Following the Leader: Who We Follow

Sermon from 11/25. I'm preaching in the traditional service next week. I'm a little intimidated.
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Today we’re going to wrap up a series of sermons about following the leader. We started a few weeks ago by looking at the story of Bartimaeus. In that story we see a parallel to our own salvation journey and we see that we are all called to follow Jesus. God’s grace pursues us, calls out to us, and we respond. Like Bartimaeus we are healed, we’re made whole. And we follow as we continue our spiritual pilgrimage of salvation.

The following week, we looked at how we follow. We follow by responding to God’s grace. God’s grace is “the undeserved, unmerited, and loving action of God in human existence through the ever-present Holy Spirit.” We follow Jesus by responding to that grace in what we call discipleship. Being a disciple means learning to be like Jesus. We do the things Jesus did and the things Jesus taught. Participating in what John Wesley called the means of grace. Ordinary activities in which we experience God’s grace. Prayer, fasting, searching the scriptures, the Lord’s Supper. As well as feeding the hungry, helping the poor, caring for the sick, welcoming the stranger. And we do it all together, as the Body of Christ.

Last week we looked at the question of why we follow. First we follow because of God’s grace, because without the Grace of God, we can do nothing. And we follow because we are commissioned, we are commanded, and to be transformed and because we are transformed. We follow Jesus because as we do we experience the power of the Holy Spirit who renews our hearts and restores us from the distorted human image we are into the perfect image of Christ we are created to be.

So we’ve answered the what, how & why. Now we need to answer the who question. “Who do we follow?” That’s an easy one. We follow Jesus. Sermon over. Let’s sing.

OK, that’s the easy answer, but we’re going to delve a little deeper into the question than that. Let’s start with our scripture for this morning.

John 18:33-37

New Living Translation (NLT)

³³ Then Pilate went back into his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought to him. “Are you the king of the Jews?” he asked him.

³⁴ Jesus replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?”

³⁵ “Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?”

³⁶ Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.”

³⁷ Pilate said, “So you are a king?”

Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.”

This question of “Who do we follow” is an interesting one for today. Today is “Christ the King” Sunday or “Reign of Christ” Sunday. It’s the last day of the liturgical calendar. In terms of the Christian calendar. We’re getting ready for a New Year’s celebration as we observe Advent starting next week.

Who do we follow? Well, we follow Jesus. So then, we have to ask, Who is Jesus? Which leads us to Pilate’s question. Are you the King of the Jews?

We read of Pontius Pilate questioning Jesus about the charges against him. He is charged with claiming to be King of the Jews. Pilate’s job is maintaining order in Judea. It is his job to make sure that Rome stays in control. In other words, his concern is politics. When he asks Jesus if he is the King of the Jews, he’s not concerned about any religious implications to the question. He just wants to know if Jesus sees himself as a political leader.

As I read the passage, I imagine Pilate’s question to have a kind of scoff behind it. “Are you the king of the Jews?” As if it is ridiculous that this man – this poor, itinerant preacher – could be a king. He’s not dressed like a king, probably isn’t as clean as a king should be. Pilate has a certain idea of what power should look like. And a king should exude power.

Christ the King Sunday was instituted in the mid-1920s. It was a time when dictators were coming to power all over Europe. The celebration is meant to remind all Christians that our allegiance is to Jesus Christ and not to any earthly power. After all, Jesus is the King of Kings. The ruler of rulers.

I think we all have a certain idea of what a king is as well. Just like Pilate, we have preconceived notions of a king.

When you think of a king is it a king who looks like this….

 Or this?

We don’t think of a helpless infant as a king or a man beaten and bruised, dressed ironically in a robe and a crown of thorns. That is the image of powerlessness, not power. And yet, this is our king. This is the one about whom we say, “Jesus is Lord.” This is the king we follow.

To examine who we follow, I want to talk about two phrases we tend to use. One is the statement “Jesus is Lord.” The other is the phrase the “Kingdom of God.”

When we say Jesus is Lord, what does that mean? The easy answer is that Jesus is lord of all. To examine that, I want to start large scale and move inward. To proclaim Jesus as Lord we mean: Jesus is Lord of the heavens and earth. Jesus is Lord of the social order. Jesus is Lord of the church. Jesus is Lord of our personal lives.

