“The Charge of the Light Brigade: Let’s Give It Up for Jesus!”
Ex. 24:1-8; Lk. 9:57-62 & 14:25-33
Life is filled with contracts. There are contracts between management and employees, between nations, between provider and buyer, and even between husband and wife. All of these various relationships are based on promises or commitments to which the parties have bound themselves. Life for Israel was no different.
In the 24th chapter of Exodus, we see A RATIFIED COMMITMENT. The ceremony of which we just read is a ceremony of commitment – a two-sided commitment. On the one side, GOD HAS REPEATEDLY RATIFIED HIS COMMITMENT TO HIS PEOPLE. The first main covenant recorded in Scripture is that instituted by God with Noah (Gen. 8-9); God promised to never again flood the whole earth. Then in Gen. 12:1-3 God called Abraham to leave everything and everyone he knew and head for a land he had never seen so that God could build a nation and bless the world through him. God then renewed that covenant in Genesis 15. Then here in Exodus 24 God renews and amplifies the covenant with a new generation of people.
It was done, as we read, through a formal, elaborate ceremony, highlighted with the sacrifice and sprinkling of blood. The ceremony was comprised of a sacrifice, a meal in which they ate of the sacrifice, a memorial to remind people of their commitments – some kind of physical token of their oath – and then a curse pronounced upon anyone breaking the oath. As part of the ceremony the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled on both the altar and the people, which united God and the people in a sacred bond. Such ceremonies and covenants were common throughout Israel’s life.
As we follow the Biblical flow of history we are reminded that JESUS RATIFIED GOD’S COMMITMENT TO US. When Jesus died on the Cross He did so as a sacrifice; He shed the blood to create a bond between us and God, to reconcile us to God. In Ephesians 2:13 Paul wrote, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.” Through the shed blood of Jesus God was covenanting with us – promising to be our God and to forever love us.
Then God secured the bond even further as THE HOLY SPIRIT RATIFIED GOD’S COMMITMENT TO US. Listen to Paul: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Eph. 4:30) “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession…’(Eph. 1:13-14) “Now it is God who makes … you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” (2 Cor. 1:21-22) As the blood was sprinkled upon the Israelite people, in order to seal God’s pardoning love upon their hearts and consciences, and to remind them that their very lives depended upon the blood, so the Holy Spirit has been given to us as a seal and pledge that God is for us and will never abandon us.
But there is a second side to this commitment ceremony. GOD IS CALLING US TO RATIFY OUR COMMITMENT TO HIM. In Exodus we notice that the people made the commitment more than once (verses 3 & 7), and they had done so also in 19:8, just prior to receiving the 10 commandments. It’s as if God wanted to be sure the people realized the significance and seriousness of what they were saying and pledging when they unanimously uttered, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” So He makes sure they repeat it in all sincerity. It is, after all, serious business. God will keep His end of the bargain, but will the people keep theirs? GOD WILL KEEP HIS END OF THE BARGAIN, BUT WILL WE KEEP OURS? We come to God on His terms, not ours. We do not obey God so that He will be faithful to us but because as the Holy God He has been faithful to us. We do not give to God so that He will give to us, but we give because He has first given to us!
This is why Jesus kept calling for A RENEWED COMMITMENT. Luke 9:51 records that Jesus “…resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” Luke is telling us that everything Jesus did from that moment on was done to prepare for His crucifixion. So it’s in that context that we must understand the three encounters with Jesus. He was inviting people to walk with him to the cross. So let’s examine the three encounters.
First (57) we meet RELIGIOUS RICK. He didn’t need an invitation. He simply told Jesus that he would follow Him anywhere. Religious Rick was religiously inclined; he had great respect for Jesus. He had observed the crowds and caught the excitement of being in the presence of Jesus. He was anxious to be a more permanent part of the whole experience.
But Jesus challenged his heart. Jesus was concerned that Religious Rick wanted to be a follower and not a disciple. So Jesus responded, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Following Jesus would not be a smooth, easy journey. There would be no home base, no comfortable inns, no guaranteed food, no salary, no pension plan, No Roth IRA, no health-care plan, and no social security. It reminds me of the great missionary David Livingstone who charted great paths for mission in Africa. One time a missionary society wrote him a letter saying, “We have some people who would like to join you. Do you have some easy access roads to get where you are?” Dr. Livingstone wrote back, “If you have men who will come only if there are good roads, I don’t want them. I want men who will come even if there is no road at all.” TO BE A DISCIPLE OF JESUS IS TO ACCEPT A LIFE OF RADICAL INSECURITY. Jesus, after all, was soundly rejected all along the journey. Discipleship is not about a destination – it is about the journey itself. A disciple’s life is a life of constant movement. Religious Rick, are you really ready to say “Everything the Lord says I will do?”
Next, meet CALCULATING CARL. Jesus extended him an invitation to follow Him. But Calculating Carl replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” He was willing to follow Jesus but just not at the moment. He would follow Jesus when the time was right, when he had more time, when his life was all set, when everything was decent and in order. He would calculate when it would be convenient to go with Jesus. For now being near Jesus was fine; but seriously following Him could wait until later. I shudder to think of how many times I’ve been Carl’s twin as I’ve put off the calling and leading of Jesus because I just wasn’t ready.
