Who do we follow?
2 Sam 7:12-16; Mt 21:1-5 (Zech 9:9)
Big Idea: We follow a King who reigns forever
I am a follower. I follow sports teams. It is such a guy thing. Right at this time is every sports fan favourite time of the year - NBA playoffs, Stanley Cup playoffs, MLB with my favourite team the Blue Jays pounding record number of homeruns in May, badminton’s just done their world team championships the Thomas cup for men and Uber Cup for women, got world cup of soccer to look forward to, it is a smorgasbord of pure mucho macho delight!
Maybe you ladies, can’t really identify with that. But I can see a number do follow the latest fashions, especially last nite at the graduation feast, got your bling, got your pumps, would not be caught dead wearing last year’s fashion, or anything you can get out of Walmart. It seems like every gal is looking like the ladies in Twilight, Moonlight or is it New Moon, Eclipse, Sex in the City (they can’t stop talking about the shoes), while following the latest gossip on Brangelina, Lindsay Lohan’s latest disaster.
Perhaps Some NOT into sports or fashion, but we follow other stuff like millions of people last week the finale on the Lost or 24, don’t we? Then we follow our appetites... whatever tickles our fancies. I saw a movie where people would follow a gal who decided to blog about her quest to cook from Julia Child’s cookbook in 365 days.
It seems following people is a universal thing... we are built to follow, we do it willingly, you would get a following if make the best and cheapest sushi, the greatest hotdog, some of you follow the hottest girl or guy like a puppy with tongue hanging out, even follow the geek with the ipad, some make it their business to follow our society’s obsession with sex booze party scene, writing gossip columns for all the shady tabloids. It seems by nature we are all followers and some so obsessive they approach the territory of becoming stalkers.
Point is Male or female, big or small, hunky or not, we are all followers... right?
I wonder if perhaps you had ask yourselves why follow these things or these trends or these people? Why follow the NHL Canucks? Every spring they break our hearts. We shout Lou... then we turn into Boo. Why do we follow those sports teams? Why do we hold out the hope that someday the Canucks would bask in Stanley Cup glory? Or Why follow fashion trends, our appetites?
Is it not true? Life is about following... from the first breath we have we have been followers, we follow and copy our parents, ... Imagine if we did not follow parents, we’d be dead, no food, no love, no clothes, we’d dead naked and really skinny people.
Following, it seems makes us feel somewhat happy, alive. It seems we want to connect with our world and to something bigger than just ourselves. We do not want to be a mere tourist on this planet all by our lonesome. It appears in our hearts, we want to matter, we want to know we are alive, we are social beings, designed for relate, it makes us feel good to do it. Maybe you’ve heard of babies that are left alone in orphanages, they fail to thrive, many shrivel up lack of connection and touch. We must connect, to something bigger than just our next day’s meal, or our jobs, or being a student, a housewife... so we follow, we follow what others are into, what others say are meaningful, is hot or groovy, cool, we want to belong!
So who or what is worthy to be followed? Sports teams? Nah... they always promise to win the cup but always lose and what if they win... they lose again... The fashion police? ... nah next year fashion will change, just when you shriek with delight you got that to die for designer outfit on sale, they’re yesterday fashions already... Our own appetites? They are never satisfied... one day they’d a hotter thing than the ipad, a hotter girl or hotter spicier version of whatever we follow .... Our parents... nah... you are way too cool now to follow parents... would not be caught dead driving in mom’s minivan, rather be in a real mini, something sporty... Is there anyone or anything worth following, giving your life for?
Our hearts long for something someone we can connect to, that is meaningful worthwhile.
It’d be a shallow life to follow teams that will lose, fashion that will in at a garage sale next month, food that will become maggoty, illicit sex will become STDs or destruction of true intimacy, booze or drugs that will become next drunk statistic in jail or worse dead, cars that will end up in a junk pile
The Bible teaches us that there is someone who is worth your followership...
