In August of 2003, the building of a New York
City church was broken into. And it, as you know,
buildings that get broken into was robbed. Now,
the first time this building was robbed. The
thieves broke in and they stole a metal money
box that was in the foyer, just like, you know,
we've got our offering box out there. Easy pickings,
right? You come in, you see the offering box,
you rattle it, there's some money in there, you
take it, okay? So the thieves did that. Now,
what was really strange is three weeks later,
the thieves came back and they broke into the
church building again. And what they stole this
time was actually kind of wild. What they stole...
was Jesus. They unbolted a four foot long, 200
pound plaster statue of Jesus off of a meditation
area or from a meditation area. And they took
it with them. The crazy part about this though,
is not that they stole Jesus, but they stole
Jesus from the cross. You see this statue of
Jesus was bolted to a cross and they unbolted
him. They left the cross there and they took
Jesus. And so when being asked about this, the
church caretaker, he said this, they just decided
we're going to leave the cross and take Jesus.
We don't know why they took just him. We figure
if you want the crucifix, you take the whole
crucifix. In other words, if you want Jesus,
you take the cross too. But so many of us, we
want what the thieves wanted. We want just Jesus.
We want salvation. We want comfort. We want encouragement.
But we don't want the cross. And in Luke 9, Jesus
makes something very clear. You can't have Jesus
without the cross. You're not allowed. It's not
possible. You cannot have Jesus without the cross.
You have to have the whole crucifix. And that
brings us to our scripture this morning in Luke
chapter 9. You see, last week we walked through
some astonishing miracles that Jesus did and
some teachings that Jesus spoke. We saw how he
sent the 12 out to do these incredible things
themselves. And now the disciples, they've returned
from their journey. Peter has declared Jesus
to be the Christ, to be the Messiah. And Jesus
begins teaching them something that they were
not expecting. And so I want you to look with
me in Luke chapter 9, verses 21 through 22. Remember,
if it's underlined, I want you to read that with
me, okay? And he strictly charged and commanded
them to tell this to no one, saying, the Son
of Man must suffer many things and be rejected
by the elders and chief priests and scribes and
be killed and on the third day be raised. You
see, Jesus has been declared Christ. He's been
declared Messiah, the Savior, the one that the
Jews have been waiting for all this time. Yet
he immediately tells them that he has to suffer.
And not just suffer, but he has to be killed.
You see, Jesus says this. And he says that he's
going to die, but he also gives them the hope
at the end of he'll be raised on the third day.
But still the idea that the Messiah would be
rejected, that the Messiah would be killed was
shocking. Now, if you know Jewish history, if
you've read the Old Testament, you know that
this should not have been surprising to them.
But the Jewish people, they were expecting this
conquering king, this king that would come in
and overthrow the sinful kingdoms of the world
and establish God's kingdom on earth. But what
Jesus describes is exactly what had been prophesied
long before, what they should have been expecting.
And after explaining his own suffering, Jesus
immediately explains what following him will
require. And it's exactly what the song we just
sang insinuates. This is what he says in Luke
9, verses 23 through 26. If anyone would come
after me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross daily and follow me. For whoever would
save his life will lose it, but whoever loses
his life for my sake will save it. For what does
it profit a man if he gains the whole world and
loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed
of me and of my words, of him will the Son of
Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory, in
the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
If you've been here, you've heard me say that
being a disciple is like being an apprentice.
It's an apprenticeship and apprentice will eventually
go and do what his mentor does. So if I was a
welding apprentice, well, when my apprenticeship
is done, I'm going to go be a welder. If I'm
a electrical apprentice, when my apprenticeship
is done, I'm going to go be an electrician and
I'm going to do what electricians do and I'm
going to fix things like I had been taught. And
so when Jesus says, you are my disciples, if
you're going to follow me, if you're going to
be my students, well, then eventually you're
going to do what I do. So if we are apprentices
of Jesus, we follow his way even unto death.
