Witnesses ~ Mary

Christ is Risen – He is Risen Indeed.
We can say that this morning because more than 2,000 years ago there were people who saw the risen Christ.  They were witnesses of the resurrection and seeing Jesus alive forever changed them.  The good news for us is that they weren’t just witnesses of the risen Jesus they were witnesses to the risen Jesus, meaning they told people about him and their testimony has changed the world.  For the next several weeks we are going to look at some of those witnesses and how what they saw changed them and how what they said and how they lived changed the world.  Today we are going to start with the very first witness.  The first person to see Jesus alive was a woman named Mary Magdalene.  Mary’s witness is not just recorded in the gospels but her witness has also been turned into one of the most loved hymns of the church.

I come to the garden alone, While the dew is still on the roses,
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear, The Son of God discloses.
And He walks with me, and He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own, And the joy we share as we tarry there, None other has ever known.

I must confess that while I grew up in the church and probably sang this song hundreds of times, I never knew it was written from the perspective of Mary until about 12 years ago.  It was Mary who first went to the garden alone, but it was the garden tomb where Jesus had been buried and she went early in the morning and when she arrived she found that the stone had been rolled away and while she didn’t see Jesus then or even know what happened to him, she was quick to give a witness of what she saw to the disciples.

Mary ran back to the disciples and told them what she saw and they ran to the tomb to see for themselves.  They found the tomb empty and the grave clothes there and it says that they saw and believed, but let’s be clear – they didn’t believe Jesus was alive, not yet, they just believed Mary’s witness that the tomb was empty.  While the disciples left the garden, Mary stayed.  It was Mary who lingered at the last place where Jesus had been because it was Mary who loved Jesus so much that she didn’t know where else to go or what else to do.

There has been a lot written about Mary Magdalene through the years and it’s helpful to separate some fact from fiction.  There is no evidence that Mary and Jesus were married and had a family but it is clear that Mary was a follower of Jesus.  If women had been allowed to be considered disciples in those days, Mary would certainly have been a disciple.  We know that Mary was not married because women were always identified by the men in their lives.  Mary Magdalene was not Mary the wife of… or daughter of… or mother of anyone, she was simply Mary Magdalene which means she was Mary from the city of Magdala.

Where we find the most information about Mary is in Luke 8:1-3.  So we know that Mary travelled with Jesus and she and some other women helped finance the ministry of Jesus and we find out that the reason Mary loved and was committed to Jesus was because he had changed her life.  At some point during her life Mary had been plagued by 7 demons.  These demons may have been actual demonic spirits, but they could also have been some kind of disease or mental illness which were often thought of as demons in the days of Jesus.  Whatever it was, Jesus had healed her and transformed her life and Mary was so grateful and so devoted to Jesus that she gave up everything and followed him.  She gave her life to help him.  

There are some who say that Mary Magdalene was also the prostitute Mary whom Jesus had forgiven and the one who had anointed Jesus with perfume and washed his feet with her hair.  While she could have been, we don’t know this for sure, but if we she was, the love and devotion seen by Mary at the end of Jesus’ life would make sense because Jesus was one of the only religious leaders who showed concern and compassion for prostitutes and other sinners and the grace and mercy Jesus offered gave them new life.  What is clear is that Mary Magdalene had a strong love for Jesus and was devoted to him.  She travelled with him and the disciples and had made this journey to Jerusalem with them.
So we know that Mary was there when Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem at the time of the Passover and was probably one of the people crying out Hosanna.  Mary was probably around at the time of the last supper, maybe having helped cook and prepare the meal that the disciples ate.  Mary certainly heard about the arrest and trial and may have been standing in the crowd brokenhearted and terrified when people started shouting Crucify Him.  Mary may have even walked the streets with Jesus as he carried the cross because Luke’s gospel tells us that there were women who wept with Jesus as he made his way to Calvary.  We do know that Mary was at the foot of the cross when Jesus died.

For Mary, the tomb of Jesus marked the end of her hopes and dreams.  She had given her life to Jesus and her love for him was strong and now he was dead and to add to her pain, his body was gone.  Mary is devastated and her world has become empty.  In Mary’s heart and mind it seems like evil has won and the world has become a dark and desperate place.  Mary is not thinking she will see Jesus alive, she is only thinking that he is dead and someone has stolen his body.  Evil has triumphed over good - death over life.

Mary stands in the garden feeling what many of us feel at times.  The world has become a dark and desperate place.  What we see around us is that evil and hatred rule the day.  The bombings in Brussels have driven that point home once again.  We feel the weight of darkness that comes with the violence of terrorism but we also feel the hopeless division and anger we see in politics and the desperation we feel with the illness of a loved one or our own battle with cancer or heart disease.  Like Mary we stand disappointed that our future seems dark because our family and our future have fallen apart.  But then, in an instant everything changed.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice, Is so sweet the birds hush their singing, And the melody that He gave to me, Within my heart is ringing.  And He walks with me, and He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own, And the joy we share as we tarry there, None other has ever known.

It was one word that turned Mary’s world back around – Mary.  When Jesus called her by name there was recognition and in that recognition, in looking up and seeing the risen Christ and the living Jesus everything in Mary’s life changed.  Good had triumph over evil.  Life did triumph over death.  Sin and hatred, sickness and disease did not have the final say because the love of God won.

That is the Easter story.  That is what seeing Jesus alive suddenly revealed to Mary, that the power of God is greater than the forces of darkness and evil that we see in this world.  The power of love and goodness are stronger than violence and hatred and even if we are walking though dark and difficult times today – there is still hope.  There is always hope because Christ is risen and Jesus is alive.

Mary witnessing the risen Jesus tells us that all the forces of hatred, envy and evil that tried to keep Jesus down and destroy him did not win and they never win.  It might seem like it at times – the world does seem dark these days and we all walk through some pretty dark valleys when our lives feel pretty hopeless, but the message of this day is that God wins.  The Apostle Paul said, we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us.

I love that line – more than conquerors.  We don’t just win – we more than win – we win today and tomorrow and every day that will come and the victory isn’t because we are good or strong but because Jesus is.  The victory is ours through Jesus Christ who overcame sin and death.  Therefore there is nothing that can keep us down forever.  Sure problems come and we will struggle but there is no power, no disappointment, no disease or depression or despair that will be victorious if our hope and trust is in Christ Jesus because the fullness of darkness was destroyed with the risen Jesus.  That is what Mary witnessed.

