Joey Sampaga Sermon: No Turning Back – The Cost of Following Jesus, Luke 9:46-56

(Due to variable audio quality—including background noise, unclear speech, or recording issues—this transcription may contain errors or omissions not present in the original recording. For complete accuracy, please refer to the audio itself or consult with participants about any uncertainties in the text.)

---

Happy New Year. Happy New Year. How’s everyone doing? You okay? Yes. Thank you, Brother Zenji, for doing communion. I appreciate that. Doing communion is very, very important for us Christians because that’s one of the things that we do regularly. So it’s important that when we’re doing it, it’s not just a ritual. When we’re doing it, we are really remembering what Christ did for us. Hi, Anna. Thank you for being up here. I appreciate that. Thank you for being a part of it. That’s good. I ask that you pray for Auntie Cheryl and those who aren’t feeling well. Pray for They get back home safely. And then when we do meet with the leaders next on the 18th, we’re going to be talking about the church’s vision for 2026.

And I mentioned this last week during our business meeting, but our focus is going to be our church being the light of this community. So basically also, which in turn is part of church growth. I know that as you come to the sermons, to the services, and to the Bible studies, you’re growing spiritually. But now it’s time for us to start growing numerically as well. So our focus is going to be church growth and ministry. EDIC, we need to, as a church, East Valley International Church, we need to be the light in this community. We can’t just stay in here cooped up. We need to start doing things outside of here as well. So our focus is gonna be on that.

It’s gonna be building our kingdom here, just like what we sang. We build our kingdom here. First of all, it starts at our home, right? It starts with, well, let me take it back even further. It starts with us individually. And then our homes. And then from there, our church family. And then from there, our community. And then state, and then nation, and then the world. And that’s going to be our focus. we’re going to be working, Pastor David’s going to start working with the tribal ministry and missions as well, along with Kuya Alex. They’re going to go and start doing ministry at the tribal communities. What’s the first one? Navajo? Navajo, Hopi. Hopi, yes.

So we’re going to start reaching out to them. Because this church is not only going to be just focus is just here. We’re also going to start reaching outside. We’re going to be ascending church. That’s the vision I see for 2026 and beyond, of course. So, because if you think about this world right now, the world is pretty crazy. So many things happen. You know, no matter if you’re Democrat or Republican or whatever you are, we’re a Christian. Okay, and this world gets kind of crazy. You know, we just have Venezuela being, you know, in my opinion, that was for a good reason, but it was bombed and Maduro was taken in, but I’m not here to talk about politics.

But what I’m here to talk about is how we, as Christians, need to be the light Because when God, when we accepted the Lord, when we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, we now have the light inside of us. And it starts with us. Then it goes to the family. Then it goes to our church family and beyond. And so our focus for 2026 is reaching out outside these four walls. Okay? And so that’s our hope. Okay? And… We are going to have our new membership class here pretty soon. I’m thinking it’s going to be in February. Once we nail down the dates, we’ll put them on the announcements, as well as the baptism.

I started talking with Ace just that one time, and we’re going to speak to him a little bit more, and there’s another person as well. And in the new membership class, we will start up in February. I’m thinking the baptism will probably be in March, so we’ll do that then. Heather had mentioned that we were going to be at West Valley International Church. And I encourage you to try and make that. Because they are our sister church. Pastor Allen helped plant this church. So we can be there to celebrate their joy. Service over there does start at 1045. And I’ll ask Auntie Limey and maybe Auntie Grandma if we can somehow come together with a carpool thing.

So if someone wants to carpool, they can ask one of them. I don’t know who’s going to be in charge of that. Oh, I think we’re out of time. And if you can’t, for some reason, make it there, go to Gateway Fellowship. They are a Bible-believing church as well. And Pastor Cody, he’s a very good preacher. So if you can’t make it to Westwick, Wow, I was echoing. You can go to Gateway Fellowship here, okay? All right, let’s go ahead and jump into our sermon. Actually, before we do that, let me give a summary of last week’s sermon.