If he sacrifices, we sacrifice. If he carries
a cross, we carry a cross. If he dies, we die.
Jesus is telling his disciples something very
unmistakable. He's saying, you cannot follow
me without my cross. Just like those thieves
in New York City, we sometimes, we want to take
Jesus and we want to leave the cross behind,
but Jesus says discipleship means denying ourselves.
It means surrendering control. It means putting
ourselves in harm's way if that's what the gospel
calls for. It means following him even when obedience
costs us something. Even when being obedient
may cost us our fortune, even when being obedient
may cost us our friendships, even when it may
cost us our family, it means obedience even when
it costs us. Because Jesus never promised his
followers comfort. He promised a cross. You know,
I think about... When you want to be good at
something, it requires practice. And if you want
to practice, you've got to carve out time to
practice. If you want to learn a language, you've
got to carve out time to learn that language.
And that may mean giving up something. You know,
when you're in high school and you're playing
a sport, maybe it's football, and you've got
to give up your summer mornings so that you can
go to football practice and football workouts.
You know, I grew up at the beach, and so I loved
going to the beach during the summer. That was
my favorite thing to do, even though I don't
really like the beach. I hate sand, but I liked
going to the beach because that meant I could
go fishing. It meant I could go swimming. It
meant all these things. And so in the summer,
I wanted to go to the beach, but when you get
to high school and you're playing football, you
don't get to... to go to the beach during the
mornings because you've got to go to workouts.
And the workouts weren't fun. They actually really
stunk. They were hot. It was humid. It was awful.
And you're getting run to death. You're having
to lift heavy weights and you're having to do
these things that you may not want to do. You're
giving up sleep. But you have to do it if you
want to have success in whatever it is that you're
doing. And you know what that's like if you've
got a job. You've got to give up eight hours
of your day every day to go to this job. And
you may have to sacrifice time with your kids.
You may have to sacrifice time with your friends
to go to this job. What you want often comes
with sacrifice. And what Jesus is saying is if
you want to come with me, if you want to be with
me for eternity, if you want to have the life
that the Messiah promises, you've got to sacrifice,
even if it means... being uncomfortable. And
I think baptism is actually one of the clearest
pictures of this because when someone is baptized,
they're not just participating in this religious
ritual. They are declaring something. They're
declaring that they are willing to murder the
old flesh, that they are willing to bury that
old self, to leave it behind, and that they are
going to rise up to live a new life that says,
even if it costs me real death, I'm going. Just
as Jesus said he would die, be buried, rise again,
baptism reflects that same reality. The old person
goes down into the grave and rises up to walk
in a new life. When Jesus died, and we'll see
this in a few weeks on Easter, he did not come
out of the grave the same person. In fact, when
you see this encounter of Jesus walking beside
the disciples, they're walking. And Jesus is
walking by them and they're like, who's this
guy? They don't know who this is. They don't
recognize him at first because he looks different.
When you come up, you are different. And what
Jesus is saying is, I want you to die to yourself.
And when you die, you will also have life. And
when you have life, it'll look different. We
have to choose the full path of Jesus, even if
it means death. And I want to ask this question.
together out loud this morning. It's going to
be on the screen, and I want us to say it all
together. Am I willing to pay whatever it costs
to follow Jesus? Am I? Am I willing? Are you
willing? Because too often, I think we say we
want to follow Jesus. We say we want to be Christians.
We say we want to be disciples. And we'll do
the Christian things, right? We'll come to church.
We'll go to the Bible studies. We'll go to the
small groups. We'll pray for people. We'll even
go and visit people in hospitals and in nursing
homes. But do we really mean we'll do whatever
it takes to follow Jesus? You know, I had something
in my notes and I took it out, but I'm going
to bring it back. In America, we talk about how
Christianity is being persecuted and they're
making it hard to be a Christian. And Christians,
we don't have the religious freedom that we're
supposed to have. And we complain about these
things and we cause fear about these things.
