"Come follow me, the Savior spake;  all in my way abiding.  Deny yourself, the world forsake, obey my call and guiding.  O bear the cross, whate'er betide;  take my example for your guide."  Sound familiar?  The choir just sang those words of Charles Schoeffler which he wrote in 1896.  The last verse of this little chorale concludes, "For who bears not the battle's strain, the crown of life will not obtain."  It's a song from our "old hymnal" and has good thoughts we don't often consider, thoughts like leaving a life of security and plenty and following a way of life considered insecure, even foolish today, the way of Jesus Christ.

          What is it that possesses people to leave a good job and follow after a dream?  You still hear of it today.  A man or woman with a great job, a professional who's trained 6-8 years in a career and has job security, walks away from the office and takes up a life of near poverty, following his/her heart into the wilderness of insecurity.  Why do it?  Why would Matthew, a rich man with a good job, shuck it all to follow a Rabbi who promised him seemingly so little?

          Rabbis then were a dime a dozen.  They and their followers could be seen all over Israel.  Today's Rabbis might be an author whose works we read at the library or at Border's Books.  A modern Rabbi might even be an idea we've wanted to pursue, but back then it was a real person whom you actually followed from town to town, living off handouts, learning new teachings and becoming like him.

          Something about this fellow from Nazareth interested Matthew.  His real name was Levi, whose name meant "I've taken a vow."  He was in the service of the government, collecting taxes not for the Romans, but for Herod Antipas, Edomite ruler of Galilee, son of the Herod the Great who tried to kill baby Jesus.  Matthew had job security, but he surely also had a guilty conscience.  He made his money by clever extortion or overcharging.  He had no financial worries, but he didn't like what he'd become.  Some of us today may know the feeling.  The things we feel forced to do in the workplace make us feel used and tainted.  It's not easy being a Christian in some of today's corporations.

          Maybe Matthew followed Jesus to run from his past sins.  Luke says Matthew had entertained Jesus and other tax collectors in his home.  Perhaps that dinner was to introduce Jesus to his friends, or maybe it was an informal way of breaking with his past, saying farewell to the old days of cheating and welcoming a change in learning things he'd been ignoring for so long.  Maybe he followed Jesus to make atonement for past sins.  Or maybe he just admired this young fellow, the Friend of the friendless.  Whatever the case, when Jesus of Nazareth walked by and said, "Follow me," Matthew left it all and followed Him.

          There are days when I think I'd have followed Jesus too.  You can be a disciple of Christ for the wrong reasons.  You can be a "wannabe," a disciple mostly to serve yourself.  Some of us follow Christ, but really we're trying to figure out God.  I know I've studied and taught the Gospel of Matthew for more years than I can remember.  Maybe some of that is so I can figure out God.  I'm teaching Matthew to my Confirmation students right now, and I still get excited about its message, a lot more excited than my students!

          Matthew is a marvelous book of first-hand experiences with the Lord.  His account of Christ's parables and miracles is without equal.  You can't read that Gospel without being changed.  He shows without a doubt that "Yeshua ha Nosari," Jesus of Nazareth, truly is God's Son and the Lord of all.  He shows it so clearly that it changes you.  Either that or you're not listening.  And plenty of us today are not.  We get so wrapped up in this world that we forget the power of God's Word.

          Most of us in life don't follow God, but we do follow our own interests, our own dreams.  There is a saying that at any given time in Christianity, only 5% of Christians are acting out of purely Christian motives, that the other 95% are asking, "What's in it for me?"  Another saying is that the church is made up of 1/3 workers, 1/3 shirkers and 1/3 jerkers.  And so often it seems like you can't tell who's who.

          What does it mean to follow Jesus today?  He doesn't walk by our office cubicles today and say, "Follow me!"  He speaks to us through the Bible, and He bids us follow Him through a friend, or an experience.  Christ calls some of us to follow Him while plowing the field, walking the halls or plodding the sidewalks.  He calls us to follow Him through the kind words, and sometimes through harsh trials.  But one thing is sure, though.  We have to get up and go.  You can't follow Jesus from an easy chair - you need to stand up.  You need to actually follow Him, and not just think about it or talk about it or study about it.