Jesus is Lord of the natural realm. He is Lord of heaven and earth. Lord of all creation.

Jesus is Lord of the social order. In other words, Jesus rules as Lord over all dominions, thrones, rulers, and powers.

Jesus is Lord means that Jesus is Lord of the Church. The Bible calls the church the Body of Christ with Jesus as the head of that body. We are a community of faith doing the work of Christ in the world.

To say Jesus is Lord of our lives means that Jesus is our top priority. It means that we follow Jesus because we are commissioned and commanded. Most importantly, for Jesus to be Lord of our lives, nothing else can be. Not money, not our job, not our social status. Nothing else can come before Jesus.

To say Jesus is Lord, means that Jesus is Lord of all. Not just Lord of Sunday morning. Not just Lord inside these walls. Jesus is lord of all, always.

Pilate asks Jesus if he is a king and Jesus replies, “My kingdom is not an earthly kingdom.” His kingdom is not from this world, and Jesus is not an earthly king. When we think of earthly kings, like those from the images before, they take control by force. To rule more, you have to conquer more. But that is not the nature of the king we follow. That is not the nature of the Kingdom of God.   

So what is this Kingdom of God? First of all, it’s not heaven. The word typically translated as kingdom is basileia (bä-sē-lī'-ä). It doesn’t refer to geographical boundaries of a kingdom, but to the reign and rule of a king or the sphere of influence of a king. So the Kingdom of God is the sphere of influence of God rather than a specific location. I like the phrase “reign of God” because it doesn’t imply a location as much as “Kingdom” does.

The website of the United Methodist church has this to say about the Kingdom of God:

· We believe that the kingdom or reign of God is both a present reality and future hope.

· We believe that wherever God's will is done, the kingdom or reign of God is present. It was present in Jesus' ministry, and it is also present in our world whenever persons and communities experience reconciliation, restoration, and healing.

· We believe that the fulfillment of God's kingdom--the complete restoration of creation--is still to come.

· We believe that the church is called to be both witness to the vision of what God's kingdom will be like and a participant in helping to bring it to completion.

· We believe that the reign of God is both personal and social. Personally, we display the kingdom of God as our hearts and minds are transformed and we become more Christ-like. Socially, God's vision for the kingdom includes the restoration and transformation of all of creation.

The reign of God, I think is best summed up by the phrase “already and not yet.” God’s reign has been inaugurated, but is not yet fulfilled. Jesus’ life and ministry on Earth signified the inauguration of God’s reign. Its fulfillment will come when Jesus returns. But it is as the statement earlier said, a future and a present reality. As the church, we work here and now to help bring God’s reign to completion.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul tells us that the Kingdom of God is not “food and drink, but it is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” The good news is that righteousness and peace and joy are available to all of us through the work of the Holy Spirit. Let me take a bit of a detour here.

We spend a lot of time talking about following Jesus and following God. We tend to forget the Holy Spirit. A lot of times the way we talk about God loses the essence of the trinity: Father, Son, & Holy Spirit. Creator, Redeemer, & Sustainer. God is God. Eternal. Unchanging. Jesus is Immanuel. God with us. God made flesh. In Jesus we see the full revelation of God. God’s presence on earth. The Holy Spirit is God’s continuing and continuous presence on earth.

It is the Holy Spirit that works in us to transform us and works through us to transform the world.

It is the Holy Spirit that allows us to do the work of the Kingdom here and now. The Reign of Christ is righteousness, peace, and joy; and most of all Love. That means that we are called to turn from anything that is contrary to those things. On a personal level and a social level. We turn from sin. Personal sin, first. And we turn away from those things that divide society. Things that marginalize others. Hate. War. Inequality. And we trust Jesus as he leads us to reconciliation and equality. And we open ourselves tot eh transforming power of the Holy Spirit, because we can’t do it on our own.

