Do You Really Want to
Follow Jesus?
1 John 2:1-11, 15-19, 24-25
February 8, 2009 –
©Rev. Dr. Linnea E. Carnes
Introduction
Life is full
of rules and regulations. Every government enacts laws to keep order. If you
are visiting some place you have never been, and don’t know the laws, you may
break a law. However, in our home town, we know the rules. We know the rules of
the road. We know the rules for acceptable behavior in public settings, like
school, work, church, concerts, and restaurants. We know the rules of our
family.
We may
choose to not obey the rules, but we know them. If you have a 10 pm curfew, but
don’t come home until midnight, you’ll be in trouble with your parents. If you
go through a red light where there is a camera, you’ll pay a large fine. If you
don’t do what your boss tells you to do, you may lose your job. Not following
the rules can have consequences.
In the Apostle
John’s first letter, chapter 2, he writes about obeying the rules. The problem
is that some people were teaching the people things that are not what Jesus
taught and were leading some away from the true faith. John was worried about them.
Love Obedience to God
In verse 4
John writes, “If someone claims, ‘I
know God,’ but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is
not living in the truth.” And in verse 6 he says, “Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.”
Some people
in the church had twisted Jesus’ teaching into a new teaching that didn’t agree
with God’s commandments. They had created their own version of Jesus’ words and
were trying to convince people that their way was the true way.
John said
if it wasn’t consistent with Jesus’ teaching, it wasn’t the truth. Jesus said,
“I am the truth” [Jn.14:6]. He also said,
“If you hold to my teaching, you are
really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you
free.” [Jn.8:31-32].
The truth
can set us free, can save us. If we know God, we will obey God and live
according to his truth. We obey Jesus
because we love him.
Jesus told
his disciples over and over: “If you love
me, keep my commands.” [Jn.14:15]. “Anyone who loves me
will obey my teaching” [Jn.14:23]. The more we love God, the more we want to please God and
do what he wants, and the more we will seek to obey him.
Love One Another
In 1 John 2:8 we are reminded that Jesus, the true
light, is already shining, for Jesus is the light of the world. So everyone who
follows Jesus walks in the light. The evidence that they were walking in the
light of Jesus Christ was their love for fellow believers.
Unfortunately,
we have all seen Christians who say they love Jesus but their words and actions
are show hatred for a believer. John says that those who hate a fellow believer
are not walking with Jesus.
Paul saw
similar problems in the Corinthian church. “The church was being torn apart by
all kinds of problems—selfishness, jealously, factions, immorality, political
infighting, and lawsuits among members. Hatred, hostility and bitterness were”
destroying the church. [James W. Moore, The Top Ten List For Christians (Nashville, TN: Dimensions for
Living, 1999) 14]. Paul said he had a better way – love.
“Love is patient and kind. Love is
not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way.
Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It
is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love
never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every
situation.” [1Cor.13:4-7].
Christian
love looks for the good in others. It seeks to be at peace with all who are in
Christ. Christ-like love reflects the humility, grace and love of Christ.
This
doesn’t mean Christians will always agree with one another or will understand
each other. But Jesus says that as he has loved us, so we are to love one
another. [Jn.13:34]. Loving others is not an option.
Love God Most
In verses
15-16 John raised another problem that these churches faced. It seems their
attention had turned away from God and to the world. “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If you love the world,
love for the Father is not in you.”
Sometimes
churches or Christians are more focused on becoming successful, than on
becoming more spiritual, more determined to make a name for themselves, than to
proclaim the name of Christ. They want Jesus to bless them and what they do
rather than bless Jesus by what they do for him.
We might
think that the Christians John is writing to had it easier than we do. They
didn’t have as many distractions to pull their attention away from God. They
didn’t have shopping malls or huge movie theaters with dozens of choices of
movies to see. They didn’t have television. They didn’t have computers or cell
phones or IPods or MP3 players.
All these
activities and things crowd out Jesus. We don’t have time for God. However, what
this reveals is what or who we love most.
Several
years ago a sports radio station asked its listeners that if someone would give
up sports for 2 years for $2 million. No games on TV, radio, or in person. No
sports page. No ESPN highlight films. No Tuesday morning arguing about Monday
Night Football. One fan phoned in and said no, he would definitely not give up
sports, not even for $25 million. “It’s where I turn when I pick up the paper
in the morning,” he said. “It’s where I go when I’m on the Internet. It’s what
I watch on television. It’s what I listen to on the radio in the car.
Everywhere I go, it surrounds everything I do.” [PreachingToday.com, “Fan Won’t Give Up Sports for $25 Million”].
Now this
may be an extreme case, but tell me this:
what does this man worship? What does he love most in the world? What is
it that you won’t give up for any price? What is in “first place” in your life?
