what does that mean? Apprenticeship on the other hand is pretty easy to understand.
An apprentice is someone who is learning a trade from a skilled employer, having agreed to work for them for a fixed period of time in order to become as good as the person training them so that they can do the same thing they do!
So, John Mark Comer defines discipleship, or apprenticeship to Jesus in this way.
Apprenticeship to Jesus is to be WITH Jesus, to become LIKE Jesus, and to DO what Jesus did.
To be WITH Jesus - to learn from him, watch his example, gain as much wisdom, knowledge and understanding from him as you can.
To become LIKE Jesus - In watching how Jesus lives, you begin to live like Jesus, and this starts not with doing what Jesus did from a ministry perspective, but doing what Jesus did from a life perspective. How did Jesus pray, How did Jesus relate to scripture? How did Jesus relate to the Holy Spirit, to His Father? How did Jesus treat people? What did Jesus do with them? How did he live in this world?
To DO what Jesus did - as you learn and watch and observe, and you begin to model his life toward God and people, you’ll find yourself doing what He did. Loving the way he loves. Praying the way he prays. And
And really, that’s what this series is about. It’s an introduction to the way of Jesus, because there is an invitation to something so much more than just calling ourselves a Christian because we “believe” that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus knew that this life wouldn’t be easy. He even pre-empted this invitation with a warning. Warning might not be the best word to describe it, but listen to what Jesus says in Luke 14:26-28, “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else - your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters - yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciples. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciples.
So, that first verse is almost an expanded version of Matthew 16:24 when He says, “If any of you want to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross and follow me.
Give up your own way, or as most translations say it, deny yourself, in this expanded version is, by comparison to me, you have to hate everyone else, including yourself. The word for hate means to detest. Now, is Jesus saying you have to detest your wife. I sure hope not. No, of course not! This is why the NLT says it the way it does, by comparison, meaning, you have to be so willing to follow me through whatever it is that I lead you through, that you would lay down everything else, even your own life.
For us it’s not nearly as severe a warning as those who heard it from Jesus’ mouth when he said it. Peter, of whom Jesus said, On this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it - it’s believed, and early church fathers unanimously claim that he died by being crucified after being sentenced by the Roman Emperor Nero. And what’s worse is although there’s not as much evidence, it’s believed that he was crucified upside down.
Now, we know that Peter was married, the gospels talk about Peter’s mother in law. And Clement of Alexandria, an early church father in the second century wrote that Peter’s wife was martyred for her faith shortly before he was.
If you love your own life more than you love Jesus you won’t die for your faith.
If you love your spouse more than you love Jesus you won’t die for your faith.
This is what Jesus is saying. Are you so all in that if it comes down to it you’ll follow me to the grave?
Now, we all know the grave isn’t the end, so the promise isn’t, “will you die for me.” The promise is what Jesus says to Martha, Lazarus’ sister when he’s dead and in the tomb, Jesus says in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die...”
So, Peter’s wife and Peter himself, so in love with Jesus, following him with everything they are, right to the point of losing their life for the sake of following him.
And so Jesus finishes this expanded statement in Luke 14, with this, “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you.
Again, great point for financial wisdom, but not the point. This is in context to following him, to become a disciple, an apprentice. Count the cost. You don’t want to jump in and then realize you want to jump out.
Now, I want to bring further context to this because of the time and space we live in. We always have to remember who Jesus is talking to and the context in which he’s saying what he’s saying.
He is talking to a group of Jewish people who believe in God, who would have gone to school as children hearing the writings of the Old Testament. Who have not just a faith, but a tradition and heritage of believing in, following and trusting God. It’s more than a national identity, it embodies who they are, they are God’s chosen people. And sure, there are going to be those who don’t follow it all, or don’t seem to care as much, but we see that even in the 12 disciples of Jesus. Matthew was a tax collector, having turned his back on his very people and culture. Simon, not Simon Peter, but Simon the Zealot - the zealots were a political movement that was trying to undermine and overthrown the Roman empire. Think some gorilla warfare type stuff. They even turned their back on Jews who weren’t as hardcore as they were.
So you have this broad spectrum of disciples that Jesus calls, but they all have the foundation of truth they were taught as children. And all of Israel was awaiting their Messiah. So, if you saw Jesus, saw what He was doing, knew the Torah, the scriptures, and were convinced that He truly was the Messiah, then to follow him was a no brainer. In the case of Matthew, who had abandoned his faith to pursue a life of wealth and power based on his position as a tax collector for the Romans. But when Jesus said follow me, something in Matthew went, “ok, this is it, it’s worth leaving all of this behind...”