And so we follow Christ the King. And we await the Reign of Christ. But it is not a passive waiting. Here’s another quote from the UMC website: “And what is our role—to sit back and simply wait for God's kingdom to arrive? By no means! We are to pray earnestly for the Kingdom to come on earth. We are to watch faithfully for any signs of its coming. We are to put away our old selves and clothe ourselves "with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness". As renewed people, we're to do "the work of ministry". As Easter people witness and serve, we take part in the Kingdom's dawning. Thy Kingdom come!”
©2012 - Scott Coats

Following the Leader: Why We Follow

Following the Leader (Part II)

My sermon from 11/18/2012. Read, enjoy, comment.

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For the last couple of weeks, we’ve talked about following Jesus. And truth be known, it’s all been building to this week.

Before I go any further, though I have to admit something. The sermon titles for the last 2 weeks have started with Following the Leader. Every time I’ve written that out over the last few weeks, all I can think about is the song from Peter Pan. “We’re following the leader, the leader, the leader. We’re following the leader. Wherever he may go.” In all honesty, it’s what I was thinking about when I came up with the title, and I’ve been trying to figure out how to work it into a sermon.

We started out two weeks ago talking about Bartimaeus, the blind beggar. We looked at the story of Bartimaeus as a parallel to our salvation journey. He calls out to Jesus and is healed. We call out to Jesus and, by God’s grace, we are healed, forgiven. And then, like Bartimaeus, we follow. As we follow Jesus, we continue to respond to God’s grace, and the Holy Spirit works in us, allowing us to grow in knowledge and love of God. Continually renewing us, restoring us from the twisted human image we are into the perfect image of Christ God created us to be.

Last week we examined the question of how we follow Jesus. We talked about cheap grace versus costly grace. Cheap grace is what Dietrich Bonheoffer called “grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.” It’s the false expectation that we can accept God’s grace without it changing us. Grace requires discipleship. Being a disciple means that we are watching and listening to Jesus in order to become like Jesus. We follow by feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, taking care of the sick and imprisoned. And by doing it together, as the Body of Christ doing the work of Christ in the world. We follow Jesus by doing what Jesus did, and what Jesus taught. We welcome and reach out to the “other”, to the marginalized, to the lost and the forgotten, to our neighbors, people we like, people we don’t like. God’s grace crosses all boundaries and human divisions. Social, economic, cultural. To follow Jesus, we have to be willing to do the same.

Today, we have one more question to answer. Why do we follow?

Matthew 28:16-20

New Living Translation (NLT)

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted! ¹⁸ Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.¹⁹ Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. ²⁰ Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Why do we follow Jesus? 

I want to talk about 2 things that Jesus said that help us to understand why we follow Jesus. The first is from the scripture passage I read. Does anyone know what that is called? The Great Commission.

We follow because we are commissioned.

I try to not do the “Webster’s Dictionary defines so-and-so as…” thing, because I think it’s a little cheesy and cliché. That being said, Webster’s dictionary defines commission as “a formal written warrant granting power to perform various acts or duties; an authorization or command to act in a prescribed manner or to perform prescribed acts; authority to act for, in behalf of, or in place of another.” Before Jesus ascended to heaven he passed his authority to the Apostles. He commissioned them to act on his behalf to make disciples. That commission has passed down through the generations to you and me. Jesus commissions – gives authority, grants power – to each of us and more specifically to all of us collectively to act on behalf of Jesus to go, make disciples, to baptize, to teach them. In short, Jesus authorizes us to be the Body of Christ – to do the work of Christ in the world.

We are commissioned. That’s one reason we follow. The second reason is found in all of the synoptic gospels – Matthew Mark, & Luke. I want to read the account from Mark’s gospel. I’ll read Mark 12:28-31

Mark 12:28-31

New Living Translation (NLT)

²⁸ One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

²⁹ Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. ³⁰ And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

Loving God and loving our neighbor is the essence of following Jesus. Why do we do it? Because we are commanded. Earlier we heard the great commission. Now we here from Jesus, the Greatest Commandment. Love God with all of your heart, your soul, your mind, and your strength. In other words, love God with everything you have and everything you are!

Last week as we answered the question of how we follow Jesus, we talked about following God with our whole self. Discipleship is about giving your whole self to God. And when we give our whole self to God we give ourselves to our neighbor, because to love God with everything we have means we love our neighbor.

We follow because we’re commissioned and because we’re commanded. But there’s still more to it.

