Pastor Jon Burgess
April 14, 2019 - W1915

Just Obey

CoMission

Pastor Jon Burgess

April 13 & 14, 2019

Welcome, New Hope! We’ve been studying the Great Commission for the last couple of weeks, and I must ask you this simple question: “When it comes to Jesus, are you a fan or a follower?” 

A fan is an admirer (of sports teams, certain actors, certain ways of thinking, etc.). A follower is an adherent (loyal, obedient)—Jesus asks us to be His followers! 

A recent survey was done on a large cross section of believers that started me thinking about this question. The believers were asked: “How many of you would consider yourselves just a fan of Jesus?” And 75 percent of the Christians said, “Oh, yeah, I’m a fan of Jesus, instead of a follower.” I believe some of the reason might be that we just look at Jesus as our pal, our buddy. But when the rubber meets the road and things get difficult to handle, that’s when being a fan of Jesus doesn’t really work anymore! I’m hoping that in this last session of the series, CoMission, that we would look one more time, afresh, at our mission and ask ourselves this simple question and answer with a firm, “Yes, I’m a followerof Jesus!”

Read Matthew 28:18-20 NIV, “¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’”

In John Chapter 6, Jesus is multiplying the loaves and fishes; the crowd showed up and they had a free lunch! But then something interesting happens when they show up for another free lunch, and Jesus says, “I’m not doing the bread and fish thing today.  I am the Bread of Life, and all you need is Me.” John 6:66 NIV says, “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” Fans of Jesus will be there for a free lunch; but when He says, “I need you to follow me. We'll be going through some tough times, and I'm asking you to obey me in some areas that are not culturally popular, and seek me over your own will.” All of a sudden we say, “Let me rethink this.”

A fan will admire and respect Jesus from afar for what He says and even come to church and cheer Him on; but a follower will obey Jesus no matter how difficult it gets! That’s the difference between a fan (convert) and a disciple. Jesus didn’t say go into the world and make converts; He said to make disciples. And when we become a follower of Jesus Christ, He says, “Now I want you to teach them everything I’ve commanded you.” 

I believe, sometimes as pastors, we've done a disservice in trying to soft sell the follower of Jesus by painting a rosy picture of Christianity, without showing them the difficult picture.

Following Jesus is not for the faint of heart. There’s an advantage in obeying instructions and, yet, I think all of us would rather play the game by our own rules. And so Jesus straight up says, “This will be the most difficult thing you’ve ever done in your life: First of all, you’ll be… 

1. Outmanned (outnumbered)  

Luke 10:1-2 NIV say, “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. ² He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’”

Right out of the gate Jesus tells the 72 disciples, “You’re not enough, not even close. Guys, the job out there requires way more than you. Those hands that you have, you can work until you’re blistered on the harvest of people that need to come to know Christ, and you’ll need way more!”

When you feel overwhelmed and the task is too big for you, you can pray realizing that you don’t have to do this in your own strength because God can fill in the gaps. Jesus tells us that we need to pray first, before doing anything else because He knows that unless the heart work precedes the hard work, our hearts will grow hard in the working—and we will resent the very people we’re supposed to be reaching! Pray that God keeps your heart in the right place! 

Remember, there are thousands of people going into a Christ-less eternity—unless we get more harvest hands! The second thing Jesus tells them is that you’ll be...  

2. Outgunned

Luke 10:3 NIV says, “ Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.” 

The devil never saw that Jesus (the Lamb of God) had come to take away the sins of the world! He was gloating the whole time thinking that he had the upper hand: What could a lamb do to a pack of wolves?  But here the Lamb of God is humbly laying down His life—completely outgunned!  

But humility comes and storms the gates of hell! Jesus was saying what I'm about to model for you you're about to do!  It’s easy to get defensive and argumentative when you feel outgunned, when your family or people at school or at work are ganging up on you. But remember, you’re a lamb among wolves—God has sent you there to save souls! Keep that in perspective! 

