November 11, 2001
Psalm 25:4-10
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Mark 1:16-22
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"Follow Me"
Rev. Dr. Douglas L. Lobb

He could have written a book. He could have created a traveling minstrel show to reveal the glories of God and the virtues of religious faith.  Instead, our scripture of the morning simply says that Jesus came preaching the gospel of God.

His message was very pointed and clear:  The time is fulfilled; the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel.  As George Buttrick, the great Presbyterian minister, wrote some years ago in New York, “He trusted his most precious saying to the blemished reputations and precarious memories of his friends.”  His message was very much an Old Testament message: the time is fulfilled theme was prevalent in a great deal of the Hebrew Bible apocalyptic literature.  It was not a new message Jesus was preaching; it was in line with historic Jewish teachings.

“Repent and believe the gospel,” Jesus said.  That sounds much more like the words of the early Christian Church than the words of Jesus.  The gospel for Jesus was the faith proclaimed in the Hebrew Scriptures, which we call the Old Testament.  We tend to forget that Jesus was a Jew; his faith was the faith in which he was reared.  The message that he proclaimed was similar to the message of John The Baptist.

That is a significant statement, because the ministry of Jesus was never an attempt to create a new religious faith. Jesus was teaching the spiritual message of his faith. Christianity, as it is most frequently practiced, is a product created after Jesus’ earthly life had ended.  A very strong case can be made that most of what we call Christianity, is in reality the religion of the “kerygma,” or teachings of the early Church, and paramount, in that venture, was Paul.

To confess Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ is to state that he is the basis of faith.  Thus, Christology is a response to a call of faith; it is a backward look at the teachings and ministry of Jesus that prompted thinkers to state “this is the Christ,” which is Greek for “this is the messiah.”  That, friends, is the result of what is called Christological thinking.  It is not historical data.

Our scripture of today illustrates the ministry of Jesus. Jesus did not construct a pattern of beliefs. Jesus came preaching the gospel, that is, the necessity of a relationship with God, in the manner in which people of that era knew and understood. He got himself into trouble with the authorities, because he insisted that this relationship with God was spiritual , not a ceremonial requirement, and because he insisted that one’s faith in God required a person to think, act and live in a Godly manner.

The fundamental basis of Judaism is contained in what is called the Shema.  It is recited in every Synagogue and temple every Sabbath.  The Shema is found in Deuteronomy 6: 4;  “Hear O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”

Now listen to what Jesus believed.  It is found in Matthew 22: 34-40.  Dwell on these words, “But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together.  And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him: “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”  (The law is the Torah, the first 5 books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.)  And Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

This is the great and first commandment.  And the second is like it;  “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.

There you have it.  That IS the religion of Jesus and, in my view, it is unconscionable what we have done to that simple and powerful faith.  Over the years Church leaders have complicated the simple words of Jesus with a host of specific beliefs and made them necessary for Church membership.  In many cases, Jesus would not even recognize what we call Christianity.

In our scripture of the day, right after the statement Jesus came preaching the gospel, he sees Simon and Andrew who were fishing.  Jesus says, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of humans, and they left their nets and followed him.”  Next, Jesus encounters James and his brother John, sons of Zebedee, who were repairing their nets and says, “Follow me,” and they left their nets and their father and followed him.

Two things stand out to me. The first is, what kind of power did Jesus have?  All he said was, “follow me,” and they left their occupations and their family ties and they followed him.  Try that sometime and see how far you get.

The second thing that intrigues me is, all he said was, “follow me.”  That is all that is required to truly be a Christian, to follow Jesus.  All that other stuff that is quoted, ad nauseum, in Church after Church, and is required in many Churches before one is accepted is not essential to being a Christian.  Follow Jesus; that’s the key.  That is why we Congregationalists do not require adherence to a creed or a stated set of beliefs.  We are bound by a covenant - an agreement to work together for a purpose.  We honor the convictions of people who simply want to follow our Lord.

We don’t like to do that. It is easier to wrestle with and discuss great doctrines and historical disputes. It’s easier to rattle off elaborate creeds and statements of faith. It’s fun to debate the historical positions of our faith.

It is TOUGH to simply follow Jesus.

Some 20 years ago I heard a sermon by Dr. Ernest Campbell, former minister of Riverside Church in New York City.  His words haunt me to this day, because they are so amazingly simple to say, and so terribly difficult to do. While I have forgotten the exact words, I remember well the intent of his preaching. Let me disturb you with some questions:

If I am following Jesus, why do I have so many friends who are just like me and so few who are poor?

If I am following Jesus, why are m y closets bulging with clothes, while so many have just a few?

If I am following Jesus, why do I tend to overeat when so many are hungry?

If I am following Jesus, why is it that when I am done giving, I have so much left over for myself?

If I am following Jesus, why am I so willing to pay my country club dues and reluctant to pay the same for the work of God?

If I am following Jesus, why is it so difficult for me to find time for Bible study and prayer, when I can find time to do the things I like?

If I am following Jesus, why is it so easy for me to be part of a crowd and no one knows he is my Lord?

When questions are asked that audit people’s lives to the center of their being, either humans accept the audit, and change, or they do away with the one doing the auditing......

Jesus was crucified.

Yet even today, he still has just one requirement:

Follow me.