Do you remember the “Following the Leader” scene in Peter Pan? The Lost Boys following along behind John and singing. “Tee dum, Tee dee. A teedle ee dum tee day.” Walking through waterfalls, hopping across rocks. All sort of oblivious to what’s going on around them.

I think there might be a metaphor for Christianity there. More about the following than the leading. Following blindly, not noticing the world around us. Going through the motions. Doing what we see, just because we see it. Following just because we’re told to do it.

There are those who call their selves Christians simply because it’s what they’ve always done. My family always went to church, so I go.

Being commissioned and being commanded can still lead us to discipleship out of a sense of obligation. Doing it because we have to, or because we think it might benefit us in some way. Just because it’s one more rule to keep to stay out of hell.

But that’s not discipleship. Last week we talked about discipleship as a response to God’s grace. And that a true and faithful response to God’s grace will always change us. As we faithfully respond to God’s grace, we are transformed by the Holy Spirit. We are renewed and restored.

The third reason we follow Jesus is so that we can be transformed. John Wesley talked about following Jesus in terms of the means of grace – The outward signs, words, or actions through which God conveys grace. He grouped them as acts of piety – things like prayer and fasting, worship, the sacraments – and acts of mercy – things like feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, taking care of the sick and the imprisoned. Through these acts of discipleship, we experience God’s grace through the work of the Holy Spirit. And we are transformed. And because we are transformed, because the Holy Spirit works in us and through us, we follow Jesus. So we follow to be transformed and because we are transformed, we continue to follow Jesus.

Which brings us to the focus of today. If you haven’t heard it or seen it, our mission statement is printed at the top of the worship bulletin. “Love God. Love others. Serve the world.” That is a mission of commission and command. It’s a mission that will transform you and me and will transform the world. If you have a Mission & Ministry Fair booklet lying near you, pick it up. Look inside the front cover. On the first page is a short message to you. I want to read a part of that message that speaks about our mission. “Hearing…..Lives are transformed.”

Our mission is to follow Jesus. Because we are commissioned. Because we are commanded. In order to be transformed and because we are transformed.

Take a moment and look through the “Get Connected” booklet. Look at all of the opportunities. Look at all of the ways we are loving God, loving others, and serving the world.

But like I said last week, none of that is possible without giving. Now, I’ve never seen giving listed among the means of grace, but I can speak from my own experience. Giving is a means of grace. It is a way to experience God’s grace. We don’t give for God. We give for us. It is an act of worship. A chance for us to demonstrate to God and to ourselves where our priorities lie.

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This wasn't the end, but it is the end of the manuscript. The rest focused on our Commitment Sunday and pledge card particulars.

I'll try to get audio up soon.

©2012 - Scott Coats

Following the Leader: A How To

This is my sermon for 11/11/2012. It is my second preached at Florence First United Methodist.Next week is Commitment Sunday, so this week we focused our attention on our stewardship campaign.

FYI, this may be an awkward read in some spots. I try to not preach from a manuscript, so it is not exactly polished.

I'll try to get some audio up later if anyone is interested.

Enjoy. Feedback? 

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Are any of you Bob Dylan fans? In 1979, Dylan released a song called “Gotta Serve Somebody”. Do you know the song? If you haven’t heard the song, Dylan gives list after list of people – mostly by occupation. Powerful people and not so powerful people. The chorus is where the song has meaning. “You gotta serve somebody. You’re gonna have to serve somebody. It may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you gotta serve somebody.” Paul referred to this as living by the flesh versus living by the spirit. In Romans 8:13-14 Paul writes, “¹³for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” You gotta serve somebody. You can follow the flesh, or you might say you can follow the world. Or you can follow the Spirit – you can follow Jesus.

Last week, we heard a story about someone choosing to follow Jesus. Bartimaeus was a blind beggar outside of Jericho. In the story of his healing, we learned last week, we see, not just a healing story, but a story of salvation and a story of becoming a disciple. As Jesus left Jericho, Bartimaeus called out to Jesus, he knew his blindness, his ailment, and he knew that without Jesus he would remain blind, so he called out, “Jesus, have mercy on me!” On our journey of salvation, by God’s grace, we realize we are sinners. We know our ailment, we are dead in our sin, and without Jesus, we will remain dead. So we call out to Jesus. “Jesus, have mercy on me!” And just as Bartimaeus was healed of his blindness, and became a new seeing person, Jesus heals us, forgives our sins and we are a new creation in Christ.

