The Journey - Follow

my dad was a mechanic. He would have me follow him to return cars to customers.

He would always say just follow me.

Street address? Cross street? General direction?

Nope, just follow me.

What if I get lost? Don’t.

Because that’s always the biggest fear. I remember how unfounded that fear was when the first time my dad made it through a light that I wound up gettting stopped at. I was so scared until I saw that shortly up ahead, he had pulled over to wait.

Of course in the years that I did this from 16 to 24, I never did get lost and he never did pay me.

This is a lot like

2 Timothy 2:11–15 ESV

11 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. 14 Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

2 timothy 2:

Big Idea: Trust Jesus as you follow Him.

1. Following Jesus is an identity. (-13)

Explanation: There are not a whole lot of trustworthy sayings in the world. Paul wants us to know that this is trustworthy:

If we find our idenity in following Jesus, he will never let us down. We will live with Him and we will reign with Him. If we find our identities in something else which lead us to deny him or remain faithless in the face of God’s love, there are no guarentees. But even in the midst of our denial and faithlessness, Jesus remains faithful for He cannot deny Himself. Which also means that He won’t deny those who are His.

Paul and the early church had a clear understanding that Jesus wasn’t just something that you added to your life, but immensely tied to who they were. They had given up everything to follow Jesus. Starting back with the disciples. They left fishing nets and family. Mathew left his tax collecting booth and a life of sin. Peter said it best.

Matthew 19:27 ESV

27 Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?”

For those who would call themselves Christians, your identity must be rooted in following Jesus.

Illustration: For my family, this week is a big week because tonight at 5:20, the ravens play the steelers. The biggest rivally in football…at least the only one that matters to me. If I’m not careful, I can get so caught up in a game, that it will affect my mood for the rest of the day....or even week.

Some people will follow sports. Some people will follow an entertainer. Some might follow a cause. Some might follow family and culture. Some might even follow a political party. But if we’re not careful, those things could lead to an identity that conflicts. Our identity needs to be in Jesus.

What else could we put in there? If we die with the Ravens will I live with them? If I endure with them, will I get a superbowl right? If I deny them, will they even care? Will this be just another year for them to let me down?

Application: Where do we start? I think many of us need to find those areas in our lives where we’ve found our identity in something that’t not Jesus, we need to start with acknowledging it and turning back to Jesus.

For some, you’ve looked for identity in so many things that left you wanting more. Maybe it’s time to turn to Jesus.

Don’t worry if you don’t get it right immediately. Because...

2. Following Jesus is a process. ()

Explanation: Anytime, the words remind or remember in the command for appear in scripture, I always pay attention. Paul is saying that people need reminders. They aren’t going to get this right away. They need to be reminded. We need to be reminded about what it means to follow Jesus. I love how immediately after the reminder, he immediately says don’t fight about words. As if he’s saying, don’t argue about what this means....it’s pretty simple.

One of the biggest encouragements that I get from scripture is just how long it took Jesus disciple’s to understand who He was and what He was asking them to do. They walked with Him for 3 years and it wasn’t until after He was crucified dead and buried and rose from the dead that they truly got it.

The process of following Jesus begins with truth. Do you truth that following Jesus is better than the alternatives? Do you trust that Jesus will come through for you? Do you trust that even when things don’t turn out like you hoped or expected that Jesus is still in control?

Following Jesus is a process by which we learn to trust Him more. And then that next time we need to trust him, it gets easier.

But we’ll never learn to trust Jesus until we actually step out and trust Him.

Illustration: Going back to my earlier story about my dad. Every time I followed him, I had to trust that he was going to leave me behind…even at a stoplight. It didn’t take long for me to figure out he was never going to leave me behind. The truth is, I was his ride home.

Application: Were are you in the process? At the beginning? On the road? Stopped at a stoplight wondering if Jesus is waiting just up ahead?

Or maybe it’s time to begin. But remember, following Jesus isn’t about you. It’s about Jesus, and when you follow Him, then you represent Him.

So...

3. Following Jesus is a responsibility. ()

Explanation: Do your best. That’s really all we can ask of ourselves. That’s our responsibility. Just to do our best.

To Present yourself to God as one approved: This is going to take time in the process. learning to trust Jesus and following Him wherever He might lead. The approval is not about salvation, but about following Jesus.

A worker who does not need to be ashamed: Shame is a powerful emotion. But that shame here is tied to work. We want to make sure that we take serious our responsibility.

Rightly dividing the word of truth: When we speak of rightly dividing the word of truth (The Bible), we aren’t necessarily speaking of this for ourselves. Yes it is true that as followers of Jesus we need a firm grasp on the word of God, but we also need to be able to teach it to others. To rightly explain what the Bible means to other people. That’s what this means.

Illustration: it is one thing to try and follow someone. It’s another to try and follow someone when you’re leading someone else. But that’s what we are called as followers of Jesus to do. Follow while leading others to follow.

Application: If we are honest, our responsibility is to others. To love one another. To teach one another.

Reflection: What’s keeping you from trusting Jesus?

Maybe it starts with actually following Jesus for the first time.