 Rev. Jeff Nelson |
Be
Resolved
Sermon:
Scripture: |
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Here
they come. The top ten answers are on the board: 10.
Get Organized You have
probably guessed it. This is the list for the top ten New
Year’s resolutions that people make every year. Have you
made yours yet? Have you broken it yet? It seems that every
time we turn the calendar from December to January, we find
ourselves making some new goals. New years are great for that.
Fresh starts. Clean slates. New beginnings. New Year’s
resolutions are our yearly ritual of wanting to start the year
out right. At the
start of each new year, many of us make a list (if not
written, then at least mentally) of the things we are going do
in the next 365 days to make our lives better, easier or more
fulfilled. The list usually consists of things we want to do
better, or things we want to do more of or do less of (or at
least eat less of). The beginning of a new year is the time to
get on the right track, jump to a different track, or at least
find your way back to the track you wanted to be on last
January. “Be it resolved that 2005 will be unlike 2004 in
the following ways…” About ten years ago, I was introduced to Stephen Covey’s book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Of all the wisdom it contained, the habit that made the biggest impact on my life is “Beginning With the End in Mind.” This habit has helped me make more of my goals, dreams and resolutions become possible than anything else. To begin with the end in mind means that you determine where it is you want you go before you begin any action. The destination is what determines the road you take to get there. If we are not clear on where we want be in the next twelve months, then chances are we will be in pretty much the same place we are today. Beginning with the end in mind. Getting clear about the picture of where we are heading is essential. And so is getting the right map in our hands, so that where we think we are headed is where we actually end up. So when we are considering our faith lives, what does it mean to “begin with the end in mind?” To discover this, let us turn for a moment to the end of each of our gospel accounts to see what we discover. From Mark:
Here is how the story ends. “After the Lord Jesus had spoken
to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right
hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached
everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his
word by the signs that accompanied it.” (Mark 16:19-20) From Luke:
“Then [Jesus] opened their minds so they could understand
the scriptures. He told them, ‘This is what is written: The
Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his
name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses
of these things.’” (Luke 24:45-48) From John:
Jesus, speaking to Peter, ends his story by saying, “Feed my
sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger, you
dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are
old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will
dress you and lead you where you don’t want to go…then he
said to him, ‘Follow me!’” (John 21:18-19) And once
again from the Book of Matthew: “All authority on heaven and
on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you
always, to the very end of the age.” So what is
there to be gleaned from “beginning” at the end of each of
these stories? What do they have to tell us about making our
New Year’s resolutions in ways that keep our relationship
with Christ central to our year’s work? A few
observations. First, all of the endings to these stories are
not really endings. They are beginnings. None of the stories
tie up nice and neat with a pretty bow. All of them are open
ended. The endings are really beginnings. “The disciples
went…” “Follow me…” “Go and make disciples of all
nations…” “You are my witnesses…” The stories are
not over. In fact, in each of these endings there is an
invitation to continue writing the story. As Christians, we
become aware that every ending is also a beginning. Second observation. Not only is the story not over, but every one of us is invited to add a line or two to the story’s continued unfolding. The powerful play goes on and each of us is invited write a verse. We are to take an active role in the living out and in the fulfillment of the greatest story ever told. We don’t gather here each week to simply study an ancient story or to get nostalgic about the “good old days.” No, we are invited into the story. We are now the witnesses. We are the ones today who are called to go and make disciples. The living spirit of the itinerant preacher from Nazareth still calls, “Follow me!” To consider making a New Year’s resolution about our faith lives is to accept the invitation into this ongoing, unfolding story. We all have a part to play. And in the year to come, may each of us be resolved to play the part God has called us to play in the greatest story still being told. Third
observation. The theme in all of these endings is clear. We
are called to be disciples and to make disciples. It’s that
simple. Nothing more. Nothing less. That is our New Year’s
resolution. Each of the gospels sums it up and each of them
comes out in the same place. Be disciples. Make disciples. Perhaps,
the most famous of these gospel endings (or beginnings) is the
one from Matthew. This ending from Matthew’s gospel has
become known as the Great Commission, and in it we find the
core of any New Year’s resolution we would ever hope to
make. Be disciples and make disciples. We can spend a lot of
time coming up with lists of goals on how we are going to be
more religious or spiritual, but if it is not rooted in the
Great Commission, in becoming and making disciples, then I am
afraid we will have missed the mark. Any church can spend time
and money, bring in consultants and experts to craft a
newfangled and flashy mission statement and strategic plan.
But if it does not come back to the essence of the Great
Commission—of becoming a disciple of Christ and helping
others to do the same—then I am afraid it has missed the
point. We do not have to go looking for a mission statement.
We do not have to search for our marching orders or wonder
about what our New Year’s resolution ought to be. When it
comes to being Christian, we have it all spelled out. It is
there in the Great Commission: to become and to make
disciples. In fact, before the month is out, I will be
gathering with some folks from the Sunday Night Alive
Community to begin to make our goals and resolutions for the
future. It is my hope that in all of the planning,
strategizing and goal setting, as all of the flip sheets fill
up with ideas, that at the end of day we are committed to
helping Sunday Night Alive become a place where we can grow as
disciples and invite others to do the same. So when it
comes time to make your resolutions for this new year, I hope
you will include the central message of the Great Commission.
“Be it resolved that in 2005 I will become a disciple of
Jesus and I will help others do the same.” Let us take a
couple of moments to look at each of these central tenants. Be a
disciple. This is where it begins. Webster’s dictionary
defines the word disciple as “a pupil or adherent of
another; a follower.” A follower. One who moves in the same
the direction as the leader. So if our resolution is to become
a disciple, then we have to follow the lead of our leader.