So last week, Pastor David went through Luke 9, verses 46 to 56, where Jesus corrected the misguided hearts of his disciples as they continued their journey toward Jerusalem. And we saw that the disciples struggled with pride. They were arguing about who was the greatest. And Jesus responded by teaching that true greatness in God’s kingdom is marked by what? Humility. Being humble. It’s not status or recognition. It’s about being humble. We also saw misguided divisions that was happening when the disciples tried to stop someone serving in Jesus’ name simply because they weren’t part of the circle, part of the group, right? Jesus reminded them that God’s work is bigger than personal circles.

It isn’t about just being in the circle. He basically said, they’re not against us, so they’re with us, okay? And then finally, we saw how there was misguided retaliation. When James and John wanted to call down fire on the Samaritan village, what did Jesus do? He rebuked them. He was showing them that his mission is not destruction, but rather salvation. So together, the passage taught us that following Jesus requires humility, kingdom-mindedness, and mercy. And that he was preparing his disciples for the road to the cross. Okay, so that brings us directly to our passage today. Let’s go ahead and open in prayer.

Lord God, Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word and for the way it reveals truth about our hearts and about your son. And Lord, as we open this passage today, give us honest hearts and listening ears. Allow us to understand and reveal it to us, Lord, so that we understand. can take what we learn outside of these four walls and share it with the community, whether it’s through our words, our actions, or our speech. Lord, help us examine our lives carefully. Show us any unconfessed sins that we may have. Lord, it’s not to excuse ourselves, but to follow Christ more faithfully. Lord, we ask that you give us the power of your spirit your teaching today.

And Lord, remove any distractions that we may have here. Soften our hearts and guide us by your Spirit. Lord, use me as a vessel to shine your light. And Lord, I hide behind the cross of Jesus so that your words will speak and not mine. Father, we love you, we praise you, in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. All right, so just before our passage, before I read our passage, Luke tells us something crucial. And this is just to give you a little context of what we’re going to talk about. In Luke 9, verse 51, it says, So he had intention. He was intentional of facing Jerusalem and going to Jerusalem.

Now this is a turning point in Luke’s Gospel because Jesus is now no longer just moving casually from place to place. He’s now deliberately heading to Jerusalem or toward Jerusalem. He’s heading toward rejection, toward suffering, and ultimately toward the cross. And it’s on this road, on that road with the cross clearly in view that Jesus speaks plainly what it means to follow him. His disciples are going to start to understand that. They’re going to see it after the cross. But Jesus is still going to be telling them about you having to carry your own cross to count the cost of being a disciple. He records three brief encounters with people who express a desire to follow Jesus in our passage.

Now, none of them that we’re going to talk about, they’re not hostile. All of them actually sound pretty sincere. Yet, Jesus, he challenges every single one of them. Why does he do that? Because God, or good intentions, are not the same as true discipleship. Sometimes if you have this intention, or even… they have this intention, I’m sorry, this intention of wanting to know who God is, to become a Christian or whatever religion that they were looking into. They have this intention of wanting to get closer to God. And so that leads us to our passage. Luke chapter 9, verses 57 to 62. Go ahead and turn there if you’re not there already.

Verse 57, it says, As they were going along the road, someone said to him, I will follow you wherever you go. Yet another said, I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those in my home. Jesus said to him, No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. This is a word from God. So in this passage, But in each case, Jesus, what he’s doing is he’s exposing a barrier here that would prevent true discipleship. Okay, so I wanna walk through each and every one of this. We’ll do that together. So the first one is about the barrier of comfort and false enthusiasm, right?

In verse 57, he says, someone said, I will follow you wherever you go. And then Jesus said, foxes have holes, and birds in the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. So this man, he actually approaches Jesus with confidence, and he was very enthusiastic. He volunteers himself. Jesus didn’t call him. This guy, he steps forward on his own and makes a bold, sweeping promise. What’s he say? He says, Jesus, Lord, I will follow you wherever you go. Now on the surface, that sounds very admirable, right? But Jesus, he doesn’t affirm the promise. He doesn’t say, awesome, let’s go. He actually tests it.