Even death itself was destroyed and part of the Easter story we need to remember and celebrate each year is the triumph of life over death.  Sometimes this is really hard to grab hold of because since the first Easter – everyone has died.  Death comes to everyone and we see death a common enemy that we work to fight off, but we can face death very differently if we know that death does not have the final victory.  In 1 Corinthians 15:54b it says, Death has been swallowed up in victory and that victory comes through Jesus Christ our Lord.  For those who trust and believe this – that death has been swallowed up in the risen Jesus then funerals are never the final good-bye but just a temporary farewell because there is a resurrection coming for us all.

This is the song and melody that is given to us by the risen Jesus and this is what needs to ring within our hearts and lives because this is the power that can change us.  Seeing Jesus alive turned everything around for Mary.  Seeing Jesus alive gave Mary hope that her life could continue to be filled with God’s grace and love.  It gave her hope that her future could be bright and once again filled with meaning and purpose.  She could see in Jesus the power of good over evil and life over death and that changed everything for Mary and it can change everything for us if we will open our eyes and the eyes of our hearts.  When we are able to see the living Jesus in the words of her testimony and the witness of others who have also seen and experienced the living Jesus and when we are able to allow this vision to open us up to experiencing for ourselves the risen Jesus – our lives will change and we will then be sent out on a mission.

I'd stay in the garden with Him, Tho' the night around me be falling,  But He bids me go, thro' the voice of woe, His voice to me is calling.  And He walks with me, and He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own, And the joy we share as we tarry there, None other has ever known.

Mary would have stayed in the garden with Jesus.  She would have clung to him with all she had and never let him go, but that was not what God called her to – God doesn’t call us to witness the living Christ and then hang on to him, he calls us to witness the living Christ and then share him, look at John 21:17-18.

Go and tell that you have seen the Lord is not just an Easter message it is the Easter mission. Mary wasn’t called to stay in the garden to witness the living Jesus she was called to go and be a witness to the living Jesus.  Mary was to go and tell the disciples that Jesus was alive – but I don’t think her witness stopped there.  Mary was a follower of Jesus and so we know she was a leader is some way and while it is not recorded, it seems likely that she continued to tell people that Jesus was alive.

Mary shows us that our mission as followers of Jesus is to be witnesses to his love and resurrection in the world.  We are not called to stay in the garden, or in church or in Sunday school or in our homes clinging to what we believe, we are called to go out into the world and give witness to the living Christ.  We are to share the news that Jesus defeated death and forgives sin and overcomes evil with good and we are to work to bring this hope and light into the darkness of our world and our dark world needs it.  

Our mission as the church is to give witness to Jesus and bring hope and light into the world and so today I invite you to be that kind of witness.  When we share the Easter story, when we share the love of God or reach out to help someone in need, we are being witnesses of the resurrection and showing the world that the power of Jesus is greater than the power of darkness.  When we give of our time, energy and compassion to someone else we are breaking the power of sin in our lives and overcoming evil in our world.  When we love and serve others we are shining forth the light of God’s love and offering much needed hope.

I want to invite you to be part of the Easter story and a witness to the living Jesus by sharing the love of God in both word and action.  Find someone who might need your love or reach out to someone who might need your help and make a difference in their lives.  If you are looking for a way to help someone, please think about being part of our Serving our Senior day on April 23 as we go out into the community as the church to give a witness to the living Jesus.  It is just one way we at Faith Church seek to offer the hope and love and life of Jesus to our world.

Whatever we are able to do today and in the days to come, may we do it knowing that God will bless our efforts and give us the strength and courage we need to go into the world because we don’t go alone.  The living Christ goes with us and we know this because Jesus is alive and..
He walks with me, and He talks with me, 
And He tells me I am His own, 
And the joy we share as we tarry there, 
None other has ever known.

Would you sing this with me?





Next Steps
Witnesses ~ Mary

1. Read the eyewitness accounts of Christ’s resurrection from the four gospels.
• Matthew 28:1-20
• Mark 16:1-20
• Luke 24:1-53
• John 20:1-31
How did this witness survive through history?

2. Who witnessed to you (shared with you) the truth of Jesus?  How did their witness change your life?

3. How can you now be a witness of Christ’s resurrection?

4. Mary was told to go and tell.  Where is God sending you?  What message of hope has God given you to share?

5. We give witness to the living Jesus by bringing light into darkness.  How can you shine the light of Christ by helping someone this week?  

6. Be a witness by signing up to help in Serving Our Seniors on April 23.

And now, may the God of peace,
who brought back again from the dead our Lord Jesus,
equip you with all you need for doing his will.
May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ,
all this is pleasing to him.
To him be glory forever and ever.  
Amen

FOLLOW ~ Leading Great

Through this series we have learned what it looks like for us to follow Jesus.  We have learned that we don’t have to be perfect to follow Jesus and that we can take small steps forward in our faith.  We learned the importance of having courage as well as compassion and that we can’t hold on to our own will and our own ambition when they conflict with God’s will and desire for our lives.  On Sunday we learned that we will always follow someone or something so if it is not going to be Jesus then whom is it going to be?  Is there anyone or anything better than Jesus to follow?

Tonight we are going to talk about leadership because following Jesus means that we will all be leaders.  Think about it, if we are following Jesus then Jesus is a leader and if we are going to be like Jesus then we will also need to be leaders.  There is no getting around the idea that in some way we are called to be leaders so the question becomes what kind of leader does God want us to be?  To answer this we need to ask ourselves what kind of leader was Jesus?  While there are several places we could turn in Jesus’ life to answer this, the most powerful message Jesus ever gave on leadership was given on the night we remember tonight, the night of his last supper and the night before his crucifixion.

