Oh, He’s Here Somewhere

The Rev. Dr. Whitworth Ferguson III

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

February 6, 2011

Oh, He’s Here Somewhere

Matthew 7:21-27

It starts with baptism;

Then comes a profession of faith –

a public profession of faith when we join the church;

that’s followed by attendance more Sundays than not;

a pledge of support to the annual Stewardship Campaign;

helping with activities;

serving on a committee;

maybe even a term on the Board of Deacons

or the Session.

Life as a follower of Jesus Christ demands quite a lot from us,

doesn’t it?

It demands our time,

our talent,

and our treasure.

To which our Lord Jesus Christ would say,

“It’s not enough.”

So we go beyond that, and work on growing in faith,

by going through Sunday School and Confirmation Class,

attending Adult Classes,

participating in Bible Study,

perhaps even reading through the Bible

as part of a Year-of-the-Bible program.

And still Jesus says to us,

“It’s not enough.”

So we memorize our Creeds,

the statements we have in our Book of Confessions

the Apostles’ Creed,

the Nicene Creed,

the Westminster Confession of Faith,

all the way up to the Brief Statement of Faith,

a part of which we used this morning to begin our service:

You heard our Liturgist:

“Let us say what we believe…”

And still Jesus would say,

“It’s not enough.”

In following Jesus Christ

for as much as we do,

Jesus expects more from us,

for Jesus expects that we give nothing less than our lives,

completely

all of us, every part of us,

as we follow him.

Jesus wants us completely

because he knows it’s the only way

we will do what he calls us to do;

it’s the only way we will do the Will of God,

all the time.

If we hold back a part of ourselves,

if we don’t give our all, ourselves fully to Jesus,

then what will happen?

We’ll do our will,

even if just a bit here and there,

even if most of the time we do God’s will.

But you heard the lesson:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’

will enter the kingdom of heaven,

but only those who do the will of my Father in Heaven.”

(Matthew 7:21)

Now do you suppose Jesus means those

who do the will of God from time to time,

here and there,

more often than not,

whenever it’s convenient,

when it fits your schedule?

Does he mean those who do the will of God

more than 50% of the time?

Less if you’re under 30?

More if you are an ordained elder or deacon?

Even more if you are a minister?

Of course not!

Jesus calls us all to do God’s will all the time.

And we talked last week about just what that is,

what God wants from us, expects from us.

What it is to do God’s will:

It’s there in God’s words spoken through the prophets:

“…Learn to do good;

Seek justice,

rescue the orphan,                 

plead for the widow.”

(Isaiah 1:16)

“Do justice,

Love kindness;

Walk humbly with God.”

(Micah)

It’s there as well in the Ten Commandments:

Don’t lie;

Don’t steal;

Don’t cheat;

Honor the Sabbath and keep it holy,

yes, even on Super Bowl Sunday!

Much is expected from us,

so much, in fact, that over the centuries

it’s all seemed a bit too much,

and so we’ve tried to redefine what is expected.

We’ve edited Jesus’ call to us in ways that better fit our lives,

fit our temperaments, our comfort level.

We make Jesus our Personal Savior,

with an emphasis on “personal”

worshiping Jesus when Jesus calls us to follow him,

follow him as part of community

part of the Body of Christ,

Did you hear Jesus in our lesson?

It doesn’t matter if you call him “Lord, Lord”

if you’re not doing God’s will,

not doing what God calls us to do.

If we come at our faith re-writing Jesus’ teaching

his commands, all to fit him more comfortably into our lives,

rather than opening ourselves up completely,

giving ourselves completely to him

we are, just as Jesus teaches us,

building our house on a foundation of sand.

Let me ask you a question:

Where is Jesus is your life?

Not right now, not right here.

But where is Jesus on Monday mornings at 10:43?

On Tuesday afternoons at 1:20?

On Thursdays at 8:05 am and 9:30 pm?

Is he up on an altar?

Is he tucked in a closet or on a shelf until Sunday?

If you were asked the question

would you find yourself having to stop for a moment,

saying, “Oh, he’s here somewhere.”

Jesus expects to be front and center, of course,

leading us, guiding every one of us

to do God’s will

in our homes, our vocations, our schools, everywhere.

Our text this morning is part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount

as we find it in Matthew’s gospel.

The sermon is not a theological reflection

on what we are called to believe;

it is a sermon on how we are called to live our lives.

It is a sermon that calls us to act, to do.

Jesus very appropriately sums up

the two thousand words of the Sermon

with our lesson: a reminder that following him

means doing – doing God’s will,

God’s will as we learn it through Scripture;

God’s will as the Living Word -our Lord Jesus Christ-

reveals it to us:

God’s will grounded in grace,

love, mercy, forgiveness,

reconciliation, peace.

God spoke through the prophets so wonderfully directly and clearly:

Do justice,

love kindness,

seek to do good,

look after the widow and orphan,

be honest in your business,

work for reconciliation in all places, all settings,

walk humbly through life.

                          

Yet somehow we muddle those words -

God’s words to us spoken through Moses,

spoken through prophet after prophet,

God’s words spoken to us through Jesus.

It’s simple, what God wants us to do:

work to establish God’s Kingdom here on earth:

a place where no one goes hungry,

no one is poor or left out in the cold,

no one is frightened or sick or lonely,

a place where justice prevails for all.

That’s what God wants;

he makes it clear time and time again.

And God is going to establish his Kingdom

with us or without us – that’s clear, too,

just as Jesus reminds us in our lesson.

Even as we are doing, even as we are laboring,

God too is working, as Frederick Buechner reminds us,

“to deliver what is whole in us from what is broken,

to deliver what is true in us from what is false,

until in the end we reach the measure

of the stature of the fullness of Christ…

until we become Christ ourselves.”

“Until we become Christ ourselves”.

That’s what Jesus calls us to do,

the goal he calls us to work toward.

That’s the result of doing God’s will faithfully and consistently

And conversely, of course,

when we don’t do God’s will,

we become less Christ-like.

It’s hard work.

It takes commitment, dedication,

It takes giving yourself to Christ completely,

opening yourself to the transforming power of the Spirit,

letting Jesus write your story,

the story as God began it for each of us in our birth,

the story we always seem so intent on writing ourselves.

Come to this Table

and let the Spirit renew and re-energize you

for the work God calls you to do.

Come to this Table and share in this meal

that our Lord invites us to, every one of us.

Come, eat the Bread of Life

and drink from the Cup of Salvation.

And then go from this Table,

go energized, strengthened,

the wind of the Holy Spirit filling your sails,

living the words we say every Sunday,

“Thy will be done.”

AMEN