He tests this person’s enthusiasm. Why? Because enthusiasm, while sincere, it can also be shallow. It’s possible to be excited about following Jesus without understanding what that actually means. For instance, I know that Pastor David doesn’t make New Year’s resolutions, but most people, what’s the number one thing that they say is the New Year’s resolution? I’m going to get healthy and lose weight. And we’re super excited about that, right? Now we know exactly what we need to do, but when we actually start to do it, maybe the first week is okay, two weeks, three weeks, you’re good, and then it starts to… your enthusiasm starts to drop because you’re getting sore.

You’re starting to miss the Spanish bread back there, and the coco de, what is it? Pan de coco. Pan de coco. Pan de coco. You’re missing all of that. De coco. And our enthusiasm, it just goes away. So here Jesus, he strips away any romantic or idealized picture of discipleship, right? And he brings a man face-to-face with reality. He says animals have shelter. Even foxes and birds have a place to rest, but Jesus, the Son of Man, does not. So following him means embracing a life that does not revolve around comfort, stability, or earthly security. It’s going out there and just doing it regardless.

I know that sometimes we’ll go on missions, and on a mission trip that Heather and I went to in Jamaica, we were staying in a nice place. And then for a few hours, we would then go to the poorest town and serve there, and after we were done, we got to go back to the comfort of where we were staying. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with that. I mean, we went there to serve. But when you’re in ministry, we can’t focus on how comfortable we’re going to be. It’s not about comfort. It’s not about being stable before you start going out there and sharing the gospel or ministering to people. Now, I want you to hear this.

He’s not discouraging discipleship. He’s clarifying it. He’s basically saying it’s not going to be easy. Right? Elsewhere, Jesus says in Matthew 16, 24, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Right? If for some reason we don’t have this building, if for some reason we no longer have money in the bank as a church, If we said, okay, we’re going to meet at someone’s house or we’re going to meet in someone’s backyard or we’re going to meet at the park every Sunday, rain or shine? I love to say snow. There’s no snow here. Would you actually go out there and worship God?

Right? So discipleship begins not with excitement but with self-denial. Right? It’s not a path to comfort. It’s a call to surrender. The barrier here is the love of comfort. That’s what Jesus is warning this person of. It’s the barrier. It is the love of being comfortable. This man is willing to follow Jesus as long as it doesn’t disrupt his expectations of safety and security. When you go out on missions to the Middle East, in a time when there’s war out there? Or would you trust God to keep you safe? Would you go out to downtown Gilbert on a Friday night, knowing that there are drunk people there and knowing they’ll probably get yelled at?

Would you go out there? Would you maybe talk with a family member or a friend If you know that they are not Christians and that they maybe are even, they have ill intentions of Christianity, would you speak with them? Again, it’s not about being comfortable. It’s about surrendering to what the Lord wants us to do. So the Apostle Paul, he wrote in Philippians 3.8, I count everything as lost because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. So everything that we’ve done that we think is good and comfortable and all that, it’s all really nothing compared to what Christ has for us, what God has in store for us after this work.

And when we compare what is in store for us For eternity, versus this world, no matter how good we have it here, it’s nothing. It’s like trash or garbage compared to what we’re going to have in heaven. And Jesus is teaching us that following him, it may cost comfort in being comfortable. And anyone unwilling to accept that cost is not yet ready to follow him fully. The deacons and I, we met last week, was it last week? Last Saturday? And they, you know, one of the questions was, are you ready to become a full-time pastor? And I remember answering them, well, I’m not comfortable because I don’t feel like Heather and I are financially ready.

And when I self-reflected on that, I was like, why did I answer it that way? Why do I have to be financially stable before serving the Lord? Right? Why don’t we just go out and serve the Lord? Yeah, maybe we are going to have hard times here. Maybe we’re not going to live in a nice house. Maybe not drive a nice car. But what we’re doing is kingdom work. And our rewards, not that we do it just for rewards, we do it because we glorify God, number one. And then secondly… we will be rewarded something that will last eternity. So we don’t have to wait to be comforted. We can serve now.

