The Lessons I've Learned From Three Men - Kyle Yule

So when I was a kid, my dad had built me a treehouse, and it was a pretty cool treehouse. It was probably 10, 15 feet off the ground. And later in life, he took the house part off, and we made a clubhouse out on the ground. But the platform was still up there. And I remember the only way to get up there was an extension ladder that he would have to take out and put up. And he got up there, and he shot archery, and he shot his targets off there.

But as a little boy, I thought it would be cool to go up there myself. And so we had two ropes that we hung from the tree that we used to climb on all the time. And I figured out if you climbed up the one rope halfway, you could step out onto the limb and walk to the base of the tree, and then reach up onto the next limb and pull yourself up and get onto that limb, and then finally grab onto the platform and pull yourself up. And when you're up there, that was pretty much it.

But it was cool as a young boy to be able to see over the fields and the other places. And to get down, the rope was right in front of the platform. And so you'd sit on the edge, and you'd use your foot, and you'd grab the rope, and you'd pull it in, and then you'd reach up as high as you could on the rope, and you'd let go, and you'd swing off the edge, and then you could go down.

Well, my cousin came over the one time, and I wanted to show him the coolest thing that I've discovered. And so I ran to the backyard, to the tree, and I got up onto the rope. I walked across, got up onto the next branch, got up onto the platform, and I'm sitting there, and I'm trying to explain to him how easy it is to get down. And so I use my foot, I reach the rope, grab it in, pull it off, and I show him it's so easy. You can just slide right off. And so I slid off, and I didn't go anywhere.

And I'm looking around, and I let go of the rope, and I'm hanging there. Well, here, my good church pants got stuck on a screw, and I was just hanging on the edge of the platform by a screw.

I eventually pulled myself up. I was okay. I am okay. I made it down. And I got down the rope, and he went and told my parents. I don't know if my parents ever knew that I did that.

Now they do.

But I thought about it and how similar that is to my journey and our journey into the kingdom of God, and how easy it is to stay on the place where we think is safe and easy, and we just want to slide off to the next transition of life instead of reaching up high on the rope and jumping and putting all our faith in that rope that is Christ.

And so that is my story today. The title of my message is The Lessons I've Learned from Three Men. So good morning to you, and peace be to you, and greetings in Christ's name. Oh, yeah. Okay. And it truly is a blessing to be able to be here today and to speak.

Thank you. Because this congregation has impacted me and my wife, Lily, so much, whether it be through Scroll Publishing or the Sound Faith channel or just meeting each of you individually and fellowshipping with you. You have impacted our walk into the kingdom more than you know.

And so sincerely, thank you to everyone.

And today, I'd like to take a look at a passage that I think has really brought me into this new realization of what the kingdom life is all about. And it's really challenged me and helped me to realize what it looks like to follow Jesus.

I'm just going to rearrange some things.

And so if we could all open to Luke 9:57. It'll be Luke 9:57, and I'll be reading through verse 62.

So starting in Luke 9:57. "Now it happened as they journeyed on the road that someone said to him, 'Lord, I will follow you wherever you go.' And Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.'

Then he said to another, 'Follow me.' But he said, 'Lord, let me first go and bury my father.' Jesus said to him, 'Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.' And another also said, 'Lord, I will follow you, but first let me go and bid them farewell who are at my house.'

But Jesus said, 'No one having put his hand to the plow and looking back is it fit for the kingdom of God.'" And so as you can tell, my passage title comes from these three men. These three men in Luke that I believe teach us very important aspects of discipleship and following Christ in our everyday walk.

And it's interesting that we never get an answer to whether these men do follow Christ or not. We see that Jesus presents them with the opportunity where they come and tell him that they're ready to follow, and Jesus tells them what it's going to look like if they live this kingdom life and if they follow him. And so when I read through this, I can't help but put myself in these men's shoes.

If Jesus said these things to me, would I answer and say yes and follow him, or would I walk away like the rich young ruler?

And so I believe each man represents a different characteristic, and though it is not all the characteristics of following Christ, it is some of the ones that have challenged me the most. And so starting with the first man, we see that Jesus, by saying he has nowhere to lay his head, is telling all of us that we are to be sojourners and pilgrims on this earth, to have nowhere to lay your head, to be in a foreign land, one that you just walk through.

I don't believe that Jesus is telling this man to sell his pillow, but that we are to be strangers and set apart from this world. In my journey into radical Christianity, I found that I had been laying my head on a lot of things that Jesus had called me to wake up to, things that tied me to the lusts and the trends of the world around me.

It occurred to me that to be a sojourner here in America meant that I actually had to be a sojourner, one that travels through a land that is not his home. My country was no longer America.

