SOLD OUT 

LUKE 1:26-38

          Here in this story we are introduced to Mary, a young Jewish girl who up to this point had probably led a very normal life.  She had recently become engaged to a carpenter, Joseph, and was anticipating married life.  Back then, in the Jewish culture a man and woman were betrothed or pledged to each other for a period of time before the actual consummation of their marriage. This betrothal was much stronger than an engagement period today, for the two were promised to one another as husband and wife but they did not live together as husband and wife until after the wedding.  Unlike today, a young unmarried girl who became pregnant risked disaster. A harsh, bitter man could make a public spectacle of her and have her stoned.  A more caring man might simply refuse to marry her and send her away.  Unless the father of the child agreed to marry her, she would probably remain unmarried for life. If her own father rejected her, she could be forced into begging or prostitution in order to earn her living. Mary, with her story about being made pregnant by the Holy Spirit, even risked being considered crazy as well.  Until Gabriel’s unexpected visit, Mary’s life was quite satisfactory.  But her life was about to change forever.

     God’s announcement of a child to be born has met with various responses throughout Scripture. Both Sarah, Abram’s wife, and Abram laughed (Genesis 18:9-15). Zechariah doubted (Luke 1:18).  Mary did not seem surprised that the Messiah was to come. Rather, she was surprised that she would be His mother since she was a virgin.    Though Mary found the angel’s greeting puzzling and his presence frightening, what she heard next was the news almost every woman in Israel hoped to hear—that her child would be the Messiah, God’s promised Savior. Mary did not doubt the message, but rather asked how pregnancy would be possible. The angel did not rebuke Mary, as he had rebuked Zechariah which indicates that Mary did not doubt the angel’s words but merely wanted to know how such an event would be accomplished. Gabriel told her the baby would be God’s Son. The Holy Spirit would creatively bring about the physical conception of Jesus.  

Her answer was the one God waits in vain to hear from so many other people: “I am the Lord’s servant. . . . May it be to me as you have said” (Luke 1:38).   Where other have laughed and doubted Mary submitted. She believed the angel’s words and agreed to bear the child, even under humanly impossible circumstances.

          When God is making a request of us our response to his demands should not be laughter, or doubt, but willing acceptance of His will for our lives.  Mary here shows the attitude that God would like to have from each of us.  Despite the possible risks, she says “May it be to me as you have said.” When Mary said that, she didn’t know about the tremendous opportunity she would have. She only knew that God was asking her to serve him, and she willingly obeyed. She did not wait to see the bottom line before offering her life to God. She offered herself willingly, even when the outcome could have been disastrous.  The attitude that Mary showed was one of complete commitment and surrender to God.  With that in mind the title of today’s message is “Sold Out To God”.

LUKE 9:57-62

What does Jesus want from us? He wants total dedication, not halfhearted commitment. That is what it means to be sold out.  Note that the first man came and volunteered to go with Jesus, but he had taken no time to consider what he was doing.  Jesus urged the people to count the cost of following him.  In Luke 14:28 He said to them, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sits not down first, and count the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?”  When a builder doesn’t count the cost or when he estimates it inaccurately, his building may be left half completed. You have seen building that seem like they sit there unfinished forever.  That is because the builder or owner did not properly count the cost of the building and now they have run out of money.  That building runs the risk of never getting finished.  Will your Christian life be only half built and then abandoned because you did not count the cost of commitment to Jesus? What are the costs? Christians may face loss of social status because we can not be like everyone else in the world.  To be a Christian is to be called out and separated from the world’s way of living.  A Christian may face loss of wealth or possessions because God requires that we give all that we have in service to him. Christians may have to give up control over their money, their time, or their career. All of which most of us struggle with releasing.  But to be unwilling to give them up is to put our own agenda ahead of God’s. Christians may be hated, separated from their family, and even put to death.  We must consider the cost of the Christian life because salvation requires a sold out mentality.  We can’t pick and choose among Jesus’ ideas and follow him selectively; we have to accept the cross along with the crown, judgment as well as mercy. We must count the cost and be willing to abandon everything else that has given us security. With our focus on Jesus, we should allow nothing to distract us from the manner of living that he calls good and true.  Following Christ does not mean a trouble-free life. If you do not carefully count the cost of becoming Christ’s disciples and develop a ‘sold out’ mentality you run the risk of later to turning back.

          Now the second man here in verse 59 wanted to put conditions on his following Jesus.  But Jesus quickly let the man know that he would accept no conditions.  With God it is do it my way or not at all.  We have many stories in the Old Testament where men tried to compromise and mix their plan with God’s plan and each time they either ended up dead or they forfeited the blessings of God.