It was not a coincidence that Jesus saved this message on leadership until the end because Jesus knew that his final night would be remembered in very special ways.  First of all, it was the Passover and it was being celebrated in Jerusalem with Jesus as the host.  All of this means it was a very special night that would be remembered by the disciples much the way we remember those Easter or Christmas dinners celebrated at our Grandparents’ house.  But it was also the final night of Jesus life and while the disciples didn’t know this, after Jesus was gone they surely would have gone over every moment of their final hours together.  That’s what we do when someone dies, we go back over the final moments and days we have with them trying to remember and capture every thought, word and action.  Jesus knew this was going to be a night the disciples would remember so he chose this moment to give them a lesson on leadership.
John 13:1-17

Jesus not only knew his days were coming to an end but he knew his disciples were going to be the ones to carry on God’s work.  Think of it this way, Jesus had built the church and was now passing off the ministry to the leaders he has raised up.  Continuing the work of God was now being placed in the hands of these men.  There was no other plan and while there would be other leaders in the days and years to come – it was all going to depend on the leadership and faithfulness of these men.  It all comes to down this moment so instead of lecturing the disciples, Jesus demonstrates to them what great leadership is all about.

As they gather at the house for the Passover meal there is no servant to do the very unpleasant task of washing feet.  This would not be a pleasant job today, but think about how much more unpleasant it would have been in those days.  This was a job given to the lowest of the household servants but on this night there was no one to do the job and none of the disciples wanted to lower themselves to do it, so it was Jesus who took off his outer garments, wrapped a towel around his waist, poured water in a basin and began washing the feet of his disciples.  Jesus made sure they understood that this was not just an act of hospitality but an example of leadership by telling them they needed to do the same thing,  John 13:14-17.

This is an example, Jesus says.  Do for others as I have done for you Even if you are a Lord and Teacher – a Leader –we are still called to serve one another.  With this act and teaching, Jesus turns the idea of leadership on its head and says that leading great isn’t claiming authority and power so that others serve us but using our authority and power to serve others.  This is clearly a counter-cultural example of leadership today because many of the leaders we see are people who leverage their power and position for their own benefit.  Whether it is in business, politics, sports or entertainment, many of the leaders we see in the world use their leadership to enhance their own position.  They leverage their authority to get people to serve them, but this is nothing new, the same was true in Jesus day.

The disciples also struggled with this example of leadership and we know this because after Jesus washed their disciples feet and after he served them the Passover meal where he specifically talked about giving himself to them as broken bread and poured out wine, Jesus and his disciples made their way to the Garden of Gethsemane and along the way they begin to argue about greatness and leadership.  Luke 22:24-27.

After all that Jesus had done to try and teach them that leading great was done by serving and giving yourself away for others, the disciples still didn’t get it.  They were arguing about who was going to be the greatest and who was going to have positions of power and who could use their authority to get an advantage over someone else.  The leadership model of Jesus was not sinking in because it was not the way of the world.  Even in the days of Jesus, this was not the way people thought about leadership.  The disciples saw leadership as the way to get what they wanted, but for Jesus - leadership was serving and giving on the way to fulfilling God’s mission.

So again, we are the followers of Jesus who are also leaders and tonight the lesson on leadership is for us.  From washing feet to serving a meal to pouring ourselves out for others – Jesus is calling us to follow him in service.  Instead of using our position as leaders to enhance our own lives, we are begin called to use whatever position we have to serve others and to complete the mission of God.  We need to think about what is good for God’s kingdom and live in a way that lifts up Jesus and others.  Leadership as a follower of Jesus is always looking to serve and not just be served.

In every area of life, this is something we need to remember.  In our families we need to be a leader that puts the needs of our spouse and children and parents before our own.  Wherever we work we are called as followers of Jesus to put the interest of our co-workers and customers and maybe the business before our own.  In the community and in the church we are to care for the needs of others and be willing to serve others before we have others serve us.

This kind of leadership is counter cultural and counter intuitive – meaning that we really don’t think it will work.  We think that if we give everything away, it won’t be long before we don’t have a business.  If we are standing here holding the door open for others all day long – then we aren’t getting anything else done – we aren’t leading in other areas or accomplishing the fullness of God’s mission.  While it is easy to think that this kind of leadership isn’t effective, the truth is that leading great as a servant is the path to great leadership not only for the church or the kingdom of God but it is leadership that has been proven to work in this world.

Jim Collins is a business consultant and researcher who has written extensively on leadership and in his book Good to Great he talks about the kind of outstanding leadership needed to make a good company great.  At first, Jim didn’t want his research to consider leadership at all in a company’s growth because his assumption was that all great companies were going to have strong charismatic leaders, but in time he realized they had to consider the qualities of the leader and so they explored what kind of leaders ran these companies.  What they discovered was something startling and important.  In all of the companies that moved from good to great, the leaders shared a common trait and it wasn’t charisma, it was humility.  None of these great leaders placed their own needs above their organization; instead they placed the needs of others and the needs of the organization above their own.

Level 5 leaders embody a paradoxical mix of personal humility and professional will.  They are ambitious, to be sure, but ambitious first and foremost for the company, not themselves.  (Jim Collins, Good to Great)

Couldn’t this be said about Jesus on his last night with the disciples?  He was ambitious to be sure – he was the Son of God, who was going to take on the sin of the world and overcome Satan and defeat death through his own death on the cross.  He was ambitions, but his ambition wasn’t for his own personal well being but the good of God’s mission and the people of the world.  Jesus wasn’t thinking about himself that night.  He wasn’t thinking about what he as the leader, the Messiah or the Son of God or even the host of the Passover meal, deserved to get – he was thinking about what he could give and do for others.  Instead of leveraging his position for his own advantage, Jesus humbled himself and placed the needs of his disciples before his own and washed their feet.  Then Jesus placed the needs of his organization – his church – before his own and carried a cross, defeated sin and conquered death.  Jesus was a leader and his leadership was effective and it is the example for us to follow.

If we are going to follow Jesus then this is how we need to lead, by serving.  We aren’t going to be able to do everything for everyone in every situation, but we can do something and so the simple question that can change our leadership and change our lives is this: What can I do to help?   What one thing can I do to help in any given situation?  At work, what is one thing I can do to help a coworker or help the business?  What’s the one thing I can do at home to help strengthen a relationship, help my children or help my parents?  What’s the one thing I can do to help a neighbor, help a friend, help the church?  If we are always willing to ask that question, we will begin to change our culture as well as our own lives.  So instead of seeking to leverage our position to get what we want, we need to leverage our position to help others.

As I close, let me remind all of us that one thing we can do is ask ourselves what can I do to serve our seniors on April 23?  If you are not signed up to help that day, this is a good question to ask yourself and tonight is a good night to sign up.  

We follow Jesus because he is a leader and he shows us that our leading great isn’t seeking to be served but being willing to serve.





