Fan or Follower, Part 1

Well, brethren, I don't really believe in coincidence. I don't really believe that when God deals with us, when God works with us as His people, that any particular thing just happens just because. I think that God has a design for the events of our life, and that He doesn't operate like Mr. Magoo, and just kind of blindly go through life, kind of fuddling through time, allowing fate and chance to dictate our steps.

I believe that God is fully in control. So when I relate to you this story that I'm about to relate, I want you to understand where I'm coming from. In the middle of July this past year, I gave a sermon in the Salem area entitled, What is Love? And the overall topic of the message was showing love for God, showing love for our fellow man, and what that looks like in the life of a Christian. The final point of that sermon, the very last thing that we discussed in that message, was the idea that if we claim that we are followers of Jesus Christ, and yet we don't go through the process of ensuring that we have love for God and for one another. In other words, we say, yes, I'm a Christian, yes, I love God, I keep all the commandments. But you know all that hippie stuff that Jesus preached about turning the other cheek and not repaying evil for evil, and, yeah, I could leave that.

If that's the case, then we have a hard time legitimately calling ourselves a follower of the individual who came and taught these things. At best, we could consider ourselves to be a fan. That was the final point of that particular sermon. And on the day that I gave that message, I had talked to my wife about my topic, as I often do. I usually run it past her. Generally a good idea.

I hadn't told another person what I was speaking on that day, and neither did she. Immediately before services, a member of the congregation came up to me and handed me a book and said, you need to read this. Not like, you need to read this, but like, you need to read this. And there is a difference. I've actually heard both in the past. So there is a difference between those two.

But the book was titled, Not a Fan. It was written by Kyle Eidelman, who is a preacher in one of the mega churches down in Louisville, Kentucky. One of the churches he is a part of is the fifth largest church in the country. It's just gigantic. They have 10,000 people in and out of that place on a Sunday. That means it's unreal, the numbers. But I kind of flipped the book over, read the back of the book jacket to kind of gauge what the book was about. Because I don't just often randomly take books from people. I kind of want to find out what I'm getting into.

But what I saw in the back of that book jacket nearly made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I realized this entire book was the third and final point of my message that day. The whole thing. In far more depth than what I was covering it at at that point. Now this had been a topic I'd been thinking about. I'd been meditating and chewing on for quite some time. Finally, I found a way to put it together that day into a message. And finally, it was a small point, sub-point of a different message, and it worked, and I was happy. But I truly believe that receiving this particular book was not a coincidence. I think the timing and the topic was just too perfect to be coincidence. This book became the impetus and the inspiration for the sermon I gave at the feast at Anchorage this year. And the idea of that was, are we following God when we come to the Feast of Tabernacles? Are we here for the right reasons, really, was the gist of the sermon itself. But as I talked to people after that message, and as we carried on discussions afterwards, and as we talked over dinner, I realized I'd struck upon a topic that was very near and dear to people's hearts. Particularly those people in Anchorage, but also people within the United Church of God as a whole, and really near and dear to the people in the churches of God as a whole. Because ultimately, when we look at ourselves, when we look at what we are and who we are at our core, we strive to be followers of Jesus Christ. We strive to be followers of God at our core. When I finished with the sermon and I saw how much discussion had come from it, how well it was received, I realized very quickly this particular topic was not done with me yet. I realized very quickly it wasn't over yet. If I had not received this book on that day, with that particular message prepared, I wouldn't have dug any further into it. I wouldn't have given the message that I gave in Anchorage, and to an extent, we wouldn't be here today with this message prepared to talk to you all today. So I'd like to begin today by asking a very simple, yet I feel very extremely profound question. Are we fans, or are we followers? Are we fans, or are we followers? And there is a definite difference, but before we answer the question, sometimes we can just go, I keep the commandments, I do what I'm... But before we answer that question, in order for us to answer it properly, we need a little bit of background and a definition of our terms. In this particular book, again, Not a Fan, it's written by Kyle Eitelman. I really can't recommend it highly enough. It was a really, really fantastic read. But he defined these two categories of people as it applies to Christianity. He discusses the characteristics that make someone a fan, and then he contrasts that with that of a follower. Throughout the book, he draws lessons from various scriptural examples and makes a very good case that many, quote-unquote, Christians today are really nothing more than fans. They want all the benefits that Christianity provides, but they're unwilling to make the sacrifices necessary to obtain them. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, mentioned earlier, he is very specifically writing about modern Christianity today, the people of the megachurches of the world, so to speak. But I think it is presumptuous of us to automatically assume that we in the churches of God are exempt. We do. I think it is important for us to take a good, long, hard look at our lives. We do that every year with Passover. But that should be a year-long thing to be looking at our lives. People in the world today are fans of a lot of things. They're fans of music. They're fans of sports teams, books, movies.

