The Fifth Sunday of Easter – April 20, 2008

Providence Lutheran Church, Holland, Ohio

by Pastor Dennis R. King

Follow Jesus our Leader

John 14

The Grace and Mercy of our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ, be with you today and always. Amen!

Our text for this morning is from the Gospel of John, the 14th Chapter. Jesus tells you – Sierra, Dane, Brian, Troy, Hanna, Caitlin, Evan, Blake, Devin, and all of us in this text that He goes to prepare a place for each of us and that He will return to us to bring us to that place. And we wonder about the way to that place and He reminds us that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We, indeed, are to follow Jesus. Our sermon theme for this morning is, “Follow Jesus Our Leader.”

This text in some ways, reminds me of a childhood game I use to play called “Follow the Leader.” One person would take the lead and they would go wherever they wanted to go and everyone would have to follow them. If one failed to follow them, one dropped out of the game. I can remember of playing this game for hours, including jumping up on the chicken coup, running across the roof and jumping down on the other side, trying to keep up with my leader. Or in some cases, I would be trying to lose those who were following me. I can also remember playing with a group of young people in Vacation Bible School and we went for a little journey under the church. The church where I was serving at the time had a crawl space underneath. So we ventured into that crawl space and then through the appropriate holes in the concrete blocks and on and on until we came to the very front doors of the church - only looking at it from underneath. Then we gathered there for devotions, Bible Study and sharing together. And then came the fun part! I just simply turned off the flashlight and said “Follow me!”. In total darkness everyone needed to follow me in order to get out from underneath the church. Some soon learned that they needed to stay together. Some soon learned to grab the ankle of the person in front of them. Some soon learned if they missed, then they were feeling along the block wall for some kind of opening to go through and maybe it was the right one and maybe it wasn’t! But they needed to follow their leader if they wanted to return from underneath that building. And as far as I know, we never lost anybody but on several occasions we did have to go back under for someone.

In a sense, this Gospel Lesson, is that same sort of example. Jesus shows His disciples who He is. He tells the disciples about the way of life and leads them in a new way of life. And then we reach a point, in a sense, that Jesus turns off the flashlight and says, “Follow Me!” Just trust Me! I am the Way, the Truth and the Life! And where is Jesus taking us? Certainly there is a destination, there is a route and there is something very important that we most learn that if we are to follow Jesus, we do need to stay very near to Him, very, very close to Him. If we should find ourselves far from Him, we’re liable to find ourselves in great difficulty. We may find ourselves easily lost, easily discouraged and sometimes very troubled.

It’s important that one has a guide when venturing on a journey that they never have been on before. Jesus is our Guide and Leader. We look to Him to lead us to our Heavenly destination. We look to Him to show us the way. Not only does He show us the way, but He is the way. Jesus wants to lead us.

There are three things that you, Sierra, Dane, Brian, Troy, Hanna, Caitlin, Evan, Blake, and Devin along with the rest of us need to remember as He leads us. One - that we need faith. We need faith to believe that this Jesus has indeed gone before us and prepared a special place for us. We need to believe that Jesus has gone and made reservations enough to include us all. We need to believe that this Jesus will not let us down. In other words - we need faith as we follow our Leader.

A second ingredient that I think is very important and we certainly need as we follow our Leader is love. The love of God that abides with us always and shines forth most brightly in life’s darkest moments. We need to remember that God loves us and that is why He sent His Son to us. And that Jesus is this Loving One, who as our Leader, will not forget that we are following Him. But will seek us out and help us to follow. He will love us along the way as we get scuffed and bruised going through this life.

A third thing that is very important for us to remember as we follow our Leader is that we must always have hope. Have hope in this One, Jesus. Have hope in God’s plan for us.

There is a story told about two fishermen. One was very different from the other. One was very proud of his accomplishments. One often talked about his accomplishments and what a great fisherman he was. The other was just a fisherman. And one day as the two were together talking to each other, one fisherman turned to the other fisherman who was always boasting and said to him, “Ah, John. You’re anchoring in your own hull. You must throw your anchor out.” We must have hope in this one Christ Jesus and so we must reach out to this One who is leading us. Stretch out and grab a hold and who knows where He might take you and each of us. Live in faith, hope and love . We know that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and where He takes us will eventually take us to that Heavenly Home that God has prepared for us. Christ says to us - Despite all of the troubles and conflicts and turmoil that we might face, He will not abandon us. But He will gladly lead us. He will show us the Father if we are but faithful and follow Him.

I suspect that people are a lot like those young folks that were following me out from underneath the church. There were some who always wanted to venture off on their own way. They wanted to do their own thing and explore. One of them we found down in a pit underneath the church in total darkness, groping around. Doesn’t that happen in life as well that people kind of break off and do their own thing. They don’t necessarily want to follow their leader. Or maybe they feel they have a better way of doing things. And yet God has given us some clear instructions and Jesus has taught and continues to try to teach us well if we but listen. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life no one can come to the Father but by Him. And yet we still venture off and try to find our own way. I remember a time that I had to assemble some of those Christmas gifts. Some of you may have had that same problem where you had to assemble something you had bought at a store. You get all the parts out before you and you start to place them together. Things go smoothly for awhile than all of a sudden you come across a part that just doesn’t quite fit. You then notice that some of the other parts you have left don’t fit either. You even discover you have a few extra pieces. That’s happen to me a couple of times - I almost threw those extra pieces away, who needs them! And then out of the box comes that little slip of paper that says - Instructions. If all else fails, follow these directions.

If all else fails, we are to follow God’s Word. If all else fails, we are to follow our Leader. And our Leader is Jesus. Those who have gone before us and have faithfully followed Him, have a place with Him. So, too, do we look forward to that day when we should be gathered with Him! May you Sierra, Dane, Brian, Troy, Hanna, Caitlin, Evan, Blake, Devin, always remember to follow Him. And as you and each of us follow Him, He will provide for us! Amen!