Getting The Right Gift For Jesus

Adapted from a Jeff Strite sermonhttp://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/getting-the-right-gift-for-

jesus-jeff-strite-sermon-on-call-of-the-disciples-115133

Luke 9:57 ESV As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58 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." 59 To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let

me first go and bury my father."

60 And Jesus said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." 61 Yet

another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home." 62 Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his

hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

Dave Barry made this observation about Christmas:

"Your standard man, at this point in the Christmas season, has purchased zero gifts. He has not yet gotten around to

purchasing an acceptable gift for his wife for last Christmas.

He did give her something last year, but he could tell by her reaction to it that she had

not been dreaming of getting an auto emergency kit, even though it was the

deluxe model with booster cables and an air compressor.

Clearly this gift violated an important rule, but the man had no idea what this rule was,

and his wife was too upset to tell him." (Dave Barry, "Your Gift Is in the Male,"

Washington Post 12-12-04)We’re in the season of “gift giving”.

A Month ago was something called “Black Friday” where many people spent hours

(sometimes even days) in line to get bargains on gifts they wanted to buy their

loved ones.

I think these people have way too much time on their hands.

Now wouldn’t it be a shame if - after spending all that time in line - if these

people bought things for their loved ones that their loved ones didn’t want?

I mean, it’s enough of a waste of their lives to have spent days in line but to have spent

that time to end up getting wrong kind of gift… now that would have been a tragedy.

One family celebrated Christmas every year with a birthday party for Jesus.

An extra chair of honor at the table became the family’s reminder of Jesus’ presence. There was a cake with candles, along with the singing of "Happy Birthday" expressed

the family’s joy in Jesus’ presence.

One year on Christmas afternoon a visitor to the home asked the five-year-old girl, "Did you get everything you wanted for

Christmas?"After a moment’s hesitation, she answered,

"No, but then it’s not my birthday!"So, since Christmas is supposed to be a

celebration of Jesus’ birth wouldn’t it be a shame to give Him a gift He really didn’t

want?

So what does Jesus want for Christmas?Our text this morning tells of 3 men who

“thought” they were giving Jesus what He wanted.

1st guy tells Jesus "I will follow you wherever you go." Luke 9:57b

2nd guy says he’ll follow Jesus, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."59b

3rd guy says "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home."

61b

Well… what could be wrong with this?This is what Jesus always seems to be

asking of people .Jesus is always talking about people

“following Him”The next day Jesus decided to go to

Galilee. He found Philip, he said to him, "Follow me." John 1:43 ESV

Matthew 9:9 ESV As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting

at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him.

Mark 1:17 tells us that Peter and Andrew were in their boats fishing and Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you

become fishers of men." ESV

John 10:27 ESV My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

And two chapters later John 12:26 ESV If anyone serves me, he

must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me,

the Father will honor him.

Follow Me! (Jesus says)

From everything I can read out of Scripture, that would seem to be one of the most

important things we could do. It would be one of the most valuable gifts we could give Him for Christmas and every day.

But here in Luke we have the story of 3 men who are willing to do just that,

Jesus warns the 1st man:Luke 9:58 ESV 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."The 2nd man Luke 9:60 ESV And Jesus

said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim

the kingdom of God."The 3rd man: Luke 9:62 ESV Jesus said to

him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of

God."

Essentially Jesus tells these guys that they’ve gone and got the wrong gift for

Him!What happened?

What did they do wrong?Well, it seems to me that these men all had the idea that they could give Jesus the gift

of their devotion on the “cheap.”

A guy bought his wife a beautiful diamond ring for Christmas.

A friend of his said, "I thought she wanted one of those sporty 4-Wheel drive

vehicles."

"She did," he replied. "But where I gonna find a fake Jeep?"

I suppose it’s possible to get by with a cheap imitation for a gift with some people.You could give me just about anything and I

would probably not know the difference.But you can’t do that with Jesus.

And you especially can’t get by with it when it comes to this issue of “following Him”

Now it’s not real obvious from their comments what the real agendas of these 3

are but we have to remember that Jesus knows men’s hearts.

He’s Jesus. He’s God.Several times in the Gospels we’re told…

“Jesus knew what they were thinking”and “He knew what was in their hearts.”

So… it’s just a matter of working backwards on this.

If Jesus was turning these men down… or at least questioning their motives… why?

The 1st guy was a scribe.Matthew 8:19 ESV And a scribe came up

and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."

This means he was a highly educated man who worked with men of position and

power.

He’s the type of man who would have kept the records of important meetings, as well copying Scripture and copying down the learned observations about God’s Word.

Just before this exchange with Jesus, this man would probably have seen Jesus do a

number of miracles.

Just a few verses before this, we’re told the story of when Jesus cast a demon out of a young man – which His disciples could not

expel.

Put that together with the fact that a lot of people have been talking about Jesus being the promised Messiah… the next

King of Israel.Who wouldn’t want to be close to this man

of growing influence and power. Who wouldn’t want to hitch his cart to Jesus’

star.In the future of those Jesus chose would be

position and prominence.

But Jesus sets the record straight.“Young man” He’s saying, “If you’re

looking for power and position… look elsewhere.