Turn in the bible to 2 Sam 7:12-16;
12 When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me [b] ; your throne will be established forever.' "
This portion of the Bible tells there is someone worthy of following - God. In this bible passage, the time of peace prosperity for Israel was just beginning with the leadership of King David. God gave rest to Israel from all her enemies. David was secure in his beautiful palace and He thought how can he be in nice place and God’s place is nothing but a tent so he wanted to build a temple that will be worthy of God And in speaking about a house for God, God says to David, he will build a house for David, a house that cannot be destroyed, meaning his descendants.
This a great promise, God’s guaranteeing David’s legacy. His house will stand the test of time. God saying to King David through the prophet Nathan, that David’s descendants will be a royal line and it will be a kingdom that will never cease. If you are familiar with Abraham’s story in Genesis 15, you’d recognize this speech. It is a speech that is made in context of covenant. I recognized it because I just had a bible study on it last Wednesday. In Gen.15:4 God said something similar to Abraham about his descendants in the context of making a covenant with him. Bible students will see that there is a connection here from the days of Abraham to David. What you need to know from this, is that God is fulfilling his promise to Abraham with David and now making some very specific promises to David who is a descendant of Abraham.
That is why I say if anyone is worth following it’ll be God who never fails to keep His word. Even down the centuries, God could have conveniently forgotten His word or changed His mind, yet He faithfully orchestrated history in order to keep His faithful word. What’s mind blowing is God’s stake in this... v.14 I will be his father and he will be my son... statement of personal stake in this... To God it is not just a program of making things right... but it is about family... personal. Got so personal that this word about an offspring was eventually fulfilled in the very personal entrance of God’s Son Jesus into the world. Jesus is the Davidic king whose kingdom will endure forever. God takes it very personally and seriously to offer to anyone willing to follow Him a Kingdom that will not disappoint, that will not be yesterday’s fashion, that will go longer than the energizer bunny.
Is this not worth following, a King with a Kingdom that will endure forever?
Need more convincing... The NT record in the Gospel of Matthew traces the line of David to Jesus, the rightful heir to the throne that is established forever. Just so you know Jesus is not some random guy, but the prophesied priest, prophet and King the OT has been predicting. Read how Matthew started his book... genealogy. So what the Bible is saying is this - The promises of God from of old traced right through the first book of the Bible are kept and will be kept through the endless reign of Jesus the king, who is now alive and will come again. Your king has come!!
1As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away."
4This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5"Say to the Daughter of Zion,
'See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.' "[a]
Is this King worth following? He is only one who has kept His promise. His resume is awesome. The owner and ruler of the Universe. His every speech is inspirational, full of life, powerful and wise. His promises will never be altered, he will be royal and not only that, he will be loyal. Who do we follow?
We follow a King who reigns forever. We know that because He was crucified in order to take care of sin then rose victoriously from the dead. Today we have Jesus, the king who comes to you. He will not shun you, blow you off, but a king who is humble, gentle and inviting. He will not disappoint like the Canucks, he will not be yesterday’s fashion, he is always the same, yesterday today forever. He will reign, higher than Armani or any of those fashion gods. He will annihilate all opposition, including the devil, proving He is not a sissified God who is not concerned with justice. He will crush all evil, proving He is a good king. For Jesus is the offspring that has been promised, from Genesis 3, when sin entered the world, a redeemer will be provided. He is the offspring of the woman who will crush the serpent’s head (Gen3:15), ensuring victory for all who follow this King. One day the bible says all things will be submitted to him, every knee will bow and tongue confess... for His kingdom will never end. He will be King whether you like it or not. Because it is His word and he will keep it.
Who do you follow?
The gods of this world? The soccer gods, hockey gods, The American Idol? Lost TV series, it’s just a TV show, and even that had to end, those things do not reign forever. Fashion trends? Your BFF? Canada’s boyfriend, yuuccckkk!!
We all follow, we want something bigger than ourselves, worth giving our lives to, who will you follow? One who reigns forever, whose kingdom will endure fashion trends, the stock markets, economic trends beckons you.
Serious about following? Orders of the king – baptism, giving, serving, teaching etcImagine a world where everyone follows this King Jesus.
It’d be a world, filled with joy. Taste of that world, whenever genuine Christian love is shared. Sing of His greatness! Rejoice in the Him, follow Him!
