There is a movie made from a book by John Irving called,
"Cider House Rules." Skipping over the whole topic of the story,
there is a doctor who runs an orphanage and there is a scene where at the close
of each day the doctor looks in on all the young boys as they are going to
sleep and says, "Good night, you princes of Maine, you kings of New
England." Again, side stepping the rest of the story, I remember thinking
how awesome it must be to have the last words spoken to you each night by
someone who loves you saying, you are a prince, you are a king. Sweet. And the
stuff of sweet dreams for an abandoned 5 or 6 year old for sure.
The funny thing is, as we pray with God every night
before we sleep, He offers us just such a blessing for our dreams, and rest, and comfort. In
fact, an even better blessing. Through St. Peter, God says, "But you all
are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own
possession, that you all may shine out all the excellent things of Him who
called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." God has called us
out of the darkness of our lives without Him into His light of unconditional
love with Him. In following His calling, we are being made into Princes of
God's Church, a holy nation set apart from the way the world does things to
become the very cherished possession of God Almighty. And so much more.
Jesus Christ calls us to follow Him. We can go where He
goes, do what He asks, we can move as He moves. The proper response to His call
of love is to follow. But we can also choose not to follow.
If you think about the word, "follow" has a
very specific meaning. We know the word from childhood. But we forget the
meaning in its real intention as we grow up and exercise our own will. As a
kid, you played, 'Follow the Leader'. The idea of the game was to go over and
through every obstacle that the Leader threw in your way, but only after the
Leader conquered the obstacle themselves.
As we grow up, we think following the leader is figuring
out where the leader is going, and seeing if we can get there before they
arrive. In the real world that's called initiative. We look for short cuts and
ways to save effort and work. And that's ok in the 'real world' examples of our
lives. But then the word we use shouldn't be 'follow'. I am not sure what word
to use, but the meaning of 'follow' is not well defined by the illustration I
just used.
When Jesus calls us to follow, He picks the path we will
go. There are reasons for the ways He goes the way He goes, and there are
reasons that the follower would travel along as He goes. Following means that
someone else is leading. In this case, Jesus is leading. If someone is
following, they don't get to pick and choose the way to go. The follower
doesn't get the benefit of following Jesus if he runs ahead to Jerusalem and
skips the side trip to Bethany and misses the whole experience of Jesus calling
Lazarus out of the tomb.
In the end, following is a choice we make every day. But
in following, we don't get to pick and choose the parts we follow and the parts
we leave out. We don't get to choose to take short cuts or the locations we
skip all together. If we do, we aren't following. And if we aren't following,
we will miss the things Jesus is doing. We will not be there when the stone
rolls away and Jesus by the power of His love for His friend, calls out,
"Lazarus, come here!" And we will miss the miracle that strengthens
our faith.
As we follow, really follow, not taking a short cut or
making a side trip, or missing a turn, then Jesus changes us!. Just like the
clay in the hands of the potter. By following we learn trust. By following we
learn the real meaning of love. By following Jesus we learn there are places we
can go and learn there are events and storms we can make it through. But we
have to follow.
It is the work of a disciple, lead by the power of the
Holy Spirit. It is the work of eternal and unconditional love. It is the
obedience of moving over every obstacle that the world will set in our way,
because the one who leads us has already conquered the obstacles.
At the end of the journey, we are friends of Jesus
Christ. Brothers and sisters who were not even related before. We are joint
heirs with Jesus. We become princes of the Church, children of light who shine
our love into the darkness of the world. All because of the light that shines
in us. All of that happens just by playing a child's game and following our
leader.
We aren't orphans. Our sweet dreams are not prompted by a
good night phrase that sets our sights above our current circumstances. We are
not merely kings of New England, as loving as that sentiment from the movie may
have be. We are Children of the Most High God. We are walking in the footsteps
of the one who calls us and makes us into all that we were intended to be.
So here is Jesus' encouragement. Don't stop. The obstacle
in front of you has been defeated by the one who leads you. He calls you to
pray, so you pray. He calls you to learn what He has said, so you learn. He
calls you to come together and become a real community, so you come. And together
we follow. Amen.
