Having Proper Priorities in God's Kingdom (Luke 9:57-62)
Introduction:
1.The primary lesson to learn from Luke 9:57-62 is that "the Lord's followers must have proper priorities." 2."Priorities" are those things we give our utmost attention to -- they are the things that are really important to us. 3.It is interesting that Jesus mentioned "the kingdom of God" twice in these passages. 4.To be devoted citizens in God's kingdom our priorities must be in the proper order. 5.Keeping our priorities in the proper order might be challenging at times, but the Lord wants us to meet that challenge. 6.In our lesson we are concentrating on the Lord's dealings with 3 men and their priorities.
A.At this time Jesus was making a tremendous effort to get people to become His followers. 1.(Luke 9:1-6) He sent the apostles out on the limited commission. 2.(Luke 10:1-2) He later sent out the 70. 3.(Luke 9:23) Jesus let people know that He expected His followers to pay whatever price was involved. 4.It was when Jesus was making this great effort to get people to become His followers that . . . B.(vs.57) This man said he would follow Jesus wherever He went. 1.This man was: a.a volunteer -- he approached the Lord b.a "scribe" (Matthew 8:19). 2.From what we know about this man up to this point, it would appear that he would have been an ideal follower of the Lord. C.(vs.58) However, Jesus informed him that he would have to be willing to sacrifice to follow Him. 1.While foxes have their dens and birds have their nests, Jesus did not have a place to lay His head. 2.If this man followed Jesus, he may not have had a place to lay his head. D.This man had to examine his priorities: Was having a home or following the Lord more important to him?
II.(vs.59-60) JESUSDEALTWITHAMANHEDIDCALL
A.The Lord told him, "Follow me." 1.Implied are the instructions Jesus gave in vs.23. 2.The Lord wanted this man to respond to His call as Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew did (Matthew 4:18-22; 9:9). B.This man responded by asking the Lord to allow him FIRST to go and bury his father. 1.This is interesting because if the father had been dead, he would have been taking care of burying him (the Jews normally buried their dead the same day they died). 2.Perhaps this man's father was advanced in years and the son wanted to wait until after his death to follow Christ. C.Jesus responded by telling him to let others take care of this matter. 1.Jesus had an important mission for this man -- to go and preach the kingdom of God. 2.Jesus wasn't saying that we don't have responsibilities to care for our parents. 3.This man had a problem with his priorities -- he wanted to put the care of his father before following the Lord (see Matthew 10:37).
III.(vs.61-62) JESUSDEALTWITHANOTHERVOLUNTEER
A.This man wanted to follow Jesus, but his priority was to FIRST bid farewell to those at his home. 1.He wanted to place a condition on following the Lord (he imposed his own terms). 2.His condition was going to cause him to take his focus off what was truly important. B.Jesus responded with those familiar words in vs.62.
Conclusion:
1.The Lord wants us to have the right priorities. 2.When it comes to placing our priorities, we must put first those things that are of spiritual importance (Matt. 6:33a). 3.The Lord will bless us for sacrifices we make on His behalf (Luke 18:29-30).
