Getting Un-Tangled

Getting Un-tangled
Like 9:57-62

When it comes down to it, most born-again followers of Jesus Christ will say that they truly desire to serve their Lord in a greater way. However, most will confess that it just seems as thought they cannot devote enough time and energy to what they believe the Lord would have them do. We have crowded and cluttered our lives in such a way that it in fact does seem almost impossible to do anything significant for God.

Most Americans have entangled themselves in a massive web of debt. Parents have an endless schedule of activities they have committed their children to as well as trying to maintain their own schedules. In addition, many of us just try to keep as busy as we can – running here and there with hardly a thought that perhaps this is not the way God intended us to be or if we are pleasing the Lord.

Henri Nouwen once said in a Leadership journal interview:
I cannot continuously say no to this or no to that, unless there is something ten times more attractive to choose. Saying no to my lust, my greed, my needs, and the world's powers takes an enormous amount of energy. The only hope is to find something so obviously real and attractive that I can devote all my energies to saying yes. . . . One such thing I can say yes to is when I come in touch with the fact that I am loved. Once I have found that in my total brokenness I am still loved, I become free from the compulsion of doing successful things.
Citation: Terry Muck, "Hearing God's Voice and Obeying His Word," Leadership Journal (Winter 1982), p. 16

There is a Psalm that reads – “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” You may recall that the word “delight” carried the meaning of being soft and pliable or flexible. (Ps 37:4)
We allow our lives to become so full of distractions or commitments that we are no longer flexible for what it is that God may be trying to direct our lives to. The Apostle Paul spoke about avoiding entanglements in our Christian walk (2 Ti 2:4)– “And as Christ's soldier, do not let yourself become tied up in the affairs of this life, for then you cannot satisfy the one who has enlisted you in his army.” (NLT)
And the (KJV) says – “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”

The word “entangle” meant to weave in to; Paul was saying that we must be careful not to try to weave the non-essentials into our walk. Is he saying we cannot marry – no? He is saying we cannot get involved in the lives of our children or family and friends – no?
He is talking about the priority of Christ in our lives – the high calling of being a follower of Jesus Christ and the responsibilities included as well as the benefits.



Let’s look back at Luke 9.
We have three examples of people who found out that they really could not truly follow Christ because of entanglements – because they were not flexible.The first one (Vv. 57-58) who expresses a desire to follow Christ is shown that 1) he will need to look like Jesus. This man needed to see that if he became a follower of Christ he would look foolish. He would need to depend on God’s provision and the hospitality of others. While foxes have holes and birds have nests to live in, the Son of Man did not even have a pillow to lay his head on…2) If he was going to follow Jesus he cannot bring along what he wishes. In other words, you may miss the comforts of life that you have grown accustomed to, eventually you will begin to desire the creature comforts more than you desire Christ. One man said, “What does it profit you to give God one thing if he asks of you another? Consider what it is God wants, and then do it. You will as a result better satisfy your heart than with that toward which you yourself are inclined.” 3) He cannot come to Christ to merely learn a few things and neither can we. Jesus speaks of picking up our cross and following him. This is not an invitation to an extreme makeover or to join Jesus for a cup of Starbucks. Christ is talking about the death and rebirth of all that we are!
Jesus warns us not make a rash, careless decision.

The second person receives what appears to be a very peculiar response. (59-60) Jesus was not saying leave the corpses to fend for themselves, nor was he downplaying the grief and pain associated with the passing of a loved one. In ancient times, the responsibility a proper burial and taking leadership of the family fell on the shoulders of the first-born son upon the death of the father. A son was the heir of a double portion of the inheritance (Dt. 21:17). Two thoughts here – 1) we must come to a point in our faith when we trust God to take care of our loved ones. 2) We must come to a point in faith when we truly believe that upon our salvation we receive an eternal inheritance – “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:3-9) Read – Dt. 18:2; 1 Pe 2:5; Rev 1:5-6 Priests have an inheritance – Christ! We are priests!



The third person gives us a look at the danger of looking back. (61-62) This man’s separation with the world was not yet complete. It was not a case of going back- but of looking back. Not a case of returning to worldly ways but a reluctance to fully break with them. How many of us say things like, “I still have a bad temper, but I know that God loves me.” Or perhaps, “I still have a few bad habits, but God still accepts me.” Then again, maybe we are distracted by all the fun the wicked seem to be having.
What happened to praying through? Fasting…truly breaking from obvious as well as subtle entanglements? “Taste and see that the Lord is good…” (Ps 34:8) Experience the Lord through a personal encounter, by the witness of the Holy Spirit and salvation!
In all of this Jesus is emphasizing one main thought – Lordship- this in essence is what must happen. We are not disallowed relationships, marriage, children, fortune, or whatever we think we are not allowed to have, but rather in these areas and in every facet of our lives we need Christ’s Lordship.

Unconditional obedience and faith in Christ can be the only way to follow Jesus.

“I have vivid memories as a kid of my father taking me to an auction sale, telling me, ‘Don’t scratch your nose at the wrong time, son.’ He said to me, ‘Always remember this: whenever you go to an auction sale, make sure you know your upper limit price.’
That is ingrained in me. The great danger for us is that we walk into the Christian life knowing clearly our upper limit price. Jesus does not allow us to set that. ‘If you save your life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for my sake and the gospel’s, you will keep it,’ said Jesus [Mark 8:35].
Our calling is to a life of unconditional obedience where the price is unknown.”
Citation: Colin Smith, pastor of Arlington Heights Evangelical Free Church, Arlington Heights, Illinois; source: Preaching Today #204

Are you willing to allow the Spirit of God to show where you are entangled?
Will you admit that you are not soft, pliable, and flexible to God’s will?
What conditions have you placed on being a follower of Christ?
Do you trust God with your loved ones and your future?
Do you live as thought the Lord is you inheritance?
Are there things and people you find yourself looking back to? Perhaps you have not fully separated from un-godly influences and habits.
Is Jesus Christ truly Lord?