Simon would’ve been a different story all together. He is called Simon the zealot, and it’s assumed that is because he was a part of this nationalist movement of Jews wanting to overthrow Rome. They were waiting for a warring Messiah. Someone who would come and lead them to overthrow their adversaries and take the kingdom of Israel back by force. Jesus was the complete opposite of that, preaching a non-violent gospel message of love, and yet, something about him and his teaching, when he said to Simon, “come follow me” Simon thought, “you know what, this seems right. I will.”
But even with those bold and incredible transformations, even still, he said, count the cost. Even in a world where they were all waiting for the Messiah, he said, “count the cost”. A world where they knew scripture, they went to the temple, they offered sacrifice..... count the cost.
Now, today, what’s the scenario? We live in what some people call a post - christian society. Meaning, Christianity doesn’t have as much sway as it once did, basically saying we then live in a secular society. That means that more and more people don’t even have an understanding of what Christianity is. Don’t know who Jesus is. Don’t have a foundation of biblical morality let alone theology, what to believe. Now, as a side note, what “they” call this time period doesn’t bother me. God is as real and as alive and as active as He’s ever been. Call it what you want, post-christian, doesn’t matter. God is real. Jesus saves. Jesus heals. The Holy Spirit is, as Jesus promised, active in the world convicting of sin, righteousness and judgement. So call it whatever you want, I have faith in a great resurgence of faith!
But what I mean by describing this time is simply to say, we live in a much different world than Jesus did. For him to say, if you want to follow me, count the cost, was to say, “You’ve heard that a Messiah is coming, do you believe I am that Messiah, and if you do, commit your life to following me because this is what it’s all been about. This is the way your religion is meant to go. I am the next step in your life with God. This is the path.”
When Jesus said he was the way, the truth and the life, it’s like, “Do you not see? I am not just the next part of Judaism, but it has always been me you have been following. I was the voice that brought you into being. I was the voice in the wilderness. I was the voice to the prophets. I am the voice calling you now!” That was the call to those who were alive in Jesus time.
But our world is very different, isn’t it? Maybe you’re watching online, maybe you’re here this morning and you’re thinking, “I didn’t grow up in a Christian home.” “I didn’t grow up learning about Jesus.” “I haven’t been looking for a Messiah, a savior, but I came in here, and y’all were pretty nice. And I like what I feel when I’m here. It makes me a bit happier. I like what’s happening here. But do I want to give my life for this....umm....”
That’s ok.
This is precisely WHY Jesus says, Count the Cost. Count the cost means exactly that, make sure you know what is involved in deciding to follow Jesus. And that is a timeless statement. For those who were alive 2000 years ago standing in front of Jesus and for us today. You are allowed to desire being convinced to follow Jesus. That is not a description of not having faith. Even though Jesus told them multiple times, and even told them exactly HOW he would die, on their way to Jerusalem he says, I’m going to be betrayed by the religious leaders, humiliated, flogged and crucified, but on the third day I will rise from the dead.
And when that happens, they’re still all shocked, they scatter and it’s not until Jesus actually raises from the dead, and reveals himself to them that they believe. Except the first time he shows himself to the group of disciples, Thomas, one of the twelve, isn’t there. So they all come to him and say, “Jesus was telling the truth, we’ve seen him, he’s alive again.”
And in John 20:25 it says, [Thomas] replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”
Those were the things that happened when Jesus was crucified. His hands and feet were pierced with nails, so he would have had a hole there. And his side was stabbed with a spear. Thomas is like, “I want to see those wounds that I saw him receive.”
Now, I grew up hearing Thomas called “Doubting Thomas”, and it carried a negative connotation with the idea that you did not want to be like him.
But then I read it as an older person and it says this, starting in John 20:26, Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”
“My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.
Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”
That word blessed is the word we’ve studied lots in the last few months makarios, and it means happier. Jesus doesn’t scold Thomas. He doesn’t berate him or call him a doubter or say anything about his faith. He invites him to examine the evidence and allow that to convince him to believe.
Now, what about everyone else in the room? They had seen Jesus 8 days before! They saw too. They had reason to believe. So, Jesus isn’t even talking about them. Who is He talking about? I would suggest that He’s talking about us.
Who are those who will not see and have to believe without having the resurrected, incarnate Christ standing in front of them? That is the living, breathing, flesh body of Jesus Christ who is God raised from the dead with holes in his hands and feet, and his side pierced...