EXODUS 8:25-29

Moses told Pharaoh to let the people go so that they could sacrifice to God.   Pharaoh wanted to compromise. He would allow the Hebrews to sacrifice, but only if they would do it nearby. God’s requirement, however, was firm: The Hebrews had to leave Egypt. Though it may appear that God allowed Moses to compromise with Pharaoh, God knew that Pharaoh would not keep his word.  However, God gave him every opportunity to surrender to the will of God just as he does us.  He may even let you think that you are getting away with your compromise because he knows that in due time you will have to release even your compromise or suffer the penalty of your sin.  Sometimes we allow other people to urge us to compromise our standards and give only partial obedience to God’s commands. But commitment and obedience to God cannot be negotiated. When it comes to obeying God, a half commitment will not do.  He requires that we be sold out.

DEUTERONOMY 23:18-17

          God said there was to be no prostitutes or homosexuals among his people.  Now I know that seems harsh of God and of us.  I know that we are to love all and have compassion on them.  We are to minister to all.  These are all true.  But we are not to accept people as members in the family of God who are not willing to change and live up to the standard of God.  They can come to church yes.  But we should not allow them to believe that they are one day going to die and go to heaven in their current disobedient, rebellious, self loving condition.  We must love them enough to tell them the truth.  The scriptures teach that these conditions are an abomination to God.  We should not allow those who rebelliously stand outside of the will of God to think that they can compensate God for their wrong doing by coming to Church, by tithing or sacrificing their time to work in the church.  All of that is profitless if one will not commit to being sold out to God in every area of life.  God will not compromise nor will he be bought by money, time, or anything else that we offer.  God will accept only our sold out hearts.

LUKE 9:61-62

                   The third man in this group wanted to follow Jesus but he wanted to make sure that he kept his connection to his previous life also.  Why, so he could return to it if he did not like following Jesus.  Jesus says the person who looks back is not worthy of the kingdom.  Note he did not say the person who goes back, but just looking back longing to be there is a problem.  If you are longing to hang on to the world and the lifestyle lived by those of the world then you can not possibly be sold out to God.  When you are sold out to God, nothing matters but God and what he wants.  When your own desires surface, they are weighed against God’s will and only those which measure up to the will of God are acted upon.

What hinders our commitment to God

JOHN 12:25

          I believe that the one most important factor that hinders our commitment to God is self love.  We are self centered and our own desires have more value to us than God’s desires.  We are not sold out to God but rather we are sold out to ourselves.  Many will respond to this by saying but I love God.  I am not saying that you don’t love God, because maybe you do.  But I contend that you love you and what you want in life more.  But as Christians we must be so committed to living for Christ that we “hate” our lives by comparison. This does not mean that we long to die or that we are careless or destructive with the life God has given, but that we are willing to die if doing so will glorify Christ. We must disown our own self-centeredness. By laying aside our striving for advantage, security, and pleasure, we can serve God lovingly and freely. It is only by releasing control of our lives and transferring control to Christ that we obtain eternal life and genuine joy.

LUKE 9:23-26

What hinders us; Our quest for the pleasures and comforts of this world. People are willing to pay a high price for something they value. Is it any surprise that Jesus would demand this much commitment from his followers?   And if we value eternal life and relationship with our great God, should we not then be willing to pay the price to receive them.  In this passage we are given three conditions that must be met by people who want to follow Jesus. We must be willing to deny self, to take up our crosses, and to follow him. Anything less is superficial lip service.

          If this present life is most important to you, you will do everything you can to protect it. You will not want to do anything that might endanger your safety, health, or comfort. By contrast, if following Jesus is most important, you may find yourself in unsafe, unhealthy, and especially in uncomfortable places. You will risk death, but you will not fear it because you know that Jesus will raise you to eternal life. However, because we value our own pleasures and comforts of life more than we value God’s pleasure, we offer God only what we are comfortable in giving him.  But I want to remind us all today that nothing material and no pleasure in this life can compensate for the loss of eternal life. As Christians, those who are called the disciples of Jesus, we are not to use our lives on earth for our own pleasure.  We are to spend our lives serving God and people in any way that God instructs us to do so.

       In Acts 9:15-16 Jesus told Ananias, speaking about Paul, “he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.”  He did not say he would show Paul what a great life of blessings, comfort and peace he would have for all the work and effort he would put forth on God’s behalf.  But rather there was to be great suffering for the sake of Christ.  Some of us would have left Christ if he told us right off the bat that we were going to face great suffering in order to further the Gospel.  We might take a little discomfort as long as we know it is not going to take too long and God is going to fix it soon.  But are not sold out to God and thus they are not willing to suffer for Christ.  They are not willing to deny themselves for him and for sure they will not offer up their lives and give up the pleasures they seek as a sacrifice to him.

ROMANS 8:16-18

          Many of us claim to be children of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.  We are expecting to go home one day and meet our heavenly family and at that time to receive our inheritance.  We look forward to that part.  But so often we overlook the fact that in order to be glorified with Him we must be willing to suffer with him.  There was not one pleasure, one comfort, one desire, outside of the will of God that Jesus held on to.  He was completely sold out to God and if we are going to inherit the kingdom with him we too must be Sold Out.