Jesus in the Driver's Seat
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today we have the rare privilege of baptizing two little cousins. Grandchildren of Carol and Bill Keil, and children of Lenora and Emmett, Linc and Kristen, Ava and Kyle begin this day on their journey through their lives as Christians.
So what does that mean, exactly—to journey through one’s life as a Christian? Put simply, it means to follow Jesus. To do what he called his friends to do in the story we read in the gospel—“Follow Me”. He called them away from their work, away from their homes, with the simple invitation, “Follow Me.” And we see their responses—they did follow him, leaving house and family and livelihood, at least for a while. Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John, they all turned direction and followed him.
You remember in this gospel that Jesus’ teaching was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Repent, and follow him. To repent, as we’ve discussed at Wednesday’s book group, means to turn around—to be willing to be shaken up and to be willing to change direction. And then to do it.
This of course is our call as well. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near—in the person of Jesus Christ. Follow him. Now, this sequence of repent and follow is the soundtrack of our lives. Think of it as a map, unfolded for us at our baptisms—repent, change direction, and follow him. Day after day after day. Hour after hour after hour. Keep repenting, keep following.
So—Let me tell us some stories that I hope will help us focus on what it means to follow Jesus. They are the kinds of stories that I hope will put the fear of God back into us in case we’ve lost any of it. I know I lose it now and then.
The first story is absolutely true. It’s something I blurted out in a conversation last month. This is a confession. And I share it because I hope it can help us all get a better handle on just what it means to follow Jesus.
A friend and I were chatting about how best to manage stress. My friend said that isn’t it a great idea to let God decide how we should run our days and to what we should turn our attention. God knows how to manage stress and work flow better than we do, after all.
And I blurted out that yes that’s a nice idea but I don’t think it’s a very good one because only I could make those kinds of decisions—only I know best how to use my time and manage my days. I need to be in control of that.
And as soon as that came flying out of my mouth I had to howl with both laughter and dismay at the stunning lack of faith that that comment revealed to me. I didn’t trust God enough to get in my head, turn me around, and help me manage my days or my stress. Honestly, I give thanks that God has a great sense of humor and is so forgiving, cause I really revealed a massive lack of faith in that comment.
Needless to say, since I’ve been working on this suggestion, my days have been a lot easier, God has been much more palpably present, I’m sleeping much better, and I’m continuing to laugh at my presumption and know that I have been forgiven.
Something similar to my own story of struggle with giving control to God is the reaction I got recently from some friends when we read over an excerpt from someone’s book. Basically the person was suggesting that as Christians we would do well “to give the first part of our day in meditation to God . . . the first part of our week in worship . . . the first part of our income to God . . . and the first part of our social life” to being with other Christians [like we do at Coffee Hour]. The author went on to say that if we don’t make room for God to be in control in this way, we slow our spiritual growth. [quotes from Rick Warren, quoted in Herb Miller, New Consecration Sunday Stewardship Program]
And my friends had an interesting (and strong) reaction to that piece. I think they really struggled with the fundamental issue of how much really belongs to God and should be given back to God—how much prayer, worship, income, and social time.
I hope you hear the similarities in my story and this second one.
And now listen to this third little story. It comes from a sermon that I must have heard a good 20 or 21 years ago, when I was a brand new Episcopalian:
I’m driving down Cross Highway here and I see somebody in the distance with a long white robe on, holding his thumb out and asking for a ride. I stop my car. And lo and behold, it’s Jesus! And I say oh, Jesus, come on in, I’ll take you wherever you want to go! Just get on in the back there and make yourself at home. Let me be your chauffeur.
And Jesus shakes his head no and points to the front seats. And so I say, “Oh, sure, Jesus, how rude of me. Come on up and sit right next to me and we can have a nice chat while I take you to your destination.” And he smiles at me, and shakes his head no, and points to my seat.
To the driver’s seat.
And I say to him, “Jesus! You mean you’re asking me to get out of the car, give up the driver’s seat, and let you decide where we go and how we get there?” And he smiles at me and shakes his head yes.
And with one last feeble attempt to get some control back into my own hands I say, “Hey, you don’t even have a drivers’ license, do you?” And he laughs and shakes his head at me and takes me where I may or may not want to
go . . . the story can end in so many different ways, can’t it?
And a question here: how do we know when we’re hearing God’s direction? Not too often might we hear words spoken or have a clear message in a dream. We hear God through good, grounded friends. Through good, grounded books like the Bible and other sources of wisdom. We hear through prayer itself, that may not produce words of instruction but that gives knowledge quietly, little by little.
Oh, we think we have so much control over things in our lives, don’t we? We have our whole lives mapped out in front of us, our own personal map, but then sometimes we have another map given to us. A map that may include a job loss or a difficult divorce or a family member with a terrible disease, or a disastrous accident. An early death of someone who shouldn’t die young. A child who is picked up for selling drugs or who overdoses. You name it. Our illusion of control is only that. An illusion.
But through it all we have each and every day a new opportunity to decide to turn around and to really follow Jesus. To know that there is this person, this God, who yearns for us to turn to him and ask for his help and his accompaniment through the suffering as well as the joy.
What’s the payoff here? Why bother living the Christian life—why bother repenting and turning around and following him? We bother to do this because Jesus told us to bother doing it—come, follow me. We bother with the Christian life because it brings peace and hope. Following Jesus gives us what everyone wants—a sense of purpose for our lives.
How many people drift along with no sense of purpose? We have it given to us at baptism. The point of life is to grow closer and closer to the heart of God through following Jesus. And the Holy Spirit blesses our efforts and rewards us, not with an easy life, but with a comforted life—a life lived in the knowledge that we are not alone and that there is more to come. A life lived with the knowledge that all will be well.
May we strive to be better examples of turning, of giving control to God, and following Jesus. May our children see us struggle to follow, and themselves grow in love and grace as a result. We know that our kids watch our behaviors and learn more from what we do / than from what we say.
And may we never despair of the depth of forgiveness that resides within the heart of God. Forgiveness, no matter what.
I end this sermon with the prayer of Self-Dedication, which we can find at the bottom of page 832 of the BCP. Turn to it and pray it with me if you wish. It’s a pretty scary prayer when we mean it. Let’s update the English / from the Elizabethan words to the modern words:
Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated to you; and then use us, we pray you, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
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