But, as I said last week, the story doesn’t end there. Bartimaeus’ story nor ours. Unlike anyone else I remember in the gospels, after being healed, Bartimaeus becomes a follower of Jesus. Mark’s gospel tells us he “follows Jesus on the way.” And still our salvation journey reflects the story of Bartimaeus. After our sins are forgiven and we become a new creation in Christ, we follow. As I said, last week, salvation is not a destination, it is a journey, a spiritual pilgrimage. As we follow Jesus, God’s grace continues to work in us renewing us, perfecting us. Restoring us from the distorted human image we are back into the perfect image of Christ we are created to be.

That following is what we call discipleship. Discipleship simply means, being a disciple. Or maybe becoming or growing into a disciple is more accurate. Being is too passive for what it means to live as a disciple of Jesus. Being a disciple involves active following. It requires response to God’s grace. It requires action. But how do we follow? That is our question this morning. How do we faithfully follow Jesus Christ. How do we respond to the grace God offers all of us?

Our scripture this morning gives some insight into that question.

Matthew 25:31-46

Common English Bible (CEB)

³¹ “Now when the Son of Man comes in his majesty and all his angels are with him, he will sit on his majestic throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered in front of him. He will separate them from each other, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.³³ He will put the sheep on his right side. But the goats he will put on his left.

³⁴ “Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who will receive good things from my Father. Inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you before the world began. ³⁵ I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. ³⁶ I was naked and you gave me clothes to wear. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.’

³⁷ “Then those who are righteous will reply to him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? ³⁸ When did we see you as a stranger and welcome you, or naked and give you clothes to wear? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

⁴⁰ “Then the king will reply to them, ‘I assure you that when you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done it for me.’

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Get away from me, you who will receive terrible things. Go into the unending fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² I was hungry and you didn’t give me food to eat. I was thirsty and you didn’t give me anything to drink. ⁴³ I was a stranger and you didn’t welcome me. I was naked and you didn’t give me clothes to wear. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’

⁴⁴ “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and didn’t do anything to help you?’ ⁴⁵  Then he will answer, ‘I assure you that when you haven’t done it for one of the least of these, you haven’t done it for me.’ ⁴⁶  And they will go away into eternal punishment. But the righteous ones will go into eternal life.”

Last week I talked a little about God’s grace. Grace is “the undeserved, unmerited, and loving action of God in human existence through the ever-present Holy Spirit.” I also mentioned last week that we believe in free grace. Grace is offered to all of humanity. Not all respond, but grace is given to all. Grace is free, and we are free to accept that grace or to say no to God’s grace.

Grace is freely offered, and we are free to respond in faith. Free grace does not equal cheap grace.

Dietrich Bonheoffer was a pastor and a theologian in Germany in the 1930s and 40s. He was eventually arrested for speaking out against the Nazi party during World War II. In 1937, he published a book called Nachfolge, or Discipleship. 9 years later it was translated into English and titled The Cost of Discipleship. It begins with this quote: “Cheap grace is the mortal enemy of our church. Our struggle today is for costly grace.” Later he defines cheap grace: “cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ." He wrote of the attitude of cheap grace as one that says, “Of course you have sinned, but now everything is forgiven, so you can stay as you are and enjoy the consolations of forgiveness.” In other words, you can’t truly and faithfully respond to God’s grace without it changing you.

We can see cheap grace and its consequences in the parable of the sheep and the goats from Matthew’s gospel. The goats, those on the “Son of Man’s” left. They believed in Jesus. They call him Lord. But they were looking for cheap grace.

