Did you hear about the Southern Illinois University cheerleader who in the final minutes of a game against Bradley University, fell fifteen feet from the top of a human pyramid? When she fell, a loud sickening thud could be heard throughout the Savvis center. For several minutes the crowd stood motionless as her body lay lifelessly on the floor. But then suddenly, as they carried her out of the gymnasium on a stretcher, she raised both arms in the air! As the crowd erupted in applause, she continued going through the motions of her cheer! She’s expected to make a full recovery.
When asked about the incident, she later said that her biggest concern wasto not distract her team from the winning the game. She said, "I’m still a cheerleader, on a stretcher or off a stretcher." Boy, talk about school spirit!
When I first saw the story on the news, I kind of chuckled. But then I thought, how often do we see someone with such remarkable focus and determination? Courage is defined as being a person’s ability to "set their face" toward an objective and never turn away from it.
Modern-day examples of courage.
Olympic athletes demonstrate courage as they pursue a gold medal. Soldiers demonstrate courage as they defend our homeland. Firemen demonstrate courage when they enter burning buildings to save lives.
I heard about an expectant mother who was told that her baby would be born with a number of birth defects. During a sonogram thedoctors had detected a large cyst in the baby’s brain. They encouraged the mother and father to consider aborting the child’s life. The mother and father refused. Defects or none, they resolved to give that child a shot at life.
A few months ago they gave birth to a perfectly healthy child. The only aftereffect of the situation is that the young mother now has gray hair because of the stress the doctors caused her. But I applaud the parentsfor having the courage to believe in the sanctity of human life. God honoredthe parents'courageous faith. Doctors were mystified andsaidit was a miracle.
Courage is the ability to "setone's face" toward an objective and never turn away.
Courage is a person’s ability to "sethis face" toward an objective and never turn away. Nowhere is this courage more greatly exemplified than in the life of Jesus. In Luke 9:51 (NIV) we read that, "As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem." The Message Bible paraphrase says that Jesus, "gathered up his courage and steeled himself for the journey to Jerusalem."What a powerful image of Jesus—"steeled himself." TheNew King James Versionmore accurately says that, "Jesus steadfastly set his face for Jerusalem."
When I was younger my brother Mike and I were always getting into trouble. Whenever we’d get in trouble, my Dad would line us up and question us about what had happened. "Who set that fire? Who broke the mirror on the van? Who went to bathroom in the garden?"Don’t laugh.We only had one bathroom for six people." The key to survival was keeping a thoughtful, sober face. But not for my brother Mike! Inevitably, his lips would quiver and a goofy grin would break across his face. My dad thedrill sergeantwould say, "Do you think this is a joke? Do you I’m being funny? Wipe that smirk off your face before I do." We nicknamed Mike "smirk" for his complete inability to keep a straight face. Sometimes we would get in fist fights and he’d have that smirk on his face.
Jesus was resolute in the face of suffering.
But not Jesus! Jesus resolutely "set his face" and "steeled himself" for what he would face in Jerusalem. This image of "setting one’s face" comes from Isaiah the prophet in Isaiah 50:6-7. Isaiah foretold the coming of the Christ in the book of Isaiah centuries earlier. For Isaiah, Jesus the Christ would come as a sufferingservant. The suffering servant would not flinch or turn back from the purpose for which he was sent. He would suffer and die and then be glorified by God the Father.
When Isaiah the prophet speaks of Jesus Christ, he speaks of him in the first person, "I".In Isaiah 50:6-7 (NIV) he says, "I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame." Is there anything for whichyou would offer your back to be beaten? Is there anything for which you would offer your beard to be pulled out (ouch!!!)? Is there anything or anyone for which you would endure shame and insult?
I was talking to a Vietnam veteran over a week ago. He was describing how during training they hauled all the Marine recruits off to a makeshift prison out in the boonies. One by one, they hooked up electrical wires to the soldiers to torture them. At the lowest settings the average soldier would begin crying for his mother and spew out whatever information the interrogators asked. The recruitsjust wanted things to end.
Jesus set his face like stone in obedience to God.
Jesus set his face like stone or flint in obedience to God. He was stone-faced. Isaiah 52:14-15 tells how people would be appalled at the Christ. His appearance would be disfigured beyond that of any man and his form would marred beyond human likeness.
Isaiah 53:3 (NIV) tells ushowJesus would be, " ...despised and rejected by men,a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering." Isaiah 53:5 (NIV) says the Christ would be, "...pierced for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities..." Isaiah 53:7 (NIV) tells us howJesus would be, "...led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth." The suffering servant, the Christ, would not open his mouth but would submit to the will of his father in heaven.
Courage is a person’s ability to "set their face" toward an objective and never turn away. Luke 9:51-56 (NIV) says, "As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, 'Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?' But Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village."
Jerusalem would be the place of final confrontation between Jesus and the religious leaders. In Jerusalem they would mock him, mar him, crucify him, and leave him for dead. But Jesus understood that his impending death would accomplish salvation for the world. Through his death the whole world would be reconciled to God. God would no longer count men’s sins against them, but would forgive all who believed. Incredible good would come through his death, but Jesus would still have to die. Later in Luke 22:42 (NIV) Jesus would pray, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."
True discipleship to God's will is costly.
Too often we are all motivated for obeying God’s will, so long as it doesn’t cost us personally. What do the scriptures say? Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, so long as it's comfortable, convenient, in my budget, socially acceptable, popular, pain free, can work into my busy schedule, doesn’t cause me to change, etc........!!??