And Jesus says that there is a blessing in believing without having the opportunity to see. Maybe the happier part is because the visual won’t always be there. How many times have we had something impact us so greatly, and then over time the effect of that moment begins to wear off? Ok, this is recent enough. When I was in the hospital in August of 2021 with covid, fighting for my life, barely able to breath and literally living on the prayers of God’s people and the presence of the Holy Spirit and the counsel and care of my medical staff, I don’t know if there’s ever been a point where I felt closer to God. I couldn’t even describe what I felt. I came out of the hospital with this outlook on life that was completely changed. How could I not?
I remember sitting in my chair at home, not really able to do much, not wanting to watch TV, not wanting to listen to most of the music I enjoy. There was one CD I had listened to for days and days on repeat in the hospital, over and over again, and for weeks any time I would put any other music on it just didn’t feel right. Had to go back to this one album. And it’s hard to describe, but it was like I was constantly on the edge of tears, constantly on the edge of this emotional eruption, not in a bad way at all, in the best of ways I think. It was like having been that close to death, or knowing that God had preserved my life in that way just brought this sense of awe and reverence I hadn’t ever felt. It was an incredibly special time, although I don’t have any desire to go through that again so that I can feel that again. And that’s my point here...
I don’t feel that today. Sure, if I think on it those feelings come back a bit. But the further I am removed from the situation, the further I am from the feelings they carried. And so what am I left with? Believing without seeing.
Even for Thomas, a time would come where he was so far removed from that moment with Jesus, not that he forgets it, and for sure that would solidify things in his mind and heart, but the feelings would be gone, the emotion of it, the experience of it. He too, and all the other 500+ disciples that the bible tells us saw Jesus after he had been raised from the dead. There would be a time where in all the push back they were experiencing, the threats to their lives, even, they would have to believe without seeing. Not that they had not seen, but in the moment.
Blessed are those, happier are those who believe without seeing. Why? Because there will come a time for all of us that we may not have evidence in front of us, but we must believe anyway, and so in our “believing without seeing before” we continue on “believing without seeing now”.
Count the cost. In the last two weeks we’ve really asked the question, Are we obedient? And obedience really comes after counting the cost. Once I have counted the cost and I say, “Yes, I am ready to follow, then obedience is the next step.”
Think of the word we are using, Apprentice. Someone chooses a trade, let’s say electrician, and they find a master electrician, someone who has gone through all the learning required and has become a real master of the trade. And they say, “I want to be an apprentice.” And the Master tradesman is going to look at them and say, “Have you counted the cost? Do you know what this will involved? How many years you will commit to learning form me and working for me, at less of a pay even, so that I can teach you all I know, and one day, one day in the distant future, you’ll have the skills I have and be able to do what I do.” That young person has to make a decision at that point. “Will I commit to this process? I want what I see this person has. The skill, the job, the success. Am I willing to do what it takes?”
In the same way Jesus says to his disciples in John 14:6, 12, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me… I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works...”
That word believe does not simply mean to agree. I agree that Jesus is the Messiah. No, this word, believe, it’s the greek word pisteuo and it means to commit. We’ve talked about this before, it’s a strong word that would be like a marriage commitment, a covenant. One word study I read likened it to a vow to a faithful relationship, a covenant loyalty.
So, as the master tradesman, let’s call him, Jesus says, “This is the path to take, I am the way, the truth and the life, and if you commit to me, my teaching, my example, then you will do what I did.”
Discipleship, or Apprenticeship to Jesus, to be WITH Jesus, to become LIKE Jesus, to DO what Jesus did. And commitment and obedience through relationship have always been the desire of God’s heart. That’s why the first week we looked at the fact that God desires obedience rather than sacrifice - If you’re reading along with our Daily Bible Reading then yesterday you read Proverbs 21:3 which says, The Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer him sacrifices. and vs 21 that says, Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love will find life, righteousness and honor. It is all about obedience and relationship. Again, we see scripture time and time again expressing this idea of relationship and obedience to God, living a righteous life.
And then last week we read in Hebrews 5 that maturity comes by chewing through the meat of the word of righteousness. Right? Hebrews 5:13-14 says, For someone who lives on milk is an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right [unskilled in the word of righteousness - ESV]. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.
So, we are learning to be obedient, and we are training to develop skill in doing what is right.
Where’s that come from? How can we know what is right or wrong? How can we know what to be obedient to?
We asked the question last week, Are you listening? Do we have ears to hear and eyes to see?
This is the solution for maturity, and it’s also the solution for building our faith in what Jesus said to “count the cost”.
To count the cost you have to know what’s expected and required of you. That’s part of counting the cost. You see those memes coming out at the end of the year coming out of pandemic, “Before I sign a contract with 2023 I want to know what’s going to happen.” Right? We don’t like entering a scenario and then feeling like we’ve been hoodwinked into something we weren’t expecting, or it wasn’t explained properly. None of us like that.