Follow the Leader (1 Thessalonians 1:5b-10)

Follow the Leader
Sermon based on 1 Thessalonians 1:5b-10
Sunday, October 19, 2008 – Pentecost 23A 

Do you like playing "Follow the Leader" where one lucky person is designated the leader and everyone else lines up behind him or her and does exactly what they do? If they hop on one foot, you hop on one foot. If they skip, you skip. If they twirl around you twirl around. As a parent, it's a game I play with my boys sometimes doing some pretty silly things.

But as a parent it didn't take me long to realize that I play "Follow the Leader" a lot more often than I realize. Country music singer, Rodney Atkins, sings a song called Watching You, that describes this game of "Follow the Leader" we sometimes play unawares. Pay attention to the lyrics of the first verse… 

Drivin' through town just my boy and me With a Happy Meal in his booster seat Knowin' that he couldn't have the toy 'til his nuggets were gone. A green traffic light turned straight to red I hit my brakes and mumbled under my breath. His fries went a flyin', and his orange drink covered his lap Well, then my four year old said a four letter word It started with "S" and I was concerned So I said, "Son, now where'd you learn to talk like that?"

He said, "I've been watching you, dad ain't that cool? I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you. And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are. We got cowboy boots and camo pants Yeah, we're just alike, hey, ain't we dad? I want to do everything you do. So I've been watching you." 

Like it or not, every one of us being watched—by family, by friends, by co-workers. And we set an example for others, whether good or bad. That's a big responsibility! But it's also a big opportunity! We can rejoice that we're forgiven for those times that we've been less than perfect role models. And empowered by that Good News we can become better role models as we follow the leader and others follow us. Listen to the encouragement the apostle Paul gives to the Thessalonians and to us in 1 Thessalonians 1… 

You know how we lived among you for your sake. ⁶You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. ⁷And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. ⁸The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, ⁹for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, ¹⁰and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. 

Wow! What great examples the Thessalonians set! Though they lived at the foot of Mt. Olympus, they got rid of the pantheon of Greek gods they once served and turned to the true and living God and became role models, not just to their friends and family, but to the whole region! Their reputation preceded them and every believer who heard of them aspired to be like them. They were full of joy in spite of suffering, great at evangelism, eager to serve Jesus however they could! They were imitators not only of Paul, but even of Jesus while they waited patiently for his return! Wow! What great role models they were and still are!

But how about you? Are you a great role model—one whom other Christians look up to and admire, and say, "Man, I wish I could be like that!"? Do you always welcome the message with joy, even while you endure severe suffering? Or do you ignore the message with grumbling and complaining about your trials? Does the Lord's message ring out from you? Or do other words, less kind and less productive sometimes come from your mouths? Are you always eager to serve the living and true God? Or do you sometimes serve the idol of Self? Are you a good role model to all the believers in Raleigh and North Carolina? A prime example of what a Christian should be?

This week I received an email from an angry and hurting soul who wrote: "I saw a lot of hypocrisy at an early age and, gosh, it just sort of soured me on the whole religion thing." When I read that line, I could sympathize with her. I had to agree. There is a lot of hypocrisy, not just in Christianity in general, but at Gethsemane and in my own life. Not only am I not always the best role model to follow, but worse yet, I'm not always following the best role models myself.

I don't follow Paul's example and have the Lord's message ring out wherever I go. I don't follow the Thessalonians example and receive the Word with joy in spite of severe suffering. I don't serve God as often as I serve myself and I certainly don't love others with self-sacrificing love like Jesus did. 

And as if all this weren't bad enough, when I hear how I should be following Jesus perfect example I know that I can't ever do it—not well enough. No matter how often I share the gospel, I know it's not as often I could. No matter how much time or labor or money I give to my Savior, I know it's not always with a heart that's full of gratitude to him, but out of habit or a worthless attempt to sooth my own conscience by my works. And let's face it, even if I could perfectly follow Jesus' example tomorrow it still wouldn't undo my sins of today. No matter how hard I try to lead a good life, I still sin. I'm far from the perfect that God demands and I surely deserve hell for my hypocrisy—for not only failing to set a good example for others, but all too often setting a bad example. And so do you.

And while I can't ever perfectly follow Jesus' lead or imitate him well enough, while I can never be a good enough role model for others, I rejoice that I don't need to do those things! My Savior was perfect for me! And while I can't follow the Leader perfectly in my life, I can follow the Leader to the cross. And there through the eyes of faith I see him tortured to death in my place. There I hear the anguished cry that should have been mine: "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?!" as he endures the hell that should have been mine.

You too can follow the Leader to his cross. And see his great love poured out for you there. A love that stopped at nothing to take your selfishness, your idolatry, your bad examples that you leave for others, your every sin all on himself and all away—as far as the east is from the west—as if none of it ever happened! He's rescued us from God's coming wrath! He's rescued us from hell and promised to return to take us to be with him in heaven! What selfless love he's showed—and still shows—to you and to me!

And it's this love that moves me and you to want to follow him! We follow our Leader and his perfect example not because we have to earn his favor, but because we long to thank him for what he's done. We long to be like him in every way that we can! And so, comforted by the gospel—that good news that every sin is forgiven!—we find a new commitment and zeal to follow Jesus and mimic and imitate him. We long to be selfless like he was, receiving others graciously and lovingly, enduring severe suffering with the joy that the Holy Spirit gives us, letting the Lord's message ring out from us to all who will listen! Out of sincere thanks to him for rescuing us from God's coming wrath, we're eager to turn away from our worthless idols and to serve the living and true God in whatever ways we can!

And as we do this—keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, our Savior, our perfect example and on other heroes of faith, like the apostle Paul and like the Thessalonians, men and women who put their trust in Jesus and lived their lives for him, we too will in turn become role models to others. The charge of hypocrisy will be dropped as we "Live such good lives among [others] that, though they accuse [us] of doing wrong, they may see [our] good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." (1 Peter 2:12) From watching you and your example as you follow the Leader, they too might come to know Jesus' great love for them and follow him with you.

Rodney Atkins didn't end his song with the bad example he set for his four year old son. Here's the second verse… 

We got back home and I went to the barn I bowed my head and I prayed real hard Said, "Lord, please help me help my stupid self." Just this side of bedtime later that night Turnin' on my son's Scooby-Doo nightlight. He crawled out of bed and he got down on his knees. He closed his little eyes, folded his little hands Spoke to God like he was talkin' to a friend. And I said, "Son, now where'd you learn to pray like that?"

He said, "I've been watching you, dad ain't that cool? I'm your buckaroo, I want to be like you. And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are. We like fixin' things and holding momma's hand Yeah, we're just alike, hey, ain't we dad? I want to do everything you do; so I've been watching you" 

Others are watching you. But that's not a bad thing! It's a wonderful opportunity to become a role model! Follow Jesus, dear friends! Follow him to the cross where you see your every sin and mistake forgiven. Follow Jesus' example in the way you live your lives. And become a leader that others follow. Let them follow you to the cross! In Jesus' name, dear friends, amen.