5th Sunday after Pentecost sermon 4 on Discipleship; living in the grace of God.

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost 7/1/12 Text: Multiple texts. Title: Discipleship; Living in God’s Grace. (sermon 4) This summer I am doing a sermon series titled: Discipleship; living in God’s Grace. The reason I am doing this is that most Christians do not know what it really means to live as a disciple living in God’s grace. Most believe that living in God’s grace is to believe that Jesus has died for their sins and that because of God’s grace they are free to live life as they desire. Others believe that living as a disciple in God’s grace gives them the freedom to interpret God’s commands in different ways depending on the circumstances they find themselves in. In other words they have turned God’s commands into a system of ethics. Those are the most common beliefs about what it means to be a disciple living in God’s grace. They are both wrong, for they have turned the costly grace of God, and it was costly, for God’s Son Jesus suffered and died, into what is best called cheap grace, for none of those people realize that while God’s grace is freely given to those who believe in Jesus as their Savior that it is still costly to those who receive it. It is costly, not because we, by our lives of discipleship add anything to God’s free gift of grace, but because the gift of God’s grace requires us, as God’s Word tells us to put to death the old person of sin that is in us. This putting to death is not a one time putting to death, but a continues action, as God’s grace works in our lives. A good example of what I mean by God’s grace being costly for us when a couple of weeks ago we looked at God’s Word where Jesus told the rich young man that in order to follow his he had to sell everything and then follow him. That is costly and you can see by the man walking away that it was too costly for him. He just could not follow Jesus, if it meant giving up everything. You will see today in the insert that you were given when you came in several more examples of the costliness of God’s grace. In the first text we read where Jesus is calling his first disciples. Look at what happens, as it is recorded in Mark 1:16-20. “16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men." 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.” You can’t miss the costliness of God’s grace. They immediately stopped what they were doing and followed Jesus. All of the examples plus the one talked about two weeks ago, the rich young man required a giving up of possessions in order to follow Jesus. . But that is not all Jesus requires his disciples to give up. In Mark 8:20-22 we read “20Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. “21 Another of the disciples said to him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." 22 And Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead." Now that sounds really harsh doesn’t it? Surely, we think, Jesus did not mean for the man to not bury his father, for the law of God says to honor one’s father and mother and burying his dad was honoring him; plus it would only be a delay of one day, for the dead had to be buried the day they died; the law said so. Surely Jesus did not mean that did he? He did mean it, for to be a disciple of Jesus even the Law of God cannot stand in the way. Then there are the words of Jesus where he says in Matthew 18: 8-9, “8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.” While this is certainly hyperbole and not to be taken literally as some suggest, for God would not want anyone to mutilated his or her body, Jesus is simply reinforcing the fact that to be a disciple of his you must be willing to get rid of anything, even if it is as personal as one’s own body, if it gets in the way of being a disciple of Jesus. Then there is the Luke 14:26 passage were Jesus says "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” That is a really hard passage, but once again Jesus is saying that nothing can come between him and you; not your possessions, your security, God’s Law, your own bodily desires, your present method of living, or your family. Jesus demands obedience and accepts nothing else. Jesus’ command to follow him is clear and precise. It does not change depending on one’s circumstances. So, if you are like me your thinking “What can I do? I can never meet those demands. I can’t give up everything to follow Jesus.” That is normal human thinking. One of three things will happen. You might just reject Jesus completely. Or you will fall into despair. Or you will, as unfortunately a lot of Christians do choose to change God’s commands into an ethical commands which you can choose to obey or not depending on the circumstances of your life. Or you can heed Jesus’ call and put God above all things which is what he has called you to do in the first place. In his call to discipleship Jesus will call you to give up what is standing between you and him. He will not ask you to give up anything else; only that which keeps you from being a disciple of his. The bridge between the things we believe as being trustworthy and the one thing, God, that is truly trustworthy must be burned, so there can be no going back. But you say “That is asking too much.” My answer to you is this, “Would Jesus ask you to do something you cannot do?” The answer is of course he wouldn’t. That would be a cruel God who is just playing games with you. Certainly not a God you want to follow. We know the Triune God is not a cruel God, but a loving God who wants us to live our lives of discipleship to the fullest. He does not want us to be burdened by the demands of the Law. That is why he came to fulfill them. He did what we cannot do, so now we can do them, although we can’t do them perfectly. That sounds confusing doesn’t it? It is not though, for Jesus in his command to follow him is not demanding us to follow a new law. If he were doing that he would only be adding an additional law to the laws God had already given us and what good would that be?. No, Jesus when he calls you to be a disciple, is not giving you a new law, but a new life, albeit it is still an imperfect one because you are still dealing with your sinful flesh, He is not giving you a new law, for he in his call to follow him never demands legalistic obedience. Please make a note of that. He never demands legalistic obedience, for if he did you, as a disciple of Jesus would not be living in his grace. Jesus in his call for you to be a disciple, is simply asking you to trust in him alone, believing that his way is the best way to live your life. He has one expectation of you; namely that you believe in him, as your Savior. That is it, for when you believe, that is fully trust in him, you are both rich and poor at the same time. You are rich because discipleship living in the grace of God allows you keep and enjoy your possessions and relationships. You are poor because discipleship living in the grace of God means you are able to live as if you did not have them. Think about that for a moment. Discipleship allows you to have the things of the world as long as God is first in your life. If God is not first in your life, but the possessions and or relationship are he will tell you, just as he did the rich young man, that you must get rid of them to be a disciple of his. Keep God first in your life and you will find life is good, for in keeping God first you are putting other things where they belong, behind God. Try it, for even though it will be difficult, you will like it, for that is discipleship living in the grace of God. Amen.