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We are located at the corner of First Street and Soule, just one block east of Central in northeast Dodge City
We are located at the corner of First Street and Soule, just one block east of Central in northeast Dodge City |
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Lenten Series: I Have Decided to Follow Jesus "Into the Desert" We begin a new series through this season of Lent, titled “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.” The emphasis is on the words “decided” and “follow.” Following the Christ is a choice. We each are invited, but whether or not we will follow is up to each of us. It is difficult to coerce, manipulate or guilt people into following Jesus…and when someone is made to follow Christ not of his or her own free will, well…that leads to an adherence to a religion that has so very little in common with the life and teachings of Jesus. We choose, we decide whether or not we will follow Jesus. And what does it mean to follow Jesus? Where is he going, and where will we end up if we tag along? The concept of following Jesus comes from the ancient Hebrew practice of Rabbi’s who choose students to disciple. That is, students who would “follow” them, going where the Rabbi goes, and more importantly, doing what the Rabbi does. In fact, there is an old Hebrew blessing: “Blessed are those who are covered in the dust of their Rabbi.” Hear it? “Blessed are those who walk so closely, who follow so near, that they literally are covered by the dust kicked up by their Rabbi as he walks along. And so, my hope is we’ll get a bit of dust on us…as we decide to follow Jesus this Lenten season. It appears that Jesus is alone in the desert as he encounters Satan and temptation. But we know he is not. Oh—physically isolated to be sure, but not alone. For Jesus is experiencing the common condition of all of humankind. Jesus is tempted. All human beings face and make choices regarding temptation. We are tempted. Just ask me, I know about temptation! Not long ago, I had a meeting in Wichita, and I left home without breakfast, thinking that it would do me good to miss a meal or two, and during Lent, such partial fast would be good spiritual preparation. But as I came into Wichita, and drove to the church, I approached a donut shop. . . Can you tell I love donuts? I have a weakness for donuts. Ever since my college days and there was a donut shop that opened at midnight and the kids from campus would swarm the place for the hot, fresh ones that had just come out of the glaze. Well…this donut shop I was approaching was of the chain that tells you when the donuts are hot and fresh with a little neon sign flashing "Hot Now!" You know what I’m talking about? I saw the sign, they were making donuts. They would be warm. The glaze would be gooey. I was tempted. I prayed….”Lord, I know I said I wasn’t going to eat, and I know donuts aren’t all that good for me, but I’ll put this in your hands, Lord. If it’s Your Will that I have a warm donut this morning, show me by having an empty parking place right by the front door.” You know what? That’s right—there it was, an empty spot, right by the front door—God had answered my prayer! Sure, it took me about a dozen times around the block before one opened up, but God provided none the less! By now you realize that is just a "funny story," but the truth is, we all have temptations. We all walk through the wilderness being pulled, drawn, compelled to do what we ought not to do, to satisfy craving even if it sacrifices relationship, to indulge desires that do not bring us closer to God, but pushes us away farther and farther. Many of our temptations are pretty obvious--like donuts are for me. We know them well. And we can often steer clear of them. But other temptations are more subtle, we might not see them for what they are, we might be seduced before we even know it. I’m thinking especially of the temptations concerning our faith life. For example, we may be tempted to believe that being a Christian and following Christ is largely irrelevant to the rest of our lives. Tempted to believe that participating in the community of faith we call the body of Christ, really doesn’t make all that much difference in our lives or the lives of others. We can be tempted to think that church is a nice, respectable pastime, but it doesn’t really matter--much. A woman was being admitted to the hospital, and was asked what her church preference was. She thought a moment, and then responded, “red brick." We may smile, but for many, both on and off the membership rolls of the churches of our nation, the relevance of the church may be nothing more than our preferences--architectural or otherwise. Tempted to think church is whether or not the music is music I prefer, or the style of the service is the style I prefer, or the people who attend are the type of people I prefer. Don’t be tempted to think so. Once cannot ignore the good that followers of Christ accomplish. Before dismissing the church and the Christian faith as irrelevant, consider that the civil rights movement that changed the face of our nation was born in the classrooms of Christian churches, and fueled by the pulpits of Christian preachers. Long before our states recognized the building of colleges and universities as vital for the development of society, Christian men and women established centers for higher education and raised money to build our nation’s first college campuses. A century before we had an extensive welfare program, Christians took seriously Jesus’ commands to feed the hungry, care for the naked, and visit the stranger. Many of our nation’s hospitals, facilities for the frail and elderly, alcohol and drug treatment centers, were all established and built by churches. Today, it is the church related agencies that respond to the needs of our communities—from caring for children who need foster care, to helping in every time of natural disaster. Even this week, as the United Methodists and other Christian groups rolled into the tornado devastated areas of Arkansas and Tennessee, we continue to send mission volunteers to the gulf coast to help rebuild two years after Hurricane Katrina. Where would our world be without the Christian church? Add to this, the untold and uncountable lives that are literally given meaning and saved from the chaos of the world