3. The Renunciation of Reservations (Luke 9:61-62)

The “Go” of Renunciation

Luke 9:57-62

Braver souls for truth may bleed;

Ask us not of noble deed!

Small our share in Christ’s redemption—

From His war we claim exemption.

Not for us the cup was drained;

Not for us the crown of thorn

On His bleeding brow was borne:

Not for us the spear was stained

With the blood from out His side,

Not for us the Crucified.

Let His hands and feet be torn!

On the list we come but low:

Not for us the cross was taken,

Us no bugle call can waken

To the combat, soldier fashion.

Missionary enterprise, to be Christian, must be based on the passion of obedience, not on the pathos of pity. The thing that moves us to-day is pity for the multitude; the thing that makes a missionary is the sight of what Jesus did on the Cross, and to have heard Him say “Go.” Jesus Christ pays no attention whatever to our sentiment. In the New Testament the emphasis is not on the needs of men, but on the command of Christ, “Go ye.”^† The only safeguard in Christian work is to go steadily back to first principles.

1. The Rigour of Rejection (Luke 9:57-58)

(a) The Declaration of Dignified Devotion

And there came a scribe [mg “one scribe”—implying a scribe of the ruling class] and said unto Him, Master, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest. (Matthew 8:19 rv)

Any remnant of consciousness that position in society, or profession, is of value to Jesus is rigorously rejected by Our Lord. The first thing we think of is just that very thing—“If that man were saved, what a wonderful influence he would be for Jesus Christ.” Any sense that the cause of Christ will be benefited if I give myself to it, or any trace of listening to the suggestion of others that I should be of value in my Lord’s service, receives no encouragement from Jesus. The ruggedness of Our Lord’s presentation of things strikes us as being very harsh. All He said to this man was—“The foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.”^† Our Lord is no respecter of persons.^†††† We would have treated this man very differently—“Fancy losing the opportunity of that man!” “Fancy bringing a north wind about him that froze him and turned him away discouraged!” We do respect persons; we do place confidence in the flesh. We need to go back to the centre of the Christian faith, the Cross of Jesus Christ. It is not a question of education nor of personal qualifications, but of understanding Who Jesus is, and knowing what He has done for us.

What is the test we put first for work at home or abroad? Sentimentally, we put the call of God first, but actually we are inclined to fix on the abilities of certain people. Our Lord pays not the remotest attention to natural abilities or natural virtues; He heeds only one thing—Does that man discern Who I am? does he know the meaning of My Cross? The men and women Jesus Christ is going to use in His enterprises are those in whom He has done everything. Our Lord lays down the conditions of discipleship in Luke 14:26-27, 33, and implies that the only men and women He will use in His building enterprises are those who love Him personally, passionately and devotedly, beyond any of the closest relationships on earth.

(b) The Detection of Discernment

But Jesus did not trust Himself unto them, for that He knew all men, . . . for He Himself knew what was in man. (John 2:24-25 rv)

Always take these words of Jesus into account in interpreting His replies, and you will learn never to apologise for your Lord. Our Lord’s attitude to this particular scribe was one of severe discouragement, because He knew what was in him. Jesus Christ’s answers are never based on caprice, but on a knowledge of what is in man. The answers of Jesus hurt and offend until there is nothing left to hurt or offend (cf. Matthew 11:6). If we have never been hurt by a statement of Jesus, it is questionable whether we have ever really heard Him speak. Jesus Christ has no tenderness whatever towards anything that is ultimately going to ruin a man for the service of God. If the Spirit of God brings to our mind a word of the Lord that hurts, we may be perfectly certain there is something He wants to hurt to death.

The rigour of rejection leaves nothing but my Lord and myself and a forlorn hope. “Let the hundredfold come or go,” says Jesus, “your lodestar must be your relationship to Me, and I have nowhere to lay My head.”^†

Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I am about to drink? (Matthew 20:22)

The words of Jesus to the scribe knock the heart out of self-consciousness in service for Jesus, serving Jesus because it pleases one’s self. Jesus told him that if he followed Him he would be homeless and possessionless. Do you expect to be a successful worker for Jesus if you are a disciple of His? Then you are doomed to a discouraging disappointment. Our Lord never called us to successful service; He calls us to present Him: “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.” God saves men; we are sent out to present Jesus Christ and His Cross, and to disciple the souls He saves. The reason we do not make disciples is that we are not disciples ourselves, we are out for our own ends.