We have to walk where Jesus walked. We have to speak
like Jesus spoke. We have to love like Jesus loved. To become
a disciple is to move out from the realm of ideas, concepts,
creeds and confessions and into living, breathing, hands-on
actions that our concepts, creeds and confessions represent.
For those of us who desire to be disciples of Jesus, our lives
must match our testimony.
Just the
other night, I sat across from a member of this congregation
and heard him articulate what I think today’s gospel is
getting at. He said to me, “Jeff, I have been coming here
for over three years. But I have to tell you, I want more.
There has got to be more. I want to do something with my
faith. I don’t just want to sit here Sunday after Sunday,
make an appearance, get my spiritual tank filled up, and then
go out, make money, spend money, go to bed, come back and do
it all over again. There has got to be more. I want to make a
difference.” In essence, what he was saying was, “Jeff, I
am a believer in Jesus Christ, but I want to be a follower.”
What I heard him say was, “Jeff, help make me a disciple.” Being a
disciple is living out our beliefs, taking what we know to be
true and living it out in the world. Disciples are those who
understand that have they been blessed in order to be a
blessing to others. Being a disciple, the living of my life
for the God made known in Jesus Christ—that is my New
Year’s resolution. I hope it is yours, as well. There
is a second point made abundantly clear. We are not just
called to be disciples, we are called to make
disciples. That’s right, we are called to share the Good
News of Jesus Christ, the Good News that by becoming a
follower of Jesus Christ, one can find peace, forgiveness,
purpose, passion and joy—all of which combine to make up the
essence of what we call salvation. In this new year, we are
not only called to be disciples, we are called to help make
some. And with whom are we supposed to share this Good News?
Today’s scripture makes that pretty plain. “Go forth into
all the world and make disciples…” And how do we do that?
With our lives. Now, I know
that phrase, “make disciples,” makes some of us nervous.
It makes me nervous. Too often that phrase, “make
disciples,” has been misunderstood, as though Jesus is
commanding his followers to coerce people into becoming
disciples. That’s not what it means. It simply means
“disciple everybody.” How do we do that? The same way
Jesus did. He loved them, he blessed them, and he helped them.
But one thing Jesus always did was give people room to say no.
Because if you do not give them room to say no, their yes
doesn’t mean a thing. There have
been times and places when people have been emotionally
coerced, socially coerced, even militantly coerced into
following Jesus. I think of a poor Jewish couple in Germany,
living among a bunch of Protestant Christian neighbors. They
couldn’t find work, as much as they tried. “We’re
qualified. We’re clerks. We can work for the court, we can
work for a business, we have our credentials.” Why
couldn’t they find work? Because they were not in the
church. So the couple, to avoid starving to death, submitted
to the baptism of a local church. But their son, Karl—Karl
Marx—was so incensed that the church would do that, that he
became one of the greatest enemies of all that we hold so
dear. All because people misunderstood what it means to make
disciples. How do we make disciples? By being disciples. By
letting our light shine before others. Why? So they may see
our good works and praise our Father in heaven. Be a
disciple and make disciples. Those are the New Year’s
Resolutions that our faith calls us to make. But you do know
why, at the end of the first month, only fifty percent of the
people are still keeping their New Year’s resolutions? And
why after six months it dwindles down to thirty percent? And
after a year, only twenty percent have kept the promise they
made in the beginning of the year? Why is that? Why do most
New Year’s resolutions fail? Because persons fail to make a
plan about how they will get it done. It should
come as no surprise that I am making my New Year’s
resolution to lose weight and get into better physical shape.
Is this the first time I have made this resolution? No. Why
has it failed? Because I have failed to plan. And when you
fail to plan, you plan to fail. Just by saying, “At the end
of the year, I want to have lost 75 pounds and be able to run
a race,” doesn’t mean it is just going to happen. So I
wised up and made plan, a plan I can stick to. I am working
with people like Jeff Tenniswood, Scott Baker and George and
Julie Work to make this happen. And know I am telling all of
you so you can help me make it happen, as well. The same
thing is true for our commitment to Christ. Just by saying
that we are going recommit our lives to following Christ and
sharing that love with the world doesn’t mean it is going to
happen. So here is our plan. During Lent, which starts in
early February, we are going to be doing a sermon series which
will look at what it means to really be a disciple of Jesus
Christ. Get used to the Great Commission, because we are going
to look at it each and every week, line by line, to discover
what it means for us. And for those who are truly sensing the
call to grow into their faith journey, I will be offering a
weekly workshop to get into the details of our call to be
disciples. This will take the lessons of Sunday and help us
make them real. Come and let us live into our call to be
disciples of the One whose very life was offered to all who
would follow. At the
beginning of each new year, John Wesley, the founder of
Methodism, had every member renew his or her commitment to
follow Jesus. Every year—no matter how long they had been a
member, no matter how active, no matter if they were young or
old in faith—every member was encouraged to renew their
commitment to follow Jesus. This is the prayer that they read.
Let us read it together as our commitment to serve and follow
the Lord in this new year. I
am no longer my own, but Thine. Put me to what Thou wilt,
rank me with whom Thou wilt; put me to doing, put me to
suffering; let me be employed for Thee or laid aside for Thee,
exalted for Thee or brought low for Thee; let me be full, let
me be empty; let me have all things, let me have nothing; I
freely and heartily yield all things to Thy pleasure and
disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and
Holy Spirit, Thou art mine, and I am Thine. So be it. And
the Covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in
heaven. Note: The Karl Marx story came from Fred Craddock’s sermon entitled “What God Wants This Church To Do,” which is found in his anthology, The Cherry Log Sermons.
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