Broadway Christian Church ·Columbia, Missouri

Morning Worship ·September 18, 2005

Prayer of the Day

Seeking God, so often we play hide and seek with you.  We know you are always ready to receive us and use us for your purposes, but we are not always ready for prime time.  In this hour of worship, stir us with your living Spirit in such a way, that we might see what we might be.  Amen.

Scripture
Luke 9:57-62

As they walked along the road, a man said to Jesus, “I will follow wherever you go.”

Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

He said to another man, “Follow me.”

But the man said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury the dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdomof God.”

Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.”

Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdomof God.”

Message
You Could Be.  You Will Be.
Rick Frost

This is a hard text.  It’s a powerful text.  You’ve heard it before.  Let’s see if I can help us get into it today. 

I read a story this week by George Sanders about a guy we’ll call Morris.  It is one of those short stories that… Well, listen to it and see what you think.

Morris was sort of this tall, thin, gray-looking man.  His pants were too short.  His face periodically broke out into a grin that looked like he was just suffering a sharp pain.  After yet another day at the office, he would walk home, sit on the porch steps and enjoy just a few minutes of centered breathing, reciting his favorite mantra: “Calm down.  Calm down.  Calm down,” before the kids would come out and grab his legs and sometimes bite him quite hard in their excitement.  And Ruth, his fabulous wife, came out to remind him in an angry tone that he wasn’t the only person who worked all day long!

My, my, how life can be torture sometimes.  If only he could escape all of this.  If he could just do something significant, you know, like discover a vaccine that would cure people.  But, you know, it’s too late.  He was never any good at biology.  He flunked it twice.  But if he could just have that 15 minutes in the sun…  If he could be a tortured prisoner of war who refused to talk…  If he could save a president from an assassination…  If he could stop a group of terrorists before they accomplished their mission… If he could win the lottery and give it all to charity…  His childhood dreams had been so bright.  He had hoped for so much, but here he was spending the best years of his life swearing at a photocopier.

These were the things that Morris was thinking that day as he walked home along the riverbank.  Suddenly, Morris stopped in his tracks.   Two little girls were alone in a canoe, speeding toward the falls, apparently with no paddle.  There was no time to go for help.  Swimming was out of the question.  These girls were going to die.  What to do?  He fiercely wished himself somewhere else.  They saw him now.  They waved their hands frantically, begging for his help.  Who did they think he was, the Christ?  They’re done for.  They’re as good as dead.  Besides, he was needed at home.  I mean, this was a no-brainer.  Right?  No one could possibly blame him for this one. 

And then, making a low guttural sound of despair in his throat, he kicked off his loafers, and threw his long, ugly, graying body out across the water.

Heroes.  Heroes:  ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

“Heroes” is not one of those words you usually associate with Christians, but I think this is a time and a day when we need some heroes.  We need some Christian heroes.  You and I could be heroes.  I think that is a good word.  Do you have a problem with that word?  Give me a better one.

I’m not talking just about 15 minutes a day, or just one day a week.  I’m talking about a lifetime.  You and I could be heroes.  It’s possible.  It’s very possible, but let me tell you something today.  It’s possible, but it’s pretty unlikely.  We could be heroes – ordinary people doing extraordinary things.  The question is: “Will we?”

They all came that day.  They came to see the man.  They came to see the star of the show, and they came to see the most fascinating, exciting, amazing man they had ever heard of. 

Jesus did his part.  He called their number.  He said, “Hey, you in the suit.  I want you to follow me.  And you in the dress, I want you.  And you in the jeans, follow me.”  He called their number.  Jesus did his part.

They scheduled the interview.  They showed up.  But according to the text today, they didn’t get the job.  Do you know why?  They had good excuses.  Really, they were very good.

People have hardships.  We all know that.  People are up to their eyeballs; they are overwhelmed.  We have our work.  We have our kids, our health, our elderly parents, our interests, our passions, our problems, our priorities.

“Follow me.”

“OK, well, hang on just a second.  Let me check.  I’ll be right back with you.”

“No.  No.  No!”

They could have been heroes, but according to today’s text, they weren’t ready.  They weren’t ready for prime time.  They could have been followers, but they chose, instead, to be admirers.  As you know, Jesus has just a ton of admirers in this world.

