Are you a Super Model?

Model Time

Good Morning everybody. Man it feels so good to be here this morning. I want to thank Chris and Dodie for having me here today and I want to say that yall have some great pastors. I mean I love both of them so much. I mean it is technically pastor appreciation month right. So let’s let them know just how much we all appreciate them for a minute or so.

Now this is gonna be a fun sermon today. I mean the title of my sermon is are you a supermodel? I can’t and I won’t answer for anybody else but I can definitely say I am not a supermodel. I mean yall can tell that without me having to say it right? I mean this is not supermodel material. Or is it.

So I guess it all depends on how you are using the word super model. Have you ever heard the phrase that what gets measured gets done? So I’ve been in corporate sales and that is a phrase I heard over and over and over again.

So what this means is that if you don’t write down your goals and your plan to get there you won’t actually do it. Now while this may be true for some things it just doesn’t work all the time. Sometimes you can achieve your goals without writing them down right.

What if there is no one to show you how to do it though? What if no one has ever done what you are trying to do. Kinda hard to write down a road map if there has never been anyone blazing that trail before right?

I think we need to change the way we look at a lot of things in life from measuring success to something more tangible and something more real. Something that Jesus taught us. Here is what we need to shift to.

WHAT GETS MODELED GETS DONE!

The reason this works better and makes more sense to me is you can’t really measure discipleship by charts and graphs and metrics. It just doesn’t work well. But it’s been modeled.

You see everything we are called to do in this Christian life has not only been written down or measured but also been modeled. And not just by anyone but by our Savior Jesus Christ. I want to spend some time today looking at a few times that Jesus modeled for us how to live and how grow as Christ followers.

So the first thing I want to look at is normally the first thing we are called to do after we have accepting Jesus as Lord of our life and that is Baptism.

So let’s look at the Baptism account in Matthew chapter 3

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14 But John tried to stop him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?”

15 Jesus answered him, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John allowed him to be baptized.

16 When Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.”

Now sometimes we don’t do a good job of describing the reasons why we need to be baptized. Sometimes we say well it’s just what we do or it’s what is wrote down. Jesus got baptized. He modeled it and we need to follow His model.

You see how we view Jesus affects how we follow Him. If we look at Him as a good guy and a great teacher the importance of following Him isn’t necessarily there.

When we view Him as King of Kings and Lord of Lords maker of Heaven and Earth, the waymaker, the miracle worker, promise keeper. When we view Jesus as the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, who came and laid down His life for us then we want to follow His model.

The second thing we need to do to follow the model of Jesus is trust the Word of God. Now when I say trust the Word I mean that in a two fold sense. I mean this written Word that we have. But you see in John’s Gospel he describes Jesus like this:

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life,, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.

Jesus is the Word. So we trust His word. Here’s a model for that in Mark chapter 4

35 On that day, when evening had come, he told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.” 36 So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat. And other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?”

39 He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41 And they were terrified, and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”

Now there is a lot to unpack in that. Matter of fact you could preach a whole sermon just off of that. I’m gonna look at one piece of that passage.

Jesus says to the disciples let’s go to the other side of the sea. Ok let’s go right. This storm comes up and they freak out right. We are going to die, this is terrible, this is where it ends. Then Jesus rebukes the wind and the sea. This is where we trust the word. Jesus did. He trusted His own word. What did He say at the beginning. Let’s cross to the other side. If He said we are gonna cross over to the other side guess where we are going. The other side. This may sound like a paradox but if Jesus can trust His word then we can to.

You see whatever situation your in this morning whatever drama, stress, financial situation, family stuff, health concerns, addiction, loss, destruction, chaos Jesus is saying to you WE ARE GOING TO THE OTHER SIDE. Trust His word.

He’s looking at you this morning saying I know you’re broke…but we are going to the other side.

I know your sick but we are going to the other side.

I know your in chaos but we are going to the other side.

Just a couple more examples of following the model of Jesus and I’ll be done.

The next model that Jesus shows that we can look to for help in this life is service. Now you might say how is serving other people gonna help me. It’s all about me right. Not really no. Here is a truth that over the years I have had to learn and relearn. It’s not about me it’s all about Him. The more I focus on Him and pointing to Him the more He puts in my hand. The more I serve the more I have to serve with. Check this out: We are going back to Matthew’s Gospel for this one.

So this is where James and John’s mother wants to reserve on the left hand and right hand of Jesus in the Kingdom. Now the other disciples got mad when they heard this and Jesus responds to all of them this way:

25 Jesus called them over and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. 26 It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

If you want to be great serve. If you want to be first be a slave. That’s tough to hear. Especially when we don’t see it modeled very often. Jesus teaches it here and models it later. Let’s look at how He Models it.

This is found in John’s Gospel Chapter 13

4 So he got up from supper, laid aside his outer clothing, took a towel, and tied it around himself. 5 Next, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around him.

6 He came to Simon Peter, who asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

7 Jesus answered him, “What I’m doing you don’t realize now, but afterward you will understand.”

8 “You will never wash my feet,” Peter said.

Jesus replied, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”

9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”

Now this may sound a little gross but nothing crazy to model here right. Wrong. You see in that culture the job of foot washing was reserved for the lowest servant on the totem pole. So that is why Peter is like no no no you can’t wash my feet. But Jesus came to serve not be served. He came to save the lost and set the captives free. He came for me and for you.

So I want to share a very personal story with you then I’ll close. Some of you know a little bit of my story and I won’t get into a lot of that here. Suffice it to say childhood was a bad deal. A few years back my dad had a heart attack. We did not have a great relationship to say the least and I carried a ton of unforgiveness and anger towards him. I go to the hospital and they are getting him ready for an early morning quadruple bypass. Nurse looks at me and says he needs to be washed with this soap before the surgery.

I DID NOT WANT TO DO THAT. But i did. I’m sitting there washing my dad and I get to his feet and the Holy Spirit just broke me. There in that hospital bathroom He brought this verse to my head and my heart. Right in the middle of my internal conversation about how angry I was and how this isn’t fair and I shouldn’t have to do this. Here’s the verse ...

14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done for you.

Yall when I got him back in his bed I went to my truck and cried like a baby.

So let me ask you a question....Are you a super model today. Are you modeling Jesus to others. Don’t know what to do with your kids? What are you modeling? Don’t know what to do with your money? What are you modeling? Don’t know what to do with your situation? What are you modeling.

You see we tend to gripe about culture and teenagers and money and jobs and people and church and pastors and other believers and the lost and well everything.

WHAT ARE WE MODELING? What gets modeled gets done.

Are we modeling what Jesus modeled for us. Or are stuck in this cultural battle fighting with our own strength.

Are you fighting for your kids on your strength.

Are you fighting for your finances on your own strength?

Are you? It’s time to follow the one and only model that has proved in every way that His word is sure and trustworthy and everlasting. It’s time to follow Jesus.