The latest Sermon from Reverend Tom

Sermon Message for Saturday, January 15, 2022 & Sunday, January 16, 2022 

Prayer For Illumination: Gracious God, give us humble, teachable, and obedient hearts, that we may receive what you have revealed, and do what you have commanded.  Amen. 

SCRIPTURE LESSONS:  Joshua 24:15 (Page 237) & Matthew 4:18-22 (Page 968) 

Sermon Message: “I Will Follow Him” 

Perhaps you recall some of the lyrics to the song, “I Will Follow Him.”  They became popular (again) in 2019 during the movie “Sister Act” starring actress, Whoopi Goldberg.  Within that movie she transforms a group of quiet Catholic Sisters (Nuns) into a rather vibrant choir.  One of their sensational songs was “I Will Follow Him.”  Recall with me some of those lyrics: I love him, I love him, and where he goes I’ll follow.  I will follow him wherever he may go.  There isn’t an ocean too deep or mountain so high it can keep, keep me away.  

The lyrics go on to say, I must follow him, ever since he touched my hand I knew that near him I must always be and nothing can keep me from him, He is my destiny.  He’ll always be my true love from now until forever. 

Initially that song was composed as a kind of love song for couples.  Within the movie it was adopted and transformed as a song illustrating a kind of “Faith” one has when following Jesus. 

So, I must ask, is ‘that’ how it happened when you came to ‘follow Jesus?’  Did He touch your hand and thus become your ‘destiny?’  ‘Following Him’ may be marked by a significant event, as seen in the calling of those first disciples.  Yet we also learn from the disciples ‘following him’ becomes a life-long process of faith, hope, love, and redemption. 

The four disciples mentioned in today’s scripture lesson were fishermen by trade.  The good Lord sees us where we are and further ‘calls’ us. Consider a bit further those first two disciples whom Jesus called to ‘follow him.’ 

Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee.  He saw two brothers, Simon, called Peter, and his brother, Andrew.  They were fishing, casting a net into the lake.  Jesus said to those two fishermen, “Come follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people.” 

Two other brothers, James, son of Zebedee, and his brother, John, 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. 

Seldom do I hear of folks today just dropping everything and immediately following Jesus. 

The initial decision to ‘follow him’ does sometimes occur quickly.  At other times it takes a while.  However it occurs, our decision to follow him changes things.  Can you recall the ‘timing’ or the process that settled inside of you and lead you to decide to follow him?

Even those early disciples whom Jesus called spent the rest of their lives demonstrating what ‘following Him’ means. 

Let’s reflect a bit more on Matthew and Simon Peter. 

Some scholars affirm that Matthew became the unquestioned leader of the apostles.  As a leader, Matthew was not known for addressing large crowds like his brother, Simon.  Instead, Andrew ‘followed Him’ by leading people to Christ one by one.  Andrew’s main concern never was inviting himself into Jesus’ inner circle and private quarters.  Andrew was probably the glue in the apostolic band, the nicest and most accessible person in the group.  The record of Andrew does not stand much of a chance against the dramatic record of his brother Simon, the original Rock, one of Jesus’ three closest disciples.  Andrew was a leader of another kind – in friendship and lifestyle evangelism. 

Simon was defined by his larger-than-life personality, but Andrew by his down-to-earth “personability.”  One thing that defined Andrew in the Bible was his personal affinity with unfamiliar people and lost souls.  He was not intimidating, unlike his brother.  People can go through him, talk to him, and be with him.  Just as in this situation, Andrew, along with others, followed Jesus.  There was always somebody with Andrew.  Andrew was not a finder’s keeper kind of guy. Andrew was a humble man, definitely not as eloquent as his free-spirited brother, Simon.  He did not claim he was the one who found the Messiah.  It is recorded in the Gospel of John 1:41 Andrew found his brother and said, “We” have found the Messiah; the Christ. He didn’t reference himself mainly.  He did not say “I” have found the Messiah.  Rather, Matthew sought to remain ‘inclusive of others’ and thus proclaimed, “We” have found the Messiah.  Sometimes too, it’s hard to explain or convey to others what we have found in following Jesus.  So this disciple Andrew did the next best thing; he brought him to Jesus.  Andrew was not pushy, threatening, condemning, feisty, and argumentative.  That is as good a definition of evangelism as any – to bring people to Jesus, not to himself or even to John the Baptist. 

