The Jesus Way: Finding the Way of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke | Donovan Rillion | The Costly Way

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

Luke 9 · chapter mention

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,

Luke 9:21–22

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

Luke 9:23–26

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

Luke 9:28–36

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

Revelation 21 · chapter mention

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...