Sermon: "The Demands of Jesus on Our Lives"

A celebrity will always draw the crowds – the bigger the celebrity, the bigger the crowd.

With some celebrities it is simply their presence which draws the crowds and the autograph hunters will flock to them.   They don’t have to say anything.  People just want to see them. 

Other celebrities will draw crowds because they have something to say that appeals to the crowd. Something that encourages them, something that gives them hope; something they strongly agree with or even something they strongly disagree with.    

If you can call Jesus a celebrity, this was the kind of celebrity he was.  People crowded to him because they wanted to hear what he had to say.  He spoke with authority yet with compassion.  He gave people a new meaning to their lives.  He healed people.  He spoke and taught as no one had ever spoken and taught.  People who had been searching for meaning and searching for God at last found the answer to their search in Jesus. 

How do celebrities react to crowds?  Some revel in the attention.  Others want to get away from crowds and get some peace and some time to themselves.   How does Jesus react to crowds?    He does not appear just to enjoy being popular with crowds for the sake of  popularity itself,   but neither does he send crowds away so he can get some peace.

Jesus’ main concern appears to be that the crowds who follow him should do so for the right reason. 

The comment he makes seems very harsh.  He seems to be saying that anyone who follows him must give him priority over everyone and anything else.

He then speaks of there being a great personal cost in following him as he speaks of taking up the cross and following him.   He then tells a story about the importance of anyone undertaking a task to make sure they have the resources before they start. 

Finally he talks about giving up possessions to follow  him. 

I wonder what effect this had on the crowd,   I wonder if there was a crowd left when he finished saying all this.   It’s not difficult to think of it as being something like a football crowd when their team is losing badly and towards the end of the game the crowd begins to leave, at first just one or two, then a few more, until they start leaving in their hundreds.   Can you imagine the crowds listening to Jesus and beginning to think,  “Well if this is what following this new teaching is about we want  nothing to do with it ! “ 

What does this story say to us?    Does Jesus make unrealistic claims on our lives? 

One question is about priorities.  As Christians, our number one priority is prayer. Our whole lives are meant to revolve round our prayer.  Prayer is all about our relationship with God, so our relationship with God affects our relationship with others. 

Once we realise this, Jesus invites us to commit our lives to him, but not without warning us that there is a cost.  He talks about the journey to the cross implying that Christian life may involve suffering.   Finally he tells us to consider the implications before making a commitment to him. 

Can we really expect people to be drawn to our Christian faith when Jesus appears to make so many demands?   Christian history points to the fact that when Christianity becomes more tough for people to follow, then more people are attracted to the faith and Jesus continues to draw the crowds.  Despite Jesus’ words to his first disciples that appear to make following him such a difficult task, people did turn to him and have continued to do so ever since, until today millions follow him. 

His challenge to us, may mean a call to giving God priority and to accepting the cost of following Christ but like for his first hearers the words of Jesus give meaning to our lives and lead us to a greater understanding of God.