Not a Fan

This post is the final message in our Not A Fan series. Enjoy reading, and I hope you more than a fan of Jesus, I hope you are fully devoted to following Him.

 

 

            We are in the final week of our “Not a Fan” series. Over the last five weeks, we have been asked to consider if we are fans of Jesus or if we are followers of Jesus.

            Are we following Jesus with all that we have, or are we just along for the ride?

This was certainly the case for some of the people in John Chapter 6.

            Jesus had just finished feeding a great crowd of people; well over 15,000 of them with only two small fish and 5 loaves of bread.

            After the crowd had their fill, they wanted to make Jesus their king, but Jesus slipped away to be by Himself.

            After dinner, the crowd decided to camp out, so they could be with Jesus the following morning, but when they woke up the following morning, they noticed that Jesus was nowhere to be found.  

            Eventually they figure out that Jesus had crossed over to the other side of the lake, so instead of going home, the crowd of people jump on a ferry and they soon met up with Jesus.

            By the time the crowds arrive on the other side of the lake, they are starving and they said to Jesus: “Rabbi, when did you get here?” (John 6:25b, NLT2)

            Jesus immediately picked up on their intentions and said to the crowd: “…you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs.” (John 6:26, NLT2)

            Jesus immediately Defines the Relationship and told the crowd that they were not really interested in following after Him; they were just fans of Him.

            The only reason they were looking for Jesus was so they could get something from Him, in this instance it was a full stomach.

            They weren’t the least bit interested in following Jesus, they only wanted to “Like” Him and “Like” what He could do for them.

            There are people like this today. Some of these people—maybe even you—are only interested in hearing about Jesus, or even praying to Jesus when they are in need of something, but when the heat is on, they are quick to turn and run and look for another option.

            But Jesus doesn’t want to be your flavour of the month. He doesn’t want to be just another option, Someone you run to when you’ve exhausted all your other contacts: Jesus wants to be enough.

            In John 6:35, Jesus said: "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (NIV)

            Jesus provides the fans an opportunity to feast on Someone who is able to fulfill every desire, every longing, everything they could ever hope for.

Jesus provides the opportunity for fans to become followers.

            But there’s a problem. Fans can’t accept what Jesus is offering them.

Fans can’t accept that Jesus is the only way to God; fans can’t accept that Jesus is the only way that they will ever be spiritually nourished.

            This certainly was the case with the fans in John chapter 6.

       Verse 41 tells us that many of Jesus’ fans “…began to grumble about him…” (NIV)

            The people in the crowd that day couldn’t accept the exclusiveness of Jesus; how He was the only way they were going to have any chance of entering heaven, of living with God Almighty.

            And the Bible tells us that: “At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him.” (John 6:66, NLT2)

            The fans liked the show. They loved how Jesus fed them with a couple of sardine sandwiches.

            Fans loved how Jesus met their physical needs, but when He begins to DTR; when Jesus offers only Himself to the people, they quickly get off the bus.

            After seeing the crowd leave, “Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”(John 6:67, NLT2)

            There is no way to know for sure how Jesus felt when He said these words. We may never know if Jesus was angry or frustrated.

            Even though He was fully God, I suspect His humanness showed through when He spoke these words.

            It must have hurt Jesus to turn to the men who He had personally chosen to follow Him, and ask them if they were fans or followers.

            I can imagine that Jesus felt a little like I did one week before my high school prom.

ILLUSTRATION- During my final year of High School, I dated a girl by the name of Giselle.

       I’d known her for a few years, but I never imagined that she would be my girlfriend that is until she said “yes” when I asked her out.

            One of the first things she told me was that she wasn’t interested in speed dating… she wanted to be nice and slow in our dating relationship. 

            We had dated for several months and had a great time, and she caught me completely off guard when she called me one night and said “Nick, We need to talk”

            Boys- if your High School Crush ever says those words to you: RUN and Hide. Do not pass go. Do not collect 200 dollars. Run and Hide. 

            Giselle informed me that she thought things were going a little too fast and she didn’t like that, so she broke up with me—over the telephone.

            I sat in my dad’s chair dumfounded and heart broken. Here was my high school crush giving me the boot—one week before the senior prom.