But let's go look at other countries. There is
real persecution going on where it really is
causing death to follow Jesus. You have people
that are meeting in underground churches. They
don't have these nice church buildings that you
can see from the highway. They have to be hidden
about it. But guess what they're still doing?
They're still following Jesus, even if it means
death. They're just being a little creative about
it. But are we? Are we willing to follow him
even if it means death? And maybe for us, death
isn't really on the table because we do live
in a place that has religious freedom. But maybe
it's being ostracized by family. You know, I've
mentioned to you before, I've got a friend, he's
a college student back in Montgomery. He's a
Muslim. He grew up Muslim and he wants so badly
to be a Christian. In fact, last two weeks ago,
when I drove to Montgomery for a baptism, I got
to see him and he ran up and he gave me a big
hug. And I'm like, hey, buddy, I've got my swim
trunks ready. The water's warm. It's going to
get used tonight. You want to go too? And you
could just see his joy kind of fell out. Because
he knows what happens if he does. And he said,
you know, I've been thinking about it and maybe
when I live on my own and I have a little bit
more independence, I'll do it. And I'm just like,
man, that's not what Jesus calls for. And I sympathize
with him, I do. And I didn't say, well, Jesus
says you gotta, I didn't do that. I just, I told
him, well, buddy, I'm gonna be praying that that
decision happens quicker. Because. Jesus says
even if it means your family is going to kick
you out, even if it means you're going to be
removed from your social circles, even if it
means you'll lose your job, even if it means
you won't have the status that you want, regardless
of what it costs, you've got to be willing to
pay it. If you aren't, you cannot follow me.
What Jesus is saying is where I'm going is to
a grave. Are you willing to go too? You see,
we want to answer this question so quickly. But
I don't know that we can. I think it takes a
little more thought. And then right after Jesus
says this, something remarkable happens in Luke
chapter 9, verses 28 through 36. Jesus takes
Peter, James, and John up on a mountain, and
he's going there to pray. And he wants them to
come and pray with him. Notice Jesus, a lot of
times when he goes to pray, he brings the disciples
with him. So he brings these few with him. He
goes up to pray. And while he's praying, something
incredible happens. I want to first note that
they're sleeping. And why do they always sleep
when Jesus is trying to pray these serious things?
We'll have that conversation later. But here's
what it says in verses 29 through 30. As Jesus
was praying, the appearance of his face was altered,
and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold,
two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah,
who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,
which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
Now, if you're not familiar with the Old Testament,
those names, Moses and Elijah, they may not mean
much to you, but for the Jewish people, those
two men represented something enormous. Moses
represented the law. Through Moses, God gave
Israel the commandments. He gave them the covenant
that shaped their entire way of life. This is
the law that they're still following. Elijah
represented the prophets. He stood as one of
the greatest voices, calling God's people back
to faithfulness when they had wandered away.
And so when the disciples, they see Moses and
they see Elijah standing with Jesus, something
powerful is being revealed. The law and the prophets,
the entire story of the Old Testament, they're
all pointing to Jesus. And notice what they are
talking about. In verse 31, it tells us that
they're talking about Jesus' departure. which
he's about to accomplish in Jerusalem. And I
think it's interesting that these two Old Testament
heroes are the ones that are talking with Jesus
because if you know their stories, Moses departed
from this earth in a very interesting way. And
Elijah departed from this earth in a very interesting
way. And so when they appear to talk with Jesus
about his departure, because he's going to depart
from this earth in a very interesting way, it's
like this full circle moment of God saying, these
two men represent the law, they represent the
prophets, and they represent leaving this earth
in a very interesting way. And that's exactly
what Jesus is going to do. And so immediately
when Peter sees this, he wants to build tents.