And people who are fans at their most basic are enthusiastic admirers of a person, a place, or a thing. As Mr. Idelman puts it, says, The fan is the guy who goes to the football game with no shirt and a painted chest. He sits in the stands and he cheers for his team. He's got a signed jersey hanging on his wall at home and multiple bumper stickers on the back of his car. But he's never in the game. He never breaks a sweat, never takes a hard hit in the open field. He knows all about the players. He can rattle off their latest stats. But he doesn't know the players. He yells and he cheers, but nothing is really required of him. There's no sacrifice that he has to make. And the truth is, as excited as he seems, if the team that he's cheering for starts to let him down or has a few off-seasons, his passion will wane pretty quickly. After several losing seasons, you can expect him to jump off the fan wagon and begin cheering for some other team. He's an enthusiastic admirer. Let's turn over to the book of Luke. We're going to start today in Luke 14 to be more specific. Luke 14. And we'll see the characteristics of the fan within Scripture. In this particular parable that we'll find in Luke 14, this parable called the Great Supper, Christ illustrates the attitudes of the fans of his day. And here he tries to illustrate to the disciples and those who are gathered how important commitment and preparation were to this way of life. He gives him the following parable beginning in verse 16 of Luke 14. Verse 16 of Luke 14, and we'll read through 14 verse 20.

He gives one accord, began to make excuses. The first said to him, I've bought a piece of ground and I must go and I must see to it. I ask you, please, have me excused. Another said, I bought five yoke of oxen and I'm going to test them, going to prove them. I ask that you have me excused. Still another said, I've married a wife and therefore I cannot come. The imitations had been sent. The people were called to the supper and when it was time, when they were actually required to follow through, to commit, they found more important things to do. Something came up. In the modern vernacular, they had to have a root canal or they had to have their hair done. They were not finding any excuse not to go out on this day. But we see the response of the man to all of them in verse 24 of Luke 14. Let me skip down just a little bit. Verse 24 of Luke 14. For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper. Now, we know this parable to be about the kingdom of God, that God has called people to the kingdom, offering them a long-term relationship with Him. But attaining that kingdom requires something. It requires follow-through and it requires commitment. In this particular example, there was no commitment whatsoever. And because of that, these individuals lost their opportunity. Their seat was filled by somebody else. The kingdom of God was lost to them. When offered a long-term relationship with God, the fan answers back with, Yeah, you know, the benefits of this relationship sound pretty cool, but I still want to be able to see other people. I want the gift of eternal life, but I don't want to have to give up X or give up Y. You know, if we continue on in Luke 14, we'll see in contrast the characteristics of a follower, what Christ required of His disciples, those who would follow Him. Luke 14, verse 25, we'll actually see Him addressed quite possibly the largest group of fans that we see biblically, the multitudes. You know, they showed up for all the benefits of being around Christ, all the miraculous healings, all the loaves and fishes you could eat. But when it came time for the rubber to meet the road, where were they? Luke 14, 25. Now great multitudes went with Him, and He turned and said to them, If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father, his mother, his wife, his children, brothers and sisters, yes, in his own life also, he cannot be My disciple, and whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. You know, the requirements that Christ Himself personally set were that those who wish to come after Him must love everything else less by comparison. Watch everything else less by comparison. Their family, their job, their possessions, even their own life.