            I hung up the phone and ran outside to talk to my father, and we talked for what seemed like an eternity, and he loved on me and reminded me that someone much better would come along...

            But at that time in my life I was devastated; the person who I enjoyed being with, had laughed with, the person I had opened up to, dropped me like a bad habit. My heart was broken the entire summer…

            I suspect this is how Jesus felt when He asked His disciples this question.  Jesus wanted to know if His disciples would leave Him as the crowd had done.

            Would His most devoted disciples turn out to be fans who weren’t willing to stick around when the teaching got tough? Would these men give Jesus the boot?

            Simon Peter, who often spoke for the entire group, said:

       “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69, NLT2)

            Church: here’s what Peter was saying, which is also the “take away” from today’s message: “When you really know Jesus as Lord, you don’t want to leave Him.”

            Simon Peter summed it up perfectly: “Where else would we go? Who else could teach us wisdom? Who could possibly bring us closer to God?”

            Fans will bail on Jesus when His teaching gets difficult.

When Jesus asks them to sacrifice something, when Jesus asks them to take up their cross, when He asks them to die to themselves, fans will take off.

            But followers, followers will stay close to Jesus because Jesus is: “…the way and the truth and the life.” (John 14:6, NIV)

When you really know Jesus as Lord, you don’t want to leave Him.”

            Fans want a surface level relationship with Jesus; followers want to go all the way with Jesus.

            Fans want casual commitment with Jesus, followers want complete intimacy.

When you really know Jesus as Lord, you don’t want to leave Him.”

            Sure, the disciples enjoyed the miracles, but at that point in time, they chose to know and believe that Jesus was the Messiah.

            The disciples made the choice to follow Jesus; they chose to move from fan to follower.

            Have you made that choice? Have you told Jesus that you want to move from Fan to follower?

Are you a follower of Jesus?

            Now before you answer that question, consider the “parameters” that Jesus lays out for us in Luke 9:23:

            “If any of you—that really means anyone, it’s not limited to a select few—“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” (NLT2)

            Have you turned from your selfish, sinful life? If so, are living for, and following Jesus?

            Jesus then goes on to say: “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.

25 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?” (Luke 9:24-25, NLT2)

Have you given the keys of your heart, of your life, over to Jesus, thus telling Him that you are going to be His follower no matter what, or are you going to hang on to this key, and remain a fan of Jesus?

Show Hall Closet Clip

            You should have received a key when you came in this morning, if you have it, I would like for you to take it out now.

            If you didn’t get a key, put up your hand and we’ll see that you get one.

            This key represents they key to your life. It could also represent the key to that closet where you are hiding your deepest, darkest secret that you don’t want anyone to know about, and that even you are  scared to talk about.

            In just a moment, I’m going to ask those of you who are willing to move from Fan to Follower to stand up and place your key- which represents your life- on the alter.

            Doing so will tell the Lord that you are not turning away from Him, but you are turning toward Him, no matter the cost.

Because “When you really know Jesus as Lord, you don’t want to leave Him.”

“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23, NLT2)

If you want to follow Jesus, bring your key to the front and give it to Jesus.

            If there are those among us who have never received Jesus as Lord and Savior, this is your opportunity to move from Fan to Follower, this is your opportunity to take up your cross and follow Him.

            As you drop the key of your life into Jesus’ hands take a moment to pray: “Lord Jesus, please forgive me of my sin; come into my life and help me follow you.”

            If, for whatever reason, you should choose not to bring your key to the front, please keep it.

            Keep it with you and let it be your reminder that Jesus wants you to move from Fan to Follower. When you’re ready, you can turn this key over to Jesus.

            As we bring this series to a close, I want to leave you with one final question, which was the question that started this series off: Are you a fan or a follower of Jesus?

 

Not a Fan

This sermon is part 4 in our current series called "Not A Fan"

 

 

 

ILLUSTRATION- If you and your spouse had a choice between a twin bed or a king size bed, what would you chose?

            Now, before you make that decision, keep in mind that a twin bed is this big, and a king size bed is THHIIIISSSSS big, and your spouse is attempting to get their beauty sleep.

            Given the choice, I’d take the king bed over the twin bed, because it’s way more comfortable.

