We are in week five of our INVITED series.
Throughout this series, we’re extending to each of you an invitation into relationship… into community… and into mission.
Whether you’ve been hanging out with us for 5 minutes or 50 years… YOU’RE INVITED.
As we head into this new year, a year like no other, quite frankly, we want to know who is with us.
So we can encourage your hearts as you grow as disciples.
So we can empower you to BE and ACHIEVE all that God has for you.
And, so we can equip you with all you need to share HOPE in your communities, schools, neighborhoods, and networks of influence.
So, these last four weeks, we’ve been sharing WHO we are, WHAT we believe, and WHY exist. Next Sunday, we’ll share a moment together where each of us will answer the question… “Are you in?”
Next Sunday is a big Sunday, so do everything you can to be with us in the room or join us online.
Here's a little bit about us…
We exist to HELP people find HOPE and a HOME in Jesus.
Our core values as a church, that are at the foundation of our mission, are to:
Glorify God
Obey the Bible
Love People
Follow Jesus
Today, I will be talking about the last core value, Following Jesus.
But before I dig in, I just need to point something out that is highly questionable about our core values…
If you don’t know David Vaughan, David’s been the senior pastor here for almost 20 years. I have the privilege to be following in his footsteps.
And if you don’t know David, you need to know he is an avid and excellent golfer. I find it highly suspicious that our church core values just so happen to align with the acrostic, G O L F.
I think that’s an abuse of power. Someone write an email to someone… not me.
Today as we look at what it means to follow Jesus, I want us to take a look at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry… when Jesus was forming his team.
You could look at it this way… Jesus had a plan to take God’s people to the Super Bowl, to win the cosmic redemptive prize. To do this, he had to put his team together.
So, what would be the best team he could put on the field, so that his plan would come to fruition? The smartest, most educated, the richest, the most powerful, the level five leaders, the five talent all-stars…
Well, in Matthew 9, we find out that Jesus has already started forming his team and he’s confusing everyone with his draft picks. Because those he’s allowing on his team are nobodys, less thans, the marginalized, the ordinary, some of them are scandalous… notoriously wrong for any team. And, I want you to see this right up front… Jesus is trying to prove a point, one all of us need to understand and embrace...
When we follow Jesus… Things Can Change.
What happens when you follow Jesus? (Things Can Change.) Say it again… (Things Can Change.)
Ok. In Matthew 9:9, it’s about to happen again.
Matthew 9:9-10, "As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him. Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners."
Mark 2:15 adds this great parenthetical statement in Mark’s gospel account of this moment. He says, "Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.)
Matthew 9:11-13, "But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?” When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’
Jesus is referring back to something that one of the prophets of Israel, Hosea, wrote in the Old Testament. Hosea 6:6 says, "I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings."
Jesus continues in verse 13… "For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
This is one of my favorite moments in the life of Jesus. It shows us his heart, his posture, his approach and his mission… all in five verses.
Jesus is building his team. He sees Matthew and invites him to FOLLOW HIM.
Matthew is a young man who has betrayed his community, turned his back on his people and family, and is now working with the Roman government. His job as a tax collector is part of a corrupt system of taxation and oppression. Matthew has made the choice to be a part of that system even though it steals and abuses his own people. Matthew is hated and despised by his community.
For anyone who has ever made a decision that has left you feeling outcast and unwanted, Matthew is your guy.
For anyone who questions if they’ve done something that they think is unforgivable or that has disqualified them from being used by God, Matthew is your guy.
For anyone who has longed for a second chance and redemption, Matthew is your guy.
Matthew longed to be accepted and loved. He longed to be seen, to be used for a higher and better purpose. And with two words, Jesus changed his entire life. FOLLOW ME.
When we follow Jesus… (Things Can Change.)
Matthew jumped at the opportunity to start a new life. Not only was he accepting a different way of life… he was now accepted. He belonged.
For all the Matthews out there…
His grace is greater than your disgrace.
He’s not done with you. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. He’s not done with you.
Things changed for Matthew.
The book we’re now reading from the Gospel of Matthew… it has the largest collection of Jesus’ teaching in the whole Bible. It is written by the guy whose entire community despised him.
The writing and bookkeeping skills Matthew used to use to be self-serving and steal from his countless people for the Romans…Jesus gets ahold of Matthew, changes things, and uses those same skills to put life into the hearts and hands of over two billion people.
God has given each of us a skill set that can be used to build our own kingdom or His Kingdom. Which one are you building?
Things can change.
Another thing we notice from Matthew’s life is that:
When we follow Jesus, his WAY becomes OUR Why.
When Matthew chose to follow Jesus, his WHY changed. Everything Matthew did after Jesus’ invitation was to bring people to the feet of Jesus. To tear down the barriers and obstacles that kept people from thinking Jesus wouldn’t or couldn’t accept them. Matthew knew better. So Matthew re-oriented his life, his WHY, to point people to Jesus.
When we change our WHY, we change our WAYS.
For those who have made the decision to follow Jesus… is his WHY your WHY?
Why do you do all that you do?