The enemy will never see us coming when we're not coming arrogantly, but humbly—as lambs among wolves! TheLamb of God teaches us next that you’ll be… 

3. Out of Time

Luke 10:4 NIV says, “Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.” 

Jesus said this because time was of the essence—there was no time to waste! There was urgency in Jesus’ voice as He says, “Do not procrastinate or get distracted because people are dying and going into a Christ-less eternity—if you don’t get them! You don’t have time for nice conversations with people who already know Me. I need you to go now!  Please understand the urgency!”  Next, Jesus said, “You’ll be an…

4. Outcast

Luke 10:10-11 NIV says, “¹⁰ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say,  “¹¹Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’”

If you became a Christian to be cool, someone sold you the wrong bill of goods because you will be on the outside—ignored and rejected! That’s what Jesus is saying here: Your faith in Christ automatically means you will never fit in! You will be forced to choose and prepare the way just as John the Baptist did—for an encounter with Jesus! 

You may not have realized this, but just by being present where you work, in your home, or on your campus, you are forcing people to choose: This makes people upset because they would much rather live in limbo and ask, “Can we just leave it at that?” 

Having a Christian in a conversation automatically demands a choice: Either move from simply cheering Jesus on from the sidelines, or, saying, “I'm all in because there is no halfway in the kingdom of God—it's 100 percent.” Jesus is telling us, “Hey, follow me and you will get rejected, but understand that I'm not asking you to do anything that I have not modeled for you.”  Jesus was despised and rejected yet He faced it all!

People may be thinking:  “I'm giving up my right to revenge, to retribution, to win an argument, to be cool, or to fit in!” Is this the worst motivational speech you've ever heard? “Hey, follow Jesus and you’ll be outmanned, outgunned, out of time, and an outcast!” This couldn’t have fired them up more.  I’m praying the same effect will be here.  Christianity is not a walk-in-the-park.

5. Changing The World From The Inside Out

Luke 10:17-20 NIV says, “¹⁷ The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.’¹⁸ He replied, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹ I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. ²⁰However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’” 

Following Jesus is not for the faint of heart—you're here because you're a world changer! You will change the world one person at a time! Those hands you have are harvest hands; the heart you have has endured so much.  Jesus saved your heart and He endured even more. There's a fire lighting inside of you, a boldness rising up that says, “This isn't for somebody else to do. This is for me to do!”   

None of the 72 disciples were fans—they weren't there just for the free bread and fish.  They were all in, even if it meant they were outmanned, outgunned, out of time, outcast! They were laying it all down for Jesus because they were willing to die for someone who'd be willing to die for them! They saw in Jesus' eyes and heard in His voice something that stirred in their spirit, convincing them that this guy is the real deal!  He's also inviting us into the greatest privilege we've ever had: That no matter how long or how short our life will be, we want to give it to the cause of Christ!  

Jesus told the disciples to not rejoice that the spirits must flee at His Name, or that God will use you to heal marriages and relationships; but rejoice that your names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life! 

Those who follow Jesus must fight the way He fought—outmanned, outgunned, outcast, out of time—so that we could change the world from the inside out!  

Write the names of ten people who you will pray for and invite to our Easter services. There are 290,000 people living within five miles of the Ministry Center. Could this be an epicenter for a spiritual awakening because of the people you invite to church? 

New Hope Oahu was never defined as a building or a piece of property: It has always been the People of God and the Presence of God—living out the purposes of God in the world around us to reach as many people as possible.  

Let’s flood the gates of heaven with our prayers; and flood the streets of this island with invitations to come to Christ!

Study Questions:

1.     How will you bring someone to be a follower of Christ?
2.     How will you become more of a follower of Christ instead of a fan?
3.     What are some ways you will show your love for Christ?
4.     How will you obey God no matter what?
5.     What challenges are you dealing with in obeying God; how will you overcome them?