            Pastor Mike and I have different wardrobe opinions.

        There are days when Pastor Mike will come into the office, generally the coldest days of the year, and he will be wearing a tee-shirt.

            I on the other hand, will be wearing my long sleeved shirt, and quite possibly a sweater, because I will be freezing.

Both of us have different clothing opinions, but both of us are comfortable. (And warm!)

            If you had to choose between a comfortable, well broken in pair of shoes, of a pair of pain inducing wooden clogs, you would probably choose the comfortable shoes, because, well they’re comfortable!

            The common denominator of these illustrations is comfort. We want to be comfortable.

            There is a lot of money to be made on products that enhance our comfort. There is memory foam for your bed, lazy-boy chairs for your living room, and we’ve even found a way to turn steel into wool for the kitchen.

            On top of all of this, there are even shows that exploit our comfort.

ILLUSTRATION- Have you ever heard of the show called “Dirty Jobs”?

It’s a show that goes around and documents some of the world’s filthiest, most uncomfortable jobs, and we sit in our comfortable living rooms, watching on our big-screen TV’s thanking God that we don’t do a dirty job for a living!

            But there is a danger in loving comfort too much. As we continue to put more and more of an emphasis on being comfortable, our faith has followed suit.

            It’s almost as if we’ve become Christians of comfort. We come to our beautiful building that’s nice and warm, sit in our beautiful padded seats, listening to our beautiful preacher…

            Some of our Bibles are soft, leather bound books that are easy on the hands; and before you know it, it’s not just the seats that are padded.

            Soon the message becomes padded. The teachings become lifeless and eventually the message of Jesus becomes mush.

            In Luke 9:23, Jesus says: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (NIV)

            So what do comfort-craving fans do with something like the cross? What can you do with the phrase: “…take up his cross…”?(Luke 9:23, NIV)

            Eventually fans of Jesus find a way to make even the cross comfortable.

Fans create a comfortable idea of the cross and what it means for us to take up our crosses, so the phrase “we all have our crosses to bear” gets thrown around loosely, referring to even the most menial or everyday tasks and inconveniences.

            But what are we supposed to do? After the cross is a tough sell. It’s bad enough that Jesus had to die on the cross, but why did He have to insist that we all end up with our own crosses?

            Doesn’t this kill our ability to recruit new people? After all, aren’t you supposed to put your best foot forward?

        Don’t we want more people to come to Jesus? Shouldn’t we do our best to make Christianity sound as appealing as possible?

In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul talks about how the world sees the cross.

        In verse 18 he writes: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (NIV)

            For those living in the First Century, the cross was the ultimate symbol of weakness.

       For many, then and now, the Gospel—that God came to earth in the form of a human being, and was crucified—is complete foolishness.

            Why would God use a symbol of torture, death and weakness to save the world?

            The idea of the cross seems more appealing to us because it’s no longer used to execute people, but if a first century Jew came in a saw a cross hanging on our walls, they would think we were sick, for the Jews, the cross meant weakness.

            Perhaps this is the point. Maybe this is what makes the cross so beautiful.

            God takes what the world says is foolish, demeaning and shameful and turns it into the power of salvation.

            That’s what 1 Corinthians 1:18 says: “The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.” (NLT2)

            Jumping down to verse 22: “Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,” (1 Cor. 18:22-23, NIV)

            “But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Cor. 1:24, NLT2)

            “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.” (1 Cor. 1:25, NIV)

            Who else but God could take a cross that represented defeat- and turn it into a symbol of victory?

            Who else but God could take a cross that represented guilt—and turn it into the symbol of grace?

            Who else but God could take a cross that represented condemnation—and turn it into a symbol of freedom?

            Who else but God could take a cross that represented pain and suffering—and turn it into a symbol of healing and hope?

            Who else but God could take a cross that represented death—and turn it into a symbol of life?

            No one but God!

            What seems like the ultimate moment of God’s weakness was in reality the ultimate moment of God’s strength.

Here’s why that matters; here’s what I want you to take away from this sermon: What God did for the cross, He can do for you! (Repeat, write it down)

            When you are the weakest, you will be exactly where you need to be for God to be the strongest.

What God did for the cross, He can do for you!

