April 26, 2006

FOLLOW ME

          In many places of the world, the term “Christian” has very negative connotations.  It is associated with the Inquisition and other sins of the Christian church over the centuries, and therefore it makes more sense to call believers something else.  The phrase that is being used more and more is “a follower of Christ”, or “a follower of Jesus.”  Even in this country, the word “Christian” has lost some of its original meaning, because many people think of themselves as Christians who are not.  They are sort of “cultural Christians”, but not Christians in the biblical sense.  So a number of churches and leaders in the U.S. have begun speaking of “Christ-followers” rather than “Christians” or “believers”. 

          This morning, I want to explore this concept of following Jesus, and to get us into it, I want to look at the way Jesus called His disciples.

I.        Jesus Called His Disciples   John 1:43; Matthew 4:18-22; 9:9

            There is a very general statement in Luke (6:12-13) that after spending the night in prayer, Jesus called twelve men to be His apostles.  But we also have more specific accounts of how He called six of His disciples individually.  Let’s just look at these, and note the common thread

·        John 1:43  The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me."

·        Matthew 4:18-19  As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.  "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." [20] At once they left their nets and followed him.

·        Matthew 4:21-22 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

·        Matthew 9:9    As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

Six of the twelve disciples were called specifically with this command to follow Jesus.  In that day, this was both common, and yet radical.  It was common for a rabbi to collect a group of followers, who became his disciples, who learned from him, and followed his way of life.  But it was radical because it meant that these men Jesus called left their job (whether it was fishing or tax collecting, or whatever) and their families in order to follow Jesus around Palestine. 

          These were not the only people whom Jesus called to follow Him.  In fact, that was a major theme in His teaching. But as we will see, it was not an easy road.  Jesus made it clear that it was going to cost something to follow Him.  He certainly did not promise them riches and fame!

II.       The Price of Following Jesus   Matthew 19:18-22; Luke 9:23, 57-62; John 10:2-4

·        Luke 9:23, “Then he said to them all: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.’”  We need to recognize that if we are going to follow Jesus, we don’t have any rights of our own.  We give them all up to Him, who calls the shots in our lives from that point on.   

·        Luke 9:57-62, “As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ [58] Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’”  In other words, if you follow me, know in advance that there is no guarantee you’ll have a home of your own.  You may live in borrowed housing all your life.  

·        Luke 9:[59], “He said to another man, ‘Follow me.’  But the man replied, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ [60] Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’”         

·        Luke 9: [61], “Still another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.’  [62] Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.’”  Our commitment to  Jesus has to take priority over family ties and responsibilities.  We can’t be concerned about what others think of us.

·        John 10:2-4, “The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. [3] The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. [4] When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. …[27] My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. By definition, Jesus’ sheep are those who recognize His voice and follow Him. 

·        In Matthew 19, Jesus was talking to the rich young ruler.  Here was a spiritual seeker, a man who wanted to know how he could have eternal life.  What would you say to such a person, if they asked you that question?  I bet it wouldn’t be what Jesus told this man.  First He said that he had to keep the commandments.  “Which ones?” the man asked.  “Jesus replied, 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, [19] honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.' [20] ‘All these I have kept,’ the young man said. ‘What do I still lack?’ [21] Jesus answered, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’  [22] When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.” 

          Jesus knows that no one can keep the commandments well enough to get into heaven, but He mentions the ones that have to do with our responsibilities toward other people, and the man says he has kept all of those.  Pretty impressive. Then Jesus nails him by going for the one thing that he loves most in the world—his wealth.  When Jesus says, “sell your possessions and then come follow me,” He is in effect pointing this man to the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.”  This man’s wealth was his god, and in order to have eternal life, he had to put Jesus first.  Follow me, Jesus says, not your money, not the power and influence and prestige that can bring you.  Follow me.  That’s the requirement to have eternal life. 

III.      Faith and Works[1]   John 1:12; 3:16; 11:25-26; James 2:19; Eph 2:8-10; Gal 5:6; James 2:14-17

          But what about faith?  Where does that fit in?  I thought the Bible teaches that all we have to do to get into heaven is to believe in Christ.  That’s quite right.  The apostle John tells us that to everyone who believed in Him, God gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12).   And God loved the world so much that He sent His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him would not die eternally, but have eternal life.  Jesus Himself said, John 11:25-26, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; [26] and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."  This is the consistent teaching of the Bible from beginning to end:  it is faith that saves us. 