Now we see a similar passage which captures the same basic idea in Luke 9. Let's go back just a couple pages. Luke 9, we'll pick it up in verse 23. Luke 9 verse 23, we'll see the phrasing frame just slightly different. Luke 9, 23 says, Then he said to them all, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. Their wants, their personal desires, the self, had to be put away. You know, Christ desires His followers to put the self to death daily. He wants those who deny their own will and instead will follow Him wherever He may lead. 1 Kings 19 contains an incredible example of a true follower of God. 1 Kings 19, we'll flip back and we'll see the account of the calling of the prophet Elisha in 1 Kings verse 19. We'll see just an incredible example of what the response of a person who is a follower is. 1 Kings 19, and we'll pick it up in verse 19. 1 Kings 19, 19 says, So he departed from there and found Elisha, the son of Shephat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elisha passed by him and threw his mantle on him. And he left the oxen and he ran after Elisha and said, Please, let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you. And he said to him, Go back again, for what have I done to you? So Elisha turned back from him, took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them, boiled their flesh using the oxen's equipment, gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and they followed Elisha and became his servant. This always astounds me as an example of what following God looks like. In this particular passage, we see Elisha chosen by God for a work to symbolize his choice. Elisha casts his mantle upon Elisha's shoulders as he passes by. Elisha was working at the fields in the time, and we can tell from this example, he was from a wealthy family. He had twelve yoke of oxen. It was twenty-four oxen. It's like driving a BMW in those days. It's a status symbol. This is not someone who had nothing going on. This is not someone with a dead-end life. No job, no prospects, nowhere else to go. He had options. Elisha walks by, casts his mantle on Elisha. We see the response of the follower. He runs home to kiss his father and his mother goodbye, knowing he will likely not see them again, slaughters the oxen, builds a fire out of the harnesses and yokes, barbecues him, throws a huge feast, and joins Elisha on the road. He never looked back. Never looked back. Burned the oxen and the yokes. He didn't hold and reserve anything back, just in case this whole, you know, prophet thing didn't work out. He gave up everything to follow God. His old life was over. His new life was beginning. And the new road that he found himself on with Elisha was a one-way street.

What have we given up for this life? A worldly existence given. Maybe we've given up a job. Maybe we've lost family. But if we've given up everything, just like Elisha, this road that we walk, this life that we lead is a one-way street. God's called us. We've responded to that calling. We've all put our hands to the plow. It's sort of Luke 9, verse 62. Should have had you keep your finger there in the book of Luke. My apologies. I have to flip a little further. But Luke 9, verse 62, is we have all put our hand to the plow at this point. We know what we know. Luke 9, verse 62, is a wavering in our level of commitment and focus. You only have to go back to the example of Lot's wife to see what the dangers of looking back can be. When we look back, it's almost like we're telling God, yeah, I really, really want this way of life, but I still miss that other way of life that you called me out of. Almost like we want to run back to the grave site where we buried that old man, dig him up and carry that decomposed body around with us for a while for nostalgia's sake. The road we're on only goes forward. The road we're on only goes forward. Because the reality is, when we look at the plan of God, when we've made the conscious choice to follow God, when we've been baptized, when we've received the Holy Spirit, when we've made that commitment.

The second resurrection ceases to be available to us anymore. We get to the point where we now know God. We can't count ourselves amongst those that no longer know God. We can't count ourselves in that group. We know His ways. We know His teachings. So it goes one of two ways for us at that point. We're either going to be resurrected or changed to spirit, at Christ's return and serve as kings and priests in the kingdom, or we'll be brought up in the third resurrection and cast into the lake of fire. Those are our options once we've made that commitment. Brethren, we either get it right in this life or we don't. It's plain and simple. Let's go to 1 Peter 4, verse 17. 1 Peter 4, verse 17.

Went right past it. There we go. Tucked in there between 2 Peter. Right there at the forehand.

1 Peter 4, verse 17. Very well-known Scripture.

But it states, For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. And if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?