through God's promises delivered through the church. Followers of Christ make a difference. It has always been so, it will remain so. Don’t be tempted to think it does not. I can think of another temptation: We can be tempted to believe that God reserves real ministry for the pastors and other professionals in ministry. Tempted to believe that the ministry of the people, the laity, is to provide the funds and sit on committees. Beware the crippling nature of this temptation. If the laity are simply to sit on committees, offer some advice for and otherwise provide the funds for ministry which is actually carried out by the hired guns called “pastor” and “Christian Educator,” and “minister to students,” then this severely limits the ministry of the body of Christ. A few professional staff can only do a small fraction of what a great body of believers can accomplish. What if we began to believe and live out the belief that God has gifted us, all of us, has empowered us, all of us, has graced us, ALL of us, for ministry? Bill Easum hits it on the head when he writes, “God’s people are never chosen simply because they need God. We are chosen because God has something special for us to do, which is much bigger than ourselves.” Hear it? God has a purpose for each of us, involving hands-on ministry. I am privileged to be part of the small group from our conference whose job it will be to cast ballots in July to elect new bishops for the church. Next month, we will be interviewing those from a large regional area who are candidates for bishop, and we will no doubt ask about their understanding of laity in ministry. I remember eight years ago, when we asked a particular candidate for bishop a question about empowering the laity. And this is what she said: “It isn’t my job to empower lay persons,” she said. “God empowers each of us, and has already done so. I want to “free” laity for ministry—that is, help them uncover the gifts and graces God has already given them, and help them discover how those gifts might be used and matched in Christ’s ministry.” (Minerva Carcano) God’s grace has already laid treasures of talents at our feet. Imagine the possibilities if we resist the temptation to believe that the average Christian might have a place in the pew, but doesn’t really have a place or position in ministry. What if we choose instead to celebrate God’s gifts and graces and use them in mighty ways for the kingdom! Oh—but I’m sure the devil would rather the people sit back and let the professionals do it. It keeps the kingdom down to a smaller, vulnerable size. Finally, we are tempted to believe that God wouldn’t risk the possibility that Jesus just might really succumb to the temptations he faced in the desert. Stones into bread, making a spectacle of his relationship with God, desiring the adoration of the kingdoms of earth. We might be tempted to believe that Jesus couldn’t possibly fail these temptations in the desert. The real danger of this temptation is that it causes us to lose our connection to Jesus, when the reality of his human experience is dismissed because after all, Jesus is the Son of God. It’s the same thing we do on the cross sometimes, thinking, “Jesus knew he would be raised from the dead, so dying on the cross was easier for him.” Be careful if you are tempted to dismiss Jesus’ experience as something other than real, human, lived experience. I don’t know if you watch professional wrestling on television. It’s such a spectacle. It pretends to be a sport, but of course, the outcomes are all scripted. The matches are choreographed, rehearsed, and the end has been written and the winner decided long before the wrestlers enter the ring. When the outcome is fixed, and the emphasis is on show, well, it still may be a fascinating spectacle, but one can hardly care much about the battle. One can hardly invest yourself in worrying about who is going to win. Similarly, if Jesus is perceived as already knowing the outcome, having already read the script, then all we are left with is a spectacle. If we perceive Jesus as not really being at risk, that there never really exists any possibility that he might, at any minute, succumb to the devil’s temptation…well then, the urgency is diminished. We disconnect from Jesus’ experience, for certainly HIS experience could never, ever, be like our own. One can hardly invest ourselves in worrying about who is going to win. But here’s what I think. I think God is the one who risks it all…the entire plan of salvation, God’s entire plan for redeeming the world. He bets it all on Jesus and his ability to resist the very real temptations he faced in the desert. He risks that Jesus will choose faithfulness to his mission over food for his body. That he will choose relationship with the Father over power and fame. That he would ultimately choose the kingdom of heaven, over the kingdoms of the world. How am I so sure? Because it’s the nature of God to put it all at risk. Think about it. This is the same god who risked the good and perfect nature of Creation, and put it in the hands of two smooth skinned creatures with nothing more than a warning not to touch one particular tree in the middle of the garden. God risked, and the results weren’t so sure that time around. This same God risked his plan of salvation of putting it all in the hands of a young, unmarried teen-ager from Galilee and the man who loved her. That they might care for, raise, and instruct their child in such a way that he would grow to be the savior of the world. God risks. It’s God’s nature. And so God risks that Jesus just might, might say yes to temptation, that he might fulfill his own desires instead of God’s desires. Jesus does not disappoint. God is still in the risk business, I think. We who follow this Rabbi, who allow ourselves to be called by name, “Christian,” or “Christ’s ones,” God places it all in our hands. Risks it all…hoping we’ll follow faithfully. Hoping we’ll continue in the steps of our Rabbi, our Lord, our Savior. The temptations are real, for Jesus, and for us. Resist with all your strength. May each of us discover a real faith, and a real spiritual journey through this Holy season of Lent. Next week, Jesus will begin to walk and minister through Galilee. As he does so, he’ll find that they are very hungry.
Thanks for dropping by: Guest # |
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