But Jesus challenged his heart. “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” WHEN JESUS CALLS, IT IS TIME TO GO. Nothing else has higher priority. Proclaiming the kingdom of God trumps all other pursuits. Jesus is worthy of total allegiance and obedience. The timing of life is not determined by us. Calculating Carl, are you really ready to say “Everything the Lord says I will do?”
The next encounter is with DIVIDED DAVID. Like Religious Rick he didn’t wait for an invitation – He approached Jesus. He was ready to go except for saying his good-byes to his family. He was ready to leave them, but not quite. They were, after all, his first priority, the love of his life. Surely Divided David could serve both family and Jesus. I can’t help but think of Lot’s wife, who on her way out of Sodom and Gomorrah had to take one last look back – she had left in body but not in her heart. And she dissolved into a pillar of salt.
So Jesus challenged his heart. “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” YOU CANNOT LOOK BACK AND GO STRAIGHT FORWARD; YOU CANNOT BE MIRED IN THE PAST AND MOVE FORWARD IN THE FUTURE. The only way to serve Jesus is with absolute, undivided, exclusive affection and obedience. As Paul later wrote (Phil. 3:13-14), “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Divided David, are you really ready to say “Everything the Lord says I will do?”
All three men were fans of Jesus – but Jesus is not interested in building a fan club. He wants disciples. He wants people who can seriously say “Everything the Lord says I will do.” That’s why just as God kept renewing the contract with the Israelites Jesus kept bringing up the commitment contract with his followers. Jesus does not want hasty commitments – He wants A REASONED COMMITMENT. He wants people who will be in it for the long haul or not at all. So later, when once again the crowds were following Jesus, Jesus raised the issue for further emphasis and clarification (Lk. 14: 25f.). He told them to count the cost before they signed the contract to follow Him. He used the illustrations of building a tower and going to war to underscore that commitment to Jesus, signing a contract to be His disciple, was to be well thought out and reasoned – at least in the sense of being aware of the cost. And what’s the cost? THE COST IS EVERYTHING. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple…any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” As the martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” Steven Furtick put it this way, “Salvation is free. Obedience can be very costly.”
When Texas pastor Jim Denison was in college, he served as a summer missionary in East Malaysia. While there he attended a small church. At one of the church's worship services, a teenage girl came forward to announce her decision to follow Christ and be baptized. During the service, Denison noticed some worn-out luggage leaning against the wall of the church building. He asked the pastor about it. The pastor pointed to the girl who had just been baptized and told Denison, "Her father said that if she was baptized as a Christian she could never go home again. So she brought her luggage." Are you really ready to say “Everything the Lord says I will do?”
We’re not accustomed to thinking about following Jesus on His terms. We prefer our own terms. We’d rather follow Jesus and invest on something else. I love how David Platt puts it in his book, “What is Jesus worth to you? The Radical Question.” “What if there is another way? What if we were created for a much greater purpose? What if we were created, not to advance ourselves, but to deny ourselves? What if Jesus is worthy of more in our lives that a Christian spin on the American dream? And what if there is greater, more lasting success, security, safety, and satisfaction that can be found only in radical devotion to him?” Think about it. What if Jesus calls a college graduate to head for the mission field and leave behind the lucrative job offer? What if He calls the well respected, wealthy businessman to sell the business and use the profit to expand the Kingdom? What if Jesus asks me to be really active in retirement instead of relaxing and spending time with my kids and grandkids? What if Jesus calls you to a lesser position or lower income and standard of living? What if Jesus calls us to leave our friends and family to go to a place we’ve never been? What if, now that we as a congregation have committed to supporting and promoting adoption, Jesus calls us to set up a fund to assist those who adopt, or calls us to go and build orphanages, or to sponsor bringing children to America? Are we really ready to say “Everything the Lord says I will do?”
But all of you who are members of this congregation, any who have confessed Jesus as Savior and Lord, have also taken some serious vows. The question for you today is: AM I SERIOUS ABOUT MY VOWS? Where is your commitment this morning to Christ? Are you being loyal and faithful to Him? How is your commitment to the Church? Are you actively and faithfully serving, giving, worshiping, and loving? Are you, in Paul’s words, offering yourself as a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1)? The Confederate general Jeb Stuart, when writing his letters to General Robert E. Lee, signed his correspondence, “Yours to count on.” Can Jesus count on you? Recall the words of Ecclesiastes 5:4-6: “When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the messenger, "My vow was a mistake." Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands?” Are you really ready to say “Everything the Lord says I will do?”
A common way for emcees to introduce someone to an audience is to say, “Let’s give it up for…” What they mean is give lots of applause and cheering. This morning I am challenging each of us to give it up for Jesus – but what it means is not just to cheer but to give it all up,
to sacrifice, to die to ourselves. Allow me to use again this clarion call of David Platt:
“Let’s sacrifice it all!
For the glory of Christ among a billion people who have not even head the gospel…
For the sake of men, women, and children who are starving, suffering, and dying every single day…
For the millions in your city and my city who do not know Christ and are headed for a Christless eternity…
For ourselves, for our churches, for our families, for our children who will come behind us…
For all this and more, let’s sacrifice it all!
And when we do, we will discover that Jesus is, indeed, absolutely worthy of all our plans and all our dreams and all our ambitions.
Are you ready to say “Everything the Lord says I will do?” Let’s give it up for Jesus!