            The upside down truth of the cross is that when you are weak, you are strong.

What God did for the cross, He can do for you!

Look at verse 27:

            “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” (NIV)

            It’s not that God used the cross in spite of its weakness; He chose the cross because of its weakness.

            Paul says that God chooses weak things; and Scripture proves this time and again.

            Abraham was old, Jacob was insecure, Moses stuttered, Rahab was a prostitute, David had an affair, Elijah was suicidal, Jonah was disobedient, Peter was hot-tempered, Martha worried a lot, Zacchaeus was unpopular and Thomas had his doubts.

            The Bible is a long list of imperfect misfits who discovered that weakness is actually strength.

            Though it seems backwards to us, God teaches us that when we think we are strong, we are really weak; but when we acknowledge our weakness and humble ourselves before the Lord, we put ourselves in a position to receive His strength.

            Paul talks about this very thing again in 2 Corinthians chapter 12: “…to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

            8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.

9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12:7b-10, NLT2)

Paul says I delight in my weaknesses, because when I am weak, it’s then that I’m actually strong.

ILLUSTRATION- I don’t know anyone who actually delights in weakness. In fact, most of us go to great lengths to disguise our weaknesses.

            When we go for a job interview, the question that strikes fear in the heart of each candidate is “what are your weaknesses”? How in the world are you supposed to answer that?

            If you tell the boss what your greatest weakness actually is, you might not get the job, so you disguise your weakness as a strength, and say: “I’m a workaholic” or you say- “I can be somewhat of a perfectionist”

            In our world, weakness isn’t strength, weakness is weakness, and strength is strength.

            There are some 2000 self-help books published every year that all give the same message: You can do it! You have what it takes! Just look within and find your inner strength.

            But Paul says that strength comes when we realize our weakness.

ILLUSTRATION- I lean this truth almost every time I enter my man cave. For those of you who don’t know, I have a workshop in my basement that is full of wood and tools.

            At this particular time, one of the projects that I am working on is Pastor Mike and Kate’s Christmas present…

            I’m alright when it comes to cutting, sanding, drilling, gluing, varnishing, but what trips me up is the measuring.

            Because I’m terrible in math, I cannot understand measurements that are given in project plans.

            So what I’ll do is read the plans, take out my tape measure, look at the board, measure the board, look at my iPhone to see if I have the appropriate app that will translate the measurement to me, I’ll look at the plans once again, I will grunt, and hum and haw, I’ll pick up the piece of wood and say, why can’t you look like that?

            While all of this is taking place, my wife…. Is sitting in her office, trying to enjoy some craft time, when all of a sudden, I’ll say “uh, Beth…” to which she’ll reply, “Yeah….”

            “I could use your help in here…”

            She will come in, ask me what I’m trying to do and then do the math for me, and then…. I’m back in the game; the cutting begins, and the dust flies…..

            I don’t like admitting my weakness, but when I do admit my weakness and turn to someone who knows more than I do, I can accomplish much more.

            The cross makes it clear that when I am weak, He is strong.  

            This is a test for all of us, fans and followers: Will you trust God enough to let your weakness be His strength?

            When we let go of our need for comfort, our need to be in control, or whatever it is that is keeping us from the cross, its then that God does in our hearts what He did for the cross; He takes followers who are hanging on by a thread and bolsters their spirits.

            He takes followers who are at their weakest moment and uses it for enormous Kingdom good.

            He takes followers who are all but defeated and turns their testimonies into life-giving messages of truth and hope all for His glory.

            Do you need God to take your weaknesses: your temper, your abuse, your past and turn it into His greatest strength?

            Do you need freedom? Do you need forgiveness? Do you need strength? All are found at the foot of the cross.

What God did for the cross, He can do for you!

            Band

            As we enter into a time of reflection and response, if you need the strength of the cross applied to your weaknesses, I would invite you to stand and make your way to the front of the church.

            Doing so will signify you want to receive all the provisions of the cross: the healing, the forgiveness, the life, the truth, the freedom.

The Bible says: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor. 1:18, NIV)

            If you need a touch from God, you won’t find it in the world; you’ll only find it by clinging to the wonderful cross.

            If you’ve got a need, bring it to Jesus as we sing…