"Following Jesus"

          John 1:43 ⁴³The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”

          A man comes up to you who you only recognize from the descriptions that other people have verbally given you.  This person then asks of you to follow him.  What do you do?  I forgot to tell you this man also claims to be the Messiah.  Does this give you enough information that you can now decide what to do?  Remember you have not met him before or you have not been properly introduced to him by those you do know.  Regardless, this man comes to you and says, "Follow Me."

          Are we who live in this day and time so different than those who lived during the time Jesus walked with His disciples? Were there as much skepticism in the minds of men in those days far gone than there are in our minds today.  We might be able to set ourselves apart from those in the past through language, science and gadgets but truthfully we are very much the same when it comes to trusting anything and anybody.  So are you willing to follow someone you haven't met?

          You have met me, and truthfully I do not want you to follow me, nor my examples unless my examples mimic those of Christ of course.  No, I hope and pray that you will follow that person that you have not met personally.  What does it mean to follow someone?  How do you interpret what Jesus commanded to Philip, "Follow Me"?  What are we to do or how do we follow Jesus? 

We had our Circuit meeting this last Tuesday and I asked this question, "How are we to follow Jesus," to the other pastors.  They gave me answers like, know Jesus, be a disciple of Jesus, know the grace that Jesus gave us.  The one answer a pastor gave me that stood out the most was, follow Jesus by living in His example.  What is Jesus' example to living one's life?  We should live the sacrificial life that Christ lived.  Living sacrificially is being obedient to the grace Christ bought us.  In other words as Christ gives us grace we should give grace to others.

1 Corinthians 6:12–20 ¹²“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything. ¹³“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other.

          We as people of this world want to live both in the example of Christ and the example of the world.  Living in the example of the world we ask if we should obey the laws of the world even when they go against what God has taught us.  Some will justify through quoting "What is Caesar’s is Caesar’s and what is God's is God's".  But Paul has been inspired to write that certainly there are laws we should follow but not all laws are good for us.  We can clearly see as our laws loosen, or change, as they have now made those laws that are illegal into legal law, these laws certainly are not good for us. 

          Why this example?  One of the answers to following Jesus is to know Him and though we might not be able to meet Jesus face to face yet, we certainly can know Him through studying His word.  And knowing His position on following mans laws vs. following God's laws.  Some of you will say you have a personal relationship with Jesus.  That can only happen if you know Jesus and actually follow Him all the time.  At best we have a part time personal relationship with God.

Knowing Jesus is not enough, we are to be Christ's disciples too.  To be a disciple is to study God's word and put it into practice.  It would be more correct to say Christ has a personal relationship with us as He does know us. And even knows us much better than we know Him or even ourselves.  Still, keep trying, it takes constant effort to try to have that personal relationship with God.  It takes constant effort to have a communicable relationship as well, however when we are working together we can have more accountability towards knowing Jesus and being His true disciples.  I wonder if it might be better to say we have a disciple relationship with God.

          1 Samuel 3:8–10 ⁸And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the young man. ⁹Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”

          To follow Jesus is to know Him, be His disciple, and live the example of Christ that He paid for us on the cross, sacrificing all to serve God.  We might not have to hang on a cross or give up our lives but Christ does tell us to take up our cross and follow Him; Luke 9:23.  Christ sacrificed His life so that we could have life.  Not just life but a life following Him through an eternal relationship with Him.  It is something we have not seen yet, and something we believe through faith.  It is something we will do because Jesus Christ paved the way.  It is that all believers will "Follow Jesus" into eternal life and everlasting relationship through the love of God for all His creation.  Amen.

"Baptized through the Holy Spirit"

          Mark 1:4–5 ⁴John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

          A baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  Coming to the river a man takes his family to witness a strange man who performed the baptism they were used to, a washing of one's soul to another level, a different understanding.  One might call it like a baptismal epiphany. One cannot be cleansed unless they use water.  This was a custom to the Jews to be made ceremonially cleaned.  One would not dare enter the Temple of God unclean.  This was the law, and now?  Instead of the basins or planed places of cleansing they were going to the river Jordan to be cleansed by its flowing water.

          As the man's family neared the water their eyes fell upon an unkempt man standing in the shallow parts of the Jordan maybe hip high.  He was shouting, "Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight." Who is this man who looks like He was born of the wilderness, and claimed a diet of locust and honey?  What did he mean by prepare the way? Should we all become cleansed for the Lord to come to us?

          It could have been any crazy man standing on his soapbox preaching the word of God, telling us it's time to get ready, for the end of the world is near.  Why should we pay any attention to what these crazy soapbox preachers say?  As long as we don't feel the effects of God's warnings what's there to worry about, who needs to care?  Look it's just another Jesus freak on a box, "The World is ending, the world is ending,” what a laugh, is the savior even coming?  Jesus probably gave up on us by now.

          The man and his family stood and watched with skeptic awe as they saw people, whole families going into the river and being submersed over their head, as the wild fur covered strange man tells us he is baptizing us to repent of our sins and then letting us know we are receiving forgiveness through this cleansing baptism, in other words we who are unclean from our sins are now cleaned to be a worthy to enter the temple of God.

          Mark 1:6–8 ⁶Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. ⁸I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

          Just after the man and his family came up out of the water after being baptized and thinking they’re ready to go to the temple the fury strange man starts to talk about another person who has a different baptism to offer.  The man wasn't sure he fully understood this first baptism and only knew sin through the explanation of the law.  Like most people one might think that little sins might not really need the effort of God to forgive us.  How often should we examine ourselves and confess our sins?

          Still what of this newest baptism?  The man and his family just heard of this baptism they just received from the locust eating strange man John who was giving away baptism like a gift, delivered through the law..., repent..., be forgiven.  Was this a two step freedom from wrong doing?  Who is this mightier man who baptizes with the Holy Spirit, and how does this baptism differ from this wilderness guy named John’s?

Mark 1:9–11 ⁹In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opening and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

The Gospel, Jesus was baptized before He started His ministry, that is baptized with water and then with the very word of God.  God's word claimed Him as His Son, and the Word of God acknowledged Him to be the one mightier than John, He is the Savior everyone was looking for.  The man and His family were baptized by John, they repented of their sin, and they were forgiven, with little knowledge of the forgiveness yet to come. A forgiveness that was the gospel, the good news that brings everlasting joy.

Here we see again a precursor of things to come.  With the Holy Spirit we are brought into repentance.  This is sanctification at work, the Holy Spirit is working to keep us Holy in the eyes of God, and this is helped through the works of Christ.  Jesus Christ worked through His baptism so that we could be baptized like Him and Jesus worked through the cross so that we should die like Him giving up the flesh.  And then Christ our savior rises from the dead to show us we too will ascend from the dead and have new life.  It all stems from our baptism, cleansed from our sin through repentance and forgiveness and blooms into holiness sanctified through the works of the Holy Spirit.  And now, through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ we are brought into everlasting life and eternal relationship with God.  Amen.