Costly grace requires discipleship. A few years ago, Rob Bell wrote a book called Velvet Elvis. In that book he gave one of the best descriptions of a disciple that I’ve read. He gave a long description that I will try to shorten. In 1^st century Judea, in Jesus’ time, around age 6 all Jewish boys began school. They would memorize the scriptures. After a few years, the best in the class would move on to the next level of schooling, while the rest would learn the family trade. At this level of schooling, the boys began to study the oral traditions, commentaries on the Hebrew scriptures from Rabbis over the centuries. After four or five years, the best of the best would move on to the next level. The remaining students would go to a rabbi and ask to become one of his talmidim – a disciple. The rabbi would grill him a decide if he was worthy of being a disciple.

The goal of a talmidim was not just to learn from the rabbi, but to be like the rabbi. The talmidim followed the rabbi everywhere. They left their families, their villages, and devoted their lives to becoming just like their chosen rabbi. In his book, Bell tells a story of friend who, while visiting Israel, saw a rabbi go into the restroom and his talmidim entered right behind him. That is the level of their devotion. They don’t dare leave for a second because they might miss something he says.

 Being a disciple should be transformative. Remember, we are being renewed by the Holy Spirit into the image of Christ.

As we follow Jesus, our lives should show evidence of God’s grace. Being a disciple is not as simple as coming to church on Sunday and singing a few songs and listening to some bald guy talk about Jesus. No matter how much I talk and you listen, I cannot make you a disciple. Eugene Peterson wrote this in his book The Jesus Way, “The way of Jesus cannot be imposed or mapped – it requires active participation in following Jesus.” Being a disciple requires action. It requires commitment. It requires following Jesus.

Jesus gives a picture of what that looks like in our scripture this morning. “I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothes to wear. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.”

How do we follow Jesus? We do what Jesus does. We do what Jesus teaches. We welcome “the other” – those who are not like us, those who others have written off as lost causes, those who make us uncomfortable. We reach out to the last, the lost, and the least. Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, show hospitality, take care of the sick, visit the imprisoned. And maybe most importantly, we do it together.

Eugene Peterson also wrote this, “A Christian congregation is a company of men and women who gather for worship, who then go into the world as salt and light. God’s Holy Spirit calls and forms this people. God means to do something with us, and he means to do it in community. We are in on what God is doing, and we are in on it together.” We are called to be the Body of Christ. To continue the work of Christ in the world.

Next Sunday is a very important day in the life of the church. Two important things will take place next Sunday. First, next week is Commitment Sunday. All members will receive a letter this week, if you have not already. Along with that letter is a commitment card for 2013, where you can pledge what you plan to give to the church next year. One thing I’ve noticed in the short time I have been here is that this is a church that is busy working for the Kingdom. If you simply look through the announcements in the Messenger or in the worship bulletin, you see the many different ministries of the church. We are feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, taking care of the sick. But none of that is possible without giving. All of the ministry we do is made possible by what we give.

When you join the church, you promise in the membership vows to support the church with your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service, and your witness. Giving to the church should not be seen as an obligation. It is a blessing. It is an act of worship. It is a chance for you to serve God and to serve others with your resources. This week, I encourage you to take that card and ponder what you can commit to next year. Talk with your family, pray over it. The Bible teaches tithing, which is giving the first 10%. Maybe you can do that. If not maybe you can do something a little better than you could last year, take a step toward tithing. Maybe you already tithe and you can do a little more. Misty and I will fill out a card. We’ll look at what we think our income will be for the next year and give at least a tithe from that.

The second thing. There will be a ministry fair in the Atrium. This will give you a chance to see how this congregation is being salt and light in the world. You can see exactly how this part of the Body of Christ is working for the Kingdom of God. And then you can commit to being a part of that by committing to a specific ministry. Again, I encourage you to be in prayer this week about where you can give the gift of your time and talents to the ministry of this church - more importantly, to the Kingdom of God.

Discipleship is about giving yourself completely to God. About following Jesus completely. Next week you have a chance to commit to doing just that.  Bob Dylan said, you gotta serve somebody. You gotta follow somebody. This week I hope you will pray about what you can do to be a follower of Jesus. Pray about how you can commit your time and your resources to the Kingdom of God.

Oh God, we long to be followers of Jesus. To seek true discipleship. Guide us by your Holy Spirit help us to turn from the flesh to be led by the spirit. Amen.

©2012 - Scott Coats

Get up! He is Calling!

