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The Third Sunday After The Epiphany January
27, 2008
"Saying “Yes” to
God!" Matthew 4:12-23 Preached at By Pastor Dennis R. King The Grace and Mercy of our Lord, Jesus Christ, be
with you all. Amen. The lessons for today are about saying “yes” to
God. In the Gospel lesson we have the amazing “yes” of four men who simply
left all to follow Jesus. They said, “Yes.” We all know there are “yes” people and there are
“no” people. Some people say, “yes, we can do it.” Other people say, “No way,
we can not.” Many of us grew up hearing about “The Little Engine That Could.”
How did that go? The little train had a heavy load to move over the mountain
and it looked impossible. How did that little train move that big load? By
trying - By saying “yes.” The train
began by saying, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can . . . and then
. . . I know I can, I know I can, I know I can . . .” The “yes” train. In any congregation there are “yes” people and
“no” people. The “yes” people feel the “no” people are roadblockers and
negative. The “no” people feel the “yes” people are dreamers and unrealistic.
The “yes” people feel anything is possible through faith. The “no” people
feel that faith has to salted with common sense. The “no” people say: The
“yes” people don’t think things through and always teeter on the brink of
financial ruin. The “yes” people say the “no” people stop progress, resist
change, and cause dissension by their resistance and fault finding. The “no”
people say the “yes” people are only rubber stamps and don’t think for
themselves. Does this happen in our congregation? It was true in the early church in the Christian
congregation at Cornith. There were divisions in that congregation. Some
thought one way and others another . . .. The Apostle Paul wrote to the
congregation asking them to end their divisions and end their separate
opinions and be united in one mind with Jesus. Seek His mind and mold their
own thoughts to be in accord with His. There is little doubt that the Bible
calls us to be “yes” people. That doesn’t mean that “yes” people never say,
“no.” It means rather that we begin with a “yes” to God’s Word. And we have
to say a lot of “no’s” in daily life - No to drugs, no to terrorists, no to
everything that advises or encourages us to go against the teachings of God
made known in Jesus. How many “no’s” did you say this week? Or how many did
you say even this morning? So what do we say, “yes” to? In the lessons for
today we see what it means to be a “yes” person in the best sense of the
word. Earlier in worship we heard that verse from Isaiah that reads, “The
people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light.” That promise
became incredibly true in the light God gave to the world in Jesus. God said,
“Yes” to the world and that “yes” still brings light into all darkness,
including yours and mine! Thank God, it is so. In the I Corinthians lesson for this day the
Apostle Paul urged the congregation at Do congregations quarrel? Unfortunately they do.
One man related that he had been chair of a call committee. The committee
recommended an excellent candidate to be pastor. Many in the congregation
wanted another person to be the pastor. They worked against the
recommendation of the call committee and the congregation became divided. It
does happen too often and it is so hurtful to so many people. The Apostle
Paul says to say “no” to all that divisiveness and work together to seek the
will and the way of Jesus. In that same I Corinthian lesson Paul instructs
the Christians at The way of the cross is the willingness to do good
for the sake of all. In this present age many of our congregations are
elderly. I thank God for these beautiful people. They are in many ways the
hope of the church and of this congregation. They are the ones who want their
children and grand children to have faith, to be at worship, to love the
church. They want this so much they will sacrifice their own desires. This
want is the way of the cross. They want this so much they will help implement
changes that will help bring the congregation into the twenty-first century.
We need these “yes” people. They might not want these changes but they follow
the way of the cross. They say “yes” to sacrifices that will allow others to
have and know what is already theirs to have and know. In the Gospel there are a number of other ways God
wants us to say “yes” to the Spirit’s call. First, God wants us to be “yes” people in the
acceptance of His Word as the rule and guide of our lives. God wants us to
say “yes” to His Word. The Gospel for today begins by telling us that Jesus
moved from one city to another. We move mostly because of our work or a
desire to be close to family. Jesus moved because he was obedient to
Scripture. Scripture said the light would come from Naphtali so that is where
Jesus moved. God’s “yes” people say “yes” to His Word. Secondly, God wants us to say “yes” to those who
have, in the faith, gone before us. “Yes” people have an appreciation for
those who have prepared the way. There is a beautiful golf course in northern
The third “yes” God wants us to say is a “yes” to
follow Jesus. It is an amazing thing how two sets of brothers left what they
were doing to follow Jesus. We know what this leaving is like. Many of us
have left family and childhood homes to follow a dream, or a desire. The
“yes” here is a leaving of a different kind. It is a leaving I need to do
every day. A leaving of the fears that want to take over, the leaving of
prejudices that create walls, the leaving of those things that come so easily
into our thought, words, and actions that are not of God. It is a leaving of
the negative tendencies. A leaving of fostering divisiveness. A leaving of all
those things because Jesus invites us to “follow me.” “Yes” people follow. The fourth “yes” that comes from this Gospel is to
say a “yes” to proclaiming Jesus and becoming a friend to all who hurt. Verse
18 says, “Jesus went throughout That is the “yes” we say as members of Christ’s
church. We share the Good News. That is what we do. We help those in need.
That is what we do. We do that as we give of our time and gifts. “Yes” people
support the proclamation of the Good News and the healing ministry of Jesus. God needs “yes” people. He needs “yes” people to
say “yes” to the mind of Christ. He needs “yes” people to say “yes” to all
those who have gone before us in the faith. He needs “yes” people to say
“yes” to the cross. He needs people who are willing to be open to sacrificing
for the sake of the Gospel. He needs “yes” people to say “yes” to the
invitation of Jesus to “follow me.” He needs “yes” people to say “yes” to
this congregation. He needs people who are willing to embrace, enhance, and
illuminate the Gospel in this place. We share. We help. We proclaim. We make
Jesus known. Let us be God’s “yes” people following Jesus and
making Him known so that others to may follow. Amen. |
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