Our time is now. Each and every action, every word, our attitudes, our heart, they're being weighed and measured daily. Thankfully, our God is merciful and grants us repentance and the power to make these changes in our lives. And thankfully, we have our whole lifetime to work on them. The hard part is we don't know how long that is. You know, we could draw our last breath tomorrow. We don't know. We don't know the measure of our days.

Let's turn over to Luke 12. Luke 12. I personally believe one of the most sobering passages in the entire Bible. But Luke 12, at the conclusion of the parable of the wise steward in Luke 12, we see Christ really just lay it out there for his disciples. Just puts it out there and says, Here's the deal. This is how it is. Luke 12, verse 47, says, The individual who knew better and did it anyway is held to a significantly higher standard than the individual that didn't understand what they were doing. To whom much is given, much is required. And that statement should give all of us very serious pause because we have been given much. God's given us his plan. We know God's plan of salvation.

Think about the people out there that are wandering around as their lives go on with no hope whatsoever, no understanding of what God has in store for the entire planet. He's given us his truth. And to whom much is given, much is required. That's the biggest difference between a fan and a follower. A fan has a lot of head knowledge. But that's where it ends.

A follower has application. They deny themselves. They follow through. Head knowledge isn't enough. Action is required. And the follower lives what they know to be true, sacrificing all of the things that get in the way of that life in order to live it. And God provides us with opportunities to prove ourselves each and every day.

Sometimes it's obvious. Sometimes it's not so obvious. I find many of my opportunities come in traffic. I don't know about you, but many of my opportunities to learn come in traffic. But each and every day we're given opportunities to make choices. And what God expects of us is that we'll have the wisdom, we'll have the discernment to be able to negotiate the pitfalls of this life in a godly way.

He desires, with each of those decisions that we make, to find out whether we'll be a fan or whether we'll be a follower. The Bible contains numerous examples of those who did it right and as many, if not more, examples of those who did it wrong. I'd like to spend the remainder of our time today looking specifically at three examples that focus on diagnosing really where we are in this continuum. I include myself in this. Please don't think I'm sitting here going, you, you, you, you, you. No. We. Where are we in this continuum? Turn with me, please, to Genesis 22. We'll see Abraham's opportunity. Genesis 22.

Wait at the back of the book. Genesis 22. And we'll pick it up, actually, in verse 1. We're going to read the account down through about verse 12.

But Genesis 22 and verse 1 says, This passage specifically tells us this event was to prove Abraham. This was a test. This was to prove Abraham.

Verse 2. Then he said, So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, Isaac his son, and he split the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

No negotiation. No attempt at talking God out of it. We don't see Abraham raise his hand and say, um, question. He simply acknowledges the command and began his preparations.

Verse 4. On the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. I've never thought of it in this way. I don't know if you have.

I read through this, getting this all ready to go, and I've read this passage numerous times, and it jumped out at me this time. He had three days to think about this.

Walking through the desert all day long, alone in his thoughts. I imagine it was a pretty quiet trip. I don't think they were talking about what the planting plans were for the next year or, you know, what.

I can imagine this was a pretty solemn, very quiet trip. Three days alone in his thoughts, thinking as he's going to sleep that night of what's going to happen in the next couple of days.

Now, we're not privileged to know what was going on in his head at the time. It doesn't say one of these days I'd love to ask. It'd be really interesting to find out, you know, what in the world was going on in there.

But his actions showed his commitment. He never turned around. He never went home. He never decided, you know, I've given up an awful lot for God. I've left my homeland. I've left my wealth. I've left my inheritance, my parents.

And now he wants my son. You know what? No. This is too much. I love God, but this is just too much. We don't see that from Abraham.

Instead, in verse 5, Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey, or young men, sorry, stay here with the donkey, the lad, and I will go yonder and worship and we'll come back to you.

So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, laid it on Isaac, his son took the fire in his hand and a knife, and the two of them went together.

But Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father, and said, My father! Isaac started to realize something was up.

