"Serving With Jesus"
Sermon Transcript for February 13, 2005
Scripture Reading: John 1:29-42
By Rev. Dan Sinkhorn
You know, when Roger calls you can’t miss it. When he says, “Come forward; I’ve got something for you to do” there’s no mistaking it. In fact, for many of us when we are looking for God’s call, it’s a lot more subtle; a lot harder for us to perceive. But God does call us. God has not set apart certain people for His work; He has asked us all to be part of His work. He has asked each one of us however we feel equipped, however small we might think we are to be a part of the work He does for Jesus. There was a very popular series of movies about the Lord of the Ring series of books. And I actually read the books! We didn’t have movies when I was a kid. Well, we had this goofy cartoon thing call The Hobbit. But anyway, we had the books. And in the books we saw the metaphors even then for the Christian journey. Tolkien, the author of the Trilogy of the Ring has said some things to us that we could take to heart about life as a Christian and about how little people can make a difference. He says, for example, “Yet such is off the course of the deeds that move the wheels of the world. Small hands do them because they must. While the eyes of the great are elsewhere.” Isn’t that like life in Christ? So often the wheels of the world are turned by lesser-known people, by the ones who seem so unlikely. You can meet one of those in a couple of weeks here in Joel Sonnenberg,. The most unlikely person you can imagine will show you how he can turn the wheels of the world.
Do you remember in the “Fellowship of the Ring” when the counsel is meeting and they are trying to decide who will take this ring that has caused so much trouble to the place where it can be destroyed and end its terrible influence? Do you remember that? They were all gathered around waiting for a champion to say, “I will do this.” Tolkien says, “No one answered. The noon bell rang and still no one spoke. But Frodo Baggins glanced at all the faces and they were not turned toward him. Frodo was a little hobbit; a very unlikely hero. And all the counsel sat with downcast eyes as if in deep thought. And a great dread fell on them all. Then Frodo began to feel the dread like some sort of doom coming over him. Something he had foreseen but vainly tried to keep out of his mind. An overwhelming longing to rest and remain at peace came over him. At last, with an effort, he spoke and wanted to hear his own words as if some other will was using his small voice. And Frodo said, “I will take the ring though I do not know the way.”
Isn’t that the way it is for us? We want to be a part of what God is doing and we feel so small in the face of things. And yet in us there is this small voice that is irresistibly called to speak out, “I will take on the task but I don’t know the way.” That’s what we want to talk about today. I want to share with you a Scripture reading from the Gospel of John that tells about how Andrew and Peter accepted that call. And then, hopefully, together we can get a sense of how we answer that call and how we learn to do what our master has taught us. Right now I want to share something with you though. Many people ask me, “When are you going to show pictures from your recent trip to Israel?” Well, right now. I prepared a little video for you. It’s sort of a collection of images that I saw and videotaped on the Sea of Galilee because the story from Scripture that I am going to share with you took place in the northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee in the region called Galilee. And so to help you get a better sense of what that was like, I’ve got Hannah back there. Go ahead and start the tape Hannah. And we will watch these images where just a couple weeks ago were seven of us from Grace Church were present to watch this. And I’ll read today’s reading while we watch.
This is from the Gospel of John, Chapter 1, Versus 29-42, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I meant when I said, ‘The man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me. I myself did not know him but the reason I came baptizing with water was that He might be revealed to Israel.’’ And then John gave this testimony: I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on Him. I would not have known him except that the One who sent me to baptize with water told me. The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is He who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. I’ve seen and I testify that this is the Son of God. The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. And when he saw Jesus passing by he said, ‘Look, a man of God.’ When the two disciples heard him say this they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, ‘What do you want?’ They said, “Rabbi (which means teacher) where are you staying?’ ‘Come’, he replied, ‘and you will see.’ So they went and saw where he was staying and spent that day with Him. It was about the tenth hour. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who followed Jesus. And the first thing Andrew did was to find his brother, Simon, and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’. And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas (which when translated means Peter).’”
