(Sermon by Pastor Michael D. Schultz 07/08/07)

INTRODUCTION:

We’re going to hang a “help wanted” sign on the church door today.  It’s going to say something like: “Wanted – Faithful Followers of Jesus.”  And then there’ll be the list of qualifications that we’re looking for.  What would those be?   Makes me think of a song from 1970 by the Five Man Electrical Band – “…and the sign said long haired freaky people need not apply.”  You’re all going to apply, aren’t you?  You would, right?

WANTED: Followers Of Jesus

The qualifications for the position are: 1) a heart for the lost; and 2) having your priorities in place.  Is your resume in order?

When Jesus had finished his work in Galilee (northern Palestine), just after his Transfiguration and just a few months before his death, he started making his way toward Jerusalem.  People in a certain Samaritan town didn’t welcome him, James and John catch wind of it, and they want to turn this town into Sodom, torch it in the same way that Elijah had called down fire from heaven to destroy a hundred men who opposed him.  Sometimes people think this is what earned these brothers the nickname “Sons of Thunder.”

Jesus wasn’t amused.  There was something he had told Nicodemus in the middle of the night (John 3) that James and John were still forgetting.  God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Followers of Jesus don’t want to purge the world of unbelievers; they want to convert them.  They have a heart for the lost. 

Ever find yourself wanting God to stop the heartbeats of everyone who calls on Allah?  But where would that stop?  Should he remove all the sinners from the world, too?  He’d end up alone.  Wanted: Followers of Jesus who have a heart for the lost.  We were once the lost. What’s on your resume in this category?  Let all the unbelievers, especially the hostile non-Christians, burn in hell, or knock yourself out to find them and serve them?

Seeing if your priorities are lined up to be a follower of Jesus is sort of like one of those tax form worksheets that you fill out on the side before you fill in the number on the form itself.  Let’s do the worksheet.  It has three parts:

Jesus never owned a home or rented an apartment or (during his ministry) even had his own bed to sleep in.  You needn’t take a vow of poverty and you don’t need to feel ashamed for having possessions others may not, but would you go back to no indoor plumbing and no electricity and not having your own car and not having any of those fascinating electronic components and gadgets that are filling people’s houses and lives these days?  Is Jesus so far out in front of everything else that to follow him you wouldn’t think twice about letting go of house and home and property and possessions? 

Following Jesus doesn’t mean you can never attend a funeral or make the arrangements.  Within the heart of the man who asked to bury his father Jesus knew there were family considerations and human relationships that were going to get in the way.  Have you drawn that line and are you sticking to it: the Lord, my family, everything else, in that order, at all times?

Cutting a straight furrow – maybe we should think of pushing the lawnmower in a straight line.  It won’t be straight if you’re looking behind you.  Thinking back or looking back to what you could be doing or wish you were doing doesn’t work as a way to follow and serve Christ.  He wants you focused and locked in on him.  A lifestyle, a pastime, a certain hobby or activity, a particular group of people or even a family member, things we’ve had to give up or leave behind, good, bad or otherwise – the things that pull and tug us away from Jesus mix up our priorities and mess up our service to our Savior.

Wanted: Followers of Jesus who have their priorities in place.  Make the list of ten things that are important to you: work, family, fun, school, sports, a project, a dream you’re pursuing.  Scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most important, service to Jesus always has to be #10, with no longing to live any other way – ever.

Discipleship or following Jesus is always an interesting topic to speak on, because what are you going to say: We can all do better, so let’s recommit?  How about this instead – having had less than a heart that burns to rescue the lost and having seen my priorities sometimes messed up beyond recognition, I’ve got a problem.  I’ve been unfaithful to that confirmation vow of following Jesus and serving him faithfully even to the point of death.

To be the kind of followers Jesus is looking for, there’s some following that we need to do regarding today’s gospel lesson – following the story line, this story line:  As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.  Arrest, abuse, hell and death were waiting for Jesus in Jerusalem, and he charted a course directly for that city.  Would you follow him for a moment?

Follow him heading south from Galilee, through Samaria, into Judah and into Jerusalem.  Follow him down the streets riding a donkey (Sunday), letting all his enemies know he’s in town.  Follow him to the garden (Thursday) where he was so distraught he almost died right there (I’m going to be infused with the guilt of the world and engulfed in the flames of God’s full anger).  Follow him as his wrists are bound and the Jewish leaders are treating the Son of God as if he were a piece of trash.  Watch him being stretched out over a barrel to have his back scourged.

Remember now – he resolutely set out for this city and this fate.  Follow him walking with a cross on his back till he can’t walk any more.  Watch him dying the most miserable kind of death there is, with his mother looking on, neither able to help the other.  Follow him into the pit of hell, forsaken, and when you see him there, remember to pause and think, “I should be locked up here and never see the light of day.”  Follow him till you hear him say, “It is finished,” the words that made hell a place you’ll never go.  Follow him around Sunday morning, talking to sad, guilty people about peace with God and reason for joy.  Follow him into the sky – the rescue of all people complete, Victor, Champion, returning home to heaven to rule in power and get things ready for you.

Before you re-up and recommit to following Jesus today, take a look at that confirmation vow that you haven’t kept.  From where God’s sitting, you’ve kept it flawlessly.  That’s how God sees it because Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem and there offered up his life to God in place of yours.  Jesus is looking for followers who have a heart for the lost and who have their priorities in place.  Before anything else and on a repeated basis, follow him to the cross and the grave and back up into heaven.  Then you’ll be ready to follow him everywhere, telling his story and happy to make serving him your highest priority.

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