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The Message for Oct 4, 2015
Hebrews 1:-4; 2:5-12
Fan or Follower?
Rob Miller, Pastor
Whose child would ever end up going into the lemonade stand business? You’ve probably seen them; maybe your child even tried it one day. Mine sure have. Believe it or not there are professional lemonade stands out there, so itwould suggest that somebody’s child somewhere ended up going into the lemonade stand business full-time.
It probably started one summer day after seeing some other kids in the neighborhood doing it, or maybe there was one set up at a baseball park and the boy thought, “I could make a little extra money on top of my allowance with this.” So he tries it. Gets dad to help set up a rickety little stand. Hand paints a sign, “Lemonade – Fifty Cents.” After one successful day, he tries it again… and then again… and then again.
One day he gets invited to bring his lemonade stand to a middle school baseball game. His price is now two dollars a glass. And pretty soon he’s got a lot of invitations to bring his lemonade stand to all kinds of events. He getsbusy – really busy – taking his lemonade stand all over town.
Sure, he’s making a nice profit. But now things are a lot busier, a lot more to it, a lot more professional. It’s taking up more time than expected. He’s got to make special orders on lemons. He has to keep track of all his expenses on a spreadsheet. What started as a hobby has become a full time consuming commitment.
In that moment, he has to make a choice. Is this going to become a career? Is he going to hire employees to share the load? What will he do?
Some of you may be thinking, “Maybe I should go into the lemonade stand business.” Others may be thinking, “I wish that was my child. He/she doesn’t even know what a spreadsheet is.”
Whatever you’re thinking, you understand that moment. There’s a moment when a decision has to be made. Is this going to be a hobby or is this going to be a career? Is this going to be for fun or for something else? Am I just trying this out or am I investing in it for the future?
This kind of moment isn’t unique to the business world. It’s a common experience in the realm of relationships too. Check out this video and you’ll see what I mean…
Video - sermonette 1
Over the next several weeks, we are going to examine our relationship with Jesus. This worship series is from Kyle Idleman who wrote a book “not a fan.” He made these resources available for us. That was Kyle in the video…
As Kyle points out -- for some of usour relationship with Jesus is kind of like a first date. You’re not exactly sure what to make of your relationship with him. So you are invited to comeeach week and just listen. Maybe you’re not ready for the talk yet. Maybe for others that DTR talk with Jesus is long overdue.
No matter who we are there comes a time when we need to define the relationship we have with him. This 6-week series invites us to find out where we stand with Jesus.
As we consider our relationship with Jesus – we will be using a verse that spells out what it means to be a follower. It comes from Luke 9:23…
“Jesus said to them all:‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.’”
Some of us may welcome this DTR talk with Jesus, because we are ready to move to a different level of commitment. Ready to move past the casual,past the convenient and into something more devoted,more committed. Some of you may be looking forward to this talk.
Some may not be, some of you kind of like the set-up you have with Jesus. You see him as a nice guy and you like churchthe way it is. It gives you something to do on Sunday morning. It’s nice because you can at least get a cup of coffee while we’re here. Believe it or not somebody said that to me not long ago.
You kind of like what you have going, and this idea of being more committed, this idea of taking it to the next level is… well…scary. You get a little anxious just thinking about it. Let me calm your fears. You are simply being invited to consider the relationship.
Where do you stand with Jesus Christ? Here is how Kyle puts it: Are you a fan or a follower of Jesus?
Some of you may be wondering why even ask a question like that. We’re all followers of Jesus, right? That’s why we’re here. And yet - consider this. The word fan is defined as “an enthusiastic admirer.”
We’re all fans of different things, right? Many of us are sports fans. We are fans of the Saints (I am talking about the football team here) or we fans of the Ragin Cajuns or fans of LSU or whatever team we admire. We watch the games. We cheer for the team. Some of us wear the jersey of our favorite players. We understand the concept of being a fan of sports.
Kyle points out a concern – and it’s a concern I havetoo– I just never put it the way he puts it. Theconcern is this –our church (any church) has the potential to become a gathering - a stadium full of fans of Jesus. Oddly enough Jesus never cared about having fans. If we define a fan as an enthusiastic admirer, then fans were not important to Jesus.
As Kyle says -we have a tendency to come together once a week and be fans of Jesus. We sit down in our seats… We open up our programs… We applaud at certain times and then leave somehow thinking that, as the fans, it was all done for us. We get in the car. We evaluate the sermon and what the pastor did or didn’t do, and we kind of give the worship service and the hymn selection a thumbs-up or thumbs-down. And we come back to do it all again the next week.
Kyle goes on to say - I get the fact that some of you are really big fans. I mean, you’re really into all of this church stuff. And being a fan feels pretty good to many of us.
Here’s the bug-a-boo, Jesus never cared about having fans. When I first read that in Kyle’s book, it set me back. It gave me a brain cramp. But then I thought about it and it’s true. Jesus never cared about having fans.
If we can be honest with ourselves, ifwe can search our hearts and begin to define our relationship with Jesus, there are three questionswe need to ask of ourselves.