          The question is, what kind of faith saves us?  As we begin to think about this more carefully, we discover there are a number of weak imposters pretending to be biblical faith. 

          For example there is the faith that simply believes certain doctrinal truths.  Do you believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried, and rose again on the third day? Do you believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God?  That’s all good, but James tells us that is insufficient.  2:19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.   A person could believe the whole Bible was true, and still not be saved, because the gospel is not about theology or doctrine; it is about a commitment to a person, Jesus Christ. 

          Another weak imposter is the faith that simply says a prayer, goes forward at an evangelistic event, or makes a profession of faith.  My mother told me how she had gone forward at a Methodist camp meeting as a teenager, and made some kind of profession of faith.  She said the right words, and I’m sure they told her she was saved as a result of that.  But by the time I became a Christian, she described herself as an agnostic, and her life showed no evidence of being born again.  Billy Graham, who is best known for calling people to make decisions for Christ in large stadium events, said that their organization was all about making disciples, not decisions, because they saw how people could seem very sincere at the time, but never follow through on the commitment they had made. 

          Ephes. 2 is helpful here, because it clearly delineates between faith and works, but also shows the tight connection between them.  Eph 2:8-10, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- [9] not by works, so that no one can boast. [10] For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  We are saved by faith, not by our works; but we are saved to do good works.  In our zeal to make sure no one thinks they can be saved by their good life, we may mistakenly give the impression that they don’t have to do anything once they are saved.   

          Paul said it this way in  Galatians 5:6 (NASB), “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision  means anything, (that’s a shorthand way of saying you can’t do anything to earn salvation) but faith working through love.”  --That means something.  Genuine faith works.  It will produce works of love in our lives: love for God, love for others. 

          And James said, James 2:14-17, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? [15] Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. [16] If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? [17] In the same way,  “faith” by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”  We may call it faith, but if it doesn’t produce any actions, any works of love, any following of Christ, it is “dead faith” that certainly cannot save us. 

          So we cannot be saved by our lives, our works, the way we live, the good things we do.  But if our faith does not produce some fruit in terms of obedience to Christ and living the life He calls us to—if we do not in fact follow Him –then we have no basis for saying that we are saved.  Saving faith works.  It’s a faith that  follows Christ.   

IV.     What Does it Mean for Us to Follow Jesus? 

          In those days, it was pretty clear what it meant:  drop whatever you are doing, and walk along with Jesus as He traveled the countryside, and do whatever He told you to do.  It was very concrete.  In our day, it is somewhat less concrete, because we can’t see or hear Him.  But we can know what it means to follow Jesus today.  It means at least these three things. 

          A.          Follow His commandments   John 14:21,23; 13:34,35

                    Jesus gave many commands to His followers, but He repeated this one many times, and it seems to be at the center of His concern for us.  John 13:34-35, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. [35] By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."  This is how the world will know that we are in fact, Christians: by our love for one another.  How are we doing at that? I’m afraid that the world knows Christians as those people who are against stem cell research, against abortion, against homosexuality, against liberals, etc.  But how much love do they see in us?  We Presbyterians belong to an ecclesiastical tradition that has divided and separated so many times that they call us the “split P’s”.  When the world sees us Christians holding grudges, and refusing to forgive those who have hurt us; when they see us attacking one another for minor differences of doctrine; when they see us ignoring the plight of those less fortunate, then the world has the right to question whether we are true followers of Christ.  That’s part of why it is so important that we do things like Interfaith Hospitality Network, which we will host here this coming week.   And why we go to New Orleans to help rebuild houses.  And do service projects when we go to Guatemala and the Navajo reservation. When we do those things, we are showing evidence that we really belong to Christ. 

          A second thing it means for us today to follow Jesus is to follow His example. 

          B.          Follow His example   John 13:12-15; 1 Peter 2:21

                    The last night of His life on earth, Jesus met with His disciples in the Upper Room.  At the beginning of the evening, He took a basin of water and a towel, and washed their feet.  John 13:12-17, “When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them. [13] ‘You call me “Teacher” and “Lord,” and rightly so, for that is what I am. [14] Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. [15] I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.   Here is a situation where Jesus says He was doing something specifically as an example for His followers to follow.  And what was He doing?  Washing their feet.  Acting like a servant.  Taking a humble role, and doing something menial for others. 