My father, he said, Here I am, my son. And he said, Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?

And Abraham said, and it doesn't say anything about how choked up Abraham was in this process, My son God will provide for himself the lamb of the burnt offering. And so the two of them went together.

And when they came to the place of which God had told him, and Abraham built an altar there, placed the wood in order, bound Isaac his son, laid him on the altar upon the wood, Abraham stretched out his hand, took the knife to slay his son.

Verse 11, The angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, and so he said, Here I am.

He gets to the point of carrying out the deed, again fully intent on follow-through when God stops him.

His words to Abraham via the messenger are astounding.

Verse 12, it's recorded, and he said, Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him.

For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.

Three simple words. Now I know. Now I know that you fear me. God knew at that moment where Abraham's heart lie. There was absolutely no question. He had proved it.

What was our now I know moment this week? What was our now I know moment this week? Maybe we had a difficult situation at work that required some really delicate handling, and we handled it with patience, wisdom, and love.

And God said, All right, now I know. Now I know.

Perhaps we learned of a need in someone else's life, and we stepped in to help them out in some way. And God said, Now I know.

Perhaps we were confronted with trial or temptation, and we came through it in faith.

And God said, Now, I know.

Or on the other hand, perhaps that situation at work was dealt with in anger and frustration, and we gossiped about the boss or the employee that was driving us crazy. And God said, Now I know. Now I know.

Or we learned of a need in someone else's life and thought, Man, I'm really busy. I just really can't be troubled with this. I'm going to let someone else get it. And God said, Now I know.

Or we were confronted with trial or temptation, and our faith wavered. And God said, Now, I know.

Talk is cheap.

We can talk until we're blue in the face about how much we love God, about how much we want to be a part of the kingdom, and how much we want to please Him.

But as the old adage goes, actions speak louder than words. If we really mean what we say, if we really mean the words that we pray to God, it's up to us to prove it.

The book of John, there's an example of a man that talked a pretty good talk, but when it came down to it, his action said otherwise, at least at the beginning. We see an incredible turnaround in this person's life. In John 3, verse 1, we're introduced to Nicodemus.

Go ahead and head over to John 3. We'll spend a little bit of time in John here. John 3, verse 1, we're introduced to Nicodemus. And Nicodemus was a Pharisee, and not only that, he was a Pharisee of some distinction.

Verse 1 of John 3 refers to him as a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling council. It says he was a ruler of the Jews. Picking up the account in verse 1 of John 3, we see that Nicodemus was intrigued by Christ and His teachings, and He came to visit Him in order to learn more about His teachings.

He even goes as far in verse 2 of John 3, to acknowledge that Christ was clearly from God, given the miracles that He had witnessed Christ performing. In His heart, Nicodemus knew who Christ was. He knew His teachings were the truth. But notice the first part of verse 2.

John 3, verse 2.

I ended up in John 6. Give me one second. Sorry. John 3, verse 2. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know that you're a teacher, come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with Him. He came to Christ by night. Why? Why by night? He would have had lots of opportunities to find Christ. It's not like He was hidden in a cave somewhere. Christ was out there amongst the multitudes in the public places, preaching to the multitudes every chance He had. Healing lepers, blind men.

It's not like you couldn't find Him. Seriously, just follow the giant groups of people. So why come at night? Because Nicodemus had a lot to lose. He had a lot to lose. If you recall, Christ was not terribly well-liked by the Pharisees, let alone the Sanhedrin. Can you imagine what would happen to Nicodemus if they saw Him associated with Christ? Being a secret admirer of Christ had no costs at all, but openly becoming a follower came with a huge price tag.

Christ spells it out for Nicodemus in John 3.3. In John 3, verse 3, Jesus answered and said, And most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Christ as much as tells Nicodemus in the rest of that passage, and we won't go through reading it, you can take a look at it, but He basically tells Nicodemus this life requires commitment, that if He wants to be a part of the kingdom, that He needs to be baptized.

