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