          Two men were sitting in a waiting room, waiting for their cars to get fixed, so they struck up a conversation.  Since it was President's Day, Lincoln's name came up and the first man said he considered Abraham Lincoln to be the greatest man in the history of the world.  In fact, he even said that he tried to live his life according to the teachings of Abraham Lincoln.  "There's a group of about 40 of us who meet once a week on Friday evening.  Our leader is a man with a Master's degree in American History.  Every week, he reads a selection from Lincoln's writings, and then he explains what it means and suggests ways we can apply it to our lives.  Lincoln's birthday, Feb. 12, is a big holiday for us.  We have parties, exchange gifts, and sing Civil War songs.  Sometimes one of us dresses up like Lincoln and gives out presents to the kids.  We call ourselves Linconians - it's a lot of fun," he said.

          "So you must study Lincoln's life and writings?" said the second man.  "Well, not exactly.  I do own a leather bound copy of Lincoln's complete works -- his speeches, writings, letters.  It's beautiful.  I have it displayed on a table by our front door so people can see I'm a Linconian.  I also own several of his biographies.  One of these days I plan to read them."  "But how can you be a disciple of Lincoln if you don't read what he wrote?" said the second man.  "Well," said the first, "it's mostly common-sense stuff.  'Do unto others,' the golden rule, be nice to people, free the slaves, that sort of thing.  And besides, I listen to a half-hour speech on Lincoln every Friday."

          "So how does being a follower of Lincoln affect your life?"  "Well, like I said, I go to a meeting most every Friday, except in the summer when I play ball and during the winter when we go south.  And no matter where we are, I celebrate his birthday once a year.  I own a leather-bound edition of his writings.  Oh, and most of my friends are also Linconians."  "So when you get together with your friends during the week, do you talk about Lincoln's life and how to live out his teachings?"  "Oh, no, that stuff's for Fridays, when we go to the meetings.  During the week we talk about sports, politics, families - the same things everybody else talks about."

          I think the point is clear.  Following Jesus means He affects your whole life.  It means following what's right and abandoning what's wrong.  It means doing the good things we've avoided, things that Jesus teaches.  It means opening His Book often - every day - and following what He says.  It means a lot more than just hearing someone else talk about Him.

          Following Jesus today also means obeying Him.  We Lutherans far too often talk a good talk, but don't walk the walk.  We may know the life of Christ and yet forget what He says.  We may quote Bible verses, but have trouble living them out.  Following Christ means agreeing with what He said, and then putting His words into practice.  It's keeping our eyes on Him every day.

          When I was twelve and finally allowed to plow with a tractor, my dad taught me first how to open a field.  The goal was to plow in as straight a line as possible so that the rest of the field would be tilled correctly and would also look good.  Open the field crooked and the whole thing would be crooked.  He told me to pick a fence post or a tree at the other end of the field and to plow straight towards it.  Fix your eyes on that mark and don't look away," he said.  "Look straight ahead and don't look back or you'll get it crooked."  The first time I tried it was pretty bad, because I kept looking back to see how good I was doing.  The more I checked, the worse the line was.  "It's not so bad," I said.  "No one can see it from the road."  "But you can see it and I can see it," Dad said, "and that's what really counts."  The next time it was better, but I never got it as good as he could.  I swear he would make a straight line with his eyes shut.  In the same way, if our eyes of faith are not fixed on Jesus, every day, our life will get crooked.  Swerve this way or that in one part of life and the rest of life will be crooked too.

          Following Christ means we believe He's the Son of God, and give Him the glory.  Jesus is our Savior, the Holy One of God.  He loved the world enough to die for it.  Because of sin, the world is under God's judgment.  God's justice demands sin be punished, but His mercy knows we'd all be wiped out.  So God chose to punish His only Son.  Jesus Christ took our punishment on Himself, the Holy One dying for the sinful ones.  He kept His eyes fixed on the righteousness of God because He knew we can't.  He took our place on the cross, and now all who trust in Jesus will not perish, but have eternal life with God.

          Following Jesus means trusting Him.  Christ comes first in life, even before job, even before family.  We have His book and we read it.  Following our Lord means He comes first, others come second and ourself comes last.  We live in a world filled with terror and death.  Hurricanes strike our shores and our lives.  Our only hope is Jesus, the Rock of our Salvation Who can never be moved.  God grant us grace to follow Jesus in all we do.  Amen!

Copyright © 2003 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.