3.1.15
"Follow Me"
Audio Sermon Can Be Heard HERE.
Paul writes to the Ephesians that God chose us to be in Christ before the laying of the foundation for the universe! Imagine that...God had the plan for Jesus going to the cross and redeeming us before the human race ever sinned. God, who is all knowing and eternal, took time to plan our rescue. And not only the rescue, but he also planned a way in which all men might know how to be rescued.
With his infinite wisdom and resources, God could have waited until the 21st century to introduce Jesus into the world so that his exploits and redeeming actions could have been televised, tweeted, sent viral on Instagram or a host of other modern social information networks. Instead, he sent his son to die on a cross, the preferred killing machine of the Romans. Which meant no telephone, email, text, or electronic mass communications. No, God chose a group of twelve men to follow Jesus for a short time, learn what they could with their limited education and understanding of the world, and then be witnesses for him to the rest of the world.
Now God had established a priestly system of knowledgeable men who dedicated their lives to learning his commands who had a clear explanation of sin and sacrifice, as well as righteous and unrighteous actions. Surely you or I would select a team from within the ranks of these studied few to make the learning curve of the disciples easier.
Not God. His ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts higher than ours (Isaiah 55). So with these higher ways and thoughts God decided to pick average people like you and me to learn the new system of thinking about things like revenge, compassion for enemies, Sabbath Day protocols, and forgiveness of sin.
We have the names for the twelve men recorded in the New Testament (Matthew 10). There was Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, James and his brother John, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zelot, and Judas Iscariot.
Not all stellar individuals. Don't misunderstand me. These men went on to do something amazing: share the story of Jesus with the world. But they would not have been my tops picks looking at them from the start.
I guess you could compare them to a fourth round draft pick that turns out to be a multi Super Bowl MVP winning quarterback that everyone had chose to ignore. But that's how God seems to operate: it's not the stud shinning star player he picks for his team, it is usually the little guy, the late bloomer. It's guys like Moses who had culture identity and anger issues. Women like Rehoboam, a harlot in an enemy town who secured safe passage for the Israelite spies. A boy like David, youngest brother and sheep herder. Or even picking a town like Bethlehem, quaint, tiny, and unknown to be the entry point for the greatest being to walk the face of this earth.
God's ways and thoughts are higher than mine. Maybe that is why he chose a guy like Peter who was "Ready. Fire.Aim." with his words and his actions. His boldness was all fluff and evaporated quickly in the face of a few simple questions from a small girl by a fire on the night Jesus was betrayed. Or brothers like James and John who was given the nickname "sons of thunder" by Jesus. Think about that...your actions were so bold and noisy that the creator of the universe gave you a nickname! Not something spiritual like "The Righteous Brothers" or "Sons of Spirituality", no they are labeled as being disruptive. Matthew was a tax collector, which means he was a traitor to his people and made a living by skimming money from the inflated taxes he imposed. Bartholomew (aka Nathaniel) was sarcastic. When told that Jesus came from Nazareth, he famously replied, "Nazareth! Has anything good ever came from there?" Little did he realize that the most important thing in all of creation came from there! Thomas was known for his doubting, and Judas betrayed Jesus for a hand full of coins.
The others? Well, they did so very little or were so quiet that nothing much is written about their actions. Maybe they were the "good boys" of the group and only the rough necks were recorded. But that is the rag tag group Jesus assembled to be his ambassadors to the world. The good news? If Jesus could us them, then he can use us. Jesus asked all of these men a simple question: "Follow me?" He asks the same of you and I. Three things I think we can learn from this selection of apostles:
1. The call to follow is a call to lead.
As we follow Jesus and learn his ways, he wants us to lead others. Salvation is not just our treasure, it is a treasure Jesus wants us to share with everyone.
2. Availability is more important than ability.
These men were not "top picks" to be world changers, but their availability was matched with the love, patience, and teaching of Jesus which resulted in their ability to accomplish the task.
3. Past or current character flaws are no excuse.
"But you don't know my past" is a phrase often given as reason for not following Jesus. True, I usually don't, but Jesus does and he knew the past and future of these twelve but chose them anyways. It is often the one who realizes just all that they have been forgiven of which makes the best disciple.
So what about you? Have you heard the question asked by Jesus: "Follow Me?" How have you answered that call?
No comments:
Post a Comment