Next Steps
FOLLOW ~ Leading Great


1. What leader has had a big influence in your life?  What about their leadership made them so special?


2. Great leaders ask and respond to the question, What can I do to help?  How does this question change your view of leadership?


3. To whom and in what situations can you ask the question: What can I do to help?  Is there someone you can help before Easter?  Are you signed up to help through Serving Our Seniors on April 23?


4. For further study on good leadership, read Good to Great by Jim Collins and explore more of what it means to be a Level 5 leader.  (This book is available in the church library)


5. Set aside August 11-12  and learn more about how to be a good leader by attending the Global Leadership Summit.

FOLLOW ~ Un-follow

Today is the final Sunday of our sermon series on what it means to follow Jesus but I do want to remind you that there is one more message in the series and that will be given on Thursday night.   Thursday is the night we remember the last supper of Jesus so we will not only share in communion, but we will also learn how following Jesus requires us to lace up some work boots and get ready to serve.  Today however, is Palm Sunday and we are going to look at what happened to some of the people who waved palm branches and welcomed Jesus as King as he entered into Jerusalem - because while they followed Jesus that day, they were not willing to follow him five days later.

We hear the Palm Sunday story from John 12:12-19.
Each year at the Passover crowds came to Jerusalem to celebrate and this year as Jesus made his way into the city crowds gathered and followed him waving palm branches and shouting Hosanna.  They were ready to make Jesus their king.  The palm branches were signs of victory and by riding a donkey into the city Jesus was saying that he was coming to be the Messiah so everything looked like a coronation of Jesus being king.  The crowds were with him, but let’s fast forward a few days.

Four days later Jesus had betrayed by Judas and arrested by the religious leaders.  Those leaders held a trial and found Jesus guilty of blasphemy but since they didn’t have the authority to have Jesus killed they handed him over to Rome which did have the power to execute criminals.  The Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, didn’t want to kill Jesus because he was concerned about an uprising at the time of the Passover so he gave the crowds an opportunity to release Jesus.  During the Passover there was a tradition that the Romans would release a prison to the Jewish people so Pilate took Jesus and another prisoner, a man named Barabbas, to the people and asked them which one he should release.  John 18:38b-40.

When the people cried out for Barabbas to be released, Pilate went back to the crowds and asked them again what he should do with Jesus and they said Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!    Every year when I heard this story I ask myself how people who praised Jesus on Sunday could call for his death on Friday.  What happened during those days that caused people to turn from Jesus?  If we at look at what happened during those four days we see that Jesus did a lot of teaching in the Temple and some of his teaching got both the religious leaders and the crowds upset.  Jesus said that the people should pay their taxes to Caesar.  He talked about the coming destruction at the end of the age and even said that the Temple in Jerusalem would be torn down.

None of this made the people nor the leaders happy.  The crowds wanted Jesus to lead a movement that would overthrow Roman rule and establish Israel as a strong and mighty nation so to talk about paying taxes and the destruction of the Temple did not make people happy.  Add to this what Jesus had been saying to his disciples and followers about denying themselves and carrying a cross and suddenly being a follower of Jesus wasn’t much fun and it certainly wasn’t rewarding.  As long as Jesus gave people what they wanted – people were eager to follow, but when his teaching got difficult, people were quick to un-follow.

Something similar happened earlier in Jesus ministry as well.  After Jesus fed a crowd of 5,000 people, the crowds wanted to make him king right then but Jesus was clear that following him wasn’t just about free food and miracles of healing, there was sacrifice involved so Jesus taught the crowds some hard lessons that unsettled them and they started to grumble and question Jesus, John 6:60.
Then we hear that some people turned back, John 6:66.
When things got too difficult the people un-followed.

When the going got tough, these followers got going in a different direction.  The same was true for the crowds in Jerusalem at the time of the Passover.  When the teaching of Jesus got difficult and the political winds turned against Jesus the people started going in a different direction.  The truth is that when things get difficult in our own lives and in our faith we are also tempted to get going in a different direction.
There are key times in our lives where we are tempted to un-follow Jesus and it is important to know what those times are so we can keep our faith strong and our feet ready to follow when they come.

There are three key times when we are tempted to un-follow and the first is during times of transition.  This could be a transition in school, jobs or in relationships, but when we transition from one place in life to another it opens the door for us to un-follow.  We see this clearly when we see students transition from one school to the next.  Whether it is Junior High to High School or
High School to College, these times of transition are when youth and young adults un-follow.

Internally we see a drop off in our youth ministry from Jr. High to High School and statistically there is a dramatic drop off when students go to college.  Close to half of all youth who were involved in youth group – so these are fairly committed students - will unfollow when they get to college and there are many reasons for this.  One is that in their new environment following Jesus isn’t cool and when students suddenly realize that they don’t need to follow Jesus or go to church anymore, they don’t.  Sometimes in higher education following Jesus is looked down on and the Christian faith is challenged or ridiculed and so suddenly students question whether there is any real point in following Jesus or whether Jesus is even real.  I had a professor in college who was pretty clear that he didn’t believe in God at all and while he wasn’t arrogant about it, he was clear and that witness makes an impression and those influences can be strong.

The transition from College to the work force is also a time when people un-follow, I know it was for me.  In college I was very active in a campus fellowship and that was my circle of friends.  When I graduated and started a job I realized how hard it was to meet people in the church.  I worked nights so couldn’t attend many of the bible studies or small groups and making new friends in a new community when you don’t have roommates and classmates is hard and religion and faith are not things we often talk about at work so I wasn’t making friends in a church and getting connected to the church.  For the 3 years I worked in the movie theater I am embarrassed to say that I did not really attend worship.  I would attend different churches for a time, but never got involved – it was too hard.  I didn’t give up on my faith but for a while I hit the un-follow button.

Transitions in jobs or moving to new communities are also times we are tempted to un-follow because as we settle into a new place and maybe don’t go to church for a while we begin to think that maybe we don’t need to go at all.  And if we move to different regions of the country – faith is lived out very differently and church involvement may not be prioritized.  In the south a lot of people’s social life revolves around the church but in the north it revolves around the schools or sports.  In the south one of the first questions new friends and neighbors ask is where you go to church, but in the north you might never talk to your friends or neighbors about church.  So during that transition it is easy to un-follow.

