Sunday, October 21, 2007
Matthew 8:18-22
Senior Pastor
In the last few days, 22 to be exact, I have had four funerals. Usually one or two or even three won’t get me down, but this week has been hard. I have been a little depressed. I had the fourth service Friday. It was for Dr. Pennington, former dean at Northwestern here in Enid. My friendship with Bill Pennington goes back nearly thirty years.
So, when I read these words of Jesus about letting the dead bury their dead, it sounds a bit harsh – because in some ways Bill was like a dad to me – a father in the faith, if you will. He was the youth coordinator at the first church I served out of seminary. As I was trying to figure out my way in those early days, he was always there and supportive of me. He was wise advisor and trusted supporter. But he not only talked a good game, he was right there with me serving. He would come to youth meetings and play along with me and the kids; he would be a driver on a cross-country trip with a bunch of teenagers. He would chaperone an all-night lock-in. He would be a defender and advocate for me and for the youth, through thick and thin. So these words hit kind of close to home this week.
But this is a good example of when we need to look beyond the surface to receive the full or deeper meaning of this passage. Biblical scholars are helpful in these situations because they help us understand the context of such teachings, which clarifies the meaning. Our best scholars point out that this is not said in the face of death but in a situation where somebody is making excuses.
One scholar told of a situation in which a missionary was encouraging a young Turkish man to continue his education. The young man was interested but said, “I must first bury my father.” The missionary immediately expressed his sympathy to the young man. But the young man explained to the missionary that his father had not yet died. What he meant was that he must first fulfill all his duties to his family before he could leave them. He could not go now. He had other obligations or priorities. (The Daily Study Bible Series, Matthew, Volume 1, p. 314, William Barclay)
The issue here is not death and grieving, but indecision and procrastination. He is not ready to set out on this new adventure of faith of which Christ speaks. Our text today began with this phrase, Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him… (v. 18). This teaching is one that separates disciples from the crowds. Jesus has been doing some miracles just before where we read today. In fact if you look in your Bibles at the three stories just prior to this section you will find three healing stories. In my Bible the subtitles read like this, Jesus Cleanses a Leper, Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant and Jesus Heals Many at Peter’s House.
Jesus seems to be saying to those would-be followers there is more to this way of life than just these healings. It isn’t going to be as easy as you think. This is more than a magic show. And of course we know that in fact before the end of this Gospel story, being a follower of Jesus was much more challenging and dangerous and daunting than any of the disciples ever imagined.
Yet, this small section of teaching ends with the call: Follow me. Follow me. Are you ready to follow him? It may be more challenging than you expect. It may require more of you than you anticipate. Yet, it also promises you more than you can imagine.
We touched on this last week as we studied the pearl of
great price. The cost of the commitment
is more than you expect at first. But once
we recognize God as friend and surrender all of who we are to God as a generous
and trusted friend, we find we have all we need and so much more.
But in the face of such a challenging call, we are also offered a supernatural kind of help in walking this way of Christ. First, we are offered the help and power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus reminds his disciples late in their time together, I am the way and I will be with you through the presence of the Holy Spirit. (John 14)
But, there is a second thing that Jesus offers us, which is even more concrete and that is the church. Jesus challenges us to follow, but not alone. We are called to walk with a group. Jesus consistently teaches that this way we are to walk, in following him, is not a solitary journey, but is corporate – we are to be a part of the body, part of the corpus. We are called to be a part of the body of Christ, i.e., the church.
Just last week I was talking with a man who told me that he
used to think that he didn’t need the church to be a Christian. He kind of thought he was doing okay without
coming to worship or being in a Sunday School class or small group. But he said, “You know what? I don’t believe that anymore.” He is coming regularly now and he can see
the difference. We agreed that we need
each other in our Christian walk – that we need each other to do our best,
to be our best.
Remember Jesus did not embark on his ministry alone. He put together a group, a band of twelve. When he sent out his disciples, whether it was the twelve or later when he sent several dozen followers out, he sent them in pairs or teams. When he came to the most trying period in his own ministry, he asked a few of his disciples to come with him and pray. We all need support, encouragement and help to fulfill God’s call in our lives. We need each other. In the books of the New Testament there are scads of verses that teach us and remind us to love one another.
