James Meehan - Why Should I Follow Jesus?

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Why do you specifically follow the people that you follow? And on the other side of it, why do you follow the people… Sorry, why do you not follow the people that you do not follow? Some people we follow and others we don’t. Some people we want to follow, because there’s something about them that makes us want to follow them. And other people, we don’t want to do anything that is even close to resembling following them, because there is something about them that we find so utterly repulsive that we don’t wanna be associated with them.

So, what’s the difference between the people that we follow and the people that we don’t? I would say in a word, it is authority. Like the people that we follow have some type of authority that we actually respect and admire. Like it could be your favorite athlete who has an authority in the game that they play. Like their excellence sets such an example that you want to become like them, so you try to follow them. Maybe it is your favorite musician because they’re an authority in the world of music, because they just don’t miss. It is bop, after bop, after bop. Maybe the authority is your parents, because you know that they have the power to let you do what you want to do and they have the power to ground you into next year. Maybe it is your teacher, because they have the authority to pass you or fail you. It might be your coach because they have the authority to play you or bench you.

We follow the people that we follow, because they have authority. And we don’t follow the people that we don’t follow because they might have some authority, but we don’t believe they have authority over us. But what is the difference between authority that is worth following and authority that is not? I would tell you that for me, I learned firsthand that just because my friends think something is a good idea, it is not good to follow their lead. When I was a junior in high school, I had this new group of friends that I thought were really cool and I wanted them to like me. And the guy who was kind of the ringleader decided that we were gonna play a game called Snails.

Now, the way Snails works is half the friends are in one car, the other half the friends are in the other car. And you go to a two lane road and you take up both lanes, and you drive as slowly as you can to get as many people as you can backed up behind you. And so, it was a Friday night and we’re just playing Snails, driving 10 miles per hour down a 50 mile per hour road. And you had better believe that the line of cars behind us was stacked and they were honking. They were hollering, They were waving their fingers out the window and we thought we were the coolest. Hopefully, you hearing me tell this story recognize, «Nah, man, y’all are the worst. They’re just trying to get where they want to go and you are making it impossible for them to do that».

I see that now in hindsight. But as a 16, 17-year-old who wanted these friends to like me, I did what they did because I thought for whatever reason, they were worth following. Because at least for me, I would rather do dumb things with the wrong people than do nothing and be by myself. And I think there might be some of you who actually find yourself in a similar situation, where you have been doing the wrong things with the wrong people because you are so afraid to be alone that you will follow an authority that isn’t worth following.

So if you find yourself there, then what do you do? Well, I think we need to look at what is it that actually makes somebody worth following and what does it look like for us to chase after an authority that is good and true? Well, you are absolutely in the right place because everything we do is about Jesus. And we believe that Jesus is king and that Jesus is not just a king, but He’s good and that He is love personified. And so, what I wanna do is teach a message to you about the authority of Jesus, about where it comes from and why He is so worth following with your entire life. So if you’re taking notes, I want you to write this down that Jesus authority was born from His identity and it is backed by His integrity. His authority was born from His identity, who He is, and it is backed by His integrity, how He lived.

Now throughout this semester of Switch, we have been walking through the Sermon on the Mount, the greatest sermon ever preached. And what we have been doing is looking at the words of Jesus as He tells us what life is like in His kingdom, what life is like as His followers. And what we’re gonna do today is look at the very end of the Sermon on the Mount. And by the very end, I mean the stuff that comes after Jesus finished saying everything He had to say. So in Matthew 7:28, we read this «That after Jesus had finished saying these things,» the Sermon on the Mount, «the crowds were amazed at His teaching because He taught as one who had authority and not as their teachers of the law».

So after Jesus finished saying all the stuff, three chapters of just action packed goodness, people were amazed because there was something different about Jesus. He spoke with authority. Have you ever met that person who when they talk, everybody listens. Like when they walk into the room, everybody sits up straight and is leaning in, because they know that what they’re about to say next is worth listening to. That is exactly the authority that Jesus carried. Like when Jesus spoke, hundreds of people would sit in awestruck silence. And some people wouldn’t just sit and listen, they would lay down their entire lives and become His followers. What made Jesus so special? Where did His authority come from?