I think testing out, taking steps, jumping in, and striving to be a follower of Jesus in today’s world is nothing short of heroic.  Get use to that word.  It’s a good word.  Think of yourself as a hero.  Why not?  To be a hero, of course, you have to serve.  That’s the whole point of today’s text.

It’s like the old Bob Dylan song that says, “You gotta serve somebody, and make no mistake. You and I serve.  We all serve something.  We all serve someone. 

The question is:  “What?”  The question is:  “Who?”  The question is: “How?”

The world is telling you to get into yourself.  Decide what you want.  Make commitments to that decision, whatever it is.  Watch your life move forward.  Live your best life.  You are getting told that at every turn, and that’s true.  That’s a good thing.  There is nothing wrong with that.  That is part of the Gospel.  That is part of the good news.  But you know what?  There is another part, too.  That’s the part of the Gospel I read to you today.  Now, admittedly, it’s a little offensive.  It’s confrontive.  It’s rather scandalous.  And it’s the part of the Gospel that says, “Hey, you know what?  It’s not all about you.  It’s really all about God.”

So, maybe what we need to do is get over ourselves a little bit and look toward the Spirit of the Living God and develop a life of service.  There are people here who have developed lives of service.  They have been doing it for a long, long time.

Folks, there is a whole world that needs to hear this message.  Christians don’t serve themselves.  They serve God.  That’s what we do.  That’s what makes us heroes.  That’s a good word.  Do you know yourself as a hero?  Think about it.  Jesus said, “I come not to be served, but to serve.  Indeed, if anyone is going to follow me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow.  If anyone puts his hand to the plow and looks back, that person is not fit for service in the kingdom.”

That’s a pretty far cry, isn’t it, from, “Decide what you want; make a commitment; live your best life”?

Remember that catchy poem?  Some of you have it in your study, or on your refrigerator.  It’s that poem called “Footprints.”  Do you remember it?  It’s been around for a while.  There was this guy walking on the beach, and the Lord was apparently walking beside him, and then trouble came into this person’s life, and all that person saw was one set of footprints.  So the guy prays, “Lord, where were you?  Where are you when I need you?”  And the Lord replies, “Well, you see those footprints?  Those are mine.  While you were having trouble, I carried you.”

Let me give you today’s version – today’s rendition.  It goes like this:

One night I had a wondrous dream.

One set of footprints there was seen.

The footprints of my precious Lord,

But mine were not along the shore.

But then some strange prints appeared,

And I asked the Lord, “What have we here?

These prints are large, and round, and neat,

But, Lord, they are way too big for feet.”

“My child,” he said in somber tones,

“For miles I carried you along.

I challenged you to walk and face,

But you refused and made me wait.

You disobeyed and would not grow.

The walk of faith you would not know.

So I got tired; I got fed up,

And then I dropped you on your butt!”

Because in life there comes a time,

When one must fight and one must climb,

When one must rise and take a stand,

Or leave their butt prints in the sand.

Isn’t that good?  That’s good! 

Folks, the good news of the Gospel today is that it’s not about you.  I’m sorry, but it’s just not.  We have to get over ourselves.  I don’t care who you are.  I don’t care what you are doing.  I don’t care what your circumstances are.  I don’t care what you have or what you don’t have.  Jesus is calling your number, and if God matters more to you than you matter to yourself, then you are, by definition, going to be a hero.  You are going to be an ordinary person who is going to do some amazing, extraordinary kinds of things.

Fred Craddock, the great Disciples preacher, tells the story about a young man in his early twenties, dying of AIDS in an Atlanta hospital.  Fred was teaching at Emory University at the time.  He said this young man had no church connection, but he had relatives who had a church.  So they called their minister.  The clergyman came to the hospital where the young man was.  There he was, just lying in a bed, gasping, very near death.  The minister stood out in the hall, and he yelled in a prayer, and then he left.

One of the seminarians that Fred was teaching heard about the situation and rushed to the hospital, hoping that the young man was still alive.  When she got there, she went into the room.  She went over to the bed, and she lifted the young man’s head and cradled it in her arms.  She sang, and she prayed, and she quoted Scripture, and she sang, and she prayed, and she prayed, and then he died.