So Jesus is teaching us that following him, it’s going to cost something. And it most likely will. And anyone unwilling to accept that cost is not yet ready to truly follow him. And I’m speaking to you, to us, to myself as well, that we don’t have to wait to start serving. So this first man, he wanted to follow Jesus on his own terms. The second man that we’re going to talk about next, Jesus calls him directly. He says in verse 59 to another, he said, follow me. But he said, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. Now that sounds like a good request. I’m going to bury my father first. Jesus, is that okay?

And Jesus said to him, leave the dead to bury their own dead. Wow, that sounds kind of cruel. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God. But Jesus, you’re not going to let me bury my dad? Now, at first, it sounds harsh. But we have to understand the context of this conversation, right? Culturally, the context of that day, when they were speaking that, the phrase, let me go and bury my father, it likely didn’t mean that his father just died. or even died at all. More often, it was a way of saying, let me stay home until my father passes away someday. So most likely, his dad didn’t die.

He says, well, when my dad passes away, then I’ll go. That’s basically what he was saying. That delay, it could last years. Now, in other words, this man is saying, I’ll follow you later, Jesus. So Jesus’ response exposes the danger of delayed obedience. The call of the kingdom is not something to be put on hold until life feels more settled or responsibility is feeling lighter. Following Jesus is not a future plan, it’s a present call. It’s almost like saying, well, I’ll accept Jesus Christ on my deathbed. But the problem is we don’t know when we’re going to die. We could be crossing the street and boom, done.

Right? It can just happen immediately. So Jesus, he’s not dismissing family responsibilities here. I want you to hear that. Scripture consistently affirms that we’re to honor our parents and care for our family. That’s there. That’s definitely in the Bible. That’s in chapter 20. What Jesus is correcting is misplaced priority. Even good and God-given responsibilities can become barriers to discipleship when they take first place over obedience to Christ. Right? So we have to make sure that we’re taking Christ first. That Jesus is our number one priority. Jesus makes this principle clear in the passage that Ayanna read.

But Luke 14, verse 26, anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Wow. What is Jesus saying there? Is he saying that I should hate my mother and my father and all my family in order to follow you? Well, Jesus, he’s using this Strong language to make the point clear here, right? Nothing, not even the closest relationship can outrank or should not outrank his loyalty to him. Are we to love our parents and our families? Yes. We’re to love them and take care of them and be with them.

But when we compare our love, the love that we should have for Christ, for Jesus, it almost looks like hate to our families. That’s how much we should love Jesus. When you make that comparison, and that’s basically what Jesus is saying there. Delayed obedience is still disobedience, by the way. When Jesus calls, the response is not later, but now. I was called to pastoral ministry in 2010, but I didn’t act on it until 2013. That’s being disobedient on my part. It is also being unsure as well, because I was like, Lord, are you sure you’re talking to me? And so when you clearly feel the Lord is talking to you, you need to act on it.

Apostle Paul, he reminds us, 2 Corinthians chapter 6, Verse 2, behold, now is a favorable time. Now, not later. Now is a favorable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. So the barrier here is not hostility toward Jesus, but hesitation. And Jesus, he makes it clear that the kingdom of God cannot be treated as something we fit into our lives when it becomes convenience. Right? It demands perseverance. Because there’s so many things we want to do here. In the United States, it’s even harder. When we’re out on mission in a third world country, well, that’s all they can think about is Jesus.

Because they have no comfort like we do. I mean, they work hard, but they’re not working hard to try and buy a bigger house or a better car. They’re working hard because they need to feed themselves. And so that’s why it makes it harder here in the United States. So the first man was impulsive. The second man was hesitant. Now the third man that we’re about to talk about reveals something deeper. It’s a barrier of a divided heart. Verse 61, I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those in my home. Again, that sounds fair. Lord, just wait a second.