Dwight L.
Moody wrote, “There are very few who in their hearts do not believe in God, but
what they will not do is give Him exclusive right of way. … They are not ready
to promise full allegiance to God alone. Many a professing Christian is a
stumbling-block because his worship is divided. On Sunday he worships God; on
week days God has little or no place in his thoughts.” [PreachingToday.com, “The Straight Gate”].
If we
really want to follow Jesus, we have to love God and obey God above all others.
Do You Really Want to Follow Jesus?
The
question is: Do you really want to follow Jesus?
John
Ortberg tells the story of how he and his wife Nancy had flown into a part of
the country they had never been in before. They went to pick up a rental car.
The guy at the counter asked if they wanted a GPS. He said you plug it in, punch
in the destination. A woman’s voice will tell you how to get wherever it is you
are going. Ortberg, thinking of the cost, said, “No. He could find his way,
even though they would be driving on back roads.” His wife said, “Get the GPS.”
So they got the GPS.
Here’s the
deal: You can get the box. You can have the lady in the car, but that doesn’t
mean you trust her. If you trust her, what do you do? You do what she says. You
go where she tells you to go. She says, “Turn left,” you turn left. If she
says, ‘Turn left,” and in your heart you think, But I want to turn right. What do you do?
To follow
Jesus means I will do what he says. I will mess up a lot. I’m going to need his
power, I know that, but I form the intention. I say to him, “God, with your
help, as best I can, I will do what you say. I will give you my life, my time,
my obedience.”
Here’s the
thing: If that is not your settled intent, then it is best to be honest about
it. If that is not your settled intent, then whatever else you might be, you
are not a follower of Jesus. An admirer, maybe. But he is looking for
followers. He is looking for somebody who will say, “All right, God.”
Ortberg
says, “There is something else you need to know about him—something that is
also true when dealing with a GPS system. At one point when they were driving
in this car, he was quite sure the lady was wrong. She said to go left and he
didn’t go left. He went right, because he knew she was wrong. Then as an
interesting response, she said, “Recalculating route. When safe to do so,
execute a U-turn.” He knew she was wrong, so he unplugged her. That’s the
beauty of the little box. You can unplug her.
He got
totally lost. He wife enjoyed that immensely. So they plugged that lady back
in, and you know what she said? “I told you so, you little idiot.” She said,
“You think I’m going to help you now? You rejected me. You just find your way
home by yourself.”
NO—she
didn’t say that. She said, “Recalculating route. When safe to do so, execute a
U-turn.”
Now see,
that’s grace. As soon as you’re ready to listen, as soon as you’re ready to
surrender, God will say, “Here is the way home. Execute a U-turn.” That’s
repentance. “I’ll bring you home.” That is grace. That’s Jesus.
He is the only
one with authoritative wisdom about how to live. He is the only one who brings
about the possibility of forgiveness for your sin and mine. He is the only one
to give any kind of realistic hope of conquering death, of life beyond the
grave. [PreachingToday.com, “Obeying Your GPS
System”].
No, we
cannot obey God’s commands all the time completely. We all mess up, make
mistakes, and go our way rather than God’s way. Let’s face it – being perfect
just isn’t possible. What happens then?
·
Does
God say we are just hopeless liars?
·
Does
God just turn out the lights and let us wander in the dark?
·
Does
God leave us stranded in the “world” alone?
Absolutely
not! Listen to God’s promise.
“My dear children, I write this to
you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, (that’s all of us), we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus
Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not
only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” [1Jn.2:1-2].
Jesus is
standing before the Father, speaking for us. He’s already died for our sins. So
when we put our trust in him, when we listen to his voice and obey him, he
presents us to God as forgiven, righteous.
Following
Jesus means obedience to his commands.
Following
Jesus means loving one another.
Following
Jesus means loving God more than anything else.
Yet, Jesus
is speaking to us, giving us directions that will get us “home.”
So, John
says, “what you have heard from the
beginning” make sure it remains in you. Hold fast to the teachings of
Jesus, the truth. Listen to his voice. Keep God’s commands, his directions, in
your heart.
“Why would
you not give your full devotion to Jesus? Jesus is our Master, our Lord, the
one to be followed and served and obeyed and worshiped. There is no other way.
He is it.” [PreachingToday.com, “Obeying Your
GPS”].
Jesus has
promised eternal life to those who follow him to the end. [1Jn.2:25]. And he will
guide us home.
Do you
really want to follow Jesus?
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This sermon is copyright ©2009 by Rev. Dr. Linnea E. Carnes,
Immanuel Evangelical
Covenant Church,
Chicago, Illinois.