He needs to take that next step, make the commitment that belief was not enough. Next time we see Nicodemus is in John 7. Next time we see Nicodemus is in John 7, let's go to John 7. We'll pick up the passage in verse 40, immediately following the passages in 37, 38, and 39, where Christ makes a statement on the last great day of the feast, a statement that He makes is that if any man thirst, come to Him and drink of living water, verse 40 of John 7.

And I'm going to read it actually in the New Living Translation for some readability reasons. In the New Living, some of you have that, I know, but in the New Living, here is what it says, John 7, verse 40. When the crowds heard Him say this, the statement He made on the last great day of the feast, some of them declared, Surely this man is the prophet that we've been expecting. Others said, He is the Messiah. Still others said, But He can't be. Will the Messiah come from Galilee?

For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born in the royal line of David in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born. So the crowd was divided about Him. Some even wanted Him arrested, but no one laid a hand on Him. When the temple guards returned, verse 45, without having arrested Jesus, the leading priests and Pharisees demanded, Why didn't you bring Him in? Verse 46, We've never heard anyone speak like this. The guards responded, Have you been led astray to the Pharisees mocked? Is there a single one of us, rulers or Pharisees, who believes in Him?

Here's Nicodemus' moment. Here's Nicodemus' moment. This foolish crowd follows Him, but they are ignorant of the law. God's curse is on them. Verse 50, Then Nicodemus, the leader who had met with Jesus earlier, spoke up, Is it legal to convict a man before he's given a hearing? He asked. Verse 52, they replied, Are you from Galilee too? Search the Scriptures and see for yourself no prophet ever comes from Galilee.

Apparently, there was a phrase in those days, and it was a colloquialism, and I found it in a couple of places. It's actually recorded in the Bible in John 1, verse 45. It was uttered by Nathaniel, and it was kind of a colloquialism that kind of gives us an idea that Galilee really was not a terribly well-respected locale at that time. The phrase was, Does anything good come from Galilee? And it's kind of one of those things where you kind of go, Oh, well, that makes sense as to why Christ would have that be the hometown and the place.

I mean, it's just one of those things. So in verse 51, though, Nicodemus steps out on Christ's behalf with the Pharisees, and they deride him by scoffing and trying to associate with him. What, are you from Galilee too? Nothing good comes from Galilee. Nicodemus, don't back him up, don't help him out. But this was Nicodemus' moment. This was the moment where he began to step out of the shadows and declare his support of Christ as the Messiah. The next time we read of Nicodemus, he was unquestionably a follower of Christ.

John 19. John 19. We'll pick up the account in verse 38 following Christ's death. John 19, verse 38, the next time that we see Nicodemus, John 19.38, says, After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Christ, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he may take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission, and so he came and took the body of Jesus.

So Joseph has stepped out of the shadows here. Secretly was a follower, was kind of an admirer beforehand. Now he stepped out and openly declared it. Verse 39, and Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and allos, about a hundred pounds. Then they took the body of Jesus, they bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is, to bury.

No more hiding. He was clearly seen coming to claim the body. And verse 39 almost seems to insinuate that fact by starting with, this is the guy who first came to Christ at night. Now here he is in the open, claiming Christ's body with Joseph of Arimathea, and anointing him with an extremely expensive mixture of spices and allos. He couldn't hide anymore. Nicodemus' secret was out. He was a follower.

And at that point there was no turning back. Fox's book of martyrs states that Nicodemus suffered in the second persecution of Domitian in 81 AD, and Christian tradition holds that he was martyred sometime in the first century for his beliefs.