The transitions that comes with a change in relationship are also prime times to un-follow.  When we get married or divorced we might find that worship and church involvement just doesn’t seem the same and sometimes to attend alone or with someone new is too hard and uncomfortable so it’s easier to stay home.  So times of transition are times we un-follow, but so are times of temptation.

Many temptations cause us to turn away from Jesus.  Maybe it is that relationship we have just entered into.  The person we are dating might not go to church and we might begin to think that maybe faith isn’t that important when we are in love.  The temptation might be our career and making money so that becomes the priority in life which often means there is no time or space for Jesus.  There are temptations in this world that pull us from Jesus and those are times we have to stay focused and committed so we don’t un-follow.

The third key time when we often un-follow is during times of trouble.  When things in life fall apart it is easy to think that God has left us so why should I go to church or even pray.
When prayers haven’t been answered our way and in our time we begin to ask ourselves, what good has it done?  When Christian friends or the church has let us down in some way as we have gone through difficult times it’s also easy to question God and why we should follow.  When life and faith get’s hard it is easy to think about turning away.

During times of transition, temptation and trouble it is easy to say, what’s the point, or what difference does it make and hit the un-follow button and go in a different direction, but if we are going to do that we need to know one thing clearly, if we un-follow Jesus it is because we are going to start following someone or something new.  If we turn way from Jesus and if we turn away from our Christian faith or the church then we will be following someone or something else, because we are always following something.  Even if we are just following ourselves, we are following the idea that we are the best and brightest and smartest around so we should go in whatever direction makes the most sense to us.  We are always following someone or something and if we go back to Palm Sunday story we see this truth at work.  The crowds weren’t just un-following Jesus – they were following something or someone else.

Some of the crowds that turned away from Jesus turned toward the religious leaders and listened to what they had to say.  They believed that Jesus wasn’t who he said he was so they opted to go in a different direction.  Some in the crowd turned toward Barabbas and when they cried out for his release they were following the way of rebellion and violence in this world.  Today we would consider Barabbas to be a terrorist.  Barabbas was known as one of the sicarii, which literally means dagger men because they would walk through crowds and kill people to try and bring about political, social and economic change.  When people un-followed Jesus and called for Barabbas to be released they were saying we would rather follow the power of this world than the power of God.


During times of transition, temptation or trials when we are tempted to turn away from God and not follow Jesus will be following someone or something else so we need ask ourselves:
 If not Jesus, then who?  If not Christianity, than what?
The crowds during the week of Passover said – not Jesus but Barabbas.  Not the ways of God but the ways of the world.  The disciples faced these same questions when people turned away from Jesus earlier.

When the crowds were leaving Jesus after the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus asked his disciples if they were going to leave too and their response was, Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.  The disciples knew that there was no one but Jesus and no message but His.  His words, His wisdom, His power and His grace and love were all there was for them to live for and there was no one and nothing else.  They didn’t unfollow then and they didn’t really unfollow after Jesus was arrested.

While all the disciples scattered when Jesus was arrested and they didn’t follow him to the cross, they didn’t turn to anyone or anything else.  We know this because on the third day after Jesus death, the disciples were still together and they were sill in Jerusalem and they were still in the place where they gathered with Jesus, the upper room.  The disciples didn’t return to their homes and their old lives and jobs and they didn’t turn to find another leader.  For 3 days they stayed in the city and stayed together so that when Jesus rose from the grave he found them almost where he left them.  The disciples may not have been the most courageous – but they didn’t un-follow.

During times of transition, temptation and trouble when following Jesus is hard, it’s tempting to take off our shoes and look for something new or head off in a new direction, but if what we believe about Jesus is true, that he is the Son of God and the Savior of the World, then who else would we follow and where else would we go?  If we believe that there is something special about Jesus, if we believe that he is from God then who can top that?  What person or what religion or world view or social norm can top Jesus?

Every one of us will go through difficult times where it will seem easy to un-follow.  You may be considering that today – why do I need to follow Jesus, what difference does it even make?  We follow for the same reason the disciples did – because we know that Jesus has the words of eternal life and we have come to believe and know that he is the Holy One of God.  If we know this, if we believe this, if we even just think it might be true then we need to point our feet toward Jesus and follow.  If you want to know if it is Jesus that has the words of eternal life and if you want to check him out to see if he is the Holy One of God, then I invite you today to follow.  You don’t have to perfect.  You can take just a simple single step forward, but follow.  Follow.


Next Steps
Follow ~ Un-follow

1.  Was there a time of transition, temptation or trouble in your life where you un-followed Jesus?  Why did you make that choice?  Who or what did you follow during that time?

2.  Looking at your family and your future, are there times of transition, temptation or trouble coming where you or someone in your family (children) might turn away from Jesus?  Identify these situations and be prepared for them.  

3.  When we un-follow Jesus we are following something else.  If you feel yourself turning away from Jesus ask yourself these questions.
• If not Jesus, who?
• If not Christianity, what?
Can you think of anyone or anything else worth following?

4.  It didn’t take long for the Palm Sunday crowds to un-follow Jesus.  Keep yourself following Jesus this week through prayer, the study of scripture and worship.

Scriptures to read this week (The story of Jesus crucifixion)
• Matthew 26:17 – 27:66
• Mark 14:12 – 15:47
• Luke 22:1 – 23:56
• John 18:1 – 19:42

Worship Opportunities this week:
• Tonight 7:00 PM– Easter Cantata – The Sacrifice
• Thursday 7:00 PM– Maundy Thursday Worship
• Friday Noon – Community worship at Trinity UMC
• Friday 7:00 PM – Good Friday Worship
• Easter Sunday 6:30 AM – Sunrise Worship
• Easter Sunday 8:15 and 10:45 - Worship

FOLLOW ~ I Want

If you have been with us through this series, then you know we have been talking about what it takes to follow Jesus and one of the things I have found both interesting and helpful is thinking about the people who were the first to follow Jesus.  First of all, they weren’t perfect – so there is hope for me.  We don’t have to be perfect to follow Jesus, we come just the way we are and in time Jesus changes us.  They also didn’t believe in Jesus as the Savior or Lord and they struggled to understand what it meant to call him the Messiah but they followed anyway and learned along the way – which again is good news for me because there are times I struggle to understand what it means to call Jesus the Lord of my life when so much of the time I want to be in control.  And last week we learned that one of the key first followers of Jesus, one of the four fishermen and the man on whom Jesus would build the church, Peter, was at times more of a consumer of Jesus than a follower.