- Why Are You Here?
In the Gospels we read about how Jesus, how at different points in his ministry, would draw a line in the sand and separate the fans from the followers. In John’s Gospel chapter 6 we have a great example of that happening.
John 6:53-68
Here’s the scene… Jesus was in the height of his ministry and large crowds were following him. He was very popular. He was working miracles everywhere he went. He fed thousands of people with just five loaves of bread and twofish, a lot of people crowded around to see Jesus and to watch what he would do next.
In verse 2, Jesus realizes why they were coming, “because of the miracles.” The main reason the crowds were showing up was because of the show. They didn’t care about the teachings,or about the life-changing lessons,or living their lives differently because of Jesus. They were there for the spectacle of it all.
Why are you here? What is your “because”?
- Is it because you like the coffee?
- Is it because you like the hymns or the videos?
- Is it because you like to catch up on your sleep during the message?
- Is it because this is what you have always done?
- Is it because you like to chit-chat and be with your church family of friends?
Why are you here?
At some point we need to define the relationship we have with Jesus. In our reading for today Jesus challenges the fans to a deeper, into a more intimate relationship with him. I want to highlight verse 66:
“From this time on many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”
How sad… A lot of peoplewalked away from Jesus and went elsewhere because Jesus said, “Let’s define what we’ve got here,” and what Jesus offered wasn’t what they wanted.
Why are you here? What is your because…?
I hope and pray it’s more than for the show or for the rituals or for the traditions. I hope and pray it has something to do with growing in the faith. I hope and pray it has something to do with your relationship to Jesus in and through this church.
I’m convinced that Jesus desires a deep and lasting life-changing relationship with you. That’s why Jesus is here…
The second question we need to ask of ourselves is this:
- Are You All In?
Being a follower of Jesus requiresa commitment. Being a follower of Jesus means doing whatever it takes to follow him. No excuses. It means absolute loyalty, completely committed.
Living in a secular society like we do,absolute commitment is not something we value. Instead we prefer selective commitment.
Kyle says – We’ve customize Christianity. We’ve been taught to look at our relationship with Jesus and say, ‘I’m going to follow Jesus, but I’m going to pick and choose the areas in which I will follow him.’
So we say, “Well… I’ll follow Jesus, but don’t ask me to forgive the person that hurt me. I’m not going to let go of that resentment. I’m not going to let go of that bitterness. I deserve that.” And I can hear Jesus say, “Really?”
Or we say, “I’ll follow Jesus, but don’t talk to me about my money. I work hard for what I have. I’ll give what I want to give. Not 10% that’s too much. And If I don’t like something that’s going on in the church then I’m not going to givemy money.” And I can hear Jesus say, “Really?”
Or we say, “I’ll follow Jesus but don’t count on me being in worship every week or getting involved. I have other things to do. (Oh the excuses I’ve heard over the years could fill a book.) I’m a follower of Jesus, but that won’t stop me from getting what I want and doing what I want to do.” And I can hear Jesus say, “Really?”
The sad thing is we’ve customized Christianity andso we are wooed into thinking, “Well, I will follow Jesus, but only in the areas that are comfortable, only in the areas that I agree with.”
Kyle says - Well, then you’re not a follower of Jesus. You’re just a fan. There is no option for selective commitment. You’re all in or you’re not in at all.
Fans don’t like the idea of going all in. Fans are not wild about having to make sacrifices, or denying themselves of something they desire or crave.
If you can answer why you’re here, here for the right reasons, here to grow in the faith and grow in your relationship with Jesus in and through the church then chances are you are willing to go all in.
The third question we need to ask of ourselves is this:
- Have You Made It Your Own?
Many of us started coming to church because of a parent. Mom made you. Dad said you had to. There was no other option. Maybe you started coming because of a boyfriend, or girlfriend, or a spouse. You started coming because you wanted to appease them.
For those of us who grew up in the church, or who attend church in order to appease someone, it’sreally easy to become a fan.
If we come to church to appease someone thenit’s easy to get into the rut of business as usual. Wedevelop our own favorite hymns list that we like to sing. We recognize the bible stories or the teachings because they are the same ones from our childhood. We’ve become fans of Jesus. But that can be a dangerous situation.
If your faith isn’t your own… if you aren’t being challenged in your relationship with Jesus…if you are just going through the motions week after week… then faith isn’t real in you.
If you like being comfortable andavoid any kind of sacrifice or personal changethen you don’t need faith. Faith says –“I need you Jesus.” Faith says –“I need you in my life to get through this,” whatever this happens to be.
We are called to make faith our own. Jesus isn’t looking for a relationship between you, your mom, and him. He’s not looking for a relationship between you, your wife or husband, and him. He’s looking for a relationship with you. That may be one of the reasonswhy Jesus said - in Luke 14:26, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.”
This is not about your mom or dad or your spouse or even you children. This is about you and your relationship with Jesus. He lived for you. He died for you. He lives again for you. So that you can too! Over the next couple weeks we are going to wrestle with this question: “Are you a follower of Jesus, or a just a fan?” Amen.