Is it to point people to Jesus? Is it to show his love? His grace? To give people Hope? Is our goal to look like a good Christian or to be more like Christ?
Our goal can’t be to look like other Christians we see at church, or celebrity Christians we see on screens or in the books we read. Our goal is not to be like them, but to be like Christ.
I don’t want to look like a Christian, whatever that means. I want my life to look like Christ's life. And I’ve got a LONG WAY to go.
Don’t be like Jon, be like Jesus.
Don’t be like David, be like Jesus.
Don’t do what I do. Do what Jesus does.
Now, hopefully… as your pastor, my eyes better be on Jesus and my actions better look like Jesus. That’s why I have people in my life who hold me accountable and put me in check when I start coloring outside the lines.
The apostle Paul addressed this as well. He said it this way in 1 Corinthians 11:1, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ."
Notice, he didn’t just say… follow my example… and that’s it.
He said… as I follow the example of Jesus, follow me.
Look for people who are following the example of Jesus.
Do they sacrificially love people like Jesus loved sacrificially?
Do they have relationships with people that Jesus had relationships with?
Do they serve the way Jesus served?
Do they live in community with others the way Jesus lived in community?
If so, like Paul, follow their example as they follow Jesus. If not… don’t follow their example.
I saw this and thought this should really be ALL of our example to follow:
Hang out with sinners.
Upset religious people.
Tell stories that make people think.
Choose unpopular friends.
Be kind, loving, and merciful.
Take naps on boats.
If we looked at how Jesus lived his life… you can even just take what we see in this story with Matthew…
Are we doing what Jesus did?
Are we with who Jesus was with?
Are religious people asking us why we hang out with scum?
Are things changing?
When we follow Jesus… Things can change.
Oh, you think the blind can’t see… the lame can’t walk… the deaf can’t hear… the lost can’t be found… the slave can’t be free… only the perfect ones inherit the kingdom?
Jesus says, follow me and I’ll show you just how much things can change.
Jesus’ entire earthly ministry showed the world just how much things can change.
Has his WHY become our WHY?
Much to the chagrin of some good church folk, Kelly and I intentionally hang out with sinners because we love them and believe their lives can change.
Side note: We would never call them sinners. We call them humans. We call them our friends.
I upset religious people, why… (because Jesus did it) because things can change. I believe they CAN break free from the oppression of religion and experience the freedom of relationship.
I try to be kind, loving, and merciful because things can change. How can I not show mercy and kindness when I’ve been shown so much kindness and mercy?
Things can change.
Isn’t that the essence of HOPE? To instill into someone the belief that things can change is to give them HOPE.
And Jesus shows us how to make the change happen.
Love the way I loved.
Hang out with who I hung out with.
Serve the way I served.
And watch how things can change.
In John 12:26, Jesus says, "Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me."
I hope you hear my heart of this…
You can serve till your hearts content and not be following Jesus…
You can serve and not be where Jesus is.
But, if you go where Jesus is… if you go where His spirit leads… if you go to the places Jesus went to… hang out with those Jesus hung out with and serve there… oh, now you’re following Jesus… now you’re meeting Jesus where Jesus meets people... right in the mess of things.
In the trenches, where it’s messy and frustrating… where it doesn’t fit into your schedule… where it makes your “friends” uncomfortable and they question what you’re doing.
The question shouldn’t be “Where can I serve?” It should be “Where is Jesus?” “Where would Jesus be?” Cool, let me serve there.
When we follow Jesus, things change.
How do I know things can change? Not because I read it in a book… not because of religion… and not because I went to church building on a Sunday.
For those who don’t know me, allow me to introduce myself…
I am a Jesus follower, husband, father, friend, pastor and Batman fanatic.
But I am also… a former state champion in speech and debate and broadway touring performer who ALSO happens to be a former convict, felon, drug addict, suicide survivor, ego maniac, and chauvinistic womanizer.
How did I get from there to here?
Jesus.
Specifically, a group of women and men who are disciples of Jesus gave me HOPE. They showed me things can change. They:
Loved me the way Jesus loved.
Served me the way Jesus served.
Hung out with me when very few wanted to hang out with me.
And they invited me to live in community with them… the way Jesus lived in community.
Carey Nieuwhof, an excellent leadership coach and pastor, said it this way:
The mission of the church is to lead people into a relationship with Jesus, not to get people to show up for an hour in a box every Sunday.
This is the mission of our church. This is why we follow Jesus.
This is what changed my life.
Things can change. And if it can happen for me, it can happen for you.
It doesn’t matter how low you’ve sunk, how broke or broken you are, or how far you’ve strayed away…
In Jesus, there is HOPE. There is a second chance.
If you’ve never made the decision to follow Jesus, I’m inviting you into relationship with him today. During this next song, I want to invite you to come forward. One of our team would love to pray with you and invite Jesus into your life.
There is nothing that can separate you from his love. Nothing.
There is HOPE in him. Things can change when we follow Him.
We follow Jesus, because we believe things can change… for every single one of us, for the world around us… and most importantly… for the Glory of God and bringing Heaven to Earth right now.