Think of what it means to be a consumer.  We buy something because we think it will help us or make our life better.  We consume something because we are told it will make us happy or satisfy us in some way.  Think of some of the great ad campaigns and slogans that through the years have driven this point home.

We Bring Good Things To Life

Have It Your Way

Coke Adds Life

This mentality is also true when we think of Jesus.  If we follow Jesus just to improve our lives or to be happy, we are a consumer.  If we follow Jesus so that we can get something from him at the end of life, like going to heaven, we are a consumer.  These aren’t bad things and many of us start following this way, but Jesus doesn’t want consumers who are only in it for themselves, he wants followers.

Last week we learned from Peter that to follow means sacrifice and suffering.  It means giving up our will and following God’s will.  It means denying ourselves and taking up a cross.  Ultimately Peter did this.  While he struggled several times to follow Jesus, and even failed at times, ultimately Peter did set aside his will and took up a cross and followed.  Today we are going to look at someone who struggled to give up his wants and desires and in the end chose not to.   This person was also one of the first followers of Jesus, one of his disciples – Judas.  We don’t know a lot about Judas and why he chose to follow Jesus, but we do learn that Judas was more of a consumer of Jesus than a follower.  He followed Jesus to get what he could for himself and we see this clearly in one particular incident that happened near the end of Jesus ministry.  John 12:1-8.

So Judas was a consumer of Jesus.  He followed Jesus in order to help himself to the money that the group collected to help support them in their work.  While we never hear how Jesus supports himself or where the money came from for their money bag, it did take money to sustain this group as they traveled from town to town so they clearly had money from somewhere.  Judas enjoyed being a follower because he got what he wanted – money.  As long as Jesus was popular and the crowds loved him, the money was there and as long as it looked like Jesus was going to be a powerful leader and ruler, the promise of money was there, but when Jesus started to talking about suffering, denial and death, the prospect of wealth and riches was gone.  The turning point for Judas seemed to come at this dinner.

When a woman comes in and pours a pint of expensive perfume on Jesus, it is more than Judas can stand and so he complains about the waste of money.  The perfume was worth a year’s wages and while Judas said it could have been sold to help the poor – that is not what he would have done.  He wanted the money for himself.  He wanted to add the money to their collection so he could help himself to it any time he wanted.  Judas is not thinking about Jesus and the beautiful act of love and devotion given by this woman, and he is not thinking about the poor and ways to help them, he is thinking of himself and what it is he wants to get out of following Jesus.  He wants money.  While Judas followed Jesus, he maintained his own wants and desires.  He refused to let them go.

We all begin to follow Jesus holding on to our own wants and desires.  We follow asking God to bless our plans and to help us accomplish what we want in life.  We follow still focused on what we want hoping that Jesus never asks us to let go.   So in some sense we all begin to follow as a consumer looking for what we can get and what we want from Jesus, but for all of us there will come a point in time when we will be challenged because we will find that our will is not always God’s will and our desires are not always God’s.  As the agenda for our lives competes with God’s will, we learn that we can’t have it both ways.  We will have to make a choice – last week we called this a defining moment.  For my friend Andrew it was to turn from a life of politics to the life of a Jesus follower.  For me it was to turn from death to life.  For Peter it was the challenge to deny himself and carry a cross – which he did.

Judas is facing his own defining moment here but unlike Peter, this story shows us what happens when we hang on to our own desires.  Judas was upset that Jesus allowed this perfume to go to waste and for Judas this was the last straw because there were so many other times when Jesus could have done something to gain power, position or money and chose not to.  What Judas wanted to get from Jesus, fame, power and fortune, was conflicting with what Jesus wanted, a sacrificial love that forgives and redeems, so holding on to his own wants and desires – Judas goes into action.  In Matthew 26 we find the same story of the woman anointing Jesus but we also see what happens to Judas after, Matthew 26:13-16.

Judas agrees to hand Jesus over to the chief priests.  He betrays Jesus into the hands of the religious leaders.  Now let’s just stop and think about this for a moment.  That Judas thinks he can actually hand Jesus over seems absurd when we think about all that Judas had seen in Jesus.  Judas was there when Jesus silenced the storm and calmed the seas – so Judas saw the power and authority Jesus had over nature.  Judas was there when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead so Judas knew that Jesus had power and authority over death itself.  Judas was there when Jesus restored sight to the blind, made the lame walk and healed the lepers.  Judas was there when Jesus silenced the religious leaders and walked out of their plans to destroy him.  Judas had seen all this power and authority in Jesus and yet he wants what he wants so badly that he is blind to who Jesus really is and the power Jesus has and believes that he can insert his will over God’s will.  Looking at it that way, it seems absurd for Judas to do this, but in some way, we do the same thing.

When we only call on God when we need God to step in and help us and do what we want God to do and when we ask God to do things our way and in our time and then ignore God until we need him gain we are acting much the same way Judas did.  We are consumers looking to get what we want from Jesus.  Judas was trying to get Jesus to do what he wanted Jesus to do.  Judas was trying to force Jesus hand by turning him over to the religious leaders because if they arrested Jesus then Jesus would have to reveal who he was to the world and then they would all rise up into positions of power and authority and then they would have all the money they wanted.

Judas was saying to Jesus, I want what I want and I am going to do what I have to do to get it regardless of what you want.  So on the night of the Passover, Judas saw an opportunity to betray Jesus when Jesus said that they were all going to go alone to the Garden of Gethsemane.  The garden was a remote place outside the city and at night no one would be around so it was the perfect time and place for Judas to give Jesus into the hands of the religious leaders.  Judas told them to come to the garden and arrest the man that he would greet with a kiss.

So Jesus and the disciples go to the garden and then Judas and the soldiers of the high priest arrive and Judas greets Jesus with a kiss and Jesus is arrested.  So far, everything is going just the way Judas had planned it, but the next day something unexpected happened.  Matthew 27:1-4.

Judas handed Jesus over to the religious leaders knowing that the religious leaders did not have the power to execute someone.  They could arrest and put people on trial but they could not execute them. Judas betrayed Jesus thinking that during a trial it would force Jesus  to make himself known as the Messiah.  This would not only raise Jesus into a position of power but it would raise up all of his disciples as well, which was what Judas wanted.  But when the religious leaders decided to hand Jesus over to Pilate and the Romans to be killed, Judas realizes that his plan has gone horribly wrong.  This was why Judas tried to return the money and repent of his actions.  But for Judas it was too late.  He can’t undo what he has already done.  There are some choices, some decisions and some actions we can’t undo.  We can ask for forgiveness, but we cannot go back and Judas could not go back.