2. The Rally of Reluctance (Luke 9:59-60)

(a) The Solicitation of the Lord

And He said unto another, Follow Me.

Jesus said “Follow Me” to a man who was straightway awakened into a ferment of sensitive apprehension. When the call of God begins to dawn, we are full of “Why,” and “But,” and “What will happen if I do?” This man did not want to disappoint Jesus, nor to hurt his father. When Jesus called him, he was staggered into sensitive apprehension.

(b) The Sensitiveness of the Loyal

Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

When Jesus calls, there is the ordeal of conflicting loyalties. Probably the most intense discipline we have to go through is that of learning loyalty to God by the path of what looks like disloyalty to our friends. This is stated in its profoundest form in Luke 14:26—“If any man cometh unto Me, and hateth not his own father mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (rv). Learn to estimate the disproportion in your loyalties. A man will put his Lord to open shame before he will be disloyal to a friend. But when any soul learns how to lay down his life for his Friend, Jesus Christ, other people promptly become shadows until they become realities in Him. When a sense of loyalty to father or mother perplexes you, picture Jesus showing to you His pierced hands and feet, and wounded side, and thorn-crowned head, and hear Him say—“Think, what that must have meant to My mother, and it is I Who call you to follow Me.” No one could have had a more sensitive love in human relationship than Jesus; and yet He says there are times when love to father and mother must be hatred in comparison to our love for Him. The sense of loyalty to father or mother or friends may easily slander Jesus because it implies that He does not understand our duty to them. If Jesus had been loyal to His earthly mother, He would have been a traitor to His Father’s purpose. Obedience to the call of Christ nearly always costs everything to two people—the one who is called, and the one who loves that one. We put sensitive loyalty to relationships in place of loyalty to Jesus; every other love is put first, and He has to take the last place. We will readily give up sin and worldliness, but God calls us to give up the very closest, noblest and most right tie we have, if it enters into competition with His call. Beware of the inclination to dictate to God as to what you will allow to happen if you obey Him.

But He said unto him, leave the dead to bury their own dead; but go thou and publish abroad the kingdom of God. (rv)

These words sound stern, but it must be remembered that Jesus spoke them to only one class of men, to the man who realised his duty to his father. There are only too many who are willing to leave father and mother to preach the gospel in other lands. Always keep our Lord’s sayings in their setting, and before taking a word of Jesus for yourself, see that yours is a similar case. In a conflict of loyalties, obey Jesus at all costs, and you will find that He will remember your mother, as He remembered His own mother on the Cross.

3. The Renunciation of Reservations (Luke 9:61-62)

The blind devotion of the first enthusiasm has to be pulled down into discipline.

(a) The Volunteer of Enthusiasm

And another also said, Lord, I will follow Thee; but . . .

The one who says “Yes, Lord, but . . .” is always the one who is fiercely ready, but never goes. This man had one or two reservations, and one of them was that he wanted a valedictory service.

(b) The Vacillation of Endearments

First suffer me to bid farewell to them that are at my house. (rv)

Beware of the vacillation that comes through thinking of the “Marys” and “Johns” I love at home—my little mission, my church, my native place; it is apt to develop into wanting to fix the scene of your own martyrdom. The exacting call of Jesus leaves no margins of good-byes, because “Good-bye” as it is often used, is pagan, not Christian.

No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

In order to plough a straight furrow, you must look neither at the plough nor behind you, but at the far end of the field ahead. When once the call of God comes, begin to go and never stop going, no matter how many delightful resting places there may be on the way.

Christ’s call is “Follow Me.” Our attitude ought to be—“Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee,” and Jesus will say “Come.”

↑ Back to top