The love for my earthly nation, the trends that I was following, always wanting something else and not being satisfied with the simple things that God had given me, the music that I listened to, the movies I watched, the sports I followed, the love for my own life were all things that I should be left at the gate when I enter into God's kingdom.

For Scripture tells us we are ambassadors for the kingdom of God, and we are not to be conformed to this world, but to keep ourselves unstained by it. And as Christians, we are but mere pilgrims in this land, pilgrims that reside in America and who live here, but ultimately, we live in the kingdom of God.

The way we act, the way we live, the way we speak, the way we think are all under authority of our gracious heavenly king.

And this is nothing new. All throughout history, God's people were called to be this set-apart people, a people that did not conform to the nations and the lusts and the idolatries that were happening around them, through Abraham who lived in tents, to Moses who had set laws given by God to separate them from the world, to even things like not having a king or not marrying people with idolatrous nations was meant to keep them as a people of God. And I see it no different for today.

As people of God, we live under the command that our king gives us so that we may be separate from the world around us. And in doing this, we model a nation, our nation, that is greater than the rest of the world. To love the people around us is to show them a greater way of life, a life that's not under the lullaby that Satan sings, putting people to rest in the pleasures of sin and death, but to look and say how great our kingdom is, to say, "Look at the fruits of the citizens who follow their king." And that's all it takes is to come out of the world and live under God's command.

Now we are to still be present in the world today. We're not to hide away and hide this kingdom, but to show the world that we are strangers to desires and lusts and the pride of life that is all around us, the things that the world has to offer.

Now when I thought about this, I thought about Solomon over Israel, when he was king. And in the beginning, when he had a devout life to God, one that followed in his commands and walked in him and led his people, and all of these things, God blessed him. He gave him wealth and knowledge and riches and the temple that was built, and it was more beautiful than anything.

And nations and people came from all over the place to see that, the glory and wonder that Israel had and the wisdom that Solomon was given. But then what happened? Solomon loved women. He loved women of idolatrous nations, and he married them. And when he grew old, his heart turned away from God, and he did evil in the sight of him. And so for me, this aspect of being a pilgrim at first sounded restrictive to not live like the rest of the world.

And then as I read through these accounts in history of Israel, I see that God isn't trying to control us. He's telling us that to be a sojourner is keeping us safe. It's keeping us out of the idolatry and the things that are going to lead us to death. And ultimately, it's a better witness than being in the world or of the world.

And moving on to man number two, this next man who had presented with the wonderful and glorious call, "Follow me," Jesus shows us through him the next characteristic of discipleship. To put everything aside and to proclaim the kingdom of God must be our priority.

We must forsake our desires and the things that keep us from God and his kingdom. To let the dead bury their own dead means living with a newness of life and not living with these things that keep us from living a godly life in Christ.

My wife and I's entrance into kingdom Christianity was not an easy road by any means. Lily and I were faced with lots of things that really challenged us. For us, our wants and desires and comforts was this dead father. They were the things that kept us from entering in and proclaiming the kingdom of God to ourselves and to others.

Needless to say, it was a harsh realization when Jesus opened our eyes to a deeper faith. What if the Christianity that we were living, one that was comfortable and easy, isn't what it looks like to be a soldier for Christ?

For so long, we had filed so many commands that Christ and the apostles gave us as legalistic or cultural or passed them off by saying, "Jesus didn't mean this. He meant that," explaining the commandments of God away for a faith that tickled our ears.

We had kept coming back to the things of the dead, things that had prevented us from fully following Jesus. And at the end, we were following our wants and fitting Jesus into wherever it was convenient.

Now the phrase Dean Taylor uses, I don't know if it's specific to him, but this is where I've heard it. What if Jesus meant what he said? A simple phrase, but one that took my faith and reworked it to a whole new level.

It gave it a new look. How am I supposed to look at my faith? What if God really knows the best way? What if I take the words of Jesus and his apostles as literal?

What if I let the dead bury the dead, putting aside the comforts and rights and wrongs I've decided and looked at what Jesus says?

Lily and I spent many times looking at what it means to follow Jesus and kept returning to the conclusion that what I think and what I do does not take precedence over what Scripture and God tells me. After all, he is my king.

If everyone could turn to John 3:22, this account of John the Baptist took the idea of putting God above everything else to a new standard.

So reading from John 3:22, I'm going to read to verse 31.

After these things, Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea, and there he remained with them and baptized. Now John also was baptizing in Enon near Salem because there was much water there, and they came and were baptized, for John had not yet been thrown into prison.

Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification. And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan to whom you have testified, behold, he is baptizing and all are coming to him." John answered, and he said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.

You yourselves bear witness where we witness that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.' He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.

Therefore, this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all."

