Sermons from St
Faith's
Following Jesus
Fr John Reed,
Sunday 7th October, 2018
Last week I was on a course with the
Diocese at
Gladstone library, it’s a course everyone has to do
when they start a new
ministry in a new place.
We were asked
the question: how do we make disciples for Jesus? Someone
suggested we need to challenge people
more. Having been challenging people to be followers
for Jesus for longer than
I care to remember, I wonder if it is that easy. Or
perhaps there is a certain
secret to challenging people that instantly produces
dramatic numbers of new
disciples, I have yet to discover.
When I look at Jesus and his teachings
that is more
than enough challenge on its own to challenge me and
anyone who cares to hear. But are we
ready to listen?
And if you truly listen will you have to do
something about it?
The rich young man in the Gospel had
wealth, a sure
sign of Gods blessing, and could honestly claim he
kept all the religious rules
of the day. He showed Jesus the rabbi great respect by
kneeling in front of him
to ask “What must I do t'o receive eternal life?” And yet
Jesus wanted him to do more. Can you keep
the commandments including a new
one, “Do not defraud.” Yes
he says I
have kept all of these. Jesus then in effect, asked
him to give up everything
that guaranteed his status and position in society and
become a travelling Rabbi’s
follower. “Sell
everything you have,
give it to the poor and follow me!” There was no
suggestion he could do it a
bit at a time, in small instalments. Or be a part time
follower or pay five
denarii a month and join a Ffriends of Jesus club.
No, Jesus looked on him in love, as he
looks on
each and everyone of us in love. A love
that Jesus was prepared to suffer and lay down his
life for. My personal story
is I
wanted to be a follower when I
realized that sacrifice was personal to me. If you
were prepared to do that for
me Jesus, then I want to follow you. Jesus saw that
young man's need as he
saw mine, and he sees yours too. That is
great isn’t it, Jesus the Son of God loves me, and
Jesus loves you too. How do
we respond to that love; by being prepared to follow,
to walk in the path of
that love, to leave the baggage of our own self
importance, and what we have achieved
in the eyes of others at the foot of the cross.
A children’s song puts it so well “I will
follow,
serve and love him, because he first loved me.”
Whether you follow or like the
rich young man walk away, you are loved with a love
you cannot comprehend.
Loved before you have done a thing to be
loved for. So
why not find more about
that amazing love from Jesus himself?
The disciples could not comprehend how
someone who
literally had it all could not follow Jesus, where the
demands of the Kingdom
going to be so high?
And if the demands
were so high could they qualify too? He
gives them a riddle, “can a camel go through the eye
of an needle?” There’s
more chance of that than a rich man caught up, and
blinded by his own
priorities understanding and following the demands of
the kingdom of God.
And yet to those who follow him, the Peters,
Jameses and Johns and others, rewards in the Kingdom
to come and by the way persecutions!
This was no incentive to follow anyone. But a true
disciple literally followed
in everything his teacher did, we know Jesus suffered
and was crucified.
And for many of the disciples the life of a
follower would be short and dangerous.
But they followed.
Many still follow Jesus, but it places
demands upon
you. Demands
to live counter to this
world's subtle pressures, that make the individual
king of the castle.
That allow for a similar situations like we
read of in Amos to flourish amongst us, with a
comfortable wealthy class living
at the expense of the impoverished many.
It's normal so its OK. As a society we have
lost track of the imperative
to caring for all our neighbours. We can
push the blame onto the politicians and the media, but
they exist because we ultimately
allow them to.
So whether we are the rich young man in
the story
who is trying to be a follower and failing because the
challenge is too great,
he does not want his world changed. Or the disciples
struggling with the logic
of the upside down values Jesus challenges us with. We all need
to know we are loved by God. And then we
need to ask ourselves how will we
respond.
Perhaps
we will look at the Bishop's rule of life as
something we should be doing now, or maybe enrolling
next Lent on the “Your
Shape for God's Service” a six week course we will be
running here that looks at
five areas of our life and how we can serve God
better. Or
maybe today you will
commit to devote more time to read more of Jesus's
challenge, and seek his will
in our lives through prayer and meeting around the
Altar to receive the
sacrament.