He's trying to either, there's two. ways to think
about this. He either wants to preserve this
moment and make sure that they remember it, that
they can commemorate it by having these tents
here, or he's trying to give them a place to
stay because he wants them to stay. But what
Jesus says, well, actually what God says, he
does something, is he proves that Peter is misunderstanding
this moment. This is what happens in verses 34
through 36. As Peter was saying these things,
a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they
were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a
voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my
son, my chosen one, listen to him. And when the
voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone and they
kept silent and told no one in those days anything
of what they had seen. You see, that cloud is
God. And so God represents, or the cloud represents
God coming in, wrapping them up and saying, this
is my son. This is the Messiah. This is the one
you've been waiting for. This is the one that
Moses was pointing to. This is the one that Elijah
was calling you back to. This is the Messiah
that you have, that we have been waiting on.
Listen to him. And so I can imagine if I'm in
the shoes of Peter, James, and John up here on
the mountain, and God has just told me to listen
to this man. I'm thinking about everything he
has told me beforehand. And you know what the
most recent thing he told me was? If you want
to follow me, it may cost you your life. And
that's all I can think about. is if I'm going
to follow this man, the one that God just came
in and told me is the son, the chosen one, the
one we've been waiting on, I have to listen to
him. And if I have to listen to him when he says
I may have to die, guess what I have to do? I've
got to follow even if it means I may have to
die. And I asked myself, why show the disciples
this moment right after Jesus talked about the
cost? And I think it's because he's revealing
something essential. You see, in this moment
of transfiguration, Jesus starts to glow. His
clothes transform into dazzling white. And there's
something special about him. As the kids would
say, there's an aura about him. And Jesus is
glowing. He is magnificent. And what I think,
Jesus is illustrating here is that the cross
he will bear and the cross he calls us to bear
is not the end. Glory is. You see, we can get
caught up, and I imagine the disciples got caught
up when Jesus says, I'm going to die, I'm going
to be buried, and I'm going to be raised on the
third day. I can imagine they got caught up on
the die part. Like, there's no way. In fact,
you can see throughout the rest of the time that
the disciples have with Jesus, they think, there's
no way. We're not letting you die. And then when
he says, and you also are going to have to die.
I mean, just imagine if I told you, hey, I'm
throwing a party. And if you want to come to
the party, I have to slice your hand at the door.
You're like, there's no way. What's wrong with
you? You'll probably call somebody and tell them
that I'm a cult leader. Because who does that?
And so when the disciples hear the Messiah is
going to die, you may die, they're probably thinking,
this guy has lost his mind. But Jesus told them,
the resurrection comes. I'm going to rise. And
then he shows them, because maybe they didn't
get it. And so he shows them this transfiguration,
and he shows them the glory that's coming. You
see, he's not... asking his followers. He's not
asking you and me. He's not asking us to suffer
for nothing. What he is showing us is who he
truly is. He is the glorified son of God who
death has no power over. And he's inviting us
into the same path, the same life to die and
be raised again into glory. If we follow Jesus
to the cross, we follow him unto death. We will
also follow him into resurrection. and glory.
And if you believe that to be true, can you please
say amen? Amen. We will follow him into glory,
but the path to that glory, as it always does,
still runs through the cross. You can't have
Jesus without the cross. I didn't mean to use
another football reference, but Nick Saban, greatest
football coach of all time, even if he coached
at an awful school, remember where he won his
first championship at. Nick Saban, when he would
have these big five -star recruits come in, these
kids that everybody's promising the world and
they're telling them, you can be a first -round
draft pick and you'll have millions of dollars
in your bank account before you turn 25. He gets
these recruits and he sits them down and he asks
them, Because they're asking him, what's your
school going to do for me? What's your program
going to do for me? What's this going to do for
my draft stock? How's it going to make me millions
of dollars? And he asked them, he says, yeah,
we can get you to the NFL. That's not a problem.
We can win you championships. We can get you
a Heisman. We can get you the millions of dollars.
But are you willing to give up sleep? Are you
willing to spend hours in the film room? Are
you willing to... Get up early and work out in
the hot sun. Are you willing to do the things
that you have to do to get to glory? Are you
willing to not hang out with the same people
because they're dragging you down? Are you willing
to not go to the family cookout because there's
some things going on there that you don't need
to be wrapped up in? Are you willing to not mess
with those girls because they will drag you down?
