Lilac Ministries

October 7, 2007 Sermon

 Freeing Ourselves to Follow Christ


 

Think about all the things you have in your house. What’s in your attic? Your basement? Your living room? Your bedroom? Your closets?  As you take this mental inventory, ask yourself: How much of it do you use during a year? How much has real sentimental value? And … how much of it is really just clutter?

Our spiritual lives and our church lives are very much like this. We have things in our past and present that we use often and things that are dear to us. Likewise, we also have things that we can’t or won’t let go of that just clutter our lives.

When we go on a vacation, we are challenged to decide just how much of our “stuff’ we will bring with us. We find a suitcase and begin putting in the essentials: clothing, toiletries and medicines. Then we make decisions about other “little extras” we’d like to take along - perhaps a book or CD, maybe a picture or diary.  Whatever we choose, we’ve stripped down our possessions to essentials - just the things we need for a journey.

Jesus did the same thing with His disciples:

Luke 9:3: And Jesus said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, neither a staff, nor a bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece.”

They needed to travel light. They needed to leave everything behind.

When we pack for a vacation, we fill a couple of suitcases, but if we were to go for a long hike, there would be no way we could even take one suitcase with us.  Our Christian faith is a hike. We are sojourners in a strange land. We are passing through this life, not settling into it for eternity. God has something better in store for us.

But are we living our life as if we are passing through or as if we can somehow find the right place, the right situation, the right time and then freeze it forever?

Some of us have joyful memories of our youth. We cling to them, trying to make our children experience what we experienced. Some of us have bitter memories, and we vow to never let go of them. These are the things that we find in the closets and attics of our individual lives. I believe Jesus calls us to set these things aside and look for something new.

As churches and denominations, we do the same thing. The old structures and ministries and music and Order of Worship worked for us; let’s keep investing in it because it should work for these young people, too! Or should it? Likewise, we have our bad church experiences. Pastor so-and-so said this or some member did that or the denomination leadership voted to do the other thing -  and it was bad. Sure it was bad. But are we going to hold that grudge long after the world has moved on?  These are the things in our cupboards and basements. I believe Jesus calls His church, His bride, to walk with Him unencumbered by the past.

Let’s look at a few more verses.

Luke 9:57-58: And as they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

This man thought Jesus was going “somewhere.”  He wanted to find that place where everything is good. He wanted to know where Jesus made His home, and that’s where he would be, too.  Don’t we all, really? Aren’t we looking for that place where our neighbors are our friends and they never forsake us, where our family never disappoints one another, where our church is always healthy and filled with joy? Sure we do. But Jesus says He has nowhere to lay His head. To follow Christ is not about finding the “right place”; it is staying with Him on this journey of life.

Luke 9:59-60: And Jesus said to another, “Follow me.” But he said, “Permit me to first go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.”

Jesus called to this man and the man gave what appears to be a very sensible answer – let me bury my father. Perhaps his dad was dead, but more likely he was very ill and near death. Doesn’t really matter - what Jesus is getting at is that we can’t afford to wait for the right circumstances when we feel Him calling. The time is now. As an individual that might mean making a lifestyle change to improve our health, or getting serious about our finances, or addressing some long-broken relationships. As a church, it means we can’t afford to be looking at what was or, worse, waiting for what is dear to us to die so we can bury it. If we want to have life as a congregation, we need to leave the dying things behind and walk in faith with Christ.

Luke 9:61-62: And another also said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Ouch! Now that sounded like a reasonable request, too! In this instance, the man is volunteering to help Jesus out … “but first.”

“But first.” How many times do we say this? And in this case, it’s concerning a good thing – he loves his family and wants to say good-bye. I think what Jesus is getting at is that our lives are too short for “but first” when it comes to following Him. If we “but first” our way to getting out of school, to getting married, to when the kids are grown, to when I retire, to when Mom and Dad are gone … life is gone. Good things were there - but we never experienced the best things Christ had to offer us. The same is true with our churches: “But first let’s get the right pastor, a good outreach program, our debt paid off, a new sign, and on and on. Good things, but we “but first” our way away from the best Jesus would offer us.

Hebrews 12:1: Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.”

Jesus doesn’t want us running the race that is our life as though we were carrying a full suitcase. He wants us to run freely, unencumbered.  If you feel that you’re stuck in a spiritual bog, as an individual or as a church, it may be time to clean out the attics and basements of life; it may be time to have a rummage sale and a dumpster party for some things that have been cluttering minds and hearts and spirits.

Is it sin? Are you longing for another person, more money, a better job, someone else’s circumstances to the point that it dominates hours of your thoughts? That needs to be confessed to God.

Is it bitterness and anger? Are there places where you were wronged, and perhaps deeply so, but you can’t go through a day or week without dwelling on it? Ask God to help you forgive those who wronged you. Forgiveness does NOT affirm or condone the evil act; instead, it frees our heart from the shackles of anger and bitterness that accompany it.

Perhaps it’s something else, altogether. If there is anything hindering you, I pray you might begin tossing it out of your life today. I believe that when each of us is pursuing a determined faith walk with Christ, the bigger problems within our churches tend to dissipate to smaller, manageable ones.

Let’s ditch the clutter in our lives and heed Christ’s words: “Follow me.”

Message by Brett Watson

Presented at St. John United Church of Christ, New Buffalo

October 7, 2007