Message by Chad Kelly
David Platt
To everyone wanting a safe, untroubled, comfortable life free from danger, stay away from Jesus.
Is it REALLY that risky to follow Jesus?
And, if it is, is it REALLY worth it?
In the late 1940s, the United States government commissioned William Francis Gibbs to work with Unites States Lines and the U.S. Navy to construct an approximately $80 million troop carrier/ocean liner. The purpose was to design a ship that could speedily carry fifteen thousand troops during time of war. By 1952, construction on the SS Unites States was complete. The ship could travel at roughly 44 mph, or 38 knots, and could steam 10,000 miles without stopping for fuel or supplies.
She could outrun any other ship and travel nonstop anywhere in the world in less than ten days. The SS United States was the fastest and most reliable troop carrier in the world.
The only catch is, she never carried troops. At least not in any official capacity. The ship was put on standby once during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, but otherwise she was never used in all her capacity by the U.S. Navy.
Instead the SS United States became a luxury liner for presidents, heads of state, and a variety of other celebrities who traveled on her during her seventeen years of service. As a luxury liner, she couldn”™t carry fifteen thousand people. Instead she could house just under two thousand passengers. Those passengers could enjoy the luxuries of 695 staterooms, 4 dining salons, 3 bars, 2 theaters, 5 acres of open deck with a heated pool, 19 elevators, and the comfort of the world”™s first fully air-conditioned passenger ship. Instead of a vessel used for battle during wartime, the SS United States became a means of indulgence for wealthy patrons who desired to coast peacefully across the Atlantic.
David Platt
Things look radically different on a luxury liner than they do on a troop carrier. The faces of soldiers preparing for battle and those of patrons enjoying their bonbons are radically different. The conservation of resources on a troop carrier contrasts sharply with the opulence that characterizes the luxury liner. And the pace at which the troop carrier moves is by necessity much faster than that of the luxury liner. After all, the troop carrier has an urgent task to accomplish; the luxury liner, on the other hand, is free to casually enjoy the trip.
When I think of the history of the SS United States, I wonder if she has something to teach us about the history of the church. The church, like the SS United States, has been designed for battle. The purpose of the church is to mobilize a people to accomplish a mission. Yet we seem to have turned the church as troop carrier into the church as luxury liner. We seem to have organized ourselves, not to engage in battle for the souls of people around the world, but to indulge ourselves in the peaceful comforts of the world.” (Radical, 169-171)
Today in America, it is difficult to distinguish between the lifestyle of the average church attender and the average unchurched citizen.
I”™m convinced that the reason is that we have, in our minds and hearts and worship and churches, recreated Jesus to be the model U.S. citizen and proponent of “The American Dream”. And such attempted reshaping of Who Jesus really is, is no less than idolatry””and results in just another invention of human religion”¦NOT the worship of the Son of God.
David Platt
As long as Christianity looks like the American dream, we will have few problems in this world.
HOW is it possible that we”™ve arrived at this place?
It seems to me that when the radical calls of Jesus are ignored or explained away, it is then easy to box Him up in a way that suits our desires.
However, if we face Jesus as He”™s revealed Himself, we begin to realize that following Him is risky! But, if we”™ll listen””and keep following””we”™ll discover that He”™s worth it all.
The Risks and Rest of Following Jesus
The rest found in following Jesus is worth all of the risks required
Matthew 10:5-42 (MSG)
5-8Jesus sent his twelve harvest hands out with this charge:
1. RISK Loving the Needy
“Don’t begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don’t try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously.
Notice that Jesus isn”™t just talking about the poor””He”™s talking about all of those in our community who are most needy.
That is happening here at Cross Road! From the Food Pantry to your openness to love whoever comes through the door!
Never let up, never back down from intentionally reaching out to those who need help the most! That is the heartbeat of Jesus!
RISK Loving the Needy
2. RISK Contentment
9-10“Don’t think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start. You don’t need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment, and all you need to keep that going is three meals a day. Travel light.
11“When you enter a town or village, don’t insist on staying in a luxury inn. Get a modest place with some modest people, and be content there until you leave.
THAT is risky stuff!
In our country””and in our own hearts””to be content with just our daily needs is risky, isn”™t it? Contentment is living on the edge”¦because what if it”™s not enough?
1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19 (MSG)
6-8A devout life does bring wealth, but it’s the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that’s enough.
9-10But if it’s only money these leaders are after, they’ll self-destruct in no time. Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.
17-19Tell those rich in this world’s wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage””to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they’ll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.
Do we REALLY want people around us to know our Jesus? I believe this””if we would even begin to try to learn contentment, if we would scale down our lives in order to channel more time, energy and even money into loving others in Jesus”™ name, you can bet that the folks you know that have no interest in Jesus would soon sit up and take notice”¦and start asking what”™s wrong with us! And we”™d be able to tell them about our wonderfully crazy Savior!
In fact, I see and hear and feel the rumblings of this kind of contentment growing right here at Cross Road!