I’m just going to run along and say bye to my wife, give them a kiss, and I’ll be right back. At least that’s what it sounds like, right? Jesus said to him, no one puts his hand to the plow and looks back. It’s fit for the kingdom of God. So this man… says the right words, he says, I will follow you. I’ll follow you, Lord. But, then he adds one small word that changes everything. But, right, have you ever tried to, you talk with someone, you say everything good about them, right? Brother Dennis, I love that you come to this church, I love that you post all these blogs, you know, I love that you participate in the Bible studies, and Some of the things that you eat, right?

And it’s like, you say all those things and then you say but, and it basically wipes out everything else. I know that there’s this way, psychological way, that you wanna say the good, the bad, and then the good again. Right, usually they call that a sandwich. Say something good, then the bad, and then bring it back to good. However you handle it, though. In this case, I will follow you, Lord, Now that word, but, it reveals a divided heart. Yes, I will take, I’ll be a full-time pastor, but I need to make sure that I’m financially stable. That’s like what this guy said.

So that word, again, it reveals a divided heart. His desire to follow Jesus, it’s real, but it is qualified. follow him. He wants Jesus and he wants to hold on to what is behind him. So Jesus, he responds with a familiar farming illustration here that they would understand in verse 62. No one puts his hand to the plow and looks back. His fit for the kingdom of God. So in Jesus’ day, plowing required focus. So they have the animal in front of them, they have the, what do you call it, the plow connected to the bull or the donkey, or in the Philippines it’s a carabao, and they have to focus and make sure that the line is straight.

Otherwise it’d just go all over the place. If he keeps looking back, right, seeing what he did, he’s gonna say, oh, it’s crooked, and it’s gonna be even more crooked because he keeps looking back. So what Jesus is telling you, you have to look forward. Looking back, it’s a divided attention. And a divided attention meant ineffective work. So Jesus’ point is clear. Discipleship requires forward-looking commitment. Following him is not something we do while constantly longing for what we leave behind. Oh, I remember before I became a pastor or before I started this ministry, my life was so good.

They weren’t complaining. People weren’t getting upset with me. I wasn’t getting phone calls. I was getting paid a lot more. When you look back at that, your focus, your ministry is not going to be affected. Right? You can’t move forward with Christ while your heart remains anchored to the past. Now this isn’t about simple courtesy or saying goodbye when he says, Lord, let me just say goodbye to my family. It was about attachment. He was attached to something. Jesus is confronting the danger of nostalgia here. Oh, I remember when my life used to be this. The temptation to cling to the old life while trying to walk a new path.

This new path being the kingdom path, walking on the path to the kingdom. Scripture repeatedly warns us against looking back. Genesis 19.26 says, but Lot’s wife, remember what happened to Lot’s wife? Behind him, look back, and she became salt. A pillar of salt. If we all did that right now, this place would be full of salt. If God still turned his pupil into salt, if he kept looking back, it would all be salt. And the Apostle Paul, he gives us the right posture in Philippians chapter 3. He says, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal or the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

So when God puts a calling in your heart, And in your life, that’s what you focus on. Don’t focus on how big the ministry is getting or how many volunteers are taking part of it. Even if it’s just you, you go. You know, I tell Leah Alex sometimes, or a lot of times, we’re just human. When people don’t participate in your ministry… And it’s just you or just a few people or just the same people. It gets discouraging, right? But then I have to encourage, and I encourage you, if you are going forward, I don’t care if it’s just you going out there. Because you’re doing it not for yourself.

You’re not doing it for other people. I mean, although if other people went, it would help them grow in their faith. You’re doing it for God. And that’s what we have to remember. We move forward to glorify God. Whether it’s on our own, or whether it’s with two people, five people, twenty people, or a hundred people. We still move forward. So, these three encounters that we read in our passage, it reveals some of the obstacles, the greatest obstacles to discipleship. And here’s the thing. People think that the obstacles to true discipleship is persecution. It’s not. It’s us.