How often do we hide? How often do we live our Christian life in secret? You know, I know we don't necessarily run out and shout it from the rooftops. How often do we blend into the background? Christ didn't want Nicodemus only at night. He wanted him all the time. He wanted a follower. He didn't want a fan. And as we walk our day-to-day life in the world around us, are we aligning ourselves with the world? Are we striving to stand out against it? Sometimes that life feels like an upstream journey at times to stand out against the world. Are we actively striving to be lights to the world around us? Or are we content and are we satisfied to kind of blend in and not really draw too much attention to ourselves? Someone asks where we're going at work and we tell them we're leaving for the feast. What are we telling? Do we tell them we're going to, you know, celebrate and rejoice? You know, we're going to keep God's commanded holy days? Or do we say, oh, I've got a conference, you know, we're going to go over, you know, kind of a vacation thing. What do we tell people? Do we spend time with God in the mornings and in the evenings, but avoid Him like the plague in the daylight hours? Don't want to be seen associating. Christ wants our all. God wants our all. All the time. Not just when it's convenient and not on our terms. He wants us when we're at work. He wants us when we're in traffic. He wants us when we're at the gym, when we're at school. God wants us to be His. And in this relationship, God defines the parameters. We don't get to set the terms. We don't get to see other people. God says, you are mine. I have bought you at a price. And you are mine. No one else's.

We have to learn to love God more than we love everything else. Even more than we might love our reputation. Even more than we might love our reputation. Following God can cause scorn. It can cause scoffing. It can cause mocking. Christ was mocked often. You look through the Gospels, Christ was mocked often. Scoffers were constantly digging at Him, trying to get Him to respond in kind. Luke 7 provides us with an example of this. Let's go to Luke 7.

Luke 7. He's invited to dinner with a group of Pharisees and is basically disrespected from the moment He arrives on their doorstep. Luke 7. Now custom at this time dictated that dinner guests in your home were greeted with a kiss.

Greeted with a kiss. Typically a kiss on the cheek. Depending on their station might depend how differently that kiss was given. If they were a particularly honored guest, you might skip the kiss on the cheek and instead kiss the hand. That was a higher honor, apparently. To neglect this was like inviting someone into your home, opening the door, not saying a word to them, and not talking to them for the rest of the night. It was really a dis. It was really disrespectful to do that. Additionally, it was customary to provide the guests in your home water so that they could wash their feet, or that if you really wanted to honor them, you would wash their feet yourself. If they were especially honored guests, you would provide them with oil to anoint their heads. Luke 7. Let's pick up the account in verse 36. Luke 7, verse 36.

And then one of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went to the Pharisee's house and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city, who was a sinner, when she knew, when she found out, that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and she began to wash his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and she kissed his feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. I've always kind of always chuckled a bit with this passage because you kind of get this feeling. You're like, wait, who let her in? Like, is this an inside meal? Is this outside? I mean, all of a sudden you look down, oh, hey, what are you doing here? Or, as we were talking in the car this morning, is it possible she was commonly in and around this group? Don't know. It's hard to tell. We don't know. But it seems weird that no one went, hey, who is this and why is she here? We didn't invite her to dinner. What's going on here? We go on a little bit in this passage, and it starts to look more and more like this is one of those prom invites where the person goes and asks somebody to prom, but it's a joke. And then they get to prom, and everybody just laughs. One of those kind of things. Christ was invited here. Simon had no intention of inviting Christ and showing him any kind of respect in this passage. And we'll see that in just a second. He had this dinner either out of a sense of obligation or out of some sort of weird perverted sense of entertainment to sit and mock him all dinner long. Verse 40. We see Christ respond, always patient, always wise. Jesus answered and said to him, Simon, oh, I'm sorry, verse 39. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, saw that this prostitute was washing his feet, he spoke to himself saying, this man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner. Verse 40. Jesus answered and said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. So he said, teacher, say it. There was a certain creditor who had two debtors, one owed five hundred denarii, the other fifty. And when he had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him more? Simon answered and said, I suppose the one whom he forgave more. And he said to him, you've judged rightly. Verse 44. Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, do you see this woman, this sinner, as you have proclaimed? I entered your house and you gave me no water for my feet. But she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss my feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but this woman has anointed my feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. For she loved much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. Then he said to her, your sins are forgiven. And with those who sat at the table with him began to say to themselves, who is this that even forgives sins? Then he said to the woman, your faith has saved you. Go in peace.