No,Matthew 6:10 (NIV) says, "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." As Easter nears, we’ll have opportunity to reflect more on Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. What we need to understand right now is that becoming a follower of Jesus Christ requires courage. Like Christ, we need to possess this ability to follow hard after God’s will and never turn away, no matter how much it costs us personally.
Do you remember how John the Baptist told people to prepare for the coming of Christ? In Luke 3:11-14 (NIV) he says, " 'The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.'Tax collectors also came to be baptized. 'Teacher,' they asked, 'What should we do?' 'Don’t collect more than you are required to,' he told them.Then some soldiers asked him, 'And what should we do?' He replied, 'Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.' "
Becoming a follower of Christ requires courage.
A part of us is in search of easy-believism and cheap grace. We want a Christianity that doesn’t require any courage, any faith, any determination, or any commitment. Strangely, we want our religion to change us, so long as we don’t have to change! Becoming a follower of Jesus Christ requires courage. It requires an ability to set our faces on the things of God and never turn away.
Take a look at Luke 9:57-62 (NIV). Jesus has resolutely set his face for Jerusalem."As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, 'I will follow you wherever you go.'Jesus replied, 'Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.'He said to another man, 'Follow me.' But the man replied, 'Lord, first let me go and bury my father.'Jesus said to him, 'Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.'Still another said, 'I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.'Jesus replied, 'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.'"
What is the Jerusalem that God is calling you to?
Before standing in judgment on these disciples, we ought to examine our own hearts. God isn’t calling us to a first-century Jerusalem to die on a cross for the sins of the world. Nevertheless,God is calling us to Jerusalem. He is calling us to courageously follow him with our whole lives. To lay down everything. To die to self.
Your Jerusalem is not my Jerusalem. We're different. One person’s Jerusalem may be forgivingher enemies, reconcilingher marriage, or caring forher parents. One person’s Jerusalem may be sharing with someone in need, and serving instead of consuming.Another person's Jerusalemmight be tithing, controlling spending, and becoming a responsible steward. One person’s Jerusalem may be speaking the truth in love, witnessing to a friend, and radically alteringhis schedule to make time for worship. Another person's Jerusaem may be choosing to live within God’s will for marriage and to stop sinning sexually.And yet another person's Jerusalem may be to controlhis tongue.
I apologize if somewhere along the line, you got duped into believing that the Christian does not have any obligation to follow the Jesus to Jerusalem. We all must go there. What is the Jerusalem God is calling you to? Do you have the courage to go there? In your outline, there is a section about becoming people of courage. In light of this morning's text, why not ask yourselves a few difficult questions?
What is your purpose in life?
There are a number of things that are incredibly important to you, more than anything else. What are those things? For one of the disciples in Luke 9:57-62 it was a place to layhis head. Home! For another disciple it was social obligations. Burying the dead. For a third discipleit was family obligations. "I must go back and say good-by to my family."
We are consumed with all three of these things today.Building a home, fulfilling what society expects of us, and taking care of our families. Just take note that when you say "no" to God, you are generally saying "yes" to one of these three things.
What is Jesus’ purpose for your life?
Your purpose is building a home, being a good citizen, and being the best family man. Is God concerned about these things? Yes. But what if building a home keeps you from obeying God’s will? Does that happen? What if pleasing men interferes with your pleasing God? What if your devotion to family, and whatever you consider part of that devotion, keeps your far from God? Your home, your social obligations, and your family obligations cannot be a trump card giving you an instant out of anything and everything else God may ask of you.
Jesus’ purpose for our lives is that we would become like him. That, my friends, requires courage. It requires that we resolutely set our faces for Jerusalem. It costs us personally to go to Jerusalem, yet Jesus set an example for us that we might follow in his steps. This brings us to an important third question.
Are you willing to trade your purpose for Jesus’ purpose?
Do you believe that what God has in store for you in Jerusalem is better than what you have in store for yourself anywhere else? We always trade up to God’s purpose. Following Christ is always better for us than chasing after our own purposes.
Name one thing God asks you to do that if you were to do it, you would regret it in the long run. Name one thing God’s asks you to do that if you were to do it, would corrupt your character, damage your relationships, or somehow put you at a loss? Are you willing to trade your purpose for Jesus’ purpose?
What is causing you to lose courage right now?
Identify something God is calling you to do and ask, "What keeps me from that?" Have you idolized a sin? Your home? People’s expectations? Your family? Why won’t you go to the Jerusalem that God is calling you toward? It isn’t ignorance about God’s will, because you already know what God wants you to do. A twelve week Bible study isn’t going to change anything.Fifty-two sermons won’t change anything. God’s truth is only useful if we put it into practice. You don’t need more information!
Is it your environment? Your friends? What keeps you from obeying God today? I hope you aren’t blaming other people. This is between you and God.
How will you set your face as flint toward God’s purposes?
I have some shocking news for you. Going to Jerusalem is never a matter of willpower. See, that’s where you have been going wrong all these years. You have been sitting there trying to get up the gumption to go to Jerusalem all on your own power. You will never get to Jerusalem without the Holy Spirit of God empowering every step.
What God asks is that through faith, you form the intention of going to Jerusalem. This is repentance; acknowledging that God’s way is right and our way is wrong. For those of you who have never been baptized by immersion, baptism is you personally making a pledge of a clear conscience before God to follow him unto eternal life. From the point of repentance and baptismforward, everything else is a gift of God.
Acts 2:38 (NIV) says, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
The Holy Spirit of the living God is the internal driving force that we need to obey everything Christ commanded. Being internally driven is all about keeping in step with the movement of God’s Spirit. God's Spirit is leading us to our Jerusalem. Are you doing that? Are you embracing God’s Holy Spirit? Are you keeping in step? Are you trusting him? Or are you quenching his work?