There are still Galilean fishermen walking those waters. Some of them are kind of grumpy. You don’t have to speak Arabic to know what he’s saying. Well, I hope through us you were able to go into the Sea of Galilee vicariously at least and know that just like Frodo Baggins, the fisherman in this picture was as unlikely a candidate for turning the wheels of the world, as ever you would meet. So here is Andrew seeking to be a follower of the Messiah and going to John the Baptist first because it was the closest thing he could find. But he knew how much he wanted to be a part of all of that so he got himself in the presence of the best person he could find. But when the one he was truly looking for, the Messiah himself, came into his presence, Andrew left John the Baptist and followed Jesus. Not before he picked up his brother and said, “Come on, you’ve got to meet Him. Here is the Messiah we’ve been looking for.” And they dropped their nets and they followed Him. They went with Him by His side to where He lived, to where He stayed the Scripture says.
There is an old saying that tells us when a student is ready the future will come. And you know, that’s the way it was with Jesus and the disciples. Those that He called were ready. So when He said, “Come”; they came. But that begs us to ask the fair question then, “Are we ready?” Is the only barrier between us and being a part of what Jesus doing our unwillingness, our readiness? Is Jesus calling you to come and be where He is but you are not ready? Let’s ask ourselves about that as we consider what He did through His disciples. Over a time, after they had been disciples in training, He eventually invited them to be like Him—a master--and to do as He did. He set them up to be like Him in casting out demons, and forgiving sins, and healing the sick and preaching, the Good News that the Kingdom of God is near. After they had been with Him long enough they were invited to be like Him; to be masters equal to Him. Now Peter never did quite get that walking on the water thing down, but Jesus had built on the thing Peter knew best when He said, “Come be a fisher of men.” And the evidence is right here in this worship space because we are part of His catch. Jesus had taken an ordinary man and turned him into one of the greatest fishers of men the world has ever known.
And so we follow, learning the skills of the master by being with the master. In the days of Andrew and Peter and Jesus, this would have been a very natural thing to do. There is a synagogue close to where that video was shot, close to where this story took place where Jesus Himself was invited to read the Scripture and to deliver the message. In that synagogue there would have been a Rabbi, a teacher assigned there who had been taught by an older Rabbi. And most likely this teacher would have reflected his teacher, would have sounded a little like his teacher, would have acted a little like his teacher. And so it made perfect sense then for these disciples to follow Jesus intent on imitating Him.
And so the lesson we learn in serving with Jesus is that we must be willing to go where He is and to imitate Him—to learn from the master. You know, Dan Kindervater played for us today but only after he sat beside a master and he taught and continued to do so. And then one day, he’ll be a master like our musicians, imitating what they have learned and they will grow into a life of there on that is both fully part of their master’s teaching and their own identity in a very unique way.
When I was fifteen, I went to a school that had an Air Force Junior ROTC program. And my brothers had gone through the program; many of my friends were in it. So naturally, I signed up. We had to take a class each week that was called, “Aerospace Education”. But more than that, we got to do a lot of things outside of school. We had uniforms and we went to military bases and we marched and we learned all kinds of military skills. And I’m sure many of my classmates ended up serving in the military honorably. But my favorite part of being an Air Force ROTC was at least twice a year we got to go on orientation flights. We got to go up in airplanes. And I remember that first time, which was also the first time I had ever flown in an airplane. We were walking across the field there at the Air National Guard Base toward the plane we were going to ride in—a cargo plane called a C123Provided. I don’t know how to describe it to you except that it’s a sort of a mini-version of a C130Mercury that you see flying around here frequently. Well, it was originally designed to be a glider and frankly, as I walked inside the back end of it sort of engulfed in a giant pile of green fishes mouth. It was inspired to see it as a glider and not much more. But, you know, being fifteen and not wanting to be uncool, I had to figure out how to cope with my fears and my anticipation of the unknown. And that’s when I learned a lesson that has served me ever sense very well. I looked for Major Miller. Major Miller was our instructor; he was our guide; he was the commander of our unit; and he was cool. He had flown two tours in Vietnam on C130’s. He was sharp. He had that swagger that pilots have, you know. He just had it together. And it dawned on me that if I stayed close to Major Miller while I was in that airplane, I’d get to sit where he sits, stand where he stands, be scared if he gets scared, and be brave if he’s brave. And that’s what I did. And next to Major Miller, I’d say I was probably the coolest guy on that plane. And that day I knew that I had happened on to something very valuable.
If you want to be good at something, then find someone who is good at it and do what they do. I’ve shortened that up to a simple phrase that you’ve heard me use before in preaching and that is, “Fake it till you make it.” Find somebody that can do what you want to do and then hang with them until you get the gist of it and begin to adapt you own style. So I followed Major Miller on all of those flights and I learned a lot. And frankly that flying bug has been in me ever since. I’m looking over here at somebody who did something that I almost did at the same age. I took my flying lessons and I almost got my license, but the money ran out and the girls got too pretty. And so I never finished. But someday I will and maybe you’ll hear me buzz the church. We’ll see about that.
Imitating masters—that’s how you learn! And so how do we follow Christ? How do we imitate Christ? The Apostle Paul tells us that we want to be imitators of him just as he is an imitator of Christ So it stands to reason that if you know someone who seems like a pretty good imitator of Christ, the place to start is to be with them to do what they do. Follow someone who seems to know what they are doing. Paul says, “Let the same mind that is new be like the mind of Christ.” And so, accept Christ’s invitation to come to where He is staying. Or do we have that problem with Christ that we often have with others. You know, when Jesus says, “Come on over to my house.” Do we say, “Love to Jesus but I’ve got people to see and places to go. Catch up with you some other time.” When Jesus invites us to His house do we say, “Well, you know let me check my calendar. Call me Tuesday; we’ll see what we can work out. You have your people call my people; we’ll see what we can do.” When Jesus invites us to His house do we say, “Didn’t you get the message? I called you the other day; left a message on the machine. It must not be working.” We never say that do we? When Jesus invites us to His house do we say, “Hey, you know, it would be more convenient if you’d come to my house. But do call ahead so I can warn my wife and let her get the house cleaned up.” Maybe we would accept Jesus’ invitation to His house, but we just don’t know the way. We’re like Frodo. I want to go, but I don’t know the way.
I’ve good news for you. I got on Mapquest last night. I’ve found the way to Jesus’ house. Hear this—Jesus is where the poor are. Do you know any people who are poor? Do you know somebody who knows where the poor are? I do—Mary Dougherty! Mary has worked for years here through Grace Church with the poor of Johnson County. If you want to know where Jesus lives, ask Mary. She knows because she knows where the poor are. Jesus lives where the children are. Ask Stacy Erdman. She’s back there. She knows the way. In fact, we built a brand new building for the children. If you want to go where Jesus lives, go where the children are. Stacy needs your help; she’ll find you a place to work with the children and you’ll meet Jesus there. Jesus lives in a community of faith where His word is taught. Jesus lives here. Jesus lives with those who have no one to love them. Jesus lives with the lonely. Do you know anybody who is lonely? Go to them and you will be where Jesus lives. Jesus lives in the presence of the eternal God so that when you pray, He hears your prayers. And so in prayer, you can be where Jesus is. Jesus lives in the living Word of God so that you can open your Bible and hear His words and be with the living Jesus. Jesus lives in places that Jesus went in Scripture. And so if you want to know where Jesus lives, go there. Jesus is with the master who have learned to walk with Him and to imitate Him. So walk with those who have learned to do that.
I am going to learn to fly again one of these days. I am going to get that pilots license one of these days. Probably when I don’t have so many liabilities in case I …anyway. But when I do, I’m going to have to sit side by side with the master. Maybe it will be Melanie by then. Maybe she’ll be my instructor. But you can’t read how to fly an airplane or play a piano in a book expecting to be a master. You only learn about it. You have to be with the master in order to imitate the master. And so Jesus is inviting you to join Him where He lives and to be with the master and to be as He is. Are you willing to accept the invitation? Don’t worry. When you feel that little voice inside you that’s more powerful than your own will saying , “I will go if you show me the way.” Just say, “Ok, I’ll do it.” Because Jesus wants you to come when He calls you. Amen.
E-mail Comments to: Reverend Dan Sinkhorn
Copyright Grace United Methodist Church.
E-Mail: AdministratorCopyright Grace United Methodist Church.
E-Mail: Administrator