It’s our own selves. We’re the opposition. It’s the human heart. It’s your own heart is the opposition of wanting to move forward in ministry. In this case, in our passage, it’s It’s a love of comfort. It’s delayed obedience. And it’s divided loyalty. Jesus, he doesn’t lower the standard. He’s clarifying it. He’s clarifying what true discipleship is. He wasn’t telling them not to follow him. He says, follow me, but I want you to understand what the cost is. So here, this passage is the heart of the Gospels. Any passage in the Bible is actually the heart of the gospel. Jesus, he demands full commitment because he himself gave everything.

Right? The one who says, no turning back. I don’t want you to look back. I don’t want you to worry about anything that you used to have. Don’t even go back there. Just look forward. Right? So Jesus, he commands. was a good example of that. He’s the one who didn’t turn back when he set his face toward Jerusalem. That’s how the passage started. He was going to Jerusalem. He was facing Jerusalem, knowing what awaited him. Betrayal, suffering, rejection, and ultimately the cross. Jesus went forward willingly, knowing what was going to happen. He didn’t hesitate. He didn’t delay. He didn’t look back either.

At the cross, Jesus bore our sin. He carried our guilt. He paid the full cost of our salvation. Something we could never earn or never, ever, ever repay. That’s why this passage is not about earning God’s favor. We don’t follow Jesus to earn grace. We follow him because grace has already been given to us. And when Jesus says, follow me, he’s not calling us to prove ourselves worthy. He’s calling us to respond to a salvation that is already secure through his finished work. He’s already done it. That leads us And I want you to just ask this to yourself. Where am I clinging to comfort instead of trusting Christ?

Where have I delayed obedience, telling Jesus, I’ll do it later? Or where is my heart dividing, looking back at what I refuse to let go? Is there something that you’re not letting go of? Discipleship is not about perfection. But it is about direction. It’s about a heart that moves forward with Christ, even when the road is hard and the cost is real. So the call of this passage, it’s pretty straightforward, but it also challenges us. It reaches deep into our hearts. It’s not partial to commitment. It’s not conditional obedience, not delayed surrender, no conditions, no delays, no turning back.

And the good news is, it’s this, that the same Jesus who calls us to follow him is the Jesus who walks with us. He’s always with us. In our Bible study today, we talked about how the Holy Spirit dwells in us. So whatever ministry, and when we’re moving forward, whatever we’re doing, he’s always with us. He’s always going to give us the power. He’s always going to give us the direction. It’s just up to us to take that direction. He’s going to sustain us through our ministry, and he holds us fast by his grace and his mercy, and he gives us power. So when we are called to do something, when we say we’re going to follow Christ, Let’s follow Christ.

Let’s follow Christ. Don’t wait. Don’t wait. Let’s pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your grace and your patience with us. Lord, we ask for your forgiveness. Forgive us for the ways we hold back. or we delay being obedient to you, or we cling on to comfort and the things that we think is going to help us. Lord, help us follow you fully. Help us to trust in you fully with our whole entire lives. Lord, thank you for the passage and for teaching us. Lord, I ask that everyone here who heard the message, the revelation of your Holy Spirit reveals it to them, to us, so that we fully understand it.

And after understanding, Lord, that we put it into practice, when we feel that calling, when we’re being prompted to do something that we don’t belay, that we don’t make And also, with the gospel being mentioned in this sermon, Lord, if there’s someone here who has not truly accepted the gospel as being true, I pray that you put conviction in their heart, that you break their heart so that they hear it fully. And that they turn to you and beg you, Lord. Please, Lord, save them. Lord, I don’t know if everyone’s heart is here. You do. And if there’s someone here that has not done that today, Lord, I ask that you save them today.

And for those who are still just in neutral and they’re just kind of coasting, Lord, I pray that you light a fire. Light a fire under their feet so that they start to move. And they make no more excuses. Including me, Lord. Father, we thank you so much. We thank you for your word. We thank you for our church community. Lord, we want to be that light in this community. But Lord, at first it starts with us. First of all. Be with us, Lord. strengthen us, fill us with your strength. And then prompt us to do your work. Father, we thank you, we love you, we praise you. In Jesus’ name we pray.