Matthew 8:21-23 (NKJV) Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.
The Lordship of Christ is a simple truth, but it requires a lifetime of obedience to fully live it out. After accepting Christ, our entire lives are transformed as we realign our values and priorities. We should aspire to live a consecrated life. However, unless we genuinely regard ourselves as dead in Christ, there will always be a struggle between what we desire and what God calls us to do; thus, we tend to be selective about what we choose to obey. Nevertheless, it is possible to live a fully surrendered life to the Lord.
The consecrated life is a walk of obedience, involving dying to our selfish desires, wants, and wishes, and subjecting ourselves to what God has in mind for us. It involves holiness and godliness. Another aspect is learning to submit to His plan, calling, and the timing for certain things in our lives. God is at liberty to ask us to do something for Him if we profess to have believed in Him and to live for Him, and the Holy Spirit will prompt or nudge us to preach the gospel, perform a good deed, or intercede for a person or situation.
The opening passage discusses the call, relationships, timing, and cost of following Jesus. It may seem heartless and lacking empathy, but God desires absolute obedience when it comes to following Him as a disciple and answering a full-time call. This disciple wanted to follow Jesus but felt he had something important to do. Jesus didn’t allow him to carry out the funeral rituals for his father because He knew the disciple might not return afterwards. People tend to rationalise and justify away God’s call, especially since Jesus mentioned that He had no permanent place to call home. For example, we may rationalise about children’s education, loss of income, and our identity. Some of us want our own timing for the call, preferring to give God the remainder of our lives after pursuing our own plans. However, God desires the prime time of our lives and deserves our best. God wants us to place Him above our family relationships, and He urges us to trust Him for all our provisions. The question is whether we are obedient to His timing, His provision, and the priorities He sets for us.
There is a cost for discipleship or a full-time call. Jesus wants us to have absolute reliance on Him, including our living allowance, our future, and all our needs. That is faith, which pleases Him. What Jesus wants from us is to put down everything and follow Him when He calls. That is obedience!
Sermon Series: Giving out of a heart of gratitude
不迟延的顺服
马太福音8:21–23又有一个门徒对耶稣说：“主啊，容我先回去埋葬我的父亲。” 耶稣说：“任凭死人埋葬他们的死人，你跟从我吧！”
基督的主权是一个看似简单的真理，却需要我们用一生去活出来。信主之后，我们的整个人生都会经历更新与转变，我们的价值观与人生优先次序也需要重新对齐。我们都渴望过一个分别为圣的生活，然而，若我们在内心深处尚未真正看自己是与基督同死的，就必然会在个人的意愿与神的呼召之间产生挣扎，于是我们常常会选择性地顺服。但事实上，完全降服、全然献上的生命是可以活出来的。
分别为圣的生命是一条顺服的道路，意味着向自我的私欲、期待和计划死去，并顺服神在我们生命中的心意。这样的生命包含圣洁与敬虔，也包括学习顺服神的计划、呼召，以及祂在我们人生中所定的时间。当我们宣告相信基督、为祂而活时，神就有主权呼召我们为祂而行。圣灵也会在我们心中感动、催促我们去传福音、行善，或为某个人或某个处境代祷。
今天这段经文谈到了跟随耶稣所涉及的呼召、人际关系、时机与代价。乍看之下，耶稣的回应似乎缺乏同理心，甚至显得冷酷，但神在门徒的呼召上所看重的是完全的顺服，尤其是在回应全职呼召时。这位门徒有跟随耶稣的心，却认为自己还有一件重要的事必须先完成。耶稣没有允许他先去完成父亲的丧葬礼俗，因为祂知道，这位门徒很可能因此而不再回来。人往往会为神的呼召找理由、作合理化的解释，尤其是在听见耶稣说自己“没有枕头的地方”之后。现实中，我们也常会因孩子的教育、经济收入的减少，或个人身份的转变而犹豫不前。有些人希望按照自己的时间表回应呼召，等完成自己的人生计划之后，再把“剩下的时间”献给神。然而，神渴望的是我们生命中最好的时段，祂配得我们最好的献上。
神呼召我们将祂放在一切关系之上，包括家庭关系，并学习在一切供应上信靠祂。关键的问题在于：我们是否愿意顺服祂的时间、祂的供应，以及祂为我们所设定的优先次序？
跟随主、回应门徒的呼召或全职事奉，都是有代价的。耶稣呼召我们完全倚靠祂，把生活所需、未来的方向，以及一切需要都交托在祂手中。这正是讨神喜悦的信心。当耶稣呼召我们时，祂期待我们放下所有，立刻跟随祂——这，就是顺服。
讲章系列：出于感恩之心的奉献