And so we see that this is John's thing. He was known for baptizing people, and Jesus' disciples come, and they're baptizing people, and more people are going to Jesus, and they're leaving John and going to Jesus.

And John's disciples come to him and say, paraphrasing, "Jesus, look at it. They're taking all your people. They're taking all your fame away. They're taking everything that you've built up and made your own." And what John says in 3:30 had wrecked me, and it still does.

He must increase, but I must decrease.

That was a hard reality. It gives me only two options in life. If I do this, am I honoring God and proclaiming the kingdom, or am I honoring me and making myself comfortable?

He must increase, but I must decrease. So things like submission and headship order, things like non-resistance and modesty and adorning myself and loving my enemies more than my own life, these things and many, many more became the new truths of my life. My wants, desires, and comforts had to be put out of my life, and they were filled.

They were filled with the wants and the desires and comforts that God's Spirit gives me through a faithful follower of our king.

Now looking back at our passage in Luke, we come to the third man.

And this third man, in verse 61 and 62, I believe teaches us a very important aspect of the kingdom, one that if we don't look at and follow, it's going to take us off track and lead us into death.

To put our hand to the plow and look back, to look back on a life of sin before following Christ.

And I don't know about you, but when I hear this, I think of the account of Lot's wife, who when brought out of Sodom, out of a life of sin and death and destruction by the mercy and grace of God, who then chose to look back, back at a life that leads to death with longing and remembrance.

And that's where we end up, turned to a pillar of salt and death.

I remember when I was a boy and I got the ability to mow the lawn. I got the chore or it was fun. I liked mowing the lawn. And I remember when I mowed the lawn for the first time, I was sat on the riding tractor, and I'm mowing the lawn, and the first thing you want to do is you want to make your lines as straight as possible. And so I was mowing the lawn, and you're sitting on the tractor, and the way to check how straight your lines are is by turning around.

And so when you turn around, some of you are catching on, you move the wheel, which then causes you to go off track. And so then when I turned around, I had to fix my mistake, so I cut it back. Well, then I wanted to see how bad my line was. So I looked back, veering off the other way, and it was a bunch of waves.

It ended up in an endless loop until I finally realized that the best way to cut grass, and here's a secret, is to just look at the line that you're cutting and straight ahead, and you'll get a straight line.

And I thought about that, and it's the same as the Christian walk today. If we're concerned and we're constantly looking back in one of a life back there that we left, a life of sin and pleasure and comfort and joys of the world, well, we're going to take our plow off the narrow path that Jesus paved.

And so how must we keep on looking onward? How are we to keep on the straight and narrow? There's a lot of things in life that are very distracting.

And ultimately, it is to recognize that God gives us the power to keep looking onward and that he puts these commands and ways to live in our lives because he loves us, and he is trying to keep us from harm and wandering away from him. He's leading us on a life that leads to life.

And next, we see that this man, he wants to go back to his house and bid them farewell to the people that he surrounded himself with when he was back here.

And so I think Jesus wants us to surround ourselves with brothers and sisters who are plowing in the fields for the kingdom. It's a lot easier to plow a straight line when you have people alongside of you, in front of you and behind you that are showing you the way and are giving you guideposts to plow with.

And that when we start to veer off, they can run over to us and say, "Brother, sister, are you doing all right? Can I help you with anything?"

and correct us back onto that narrow path. And so the Christian walk is designed for community.

And so to recap, the first man shows us that to follow Christ, we must be sojourners and pilgrims in the earthly nations, living in the kingdom here on earth. The next man shows us that we must let all things that are keeping us from proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom die and that those things are keeping us in a life of death. He must increase, but I must decrease.

And the third man shows us that if we are looking back at a life that is full of sin and death, we're going to wander off the path that Jesus paved.

Now, these things may be nothing new to you, and that's awesome. But for me, they were. And when I followed them, they had changed my life.

And so to end, if we could sing song 381 in the hymnals as I'm pressing on the upward way, song 381.

381.

On the upward way, new lights I'm gaining every day. Still praying as I'm onward bound, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. Lord, lift me up and let me stand. My faith on heaven's table land, a higher plane than I have found. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

My heart does so desire to stay where doubts arise and fears display. Though some may dwell where these abound, my prayer, my aim is higher ground. Lord, lift me up and let me stand. My faith on heaven's table land, a higher plane than I have found. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

I want to live above the world. Those satan stars set me on world. For faith has caught the joyful sound, the song of saints on higher ground. Lord, lift me up and let me stand. My faith on heaven's table land, a higher plane than I have found. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

I want to sail the utmost high and catch and leave a glory bride. But still, I pray to have my found. Lord, lead me on to higher ground. Lord, lift me up and let me stand. My faith on heaven's table land, a higher plane than I have found. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.