          Sometimes we may think that to follow Jesus’ example would mean feeding 5,000 with a sack lunch, or preaching to multitudes, or calling down divine wrath on moneychangers.  But the example He calls our attention to is something very humble and even demeaning.  The service He performed for His disciples that night was something a household servant would normally do, or the disciples of a rabbi might do for him.  But Jesus turned it upside down, and said that the greater one is the one who serves, and we shouldn’t think that we are better than Him.   We’re not too good to stoop to serve others, no matter how humbling or menial the task might be. 

          Here’s another place where we are told to follow Christ’s example:  1 Peter 2:20-21, “…But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. [21] To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”  This one is even harder.  Here we are called to follow Christ’s example of suffering unjustly – of suffering for doing good.  When we are unjustly accused of wrongdoing, how do we respond?  When people slander us at work, or undermine our performance, what do we do?  When we are the subject of malicious gossip, how do we react?       

          The initials WWJD  have become very popular in recent years, and most people know that they stand for What Would Jesus Do? This question points us to exactly what it means to follow Jesus’ example.  Knowing what we do about His character, and His priorities, what would He do? When you have figured that out, you have a pretty good idea what you ought to do. 

          To follow Christ today means to follow His commands and to follow His example.  And finally, it means to follow His Spirit. 

          C.          Follow His Spirit   John 8:47; 14:16,17, 25,26; Galatians 5:25;  Acts 16:7-10

                    I was at a pastors’ prayer summit this past week with about a dozen Loveland pastors.  One of the things we talked about was how we hear God’s voice.  We come from very different traditions, so we have different ideas on that, but we are all agreed that it is the birthright of every Christian to hear the voice of God’s Spirit.  Jesus said in John 8:47, “He who belongs to God hears what God says.”  He promised that when He was gone, He would ask the Father to send them another Counselor to take His place in their lives, someone who would be with them forever, and who would guide them in all that they did (John 14:16,17, 25,26). 

          Paul wrote that since we live by the Spirit, we should keep in step with the Spirit (Gal 5:25).  The image here is of a marching army, with the Spirit of Christ as the One who sets the direction and pace for everyone to follow.  We have a great example of this in action in one of Paul’s missionary trips.  He was in southern Turkey, intending to go to northern Turkey (the region then called Bithynia), but, “…the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.”  So they continued heading west, and during the night, Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."  So they concluded that God was calling them to go to Macedonia instead (Acts 16:7-10).  The Spirit of Christ was clearly leading them. 

          Now this part of following Christ is admittedly much harder than the first two.  The commands of Jesus are recorded for us in Scripture, and they are pretty clear, if not always easy to obey.  The example of Jesus is also described in Scripture, and though we may chafe at doing the kind of things He did, we at least know what that looks like in most situations.  But it is not always easy to know what the Holy Spirit is saying to us.  It’s all too easy to confuse His leading with our own strongly felt desires. 

          But just because it is more difficult doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to do it.  In my experience, I have found that I am more likely to hear the voice of the Spirit when I am consistent in my Quiet Times, keeping my relationship with Christ very current, learning to listen to His voice in the Scriptures.  We want to do whatever we can to stay sensitive to the Spirit’s leading, because He doesn’t usually shout.  His is the “still, small voice”, the “gentle whisper” that Elijah heard at the mouth of the cave where he was staying. 

V.      Why Do We Follow Him?   John 14:23

          Finally, I want to make sure we understand why we follow Jesus.  It is not just as Peter said, because He has the words of eternal life (John 6:68).  Nor is it out of fear that we’ll be punished if we don’t, or out of fear of losing our salvation. Certainly, we want to follow Jesus’ commandments because He is the Lord, who has the authority to order us around, but even that is not the primary reason we do it.  No, the primary reason for following Jesus is love.  We follow His commands, and His example, and His Spirit’s leading because we love Him. 

          Jesus said, John 14:23, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”  What a promise:  intimate fellowship with the Father and the Son when we follow Him out of love.  When people voluntarily followed Jesus around Palestine, it was because there was something so attractive about Him that they just wanted to be close to Him.  When two of John the Baptist’s disciples followed Jesus and He asked them what they wanted, they said, We want to know where you are staying.  We want to be where you are.  And that is really the heart of following Jesus.  It’s a desire to be close to Him, because we love Him. 

          King David expressed his desire this way:  Psalm 27:4, “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.“   That’s the motivation for obeying Jesus’ commands, and for following His example, and for listening carefully to the Spirit of Jesus as He whispers in our ears.  We want to be close to Him. 

          Are you a follower of Christ?  How closely are you following?  How close to Him do you want to be?  Follow His commands; follow His example; follow His Spirit. Stick close to Jesus.  You won’t regret it.