Are you willing to leave these things behind
so that you can achieve that glory? And depending
on how they would answer, he would know exactly
what kind of player they would be. And when Jesus
is telling us, I want you to follow me, and if
you follow me, it leads to glory, he asks us,
are you willing to give up all of those things,
to sacrifice those things for the sake of glory?
Because it comes with sacrifice. You see, after
this moment, on the mountain, we see urgency
in Jesus' teachings. He continues reminding his
followers what lies ahead. And at the end of
Luke 9, he makes this, the cost of discipleship
unmistakably clear. He says, someone said to
him, I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus
said to him, foxes have holes and birds of the
air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere
to lay his head. To another he said, follow me.
But he said, Lord, let me go first to bury my
father. And Jesus said to him, leave the dead
to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and
proclaim the kingdom of God. Yet another said,
I will follow you, Lord. But let me first say
farewell to those at my home. And Jesus said
to him, no one who puts his hand to the plow
and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.
Do you see the costs that appear in this passage?
The first cost is comfort. It's security. You
know, we love our homes. We love the comfort
of our beds. You know, after a long day, you've
been working, you've been on your feet all day,
you've been running around, getting kids to ball
practice and doing all the stuff that you've
got to do. There's nothing better than propping
up and laying down in your bed, putting your
head to the pillow. But what Jesus says is, I
don't have that. I don't have a place to lay
my head. I don't have a place to call home. I
don't have the comforts of this world. I don't
have all the things that everybody else wants.
I can't, and what he said, I can't promise you
those things either. I can't promise that you
will have comfort. I can't promise that you'll
have security. You know, we live in a world that
teaches and tells us we need to be worried about
tomorrow. We need to have. the nicest things.
We need to have the most comfortable things.
We need to have our 401k set and we need to have
the retirement plan and we need to have the bank
account and we need to have the house and we
need to have the car. We live in a world that
says you need comfort and security. But what
Jesus says is, yeah, that stuff's nice, but it's
not the thing you need. You need me. And where
I am, where Jesus is, those things are not promised.
He's not saying they're bad. But they're just
not promised. And they're not essential. And
ultimately, they're not priority. You see, there's
the man and he wants to go home and bury his
father. And I mean, who wouldn't? That's a pretty
noble thing. You want to make sure that your
father is laid to rest in an honorable way. And
you want to be there for him. But Jesus says,
you don't get it. And then the other one is like,
I'm going to follow you wherever you go, but
I need to go back and tell everybody bye. It's
like, you don't get it. What is the priority?
You see, Jesus makes it clear that the kingdom
cannot come second. It can't. He has to come
first. Even when it costs us our comfort. Even
when it costs us our security. when it costs
us the priorities. And think about the priorities
we have. Our jobs, our school, our clubs, our
sports. Now I saw a post the other day, it said,
you know, parents, if you get more excited about
your kid hitting a home run than you do about
them memorizing a passage of scripture, you've
got your priorities messed up. And here, I'm
going to say this, yes, but I want my kid to
hit a home run and memorize scripture. How about
that? Right? Can we not have both? But you know
what I want first? I want my child to be a child
of God. And if my kid never hits a home run,
if they never score the winning goal, if they
never get the college degree, do you know what
I'll be satisfied with at the end of the day?
If they are a baptized believer proclaiming the
kingdom of God to all the world. I'll be satisfied
if my child is with me in heaven. Because guess
what? Maybe we'll have baseball in heaven. And
maybe I'll get to throw my kid a pitch and strike
him out. I'm not giving him any soft tosses.
We're not letting him hit home runs. But maybe
he'll get one and he'll take it for a ride. But
for right now, the priority is clear. Kingdom
first. Regardless of what sacrifices have to
come. Do I sacrifice the paycheck? Do I sacrifice
the retirement plan? Do I sacrifice the house?