Not only could Judas not go back, but we also see here that God’s plan could not be stopped.  What Judas was trying to do was to keep Jesus from dying, but we see here that God’s hand can’t be forced and God’s will can’t be thwarted.  We cannot impose our wants over God’s will because God’s will can be changed and if we insist on our will and getting our own way and doing things our way, we will lose.  Judas lost.  Not only were his plans turned upside down, but the rest of the story does not end well for Judas.  Matthew  27:5.

By trying to live his life his own way and seeking only what he wanted – Judas ended up with nothing.  To put this into the words of Jesus we heard last week, Judas tried to save his life but in the end he lost his life.  He tried to gain the whole world but he lost his soul.  Consumers look to Jesus looking for and asking only for what they want.  Consumers wear the shoes they believe will lead them to fulfill all the hopes and dreams they have in life.  No where do we see that more than in the basketball shoe market.  If we wear the right shoes we can become an All Star like Chuck Taylor

Chuck Taylor wearing the Converse All Stars

or we can be like Mike if you prefer Nikes.

Michael wearing his "Air Jordans"

We buy and use these shoes to fulfill our wants and dreams but when we follow Jesus there will be times when what we want will compete and be in tension with what God wants and while the temptation will be for us to keep our shoes on and just do it, what we need to do is stop and pray a simple and honest prayer.

We don’t pray, God I want what You want more than I want what I want because that is not always very honest, we don’t always want what God wants, so our prayer needs to be, God I want to want what you want more than what I want.

In my own life there have been those times when my wants and desire have not always lined up with God’s desire for me and while I want to pray, God may your will be done, I find I am often just not ready to say that.  But I want to be able to say that.  I want to want God’s will.  I want to want to follow God’s plans and purposes for my life.  So many times my prayer has been, God I want to want what you want for me more than I want what I want for me.  This is not the prayer of a consumer but a follower.  

We all have choices to make in our faith.  We can be a consumer and look to Jesus to give us what we want.  We can look to God and like Judas ask God to do things our way and in our time and then step forward and just do it – or we can stop in those moments and pray, God help me want what you want, not what I want.  This is the prayer of someone who turns to Jesus and follows.

 
Next Steps
FOLLOW ~ I Want

1.  Have you ever wanted something so much that you were willing to do anything to get it?  Did you ever get it?

2.  Read the story of Judas Iscariot.
• Matthew 26:6-16 and Matthew 27:1-10
• John  12:1-11

3.  What was it that Judas wanted?  How did this conflict with what God wanted?

4.  How did Judas try to force the hand of Jesus or thwart the plans of God?  Did it happen?

5.  Identify a time when you felt tension between God’s will and your desire?  How did that tension get resolved?

6.  Can you name a person in your life who has given up what they wanted to be faithful to the will of God?  How has their example shaped your faith?  Inspired your life?

7.  If you are feeling a tension today between the will of God and your own desires, make this your prayer,  God, I want to want what you want more than what I want.

FOLLOW ~ Fine Print

Have you ever tried to read the fine print of a cell phone contract or maybe your cable bill?  You sign up thinking you are getting a great deal only to find that after the first month or the first year the costs double?  Or maybe you signed up for something online but before you could do anything you had to agree to the terms and conditions but the print was so small you couldn’t read it so you just clicked yes.  Today I have some good news and some bad news.  The good news is that we can follow Jesus just the way we are and we can take small steps to go deeper with Jesus every day, but the bad news is that as we keep following Jesus there will come a point in time when we will need to read the fine print and agree to certain terms and conditions if we are going to keep on following.

This happened to those who first followed Jesus.  If you were with us a few weeks ago we heard how Jesus called four fisherman to follow him and all Jesus said then was that he would make them fishers of men and women.  Jesus didn’t lay out all the details of what the life of a disciple was going to look like and that was probably a good thing because if he had they probably would have never left their boats, nets and families to go with him.  

But Jesus didn’t share with them the fine print on that first day, instead he revealed over time what it meant for him to be the Messiah and for them to be his followers and some of those terms and conditions were hard to hear.  Today we are going to read the fine print about following Jesus from the gospel of Mark.

Jesus had been travelling with the disciples for some time now and his fame was spreading.  He was healing the sick, driving out demons and performing miracles that amazed and thrilled the people.  Jesus was also making a name for himself as an amazing teacher and preacher who could put to shame the more religious people of his day and the crowds following him were growing.  At the height of his popularity, Jesus took his disciples aside to discuss what was going on and he started by asking them the question that everyone was asking.  Mark 8:27-29

They told Jesus that some people thought he is Elijah who was a great prophet who had been taken up into heaven and was supposed to return to this world before the Messiah came.  They also told Jesus that some people thought he was the return of John the Baptist because his teaching was so relevant and powerful.  But it was Peter who made the proclamation that Jesus was the Christ or the Messiah.  The words Christ and Messiah mean the same thing, Christ is Greek and Messiah is Hebrew, and they both mean The Anointed One.  The Christ was the promised leader of God’s people who was going to come and rescue the people from oppression, set them free and bring them all a good life.

Peter’s confession that Jesus was the Christ was absolutely right but Jesus knew that his understanding of it meant to be the Christ needed some clarification so Jesus began to share with Peter and the disciples the fine print.  Mark 8:31-33

Jesus is clear that the Christ is going to be rejected, suffer and eventually die and while He also says that he will rise again in three days, the disciples don’t hear or focus on that information, they just hear about the suffering and death.  Peter doesn’t like what he hears because if the leader is going to be rejected, suffer and die then so are his followers.  Up until this point Jesus has been a Rock Star.  Everywhere he has gone there are crowds of people going crazy for him.  The disciples are tasting incredible success and growing popularity.  There is also so much power to be seen in the healings and miracles and the people love them.  Everything is going so well and Peter has his eyes on all this worldly success and he doesn’t want that to end so he rebukes Jesus, but then Jesus rebukes Peter.  Mark 8:33

What Jesus is saying here is that Peter is just looking out for his own interests and that he is only focused on the things of this world and not the things of God.  Peter is being swept up in worldly success.  Peter sees power, popularity and fame which in time he thinks is going to lead Jesus and all of them into seats of power.  Peter is looking at the world.  Peter is looking at Jesus as a consumer.
As a consumer, Peter is trying to get everything good he can out of Jesus, but Jesus isn’t looking for consumers to ride his coattails, he is looking for followers and followers have to not only be willing to read the fine print, they have to be willing to agree to live it out.  So Jesus gathers the crowd together and gives them the fine print.  Mark 8:34-38.