Because if you follow me, there will be no grand palaces and feather beds.”

The second man was a little easier to figure out:

Luke 9:59 ESV To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and

bury my father."Now, excuse me… if this man’s daddy’s

dead… what’s he doing out here with Jesus.

If his daddy’s dead, he ought to be home at the funeral… not out with the crowd.

In our society, you can put a funeral off for a few days because of the skill of modern

science and the expertise of funeral directors.

But back then, you had to bury your dead as quickly as possible.

You couldn’t preserve the body like you can now. The body had to be prepared as close

to the day of death as possible before it began to decompose.

So, what’s this guy doing here in front of Jesus?

Well, I suspect his daddy’s not dead… yet.Maybe his father is aged or ill, and this man

is waiting for impending death to set his house in order.

He wanted to follow Jesus… just not right now.

The 3rd man: Luke 9:61 ESV Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first

say farewell to those at my home."So, what’s wrong with that?

Why wouldn’t it be reasonable to go say goodbye to your family before you made

this heavy commitment to Jesus?

Remember, Jesus isn’t speaking to the man’s statements as much as to the man’s

intent.This guy is gonna go home… and then he’s

not planning on coming back.He’s like the guy who’s always saying he’ll be coming to church… but he never shows.

Someone once said: If you don’t want to do something… any excuse will do.

Each of these men had a hidden agenda.They all wanted to follow Jesus on the

cheap.Luke 9:23 ESV And he said to all, "If

anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and

follow me.

Following Christ is not for the faint hearted.

It’s not for the casual church goer, or the part time Christian.

At one point or another in our lives we’ve got to decide to pick up His cross.

Charles Swindoll(The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart)

One Chicago youth minister was concerned that his youth might become distracted on

their upcoming mission trip to Florida’s balmy beaches.

So, he fashioned a cross from 2 pieces of lumber.

Just before they climbed on the bus, he showed it to the group.

"I want all of you to remember the whole purpose of our going is to glorify the name of Christ, to lift up the Cross - the message of the cross, the emphasis of the Cross, the

Christ of the Cross," he announced.

"So, we’re going to take this cross wherever we go."

The teenagers looked at one another, a little unsure of his plan. But they agreed to do it

and dragged the cross on the bus.It banged back and forth in the aisle all the

way to Florida.It went with them into restaurants.

It stayed overnight where they stayed overnight.

It stood in the sand while they ministered on the beach.

At first, lugging the cross around embarrassed the kids.

But later, it became a point of identification.That cross was a constant, silent reminder of who they were and why they had come.They eventually regarded carrying it as an

honor and privilege.Could you do that? Would you do that?

Oh, you know I’m not talking about taking a literal physical cross to work, and to family

gatherings, and to holiday parties.I’m talking more of consciously

remembering to take your faith with you wherever you go.

If taking a huge cross with you to those events helps… go for it.

You see, that’s the kind of Christmas present Jesus is looking for.

John 10:27 ESV My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

That’s the place where Jesus wants to get us to.

But it isn’t easy.

The night Jesus was crucified, He told His disciples they couldn’t follow Him where He

was going.And guess who speaks up?

Peter.Now Peter is a forthright man.

He tells you exactly what is on his mind.John 13:37 ESV Peter said to him, "Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay

down my life for you." 38 Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow

till you have denied me three times.

Peter meant what he said. He fully intended to follow Jesus even to the point of death.

Now, if Peter had a hard time following Jesus like he wanted to back then… you

know full well there will be times when you and I will have trouble and struggle and fall

down and fail.And Jesus knows that too.

That’s why He constantly challenges in Scripture to pick up our cross and follow

Him.He’s constantly challenging us to go further in our walk of faith than we’ve gone before.

You see, I’m convinced that Jesus is impressed when we pick up our crosses

and follow Him.

I’m convinced that Jesus is looking for people who are looking for a challenge.

· they’re NOT looking for God to make them rich.· they’re NOT looking for Jesus to make them comfortable.· they ARE looking for something more that they can do for God.· they ARE looking for some new way to underwrite God’s church/missions/etc.

As Stephen Dolley, Jr. observed:“A man who wants to do something will

find a way; a man who doesn’t will find an excuse.”

Advertising tycoon Albert D. Lasker requested one of his top executives to move from California to the New York

office. The man refused, so Lasker took a new tack.

"I have just made my will," he told the man. "I have designated you to succeed me as

head of the business. This means that you will have to leave California when the time

comes. Do you agree?""Yes."

"You will do this for me?""Yes."

"You will do this for me when I am dead?""Yes," repeated the executive.

"Then, why," demanded Lasker, "won’t you do it for me while I’m alive?"The executive capitulated.

Matthew 16:24 ESV Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his

life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in

the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he

has done.

Will we give Jesus what He asks,what He deserves?

John 14:15 ESV "If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Notice when we do for & give to Him we receive so much more in return.

Matthew 19:16 ESV And behold, a man came up to him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed

must I do to have eternal life?" 17 And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is

good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments."

John 15:9 ESV As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you

keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's

commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be

full.