Comfort vs. Calling: What It Really Means to Follow Jesus

“Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.” Simple words. Profound truth.

In this episode of the HHP Podcast, Pastor Chris Frankie (Senior Pastor of HFF Church in OKC) dives deep into one of Jesus’ most poetic and challenging statements from Matthew 8:20. What seems like a soft metaphor becomes a direct confrontation with our desire for comfort, control, and stability.

🔹 What does it really mean to follow Jesus? 🔹 Are we willing to walk a road that offers no earthly refuge? 🔹 Are we apprenticing Jesus—or something else?

This isn't just about ancient foxes and birds—this is about the uncomfortable call to live a life on mission, just like our Messiah. Discipleship comes at a cost, and Jesus never hides the price.

🔥 Join us as we unpack themes of:

• Self-denial and mission

• The tension between comfort and calling

• The divinity and humanity of the Son of Man

• What it means to truly apprentice the Rabbi from Nazareth

Whether you're in the church, the messianic world, or just wrestling with Scripture—you're invited to listen, reflect, and decide: Are you part of the crowd… or truly following?

📍 Like, share, comment, and subscribe to stay up to date. 💻 For resources, blogs, and how to support this podcast, visit https://hff.church 🕊️ Join us in person every Saturday at 10:30 AM in OKC!

#HHPPodcast #Matthew8 #JesusWords #CostOfDiscipleship #FoxesHaveHoles #MessianicTeaching #KingdomInAction #FollowJesus #ApprenticingTheRabbi #SonOfMan #ChurchPodcast #TorahAndMessiah #BibleTeaching #HFFChurch

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The words of Jesus are beautiful.
I love the poetic nature and sometimes very simple elements of how he approaches things.
As we've been going through the kingdom and action series, there's been some really
cool things that have popped out in the text, but today I want to look at boxes have

(00:21):
holes and birds the air have nests.
Welcome to the HHP podcast.
My name is Chris Frankie and I am the senior pastor of HFF church in Oklahoma city.
Join me and others from around the country as we talk all things Bible, church and
family. We may be right.
We may be heretical, but that's for you to decide.

(00:43):
Drop a like a share a comment, subscribe and let's get to it.
In Matthew chapter eight 20, we taught on this portion a couple of weeks ago on from
the pulpit on Saturday and there's this beautiful element.
So I kind of wanted to break it out of the sermon and really kind of look at it for a

(01:04):
little bit. Jesus begins with these words.
Boxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has no place to
lay his head in this one sentence.
It seems somewhat simplistic, yet poetic, yet it carries an incredible weight.
In this verse, Jesus is painting a picture that challenges all assumptions of humanity

(01:29):
that we are looking for comfort.
We're looking for a place to call around.
The white picket fence, have a house, three kids, all that type of stuff, set up roots
challenging what is success.
And then at the same point in time, even making the reference to what does it mean to
actually apprentice Jesus?

(01:50):
Because we're all apprenticing something, so we need to understand what are we
apprenticing? Is our behavior apprenticing after the words in the text of the scripture
that Jesus tells us?
Or are we apprenticing modern culture or are we apprenticing the words of somebody
else? And it's important.

(02:11):
So when we go back to this passage in Matthew chapter eight, let's set the context, a
scribe, a religious leader, somebody who is well versed in the Torah and the prophets
approaches Jesus after he's come down from the Sermon on the Mount.
And there's been a couple of healings and a couple of things.
And he says, "Teacher, I'm going to follow you wherever you go."

(02:33):
He's making a bold claim and oath of vow to go with Jesus as Jesus being his rabbi.
And Jesus's response was, "Hey, come on.
I would love for you to come with me.
But what in the world do you think that means?"

(02:57):
He almost warns him, "The Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
Which is, "I don't have a house.
I don't have acreage.
I don't have a corporate office.
I don't have a synagogue.
I'm not even dwelling in the temple.
Following me will come with a cost.

(03:19):
It's very different than maybe the cost you have had to follow other rabbis.
And Jesus lays this out in front of him.
So let's unpack some of these things.
Foxes have holes.
Foxes are used multiple times.
There is mention of foxes in Lamentations.
There's a prophecy in Zechariah about foxes.

(03:41):
Recently, I think it was 2022 or 2023, there was foxes actually seen on the temple
mount as well.
And so foxes have holes.
They retreat.
They're safe.
But scripturally, there's also a reference to the temple, not only the destruction, but
the prophecy of hope of the rebuilding of the temple.

(04:02):
Birds have nests.
This is a place where they will rest, where they will have babies, where they will take
refuge from predators.
But the Son of Man, Jesus, the very one who came to save us, has no permanent place on
this earth.
He doesn't have a den.
He doesn't have a nest.
He doesn't have a place of refuge.

(04:23):
He doesn't have a place to retreat to.
There's no real estate, no home base, just the road ahead, being on mission with the
kingdom of action of God the Father.
It's not that Jesus couldn't have had these things.
All of those were available to anybody in that culture.
He just was on mission and he knew that mission was one that would cause him to choose not

(04:46):
to have those things.
His life was a living parable of self-denial and total commitment to the calling of his
father.
He was reflecting the character and nature of his father.
So first, self-denial and sacrifice.
Following Jesus isn't about signing on to some sort of comfortable lifestyle.

(05:08):
You're not going to have seven jets or you're not going to have your name in all of these
lights.
Ultimately, part of the goal of signing on with Jesus is that Jesus's name is the one that
would be enlightened.
Jesus's name would be the one that would be glorified.
It's also a calling of discipleship and apprenticing.
For that scribe and for any of us, it should be a gut check.

(05:31):
Are we following Jesus only when it's easy or he's going to give us something or are we
willing to walk with him when there is no place to lay your head or there is no refuge
or there is everything costs you something.
And it also causes you to understand there's there's a humility that should come.
The phrase son of man is loaded with divinity and with humanity.

(05:56):
He's not the king in a palace.
He's a savior walking the road and that road will lead to his death on the cross.
So Jesus wasn't pushing the scribe away.
He wasn't telling him you cannot follow me.
He was inviting him to fully understand upfront.
What is the cost?

(06:16):
Are you sure?
Because this isn't the life of luxury.
You're not going to be number two in the synagogue of Jesus.
It's a life of purpose.
Sacrifice will bring deep and eternal joy and rewards, but it is going to cost you.
And that's the same exact challenge that we have today when we are deciding whether

(06:39):
we're going to apprentice with Jesus, it's going to cost you something.
It's it's not going to be some get out of jail free card.
And so we are invited into the challenge.
Are you following Jesus with your whole life?
Or just with the lyrics of your mouth or your words?

(06:59):
Are you willing to actually let go of the comforts, the stability and the control
that you have or you have created and give those up to Jesus for his mission,
for his kingdom, for his calling, for his nature, for his namesake?
Because the kingdom requires that we go.

(07:21):
It's a kingdom on the move.
And Jesus is still calling his disciples to be disciples, not just admirers,
not just parts of the crowd.
It says, oh, this man has authority.
And then they went back to do whatever it is they were doing before.
In the end, the calling of the kingdom is not just to believe, it's to follow.

(07:43):
If this podcast has blessed you, please consider supporting by visiting
our website and making a donation for more resources, blogs, podcasts,
please visit us at hff.church.
Looking for a church home?
Join us for Saturday Church in OKC every Saturday morning, starting at 1030.

(08:07):
you