Answering the Call Follow Me

January 23, 1993

We have been tracing "beginnings" during this post-Christmas season. We have been seeing how Jesus was revealed to the world; how he began His ministry. (Magi; baptism; leaving the carpenter shop; calling His disciples.) A portion of next Sunday's lesson, from Micah, seems to "fit in" just here.

IT IS POSSIBLE TO ANSWER GOD'S CALL
HOW do we respond to Christ's call?
Are there any guidelines? Can we come with any certitude to believe that we are really followers of the true God? Or is this all just "what is true for ME?"
GOD HAS SOME SIMPLE, CLEAR GUIDELINES FOR HIS PEOPLE
If what I understand is being taught in our schools, and what I hear propagated in the media is factual, then to believe there are clear and distinct guidelines of right and wrong taught in the Bible is to be truly out of step with much of the so-called culture of our time.
FAITH DEMANDS COURAGE TO CHOOSE
If you are going to be a child of God, a born-again Christian in any Bible-believing sense you had better make up your mind that you will have to go against the strong currents of our day.
President Kent Hill of Eastern Nazarene College said last evening in his "remarks" at the reception in Quincy Market that if the godless forces of an atheistic communism brought the USSR to chaos and ruin it is no less true that the godless, empty philosophy of pluralism and total relativity of truth threatens to destroy what we know as Western Civilization.
But how does that "interface" with the call of God, and the challenge of Jesus to "Follow Me!"?? Is it possible for an individual in 1993 to (1) hear a call from an Infinite Other we call God; and (2) to follow in any intelligent, satisfying way, with any degree of assurance?
I BELIEVE THAT IT IS!

I. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO OBEY CHRIST'S "FOLLOW ME" FROM OUR HEARTS?

THERE MUST BE A CALL FROM GOD!
1. We could not hear from God unless and until He chose to reveal Himself to us. God has always been willing to talk to man. As Frances Schaeffer said, "He is THERE and He is NOT silent!"
2. God apparently has always had a witness. Melchizedek. "Other sheep." By a Burning Bush to Moses. By dreams to Jacob and Joseph. By the Scripture. By Jesus Christ, and by the Holy Spirit. God speaks. If you reject the authority of the scripture and set up your own criteria for good and bad, you do so at the peril of your perspective, and your life.
THE SCRIPTURES SPEAK CLEARLY: GOD HAS REQUIREMENTS
God's requirements: What does God expect of us? Can we ever hope to "live up?"
1. Micah, an Old Testament prophet says:
  Micah 6:8 He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
  When we think of God's requirements, we think mostly of what we DO. And what we do IS not unimportant. But even more important to God is why we do what we do. What we value, how we love!
  And most important of all to God is the purpose He made us in the first place— why we are here— and what really fulfills us and makes us completely happy for time and for all eternity! God LOVES us, and wants us to learn to LOVE HIM!
2. Jesus, in Mark's Gospel, says this:
  Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; this is the first commandment. (31) And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

II. RE-DISCOVERING THE FIRST COMMANDMENT

To follow God we have to FOLLOW! And God is prepared to lead us! But "right" and "wrong" is not so much a list of "in" and "out" things to do... first it is a list of what we shall LOVE!
FIRST— we are to love the Lord. We are to commit to following Him. We are to say, "You convince me it is YOU, and I will do whatever You say!"
SECOND — we are to love our neighbor as ourself!
All too often we call ourselves followers of God, Christians, when we try to turn these two commandments around. FIRST, we seek to love our neighbor with all our heart and soul and mind and strength. And THEN we seek to love our God as ourself!
It is not by accident that there are TEN commandments— and that the first FOUR have to do with honoring God. The last SIX are DRIVEN by the POWER that comes from obeying the first FOUR! We cannot truly love our neighbor as God intends until we love God.

III. DISCOVERING THE RUDDER OF THE SOUL

The whole question of following Christ's call hangs on the idea of "love." Thou shalt LOVE God! Can LOVE be commanded?
THE HEART OF THE GOD-WALK, THE GOD-LIFE IS FROM THE INSIDE OUT! But how can we control how we feel? How can we control the thought life? Is such a thing possible? Do I simply decide, "Now I will LOVE God!"? Do I say, "Now I will not COVET!"?
TO 'LOVE' IS A CHOICE! TO "FOLLOW" MEANS A HEART RESPONSE! When Jesus calls, you will know it! And you had better listen, for nothing you ever learn will be more "true!"
And when Jesus calls, it is possible to respond by an act of will!
We will never be saved by will power. But we will never be saved until we join our wills with the will of God!

Conclusion:

Is it possible to "follow Jesus" in any literal, satisfying sense in this modern day?

Not "part time." Not simply in skepticism. You may have been brought up by "fundamentalists" who said "It is so because it is so" or even worse, by "second-hand Christians" who taught you that being a Christian is simply a matter of rules, and joining, and staying out of trouble.

But Jesus still calls: Come walk with ME! Trust ME! I will help you love mercy! I will help you DO justice! But you must walk HUMBLY with Me!

To follow Jesus is neither simple nor easy! It requires faith! But if you hear the call you can be certain Jesus will BE there the rest of the way home!

We pray— "Lord, if You will bring spiritual reality into my life I will DO what you say— I will LOVE what You want me to love— but please, JUST LET ME WALK WITH YOU!

232 Just as I Am (O Lamb of God, I Come!) or

43 O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee