It Is Alright To Feel Uncomfortable!

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." ---Luke 9:57-60

As human beings in 2010, we do not like to feel uncomfortable. We collectively have this innate desire to constantly improve our living experience. One cannot turn around without coming across something that is ‘new and improved’. Why, the very pinnacle of our technological achievement, the computer, is often rendered obsolete shortly after purchase due to technological advances and ‘new and improved’ versions. The whole concept of a technological society that constantly drives itself to bigger (or smaller in many cases) and better life sustaining and managing products revolve around one central mantra. “Make me comfortable!” It is human nature to want to be comfortable or satisfied.

Even Christianity strives to move study, worship, prayer time and fellowship to that ‘mountain-top’ experience, making it more pleasurable, more comfortable, more satisfying. Churches attempt to use the advances of society to satisfy all the human senses and often feel inferior to other churches if they are not up to speed in the technological ‘religious wars’ that strive to make the congregations life just a little better, a little more satisfied!

Then, along comes the Lenten experience. For many Christians, it becomes a time of self-introspection and contemplation. Prayer and fasting come to the forefront of our daily routine and our desire is to become more Christ-like. All of a sudden, less is more. For some, we often resolve to give-up our favorite foods or practices and for those who take their self-denial to the extreme, you would think they were auditioning for ‘Man verses Wild’. For others, the thought of being uncomfortable for several weeks in a row can be so frightening that there becomes the need to compromise our application to the Christian act of sacrifice.

In other words, when threatened with the concept of discomfort, human nature lends to the act of lowering the bar to meet our own desired outcome! Only those who are deemed to have great will power move towards the throne of grace while those who fear societal confirmation that our bodies will fall apart without three square meals a day allow human nature take hold and lean toward compromise in sacrifice.

Let me confirm something with you today. It Is Alright To Feel Uncomfortable! The purpose of sacrifice is to feel the pain. The purpose of fasting is to feel the hunger. Christ became man to understand human nature, human experience. It would not have been a sacrifice to head to the cross as a divine entity. Christ sacrificed His divinity to become man, so that He could be the ultimate sacrifice for man. Uncomfortable does not begin to describe what Christ felt in His sacrifice for us!

The whole practice of observing Lent through fasting is meant to move us into the uncomfortable while yet serving faithfully. To put it in a modern context, God often asks us to represent in the toughest of times! Following God is always easier when the path is free of debris or hurdles. God’s call for us to follow Him though often comes when we are in a comfortable place in life. To follow him may mean giving up the comfortable for the uncomfortable. When face to face with Jesus, do you follow Him or make excuses?

Look at today’s text found in Luke 9:57-60. Here comes a man on the road with Jesus, face to face, and he declares, "I'll go anywhere with you!" (vs.57) Now you would think that Christ would be overwhelmed with this man’s faithfulness but how does He respond? Jesus said, "Foxes have dens, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man doesn't have a place to call his own." (vs.58) Jesus was laying it on the line here so that there was no mistaking the cost of discipleship. This was not meant to discourage him but rather to clarify the actual cost of following. Jesus was saying to this man, “Look, we are not out here staying at the Hilton Inn, it is tough being a Christian. I often have nowhere to stay at night. It gets cold, there are animals, thieves, and let me tell you, we often go hungry!” See, Jesus wanted this man to understand that following Him could be uncomfortable at times.

We don’t get to hear the end result from this encounter because Jesus then turns to another man and says, “Follow Me!” (vs.59) How does the man respond when Christ calls this man to discipleship? The man said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." (vs.59) We don’t know if this man’s father is already dead or if he wants to wait for family obligations and situations to change. For all we know, this man was the first born and if he were to leave he may miss out on his inheritance. This man wanted to follow Christ but on his own terms. Jesus answered, "Let the dead take care of the dead, while you go and tell about God's kingdom!" (vs.60)

Has God ever called you to service, to follow Him and you decide to make excuses why you can’t follow at that very time? It happens all the time and you would not be alone in this scenario. It can be hard to step out of the ‘comfortable’. It can be hard to surrender everything for Him! Sometimes, being satisfied is accepting what God gives you rather than what the world can give you! Sometimes surrender and sacrifice, feeling a little uncomfortable, is the first step to feeling comfortable!

I surrender all
All to Jesus I surrender;
all to him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust him,
in his presence daily live.

Refrain:
I surrender all, I surrender all,
all to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

All to Jesus I surrender;
humbly at his feet I bow,
worldly pleasures all forsaken;
take me, Jesus, take me now.

(Refrain)

All to Jesus I surrender;
make me, Savior, wholly thine;
fill me with thy love and power;
truly know that thou art mine.

(Refrain)

All to Jesus I surrender;
Lord, I give myself to thee;
fill me with thy love and power;
let thy blessing fall on me.

(Refrain)

All to Jesus I surrender;
now I feel the sacred flame.
O the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to his name!

(Refrain)