As time moves forward, things change. It is inevitable. People come and go, in and out of our lives. Sometimes it’s sudden, sometimes it’s gradual. Sometimes it’s both. But it is always inevitable. We recognize change by two events – two characteristics – something ends and something new begins. And those are two attitudes we can have toward change as well. We can look at as something ending or as something beginning. An end, or a new beginning.

I think the attitude of a new beginning is the most helpful, and really, it’s a big part of the Christian message. A major theme throughout the scriptures is new beginnings. Especially beginnings from what seems like an ending.

Jesus’ death on the cross seemed like the end of a movement, but then came resurrection. A new beginning. Then Jesus left, which was followed by Pentecost. A new beginning. Saul was struck blind on the road between Jerusalem and Damascus. Which marked the beginning of Paul’s life as a Christian. It is those new beginnings that speak of the message of hope that Jesus is for all of us.

Today’s scripture is also about a new beginning.

Mark 10:46-52

⁴⁶They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. ⁴⁷When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”⁴⁸Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” ⁵⁰So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” ⁵²Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and f

ollowed him on the way.

It’s easy to see this as just another healing story. Not that restoring someone’s sight is “just another healing,” but when it comes to Jesus healing the sick, the blind, and the lame, well, we kind of get the “been there done that” feeling. But there is much more to this story than a man regaining his sight. This is a story of calling. It is a story of discipleship. But first it is a story of new beginning.

We can see in this story all of the steps or all of the landmarks on the journey of salvation. First let me stress that point. Salvation is a journey. It is a spiritual pilgrimage. Sometimes we think of salvation as a destination rather than a journey. Like it’s just something to check off of a to do list. “I got saved and now I’m OK. That’s done, mark it off of the list.”

The first is prevenient grace. The grace that goes before. It is God’s prevenient grace that works in us before we have any conscious impulse toward God. God offers prevenient grace to everyone, but not all respond. It is prevenient grace that prompts our first twinge, out first inkling that we have sinned against God. Prevenient grace awakens our desire to escape the “wages of sin”. Prevenient grace allows us to realize that we are sinful and we are helpless. Our nature is sinful, and we are helpless to do anything about it.

In terms of Bartimaeus’ story we can think of prevenient grace as coming before our story begins. Which makes sense, right? Prevenient grace is the grace that goes before. Somehow Bartimaeus knew about Jesus. He heard the crowd and asked someone what was going on. They told him Jesus of Nazareth was passing through. And he immediately began to call out to Jesus. He already knew his ailment, he was blind. And he knew that without Jesus, he would remain blind. Just as prevenient grace works in us to awaken the knowledge that we are sinful and helpless. We are dead in our sin. And without Jesus we are going to remain dead.

Following prevenient grace awakening our knowledge, comes repentance. We know we are sinful and we know the wages of sin is death. So we want to turn from sin. We also know that we cannot do that on our own. Only by God’s grace can we truly repent. So we call on Jesus. “Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner.” You remember that part of the story, right? Bartimaeus calls out to Jesus. “Have mercy on me!” After Bartimaeus called out to Jesus. Jesus called Bartimaeus. He reached out to him in grace and love to heal him. Physically in his case. Following our repentance, when we call out to Jesus, God reaches out to us in justifying grace with accepting and pardoning love. We are healed. We are forgiven. We are restored to God’s favor.

After we are justified, we experience what’s known as the new birth. This is the new birth Jesus tells Nicodemus about in John chapter 3. As Paul writes, we die to our old self and are a new creation in Christ. Bartemaeus experienced that new birth. He became a new person, a seeing person.

This is the point where many would say, “Well, here we are. Salvation. I believe in Jesus, my sins are forgiven, I’m saved! Mark it off the list. I’m done. Now back to life.” But salvation is more than justification, salvation is more than new birth. The point of justification, when our sins are forgiven is not the destination, it’s just a waypoint on the journey. The new birth, becoming a new creation in Christ is not the destination. This moment of new birth is really just the beginning of the journey. 

Look at Bartimaeus’ response to this healing. His story is not over. After his sight is restored, Jesus tells him “Go, your faith has made you well.” But what does Bartimaeus do? “He followed him on the way.” And that is the difference in this story and every other story of healing that I can think of in the Gospels. Think of the other healing stories. Jesus heals someone and typically they do what? They go. “Go, your faith has made you well.” And there they go. In most cases, we read that they go and they begin to tell others about Jesus. Bartimaeus is different. He follows.