Andrew will forever be known in the Bible as the one who brought others to Jesus:  brother or not, young or old, Jews or Gentiles.  The apostle John seemed to hold Andrew in the utmost respect, especially for his personal touch with people.  The book of John gives us more details about Andrew not recorded in other gospels, such as Andrew finding a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish to feed the five thousand (John 6:8-10) and the Greeks going through Andrew for the opportunity to see Jesus (John 12:20-21).  In that sense, he was like his mentor, John the Baptist, testifying and pointing to Jesus.  

‘Following Him’ shows up in activities and wholesome endeavors we also seek to do for the sake of Jesus Christ, His Church, His ministries, and His missions. 

God uses our personalities as well, our skills, our endeavors, our studies, and experiences in our efforts to follow Him. Today’s scriptures affirm our growing knowledge that following Jesus means that we are going to do some things differently in our life; that there will be some things we too will need to leave behind.

Those early disciples seemed to have ‘their’ lives planned around themselves.  They had their own business and families to attend to.  Following Jesus meant expanding their horizons, so to speak.  It further meant submitting to God’s leading and the Lord’s call within their lives.  Following Him still means making some decisions about ‘how’ we will live our lives and ‘where’ we might need to go and do things for the Lord. 

All people tend to find that ‘following him’ changes our lives.  Sometimes significantly at first but also through varying stages extended over our lifetime. 

Trust and belief are essential components for following Him. 

Perhaps ‘following Him’ began with someone pointing us towards Jesus, saying ‘prayers’ with us, or bringing us to church to better ‘meet’ Jesus. 

Affirming Jesus Christ as God’s Son and our Savior requires trust and belief coming from us.  We need to nurture these essential qualities over a lifetime.  Striving to obey God’s teachings and the Bible’s guidance, confessing our sins and devoting ourselves to become Christians, better Christians, are basic and essential requirements to ‘following Him.’  I will follow Him means changing our ways from self-oriented entitlement to humble listening and reflection upon how God might use us to share faith with others. 

In this early stage we may find ourselves saying, “I will follow Him” perhaps with hesitancy, fear of regret, and unwelcomed humbling of ourselves before the Lord. 

I believe Matthew illustrates a good example of how we can help others who may be questioning what ‘I will follow Him’ means.  Matthew did not go on and on with Simon or others as he tried to get others to know Jesus Christ and follow Him.  Andrew simply, serenely, and sincerely just brought others into the presence of the Lord.  When communicating knowledge doesn’t suffice, bring others home to church and to your family of faith. 

I don’t know if you’ve ever thought much about it or not, but those early disciples were not just ‘called’ initially; they decided to stay with Jesus and follow him over the next three years of their lives.  ‘I will follow Him’ you see, becomes a maturing response to the presence of the Lord in our lives and unto a growing, workable realization of the benefits we inherit from responding to the Christian faith. 

You’ve heard me share this example before. Early on we may view The Ten Commandments as a list of do’s and don’ts which we must submit to.  As we grow, we begin to see the benefits from following those commands.  They become not just ‘commandments’ but more so ‘covenants’ between God, others, and us. 

‘I will follow Him’ isn’t JUST believing in Jesus.  It is about changing some things in your life. 

The best ‘affirmations’ of love are just that unless we spend time with those whom we love.  ‘I will follow Him’ means spending time with Him.  Get to know Jesus.  Spend some quality time each and every day in prayer, reflection, studying the Word, and getting to worship often, routinely, and regularly.  I have personally found this to be most valuable. 

‘I will follow Him’ is both a reflection and a further commitment.  As I reflect, the better decisions and directions of my life have occurred from how I allow myself to ‘follow Him.’  The more you or I follow Him, the greater becomes our peace-filled awareness that we have grown to love Him and be loved by Him. 

Reflect as did many in the Bible, upon your relationship and experience with the sacred, the holy, the Savior, and the Creator.  To those who choose to change and seek to follow Him, Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit.  There is an awareness within that comes from above touching our lives, filling our spirits with forgiveness, peace, love, and further inspiration associated with God’s guidance and direction for our lives. 

Those early disciples quickly learned ‘I will follow Him’ means I will become like Him.  That’s what Jesus is saying to us here.  He says:  “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  At the beginning of a New Year let’s take some time to evaluate ourselves.  How are we doing at ‘following him?’  Are you fishing for men, like Jesus said we would if we were following Him?  Are you reaching people?  Are you discipling people?  Are you caring for people?  Are you touching PEOPLE with your life?  Try bringing people to church.  Endeavor to pray for others.  Help others to follow Him.  Jesus said that’s what following Him is all about. 

How will it be in your walk with Jesus this year?  How might you and I better follow Him? 

May we begin with this spiritual/Biblical affirmation: “As for me and my household, we will follow the Lord.”  Amen.