In other words, Christ tells Simon here, from the moment I came into your house, you did absolutely nothing but disrespect me. You didn't greet me with a kiss. You didn't offer me water to wash my feet, no oil to anoint my head. But this woman did all these things. She's shown me considerably more respect than you did as a sinner.

The Gospel of Mark discusses this same event, and it states that she poured out the entire bottle to anoint Christ, because they were arguing about it. They got mad over it, because the worth of that bottle was about 300 denarii, which was about a year's wages. She doled that perfume out drop by drop in her profession, and here she poured out the entire bottle to anoint her Lord.

No going back. No looking back. Her days as a prostitute were over. She left a follower of Christ. Now, we don't really hear anything more about her after this. We don't know if that...we don't know where her life went from here. Tradition states that this was Mary Magdalene. I'm not 100% convinced, but it's an interesting possibility. But in the end, at the end of this story, the religious leader who knew all the Scriptures, had all the head knowledge, was shown to be the fan.

And the prostitute was shown to be the follower.

Do we treat God with the level of honor as the prostitute did in this story? Are we willing to humble ourselves and come before Him and pray for the strength to grow spiritually, to leave our sins behind and walk the complete opposite direction? This woman left behind one of the most despicable professions in the ancient world. And even today, head knowledge is not enough. God requires growth. It doesn't specifically state it, but I get the feeling that she never returned to her profession. I get the feeling that she grew spiritually. This life provides us with continual opportunities to grow spiritually every single day. And we all come to God in very different places and from very different backgrounds. Some of us get the ball on the 50-yard line, some of us on the 10, but the expectation of everyone is that that ball is to be moved forward. Regardless of where you got the ball, it's expected that we'll move the ball forward. And God teaches and He trains us through the opportunities that He provides to us each and every day. And you know, perhaps the first time that He provides us with this opportunity, maybe we fail miserably. I mean, like, crash and burn, unable to put out the flames kind of miserably. But when that opportunity comes back around, we've learned a little bit more, we respond a little bit better. Yeah, maybe we wreck the plane, but we walk away from the crash. Next time that opportunity comes around, get all the wheels on the ground, but we're bumping around pretty good and everybody's scared. But finally, after enough practice and growth, we're able to land that plane smoothly. We reach a point in our life where our response to that situation that God has put out there for us is in line with what He expects of us. When we get there, we've grown. We've grown spiritually. It's through this growth that God determines whether we're there yet, whether we've moved from fan to follower. He's looking at the rubber meets the road aspects of Christianity, the nitty-gritty stuff, keeping His commandments, loving our fellow man, particularly our enemies, doing good to those who spitefully use us, not repaying evil for evil, turning the other cheek, having patience, gentleness, kindness. I analyzed my own life. I'm not there yet. I'm working at it. I'm working hard at it. I still struggle with treating people in kind. It's one of those things that I work at. But each and every day we're faced with situations and choices. God is proving His people. He's proving His people like a master silversmith proves and refines silver. God expects that we'll grow and become more pure as that process progresses. Let's go to Proverbs for our final Scripture today. Proverbs 17, verse 3. Proverbs 17, verse 3 says, The refining pot is for silver and the furnace is for gold, but the Lord tests the hearts.

Brethren, God is trying our hearts. He's proving our level of commitment to Him. And God does not desire fans. He desires truly committed followers, individuals who will give Him their all, who will bow their very lives at His feet. Scripture is clear. If we don't get this life right, if we don't get this life right, that incredible kingdom of God that we spent so much time learning about, just several weeks ago at the Peace of Tabernacles, won't even be available to us. So are we here for the right reasons? Are we in this life for the right reasons? Are we here as a committed follower of God, saying, Yes, Father, and carrying out God's instructions? Are we ready to learn the lessons that God has provided us with each and every day, denying ourselves, taking up that cross daily? Or are we going through the motions? You know, coming to church once a week, putting on our Sabbath face, you know, living this way of life because we're fans of the idea of what this way of life entails, but maybe not willing to make the sacrifice necessary to live it. You know, our Heavenly Father desires committed followers. So are you in the stands, or are you on the field? Are you a fan, or are you a follower?