And this is where our story of salvation continues. This is where the journey takes us next. We follow Jesus, just as Bartimaeus did. And as we follow Jesus, God’s sanctifying grace works in us. Moving us toward holiness. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we grow in knowledge and in love of God and neighbor. Through the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through us, we continue on the journey of salvation. We are disciples. Continuing to grow, continuing to respond to God’s grace. Continuing to experience the power of the Holy Spirit. Until we reach what John Wesley calls Christian perfection. The perfect love of God and neighbor. When every thought and action is motivated only by love of God.

That’s why we follow Jesus. That is salvation. A restoration from the distorted image we are to the perfect image of Christ we are created to be. And that requires discipleship. It requires following. Not that acts of discipleship can earn our salvation. Those things are only evidence of our salvation. It’s only by God’s grace that we are saved. Only by our faith in Jesus Christ. But as we continue on the journey of salvation, God’s grace continues to work in us. And our discipleship becomes evidence of the Holy Spirit working in and through us.

There are some other points along the way of salvation. Assurance, regeneration, but we’re going to skip those for now. I want to talk for a few minutes about following and actually, we’re going to talk about it for the next couple of weeks. We’re going to talk about what it means to follow Jesus. What it means to be a disciple. Because not only do we see a story of salvation in the healing of Bartimaeus, we have a story of discipleship. There are four characteristics of a disciple that Bartimaeus demonstrates.

First, Jesus calls and Bartimaeus comes. As simple as that. We are all called by Jesus. God pursues each of us. We are called to faith in Jesus. We are called to discipleship. Bartimaeus answered that call. All are called, not all will answer. It’s easy to call yourself a Christian. It’s easy to say you believe in Jesus. You might even say it’s easy to believe in Jesus. But to answer, when Jesus calls is not easy. Look at some other call stories in the gospels. The apostles all heard and answered. They left families, jobs, everything to follow Jesus. The young man who came to Jesus and asked what he could do to obtain eternal life. Jesus called him to discipleship. He called him to follow. “Sell all you have, give it to the poor and follow me.” But the man went away sad. Not Bartimaeus.

Which brings us to the second characteristic of discipleship he shows. When Jesus calls, Bartimaeus casts off his cloak and comes. He leaves his coat behind to follow Jesus. Bartimaeus was a blind beggar. His cloak is likely his only worldly possession, but he leaves it behind to answer this call. It makes me think again about the idea of the new birth. When we follow Christ, we are a new creation. In Romans 13, Paul says we should cast off our evil past and clothe ourselves with Christ. It sounds like Bartimaeus is ready to clothe himself with Christ. He is casting off the old in preparation for the new. He is ready to be remade. To be transformed. To be renewed by Jesus Christ.

The third characteristic is his faith. Bartimaeus is a man of faith. Jesus tells him “Your faith has made you well.” Bartimaeus called out to Jesus because he knew Jesus could make him well.
The fourth characteristic is the last thing that Mark tells us about Bartimaeus. He followed Jesus on the way. On his way to where? On his way to the cross. A disciple is willing to follow Jesus to the cross.

To be a disciple, to go from simply calling yourself a Christian to full discipleship looks like this: When Jesus calls, you answer. You answer without limitations, without condition – leaving everything else behind to follow Jesus. You answer in faith. Trusting that Jesus can make you well – can make you whole. And following.

Those are some characteristics of becoming a disciple. For the next couple of weeks we’re going to talk about what it means to be a disciple. What it means to follow Jesus.

Bartimaeus experienced a new beginning. He left his old blindness and entered a life of seeing and hearing. A life of wholeness. That is a new beginning. That is what God wants for all of us. God’s grace is available to us all; all we have to do is accept it. To respond in faith. Jesus is calling all of us. Will you answer?

O God of grace, we hear you calling! Calling us to Jesus to be made whole. Calling us to follow. Continue to work in us, Holy Spirit, that we may respond in faith and follow.

Amen

©2012 - Scott Coats