Sermon nuggets Fri May 2, 2008
Theme Discipleship
Verses John 6: 70 Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!"
71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.) (NIV)
Follower
I remember hearing a definition of a leader- someone who has a follower. That seems to be it in a nutshell. I suppose you can say the opposite of a follower- someone who has a leader. One may not need the title of a leader to have the influence over another.
Most leaders only lead in certain situations or for a certain period of time. A teacher may be a leader for the hour or so in a classroom. A boss might be the leader for 8 hours during the day to accomplish a task. A parent, however, is a leader over their child who makes the decisions and has the responsibility for their youngsters as to who else might have leadership influence, including what school the child attends, what church they go to, how much TV or internet they are allowed to watch.
To be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ is also a matter as to His leadership in your life and in your decisions. There is no question Judas was a disciple of Jesus Christ. But he had a different agenda than Christ had. He sought to accomplish different goals and to the end that Jesus helped those goals he was willing to follow for a time. But when his own goals and purposes became more important and money was more attractive, he abandoned the following of Jesus and betrayed Him.
When Jesus says to take up your cross and follow Him he is calling us to a complete understanding that as the Son of God He wants to lead in all areas of our lives. He is not wanting just a Sunday morning leadership. He is not interested in just a church environment leadership. He is first in our studies, in our work, in our purchases, in our marriages, in our parenting, and in our entertainment. To be a disciple of Jesus is to realize who He is. In following and obeying Him life takes us on a different road.
“Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do the things I say?” He asks in Luke 6:46.
There were days when the disciples questioned Jesus. There were times they were concerned for their own wants. There were times when they were discouraged, tired, upset, weak and sinful. But after committing themselves to Jesus they did not quit. After falling they get up again and continued their journey with Jesus as their head. There was no one else who had the words of life. He become their purpose for living. He was their Master. He was their Lord.
That could not be said of Judas. He was a false follower. A true mark of a real disciple is following Jesus wherever and always. Peter fell, but he did not fall away. He had faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and followed him all the way.
The words we long to hear is, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”
Pastor Dale
