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Sunday Sermons
Sermon: 1-27-08, Epiphany 3
Pastor Phil Lee
Title: "Where Are We Going?"
Text: Mt.4:12-23
Theme: Jesus calls us to follow him in teaching, preaching, and healing.
Introduction
Most if not all of us have made a long car trip as a family – a vacation, a trip to visit relatives, or maybe a move from one state to another. And we’ve learned from experience that, early into the trip, the favorite question of every child soon falls from their lips, asking: “Are we there yet?”
Of course, the first question is really: “Where are we going?” In our conversations, in our relationships, in any project we’re involved in, we want to know: Where are we going with this?
People like to have a sense of direction and timing: Where are we going, and when are we going to get there?
We know we are called to follow Jesus today, just like the first disciples did. But, we don’t always know what that means. Where are we going? And are we there yet?!
Today’s Gospel – Mt.4 – gives us indicators – road signs, if you will – that tell us where we’re going and how to stay on the road: repent, teach, preach, heal. As followers of Jesus Christ today, we know that if we’re engaged in those things, those words and actions, then we’re on the right road.
Point
Today’s gospel – Mt.4 – recounts the beginning point of Jesus’ public ministry. Jesus relocated from his hometown of Nazareth to Capernaum, he called his first disciples, and he focused on things that revealed the kingdom of God: repentance, teaching, preaching and healing. The start of Jesus’ public ministry set the course for the rest of his life, and the ministry of his followers.
We see right away the direction Jesus wanted his followers to go: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” To repent means to turn from one direction to another, not only one’s values and religious sensibilities, but also one’s entire sense of identity. To repent means to acquire a new identity, with both new relationships and the restoration of existing relationships to their rightful condition. To repent, in Jesus’ understanding of the term, ultimately means turning back to God and God’s will.
Then, after calling his first disciples, Jesus again tells what direction they were going by, “…teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.” The direction of their lives would follow words and actions that demonstrated the presence of God’s kingdom.
You and I are called to follow Jesus by faith today. And we are given direction, a kind of road map. It begins with repentance, and it follows the same direction that Jesus took, with words and actions that show the presence of God’s kingdom.
Where are we going? Where are you going? Is your life following the way of Christ? Is your life a demonstration of God’s kingdom of grace, love, forgiveness, healing, and new life?
Problem
I know he’s not Bach or Beethoven, but I like a lot of the music that Lenny Kravitz put out a few years back. It’s not classical, that’s for sure, but it gets your attention. In one of his recent songs called “Where Are We Runnin’?” Lenny Kravitz got my attention as I was pondering today’s Gospel. He sings:
Fast lane, High speed, On the grind, 24/7
No time, Always runnin here and there, Chasin’ the money
So much jibber jabber’s Cloggin’ up our soul.
Where are we runnin’? We need some time to clear our heads.
Where are we runnin’? Keep on working ‘til we’re dead.
Where are we runnin’?
The road is paved but narrow, I hope we all get home.
Where are we runnin’? Where are we runnin’ now?
What direction are you heading? Are you following the way of life, or is your life a grind? Are you following Jesus in making the kingdom of God known in our world, or is there just so much jibber jabber cloggin’ up your soul?
Years ago, while driving in Paris, I inadvertently went the wrong way down a
one-way street. I didn’t see the wrong way symbol – a red circle with white horizontal bar – but I quickly got the message that I should repent and turn around! Does your life need a course correction today?
Power
From the beginning of his ministry Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” And he went throughout the region, “teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.”
In his review of the book, On the Sweet Spot: Stalking the Effortless Present, Jon Scher wrote: Dr. Richard Keefe discovered The Zone one day at a golf driving range. That day, “he felt as if those perfect 250-yard drives were hitting themselves. It was a blissful sensation, and of course it didn’t last. Soon he was back to his old ways, doubting his abilities and cursing himself for his mistakes. This moment nagged at him, though, throughout his studies in psychology and his years of practice. He wondered: Are there directions to the Zone?” (Duke Magazine, Mar/Apr.-04, 54)
Followers of Jesus Christ move in the direction of ministry – words and actions that bear witness to our faith in Christ. It may not always feel like we’re doing it just right, like the golfer in The Zone hitting perfect drives. Seldom does ministry feel like that. We are only called to be faithful, to move in the direction that Jesus moved – proclaiming the kingdom of God, teaching, and healing.
With the approval of our Church Council, we will soon begin a process of developing a new Vision for Ministry. It will be a kind of road map for our congregation, and an attempt, in part, to answer the question of where we are going for the next several years of our ministry.
Where are we going? We are to be faithful, moving in the direction that Jesus moved, so that when we fail, when our brokenness shows through and our sin reveals itself once again, we return like prodigals to Jesus’ healing forgiveness. That is how we are renewed in our faith and restored to a right and good direction in life.
Where are we going? We are to be faithful, moving in the direction that Jesus moved, showing love, compassion, integrity, truth, justice, and forgiveness.
Where are we going? We are going in Jesus’ direction – living lives of discipleship and moving toward Jesus’ cross and resurrection.
Conclusion
Look again at the direction of Jesus’ life – not falsehood, but truth; not injury, but healing; not death, but life; not hatred, but love; not legalism and judgment, but grace and mercy; not defeat, but victory; not condemnation, but life eternal; yes, the cross, and yes, resurrection!
Where are we going? We are going in Jesus’ direction! Amen.
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