Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Follow Me!

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. 

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