Some of her fellow seminarians said, “Weren’t you scared?  I mean, this guy had AIDS.”

She said, “Of course, I was scared.  I went home and bathed 60 times.”

“Well, why did you do it?”

She said, “Well, I just imagined if Jesus had gotten that call, what would he have done?  I had to go.”

Heroes!

Two weeks ago tonight, Katrina smashed into the Gulf Coast, as we all know.  I don’t know if you know this or not, but when the magnitude of that destruction became apparent, area churches and local service agencies here in Columbia got together and set up a Disaster Relief Center over in Parkade Center.

Our Mission and Outreach Team, led by Dave Gibbons and Barb Bell, and staff person Debbie Graham said, “You know… Our people are going to want to help in this.”  Last Sunday they sat up a little table out there in the narthex, and they had almost 40 of you sign up to volunteer.  One Broadway family, who asked to be anonymous, offered the use of a condo for six months.  The next day, the Relief Center assigned us a family. 

Monday night, Dave announced our commitment to the  Church Cabinet.  On Tuesday, we asked Lorrie Schilke, a busy, busy lady, if she would coordinate this effort.  She thought about it, and she prayed about it, and she said, “Sure.”  On Wednesday, Dave and Lorrie and Debbie put an action plan together.  They made a list of the immediate needs.  They made a list of long-term needs, and they helped get the kids ready to be enrolled in school.  They went out, and they bought stuff that needed to be bought.  By that afternoon, Jerome had provided two brand new twin beds.  Eileen had purchased a dining room set with four chairs.  A host of other things poured in.  By nightfall, our family, Keisha, (age 27) a single Mom, a certified nurse assistant, her 7-year-old son Leroyce, her 4-year-old son Levelle, and the baby that is within her and due in December, were moved in.

They started out in the Superdome.  They were bussed to Houston.  They stayed in the Astrodome.  Now they are here, resettling in Columbia.  Thanks to some heroes. 

“I just imagined if Jesus had gotten the call, what would he have done?”

The question today: “Are you a hero?”

Yes, you are.  Are you ready for prime time?  Do you want to be in the spotlight?  Are you ready to step onto center stage?  If you are, I have some good news for you.  If you aren’t, I have some even better news for you.  The truth is you don’t have to be in the spotlight.  Jesus will be right there in the spotlight.  That’s who needs to be in the spotlight.  You know… he said he was the head of the Church.  It’s not you.  It’s him.  That’s the whole idea, and you and I just need to be in the shadows.  We just need to be in the wings, doing the heroic work that Christ gives us to do.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.

You could be a hero.  It’s not that you could be a hero.  Actually, you already are.  One of the things that make you a hero is that you are here today, as opposed to someplace else.  By your presence you say to yourself, and to God, and to the whole world, “You know… God really matters, and I am trying to learn how to be a follower of Jesus.  I want to develop, not for just 15 minutes, or for one day a week, but I want to develop a life of service.”

And it’s going to happen.  It’s going to happen tomorrow when you go to work, and when you go to school, and when you go home.  It’s going to happen tomorrow when you are out there on the soccer fields, or on I-70, or at the grocery store.  It’s going to happen for those Stephen Ministers who are matched up with their very first care receivers.  It’s going to happen tomorrow when those kids find a way to give 2.2 million pennies. 

I saw the little Fisher girl today.  She had her purse, and she could barely lift it.  She was up here singing just a little while ago.  Guess where she wanted to go as soon as she got out of the car?  She headed over there to that wheelbarrow and emptied out her purse – bags of pennies.  I said, “You know… Kim really is going to do a great dance.”  She laughed.

Tomorrow, folks, you could be a hero.  In fact, I believe you are going to be a hero.  If God matters more to you than you matter to yourself, you could be, and I think you will be.

And we all say together… “Amen.”

Benediction

Step by step, let us enter into your spotlight, take on the struggle, and do what it is You would have us do.  We are your disciples; give us courage and commitment to rise up, follow You, and not look back.  Amen.