The early Methodist movement is a prime example of the effectiveness of this method of discipleship and ministry. John Wesley directed people to join a group. It was a group for the care and nurture of your soul. It was a group for support and accountability. The message was we will walk with you on this journey. You need not try to walk alone anymore. We are here; we will help.
It is accountable discipleship. You make certain commitments with others in your
group and then you meet regularly to check in and have Christian conversation
and prayer. This kind of group can take
on different forms, but you get the basic idea. It is the same thing the earliest followers of Jesus practiced.
The book of Acts tells us that the apostles and some of the women
gathered and devoted themselves to Christian teaching and fellowship, the
breaking of bread and prayer. We grow
in groups. We are stronger
Christians when we are part of a group that builds us up.
The Methodist movement in England and later in America was built precisely on this kind of small group dynamic. I am proud to be part of a church that promotes, invites, and encourages you to be in a small group. If you have not experienced this kind of thing in your Christian walk, I promise you it will be a place of blessing.
About a year ago one of you asked me what to do to grow besides come to worship. I told him that he should join one of our small groups. He signed up. Then last week we were talking and he told me, in front of other people, that being in this church and being in his small group Bible study has changed everything. He said, “Everything is better!” – and that through the study he is finding the keys to a new and fantastic life. Now that is a witness to what God can do if you will put yourself around other Christian people.
I ran across a poem the other day in my devotional reading. I don’t use many poems in my preaching but this one I think sums up so well this whole dynamic, I want to close with a portion of it today. It is entitled, I Stand By the Door.
I stand by the door.
I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out,
The door is the most important door in the world-
It is the door through which people walk when they find God.
There's no use my going way inside, and staying there,
When so many are still outside and they, as much as I,
Crave to know where the door is.
And all that so many ever find
Is only the wall where a door ought to be.
They creep along the wall like blind people,
With outstretched, groping hands.
Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door,
Yet they never find it ...
So I stand by the door.
The most tremendous thing in the world
Is for people to find that door--the door to God.
The most important thing any person can do
Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands,
And put it on the latch--the latch that only clicks
And opens to the person's own touch.
People die outside that door, as starving beggars die
On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter—
Die for want of what is within their grasp.
They live, on the other side of it--live because they have not found it.
Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,
And open it, and walk in, and find Him ...
So I stand by the door.
I admire the people who go way in.
But I wish they would not forget how it was
Before they got in. Then they would be able to help
The people who have not yet even found the door,
Or the people who want to run away again from God,
You can go in too deeply, and stay in too long,
And forget the people outside the door.
As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place,
Near enough to God to hear Him, and know He is there,
But not so far from people as not to hear them,
And remember they are there, too.
Where? Outside the door--
Thousands of them, millions of them.
But--more important for me--
One of them, two of them, ten of them,
Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch.
So I shall stand by the door and wait
For those who seek it.
"I had rather be a door-keeper ..."
So I stand by the door.
(by Samuel Moor Shoemaker quoted in A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants, Upper Room Books, p. 305)
Amen and thanks be to God.
Reason
#7: Accountable Discipleship
Matthew
8:18-22 10/21/07
Bill was like a dad to me – a father in the __________
…we need to look beyond the ______________…
He could not ____ now. He had other obligations or priorities.
…one that separates disciples from the ____________.
Yet, this small section of teaching ends with the
________:
Follow me.
…once we recognize God as friend and surrender all of who
we are… we find we have all we need and…much ________.
1st, we are offered the ________ and power of the Holy Spirit.
…a 2nd thing that Jesus offers us… that is the ____________.
…we need each other to do our best, to ____ our best.
…we will walk ________ you on this journey.
It is accountable ________________________.
We are stronger Christians when we are part of a group
that ______________ us up.
I stand by the door.
I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out,
The door is the most important ________ in the world-
It is the door through which people walk when they find God.
Kid’s Question: What does Jesus call us to do in the
scripture we read today?