RISK Contentment
3. RISK Rejection
12-15“When you knock on a door, be courteous in your greeting. If they welcome you, be gentle in your conversation. If they don’t welcome you, quietly withdraw. Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way. You can be sure that on Judgment Day they’ll be mighty sorry””but it’s no concern of yours now.
Trust God with how folks receive you! Prove that you trust Him by being gracious to those who reject you”¦and move on!
Romans 12:14-19 (NLT)
14 Bless those who persecute you. Don”™t curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don”™t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don”™t think you know it all!
17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God.
RISK Rejection”¦and respond with enemy-love!
4. RISK Danger
16“Stay alert. This is hazardous work I’m assigning you. You’re going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don’t call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.
17-20“Don’t be naive. Some people will impugn your motives, others will smear your reputation””just because you believe in me. Don’t be upset when they haul you before the civil authorities. Without knowing it, they’ve done you””and me””a favor, given you a platform for preaching the kingdom news! And don’t worry about what you’ll say or how you’ll say it. The right words will be there; the Spirit of your Father will supply the words.
21-23“When people realize it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol that makes them feel good, they are going to turn on you, even people in your own family. There is a great irony here: proclaiming so much love, experiencing so much hate! But don’t quit. Don’t cave in. It is all well worth it in the end. It is not success you are after in such times but survival. Be survivors! Before you’ve run out of options, the Son of Man will have arrived.
26-27“Don’t be intimidated. Eventually everything is going to be out in the open, and everyone will know how things really are. So don’t hesitate to go public now.
28“Don’t be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life””body and soul””in his hands.
How crazy is all that? Is following Jesus risky? If we obey Him””which is the only way to truly follow Him””it will be!
RISK Danger
5. REALIZE This is What it Means to Follow Jesus
24-25“A student doesn’t get a better desk than her teacher. A laborer doesn’t make more money than his boss. Be content””pleased, even””when you, my students, my harvest hands, get the same treatment I get. If they call me, the Master, ‘Dungface,’ what can the workers expect?
By the way””“Dungface” is a good translation. Beelzebub literally means “lord of the flies””¦and where to flies love to swarm?? You got it! This was the Hebrew way of insulting someone”¦and things really haven”™t changed too much, have they?
32-33“Stand up for me against world opinion and I’ll stand up for you before my Father in heaven. If you turn tail and run, do you think I’ll cover for you?
34-37“Don’t think I’ve come to make life cozy.
WHAT? You mean Jesus isn”™t here to make my life comfortable and happy”¦you mean He didn”™t come in order to be my Enabler in my pursuit of the American dream? GASP!
I’ve come to cut””make a sharp knife-cut between son and father, daughter and mother, bride and mother-in-law””cut through these cozy domestic arrangements and free you for God. Well-meaning family members can be your worst enemies. If you prefer father or mother over me, you don’t deserve me. If you prefer son or daughter over me, you don’t deserve me.
38-39“If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.
REALIZE This is What it Means to Follow Jesus
6. REST in Your Father”™s Love
29-31“What’s the price of a pet canary? Some loose change, right? And God cares what happens to it even more than you do. He pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail””even numbering the hairs on your head! So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries.
Deuteronomy 32:10 (MSG)
10-14 He found him out in the wilderness,
in an empty, windswept wasteland.
He threw his arms around him, lavished attention on him,
guarding him as the apple of his eye.
He was like an eagle hovering over its nest,
overshadowing its young,
Then spreading its wings, lifting them into the air,
teaching them to fly.
God alone led him;
there was not a foreign god in sight.
God lifted him onto the hilltops,
so he could feast on the crops in the fields.
He fed him honey from the rock,
oil from granite crags,
Curds of cattle and the milk of sheep,
the choice cuts of lambs and goats,
Fine Bashan rams, high-quality wheat,
and the blood of grapes: you drank good wine!
No matter what risk God calls us to take, His LOVE is greater and stronger and wider and deeper and more valuable than anything we stand to lose!
REST in Your Father”™s Love
The rest found in following Jesus is worth all of the risks required
Conclusion
All that we have considered from Jesus”™ commissioning of His disciples flies in the face of the American dream.
Will we listen and let Jesus steer our hearts and lives?
David Platt
Ultimate satisfaction is found not in making much of ourselves but in making much of God. The purpose of our lives transcends the country and culture in which we live. Meaning is found in community, not individualism; joy is found in generosity, not materialism; and truth is found in Christ, not universalism. Ultimately, Jesus is a reward worth risking everything to know, experience, and enjoy”¦When we risk our lives to run after Christ, we discover the safety that is found only in his sovereignty, the security that is found only in his love, and the satisfaction that is found only in his presence. This is the eternally great reward, and we would be foolish to settle for anything less.
Jim Elliot
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
So”¦
How can YOU risk”¦
1) Loving the Needy
2) Rejection
3) Contentment
4) Danger
The rest found in following Jesus is worth all of the risks required