Do I sacrifice the scholarship? Yes. And if that
sounds too radical for you, I'm sorry. That's
what Scripture says. You have a Bible. There's
a Bible in the seat. If you don't have one, take
it with you, read it. That's what Scripture says.
Whatever it costs, kingdom first. And I know
this might, it's radical, it's heavy, and it's
very challenging. And so I want to make sure
I leave you with some hope. Because like I said,
maybe we'll have baseball in heaven. I don't
know about the baseball part, but do you know
what I do know about heaven? I know what John
says in Revelation chapter 21. This is a bit
lengthy, but it's worth it. Because this is the
gospel. This is the truth of the gospel of what
it was all about. This is why Jesus had to die,
and it is why we might have to die. Then I saw
a new heaven. and a new earth, for the first
heaven and the first earth had passed away, and
the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city,
the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven
from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne
saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is
with man. He will dwell with them, and they will
be his people, and God himself will be with them
as their God. He will wipe away every tear from
their eyes and death shall be no more. Neither
shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore
for the former things have passed away. And he
who was seated on the throne said, behold, I
am making all things new. Also, he said, write
this down for these words are trustworthy and
true. And he said to me, it is done. I am the
Alpha and the Omega and the beginning and the
end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring
of the water of life without payment. The one
who conquers will have this heritage and I will
be his God and he will be my son. Degrees are
nice. Scholarships are nice. Salaries are nice.
Comfort is nice. Being in the nice social groups
is nice. Living in good neighborhood, all of
those things, it's nice. But I was listening
to a book yesterday and the concept came up of
resume or eulogy. When you leave this earth,
nobody is going to sit up there and read your
resume. They're not going to read off your bank
account. They're not going to talk about the
cars you had. They're not going to talk about
the lake house. They're not going to talk about
any of that stuff. They're going to talk about
the life that you lived. They're going to talk
about the fruit that you bore. They're going
to talk about... the fruit of the Spirit that
people saw in you. They're going to talk about
the type of person that you were, the God that
you proclaimed, the life that you lived. They
are not going to talk about the resume. Now,
they may say he was a very successful businessman,
and they may say she was a very prominent nurse.
They may say those things, but the focus will
be on the type of person you were and the God
that you proclaimed. And so what I'm asking you
is when you die, what will be said? Because when
you rise, what is said at your funeral will show
in where you go. And I personally want to go
to the place where God dwells with man and man
dwells with God and where God says, this is your
heritage. This is your inheritance. I didn't
grow up in a family of wealth. I didn't grow
up in a family of success. I think. Yeah, nobody
in my family has a college degree. There is nobody
in my family that you would look at and say that
is a prominent person in their community. There
is nobody in my family that you would say anything
like that about. The resumes aren't great. But
I'm okay with that if it means we get to heaven.
Now there's some work to do with my family. Maybe
there's some work to do in yours. But I can make
the choice of chasing. All of those things are
following Jesus. And I do believe, and someone
can correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe
following Jesus leads to a far better life than
chasing the world. I think the wisest man ever
lived has something to say about that. And so
this morning, what I'm asking you, if you're
a disciple of Christ, if you have claimed to
be a follower of Jesus, but you've not truly
committed to paying the cost that he calls us
to pay, please don't allow yourself to miss the
reward because you became too comfortable with
a consumer version of Christianity. And if you
haven't started following him at all, I invite
you to take the first step, to die to yourself.
to bury the old life in the watery grave of baptism
and to rise to new life committed to following
Jesus with everything you have wherever he leads.
We can't have Jesus without the cross. If you
want, if we want to be with the Father in that
glorious home that's described in Revelation,
we have to follow Jesus completely, whatever
it costs. Wherever it leads, we have to follow
him. So wherever you stand this morning, I want
you to know that we want to support you. We want
to be there for you. We want to walk alongside
you as you decide and you make those steps to
following Jesus. If you want to follow the Jesus
way in a better way, we invite you now to come
as we stand and as we...