Sermon, "Follow the Leader", by Pastor Ruth L. Foss, January 27, 2008, prepared for worship - Sanbornville, United Methodist Church, Wakefield, NH

Matthew 4: 12-23

“Follow the Leader”

How many of you remember playing follow the leader when you were a child? (pause) I sure remember. As a matter of fact…I still get into a good game of it with my daughters. It gets silly after a while when they realize that I know how to follow their lead. I also liked playing “Simon Says” when I was little…and still do now. It’s all about following the leader. In today’s scripture from Matthew…we see these fisher men playing follow the leader. Jesus came by and said “Follow Me”…and they immediately got into the “game.”

Following the leader…what kind of leader was Jesus any way? He wasn’t the type of leader that took things by force…He taught love and patience. He didn’t have a large army of fighting men ready to take over the city…He had a band of fishermen and a tax collector. He even hung out with sinners…prostitutes…tax collectors and the like (for shame!). So what type of leader was He? Why did these men stop what they were doing…walk away from their lives and families they had…just to follow this man…this prophet…of their time?

Well…one thing that they may have felt was the urgency of Jesus’ ministry. We have to remember…just before this time…Jesus had been in the desert for 40 days and was tested there by the tempter…now we don’t know if it was actually Satan that tempted Him there but we assume it was Satan…all it tells us is that it was the “tempter…the devil.” Now that His time of tempting was over it was time for Him to get on with His ministry…a ministry of Redemption.

This was what He came to earth for…to be that Redemptive “bridge” over the gap that was made in the Garden of Eden…to Redeem humanity back to the life that was lost there. Jesus immediately started to teach in the synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing disease and sickness among the people. (Redeeming Grace…was redeeming them …saving them… from their disease and sickness… giving them…a new start in life…that could and can only be found through Him)

So…why would these men…who obviously were making some kind of living…stop what they were doing and follow this man who came with the message “Repent, for the kingdom of God is near”? My thought on this is that they knew there was something different about Jesus. It could have been that they could see the Holy Spirit at work in Him somehow. Maybe the way that they were called by Jesus…the urgency in His voice…a glint in His eye…made them realize that what He was doing was far more important than anything else they could be doing in their lives. Whatever the reason…they followed Him immediately…without question. All Jesus said was “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”…Ray wrote a poem a while ago called “And Follow Me,” and it makes me think of what those words actually meant. It reads:

Follow me, on my journey
My ministry, around the Sea
Galilee, your homeland,
No longer fishermen,
Now you will be fishers of men,
Harvesters for the kingdom
Of the good news,
The news of m coming,
My fulfillment, my mission
Of service and saving
Of spirit and law,
Of water and the Word
Fishers of another sort fishers of men
When you leave all
And follow me.

I wonder if they really knew what following would mean?

So…Jesus was the leader of these first disciples. What kind of things…what kind of actions…did He model in this position…what did He do to make Him such a leader of men? Well first…Jesus didn’t take the world by storm…He did the opposite…He showed mercy and love. There are countless stories throughout the Gospels that talk about Jesus’ compassion for those around Him. From healing the sick…teaching about kindness (remember the Beatitudes? Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven…Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted…Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth…sound familiar?)…teaching about how things should be and how we should act in life (His parables were wonderful lessons on that). Jesus was the model for His disciples that He had then and those who would follow. (Follow the Leader)

As a matter of fact…in one of His healings…instead of telling the man he was healed…He actually got His hands dirty…not figuratively…but actually got His hands dirty. It is the healing story of the blind men. When Jesus healed this man…He bent down...picked up dirt…spit into it…made mud…put it on the man’s eyes (that healing touch) and healed him.(John 9:6) (Follow the Leader)

Jesus was not about Himself…Jesus was all about the Redemption…of those around Him. Redemption…what is this word redemption…what is meant by this word…how does this word relate to Jesus and His ministry? I know that we are redeemed from sin by His death on the cross and through accepting Him as my Lord and Savior I am redeemed but how did this play out in His ministry to others on earth?

The word Redeem…In the On-Line Dictionary by Farlex it states:
2. redeem - restore the honor or worth of

Some Synonyms are reestablish, reinstate, restore - bring back into original existence, use, function, or position;

I really like this definition…restore to honor or worth…reinstate…reestablish…restore. (WOW!)

Through the blood of Jesus…I…we…are reinstated with God…our relationship…has been reestablished with our Creator. When Jesus did all of His Miracles of healing He was redeeming them…restoring them…back to fullness so that they could reestablish their life in the society that they lived in. (Glory…we are redeemed!) (Follow the Leader)

So…we as Christians… are the Redeemed…the Disciples of Christ…what are we to do to carry on with…to continue…Jesus’ ministry of redemption? What can we do to bring about restoration to those around us? How can we Follow Jesus’ example and reestablish…restore…the lives of those around us?

This week…I was reading the Upper Room Disciplines 2008. It’s a book of daily devotions and I have found it a wonderful way to begin my day. It helps me set my sights on above for my day. It helps me to contemplate God’s word. If you haven’t taken a look at this devotional book I would recommend it to anyone who wanted to draw closer to God and what God wants us to be in this world. It goes by the The Revised Common Lectionary for the week. The one that really struck me was the one on the Matthew scripture from this morning’s reading. It is by Kenneth Walters Sr. who is an Associate Professor of New Testament at Haggard School of Theology at the Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, CA. He writes:

(read quote)

We are to be out there…alongside Jesus in His redemptive ministry. We are to be the hands and feet of this “radical” ministry. Not just as individuals but also as communities of faith…put our faith into action. (Follow the Leader)

We are to reach out to those around us…where they are not where WE want them to be. Jesus went to where people were…He could have just sat in the temple…waiting for people to come and hear this wonderful teacher who speaks with authority…but Jesus was not about that…He was about the doing not the being the Son of God. (Follow the Leader)

Following the leader…it’s a fun game if we are willing to give up the lead and let someone else lead for a while. If we are not willing to relinquish the command there is no sense in being in the game. I would like to end my Sermon with a song by Rhonda Vincent…some of you may have heard me sing this at the Hymn Sing one night (Which by the way is tonight). It is a song that I feel was written for this Matthew scripture. It is called “Fisher’s of Men”.

(Sing Song)

May we join Jesus in His Redemptive ministry…come along side with the original and follow His lead in life. May we help restore people where they are instead of where WE think they should be. May we be true “Fishers of Men.”

AMEN

(preached in our living room, January 27, 2008, because the snow storm kept her from getting to Sanbornville)