{"id":905,"date":"2022-03-23T06:04:43","date_gmt":"2022-03-23T13:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/?p=905"},"modified":"2022-03-23T06:04:43","modified_gmt":"2022-03-23T13:04:43","slug":"shortcuts-crushed-by-determination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/?p=905","title":{"rendered":"Shortcuts Crushed by Determination"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Luke 13:31-35)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are no strangers to the many advantages shortcuts can provide. Books and websites are filled with shortcuts and hacks that promise an easier way for just about anything. We have experienced the benefits of shortcuts in a lot of different ways. When we\u2019re scrambling to be on time getting from Point A to Point B and a passenger in the vehicle shares knowledge of a shortcut, no one complains – that\u2019s a good thing. Keyboard shortcuts when typing can save a lot of headaches and unnecessary keystrokes. Other shortcuts promise endless ways to help you get more done in less time, whether at work, cleaning the house, or in the kitchen. We know how valuable shortcuts can be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the verses from Luke 13, we see a shortcut proposed to our Savior. It wasn\u2019t a shortcut that merely offered to shave some time off his busy schedule so he could get more done. No, it promised substantially more than that. Would he take the shortcut? Could <\/em>he take the shortcut? What would it mean for him? What would it mean for us?   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were others seeking a shortcut in our verses from Luke today, too. We don\u2019t know if what the Pharisees were passing along was the truth or not. Had Herod really threatened Jesus\u2019 life, or had the Pharisees constructed a lie themselves in hopes that such a threat would be enough to scare him off when they told Jesus, \u201cLeave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you\u201d (v.31)<\/em><\/strong>. While we can\u2019t be certain of the origin of this information, what we do <\/em>know is that the Pharisees did not make it a habit of having Jesus\u2019 best interest in mind, so in sharing this information with Jesus, the desired outcome they were hoping for is clear: they wanted Jesus to skip town and get as far away from Jerusalem – their turf! – as possible. Consider how much time and trouble it would have saved the Pharisees if Jesus had simply left town! What an alluring shortcut that could have been for them to not have to plot and scheme in order to devise a solution for the problem of Jesus! This shortcut could have made it so much easier for them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But… is easier always better? Is the tradeoff always worth it? Do shortcuts end up delivering on the promises they make? It probably shouldn\u2019t bother me as much as it does, but when I\u2019m hiking and see another hiker take a shortcut, either cutting through a switch-back or just straying from the trail, the cranky old curmudgeon inside my head shouts, \u201cYou\u2019re only cheating yourself!\u201d A coach or a trainer is going to be less than thrilled to hear about shortcuts being taken in practice or in the gym. Any runner or cyclist in any sort of long-distance race is going to be disqualified for taking a shortcut. And, if you\u2019ve ever dabbled in any DIY projects, you know that shortcuts can end up being very expensive in the long run, either requiring more time, more work, or more money down the road (or all three!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unhealthy shortcuts can also actually leave us worse off than when we started. We\u2019ll take just about any shortcut in our culture today that avoids pain or suffering. In terms of our health, for just about any negative symptom one could experience, there is a drug that promises relief. So rather than changing eating habits or exercising, we opt for the pharmaceutical shortcut. When work is a challenge or a relationship is hurting, we can resort to unhealthy shortcuts to feeling better, like drinking or binge-watching. Even suicide, as much as it shatters the lives of those it affects, is viewed increasingly by our culture as an acceptable shortcut to avoid some element of suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If shortcuts are not always what they\u2019re cracked up to be, then it\u2019s probably good to evaluate some of those spiritual shortcuts that have also slipped into the church. Sometimes we have to confess the reason behind them is our own spiritual immaturity – we want to have the strong faith we see in someone else, but without all the time they\u2019ve spent in Word and worship and prayer over the years. We want patience, but without having to endure the trials that someone else went through to grow it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other times, spiritual shortcuts can start out with good intentions, but end up having less than desirable results. Being able to give offerings to the Lord online has been a huge blessing for churches throughout COVID, and a convenient way to set up a shortcut by setting up recurring offerings and not having to take the time to write out a check (ask your parents if you don’t know\u2026). However, if the end result is that I never give my offerings a second thought, is the shortcut worth it? Recorded and streaming video online has allowed worship to be accessible when we were not able to meet in person. But, if that medium has completely replaced meeting in person when we\u2019re perfectly healthy enough to do so, is that shortcut worth it to sacrifice the Supper and many other blessings of people in pews that will never be accessible via video? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have to be real and clear about why we\u2019re taking the shortcut. If we don\u2019t know why we\u2019re doing it, then we run the risk of enslaving ourselves to shortcuts without considering if we\u2019ve actually gained anything from them! What we often fail to do is consider the opportunity cost of our shortcuts. If you aren\u2019t familiar with that phrase, it simply refers to the practice of being aware of how much something really costs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, if you have been saving up for a trip for some time, but then some shiny new kitchen appliance comes on the market that you \u201cmust” have, if you take the money from what you\u2019ve been saving for your trip, then that means you\u2019ll either have to put off the trip longer or maybe not go. So the opportunity cost was not just the price tag of the kitchen appliance, but also realizing what you\u2019re giving up or going without when you decide to make that purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortcuts are the same way. When we seek to take a shortcut, we don\u2019t always consider the tradeoff or sacrifice. Maybe a simple question to ask ourselves: with this shortcut what am I giving up and what do I gain, and is it worth it? What am I avoiding and what do I attain, and is it worth it? A shortcut that gets a person from point A to point B faster might be worth it to one person because of the time it saves, but to another, it might not if that shortcut requires driving through what feels like an unsafe part of town. One person may determine the opportunity cost of a shortcut is worth it, while another may not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s now return back to Jesus and to the course of action the Pharisees proposed. What exactly was the potential shortcut for Jesus, and how would he weigh the opportunity cost of the temptation to take it? What would he be giving up and what would he gain? What would he be avoiding and what would he attain? It seemed pretty clear that the shortcut the Pharisees were offering Jesus was to avoid something: death! The choice must have seemed a no-brainer in their minds as they pointed it out to Jesus – leave town and avoid dying! If you value your life, just keep your distance from Herod and you\u2019ll be just fine. Give up going to Jerusalem and what you stand to gain is your life!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So\u2026 shortcut or no shortcut for Jesus? His answer was quite clear. \u201cHe replied, \u201cGo tell that fox, \u2018I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.\u2019 In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day\u2014for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!\u201d (v.32-33)<\/em><\/strong>. Jesus wasn\u2019t taking the bait. He wasn\u2019t interested in the shortcut. In fact, he knew the shortcut wasn\u2019t even an option, insisting that he \u201cmust\u201d<\/em><\/strong> press on. This is a word Jesus uses elsewhere in the Gospels when explaining why he has to take a certain course of action. There is so much more wrapped up in it than how we use it. We take it to mean that we have to do something to avoid consequences. I \u201cmust\u201d do this or I\u2019ll get fired, I \u201cmust\u201d do that or I\u2019ll lose screen time, I \u201cmust\u201d complete this or I\u2019ll get a bad grade, I \u201cmust\u201d file taxes on time or I\u2019ll have to pay a penalty. Our \u201cmust\u201d is to avoid a negative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not so with Jesus. His \u201cmust\u201d is to ensure a positive: our salvation. The opportunity cost of the shortcut Jesus was offered was simply not worth it. Jesus \u201cmust\u201d press on because souls are at stake. He must press on because eternity hangs in the balance. He must press on because Jesus\u2019 perfect and holy heart cares more about completing his Father\u2019s will than even his own personal well-being. He must press on because there was no other acceptable payment plan for covering the cost of sin – only the shedding of his priceless blood would serve as payment. He must press on to die, so that through his death we might live. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus could not take the shortcut, not when it served only to allow him to give up or avoid something; he was more interested in what his suffering and death would gain, what they would attain for mankind. So he was resolutely determined to do what he \u201cmust\u201d do to make it happen. No shortcut would allow him to succeed in carrying out that goal. And he was determined to carry it out for everyone – <\/em>even the very enemies trying to talk him out of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In one last-ditch effort, Jesus threw out to them the life-line of repentance, warning them not to follow in the footsteps of their ancestors: \u201cJerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, \u2018Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord\u2019\u201d (v. 34-35).<\/em><\/strong> The invitation to repentance is an open-ended one for you and for me, too. Confess the spiritual shortcuts that we\u2019re all too willing to take. Repent for all the times we have opted out of the burden of carrying our cross and following Jesus in favor of the cross-less shortcut. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then turn to the cross that Jesus not only carried but also died on\u2026 because he willingly chose to crush any shortcut that would sidestep your salvation. The opportunity cost of saving his own life and losing yours for eternity wasn\u2019t worth it. So he died. And now we get to live. And he promises to give to you and to me the strength to bear the crosses that come up in our lives as Christians. We can face the difficult and the demanding without searching for the nearest exit or shortcut, for we have a Savior who with dogged determination not only secured our salvation by his own cross, but who also promises that he\u2019ll always be right there with us to help us carry our crosses as well. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Luke 13:31-35) We are no strangers to the many advantages shortcuts can provide. Books and websites are filled with shortcuts and hacks that promise an easier way for just about anything. We have experienced the benefits of shortcuts in a lot of different ways. When we\u2019re scrambling to be on time getting from Point A… Continue reading Shortcuts Crushed by Determination<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[209,65],"tags":[210,113,5,109,36,215,108],"class_list":["post-905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crushed","category-sermons","tag-crushed","tag-determination","tag-jesus","tag-preaching","tag-sermon","tag-shortcut","tag-teaching"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p842FN-eB","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=905"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":911,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905\/revisions\/911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}