The fine print in following Jesus is really only 7 words:
Deny yourself.        Take up a cross.       FOLLOW

Can we agree to these terms?  Are we willing to say yes to these conditions of discipleship?  To deny ourselves means that there may come a time in our lives when we will have to say no to ourselves and what we want in order to be faithful in following Jesus.  It may mean we need to say no to a relationship because we know that it is not one that honors God.  It might mean saying no to an opportunity or a job that we know isn’t in line with God’s will.  It may mean saying no to some activity or plan laid out for us by friends that we know isn’t moral or honest.  It may mean letting go of something good, maybe even something very good, because it pulls us away from what is best in our relationship with God.  Denying ourselves is never easy and there can be pain along the way, but there comes a point in all of our lives when to follow means we have to agree to the terms and conditions found in the fine print – deny yourself.

A friend of mine named Andrew faced this defining moment in his life while he was in college.  Andrew’s dream was to enter into politics and everything was falling into place for that dream to become a reality.  Andrew interned at the White House, he worked in the US Senate and helped on a senate campaign.  Andrew was the class president at Bucknell and was being mentored by the college president; everything was falling into place for a wonderful career in politics.  Andrew also had a growing faith as he attended church and got involved in a campus fellowship.

As Andrew continued to followed Jesus he began to feel a different call in his life and at a conference he heard God challenge him to stop being a minor league Christian and start playing in the majors.  Andrew shared with me this week that “it was at that point where I needed to stop pursing my successful political career and purse Jesus full time.  But that meant leaving behind the successes I had along with the potential jobs in DC, in the political realm and my gained network of colleagues.”

This was what Peter faced.  To follow Jesus was going to mean leaving behind the success and the potential power.  As Andrew followed Jesus he heard the fine print and knew he had set aside his political and business shoes in order to fully follow Jesus.  You see, our shoes today aren’t ones we need to put on like skates or slippers, they are shoes we might have to take off if we want to keep walking with Jesus.  We can’t keep following Jesus if all we are interested in is fame and fortune.  If power and popularity are why we follow, then we better quit now, because the fine print says that sacrifice and self denial are part of a Jesus follower’s life.  In all our lives there comes a moment, a defining moment, where we are confronted by the fine print.  It’s the moment when we hear Jesus say, if you want to follow me you must deny yourself.

For me one of the defining moments was when God said, Andy, with me there is life and without me there is death – the choice is yours.  God was making it clear to me that I couldn’t find life and salvation on my own but that  I needed God in my life to make things right.  I really didn’t think I needed God.  I even told God to take a hike because I could live just fine without him.  God’s reply was, Andy, with me there is life and without me there is death – the choice is yours.   When I really grasped the reality of that statement, I surrendered to God, because what good would it have been to have gained the whole world and yet given up my soul.

We can live our entire lives the way we want and achieve great success in this world but if we do it without God and without following Jesus then when we get to the end of our lives – there will be nothing.   Whoever wants to save their lives will lose it.  What good is it to gain the entire world and yet forfeit your soul?
As we follow Jesus there comes a defining moment for all of us when we have to read the fine print and decide if we are willing to deny ourselves, but Jesus goes on and says the length we need to go to in self denial is all the way to death.  Jesus drove that point home by saying to his followers, take up a cross.  Now for us, taking up a cross is just a metaphor of how far we should go in our self denial but for the followers of Jesus this was very real.  Crucifixion was the means of execution used by Rome and the crowds listening to Jesus would have seen people dying on crosses.  It was a part of their lives.

Imagine what it would be like to see crosses along the Benner Pike or Zion Road where every month we would see people crucified.  The Romans were experts at crucifixion and they used it as a deterrent to crime so they wouldn’t just leave the person there until they died, they would leave the body there for days and allow them to be torn apart by birds and wild animals.  Dying for their faith was a real possibility for the crowd listening to Jesus because John the Baptist had just been beheaded for his faith.  Carrying a cross could happen to these people if they continued to follow Jesus.

I wonder if Christians in our own community were being lined up and beheaded for their faith, or were being caged and set on fire like Christians in the Middle East, if our churches would be filled with people.  Would we still be willing to gather together to worship and proclaim our faith in Jesus if it meant being marched out of here to the edge of town where we would be nailed to a cross?  Chances are that none of us will ever have to face this – but this was a very real possibility for the people listening to Jesus.  The fine print for them was difficult.  Following Jesus isn’t always easy and fun and filled with fame and fortune.  Following Jesus doesn’t mean our life goals and plans will all come true, there is another side to following and instead of hiding this hard truth from the people, Jesus made it clear to them.  Self denial and taking up a cross is part of what it means to follow.

While I want to be clear that salvation is free and costs us nothing, in time following Jesus will cost us something and it might cost us everything.  We will know when this defining moment comes because it will feel like a conflict of interest that simply will not let us go.  We will agonize over it, we will pray about it, we will struggle with it and we will know that the decision we face is God asking us to live up the terms and conditions of the fine print.

For some of us the self denial God will ask from us will actually feel like a death, but Jesus is clear that this death will lead to a resurrection because whoever loses his life for Christ and for the sake of his message will find life.  When we follow the fine print, when we fully agree to the terms and conditions laid out by Jesus, we will find life and life to the fullest and life eternal.
 
Next Steps
FOLLOW ~ The Fine Print

1. Read the fine print of what it means to follow Jesus.
• Matthew 16:13-28
• Mark 8:27-38
• Luke 9:18-27

2. In what area of life is God calling you to deny yourself?
• Relationships
• Job
• Finances
• Certain Activities

3. How would you describe to someone what it means to take up a cross?

4. In what way is God asking you to take up a cross?

5. Pray for persecuted Christian around the world who are literally carrying a cross (i.e. dying for their faith).