Well, it was born from His identity, who He is, and it was backed by His integrity. So, who is Jesus? Well, this is really what Christmas is all about. In Matthew 1 before Jesus said any of the stuff He said in the Sermon on the Mount before He did any of the miracles that we know He is famous for, there is an angel that appears to this dude named Joseph and says, «Hey, here’s what you need to know about your fiance who is now pregnant». Matthew 1:20, we read this. This is the angel speaking. He says, «Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary home as your wife because what is conceived in her,» the baby in her belly, «is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and yours to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins». Who is Jesus? He’s the one who will save His people from their sins.

Now, you may not know this, but the name Jesus literally means God saves. So the angel says «You are going to name Him God saves because He will save His people from their sins». The angel is doubling down with Joseph, who He is so important because your son, you are to name Him God saves, because He’s going to do exactly that. And and also just so you know, He’s really special because He’s conceived by the Holy Spirit. But what’s interesting here is not only is Jesus going to be named God saves because He will save His people from their sins. But if you see right there, Matthew tells us this. This is not the angel speaking, but the author, he says, «All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet».

Literally hundreds of years ago, this prophecy was spoken that said, «The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call Him Immanuel, which means God with us». Jesus' authority is born from His identity, because Jesus is so much more than just a man. He is so much more than an ordinary person. He is much more than a spiritual hippie who said lots of things a long time ago. He’s the God who came to save. He’s Immanuel, which means God with us. The reason we celebrate His birthday 2,000 years later on every continent and in every country is because He’s God in human form. If you’re taking notes, I want you to write this down that God became one of us so that we could become one with Him. God in the person of Jesus became one of us, a human being so that we could become one with Him. That our sins could be forgiven. We could be adopted into His family, but even more than that, we could be united with Him.

Our lives joined together with the life of Jesus. God became one of us so we could become one with Him. This is what Christian scholars call the incarnation. This is what Christmas is all about. It is the event when God himself stepped into history becoming a human being to save His people from their sins. Now, I need to say this to some of you because you have allowed some voices cause you to question the identity of Jesus. Not because they actually had compelling evidence, but because they had a large following on TikTok. And there are lots of people that are out there that will try to discredit who Jesus is and all that He did. And like some of them might have some good points, but I’m telling you that most of them are just saying the same arguments that have been repeated by bitter angry people for literally hundreds of years, but then have been rejected, rebuked, refuted by serious, hardworking, good Bible, believing Christians.

And there are things that people say about what Jesus said and did and who He was that are so far from reality, but you have taken it as gospel truth because that video had a whole lot of likes. I want to encourage you to choose to listen to the word of God, to open up your heart and your mind what the Holy Spirit wants to reveal to you about who Jesus really is because you’ll never trust His authority if you don’t recognize His identity as the son of God and Savior king. And this is why this is so important. And so often what our spiritual enemy will try to get you to do is to doubt the identity of Jesus. But if he can’t get you to doubt Jesus’s identity, he will get you to doubt yours. He will get you to think that God doesn’t care about you, God doesn’t love you, God doesn’t see you, that you are not valued.

But the beauty of the incarnation is that God saw you as so immensely valuable that He literally left the glory of heaven to walk on the earth. Born in a manger as a baby who grew up in a place that like wasn’t real fancy, wasn’t real special, wasn’t real awesome. It was a land that had been dominated by another empire. And all throughout Jesus' life, what He would have known is suffering and struggle. And God put himself through all of that so that He could get close to you because the God that we believe in is not some distant deity who is far removed from the reality of our everyday lives. He’s Immanuel, which means God with us. Jesus authority is born from His identity and it is backed by His integrity. Because just because somebody has authority doesn’t actually mean they’re worth following.

Like tragically, we live in a world today, where there are so many people in positions of influence, whether in the government, in business, even in the church that have abused their authority and have caused harm to others because they did not live with integrity. But that is not so with Jesus. Jesus is good and true through and through. Jesus is perfect light and He is love in the flesh. That with Jesus, there is no shadow side. There is no gap between everything that Jesus said and all that He did. He lived with integrity and it is because of his integrity that I think we can trust His authority. So, what I wanna do is I wanna throw up this table for you that shows some of the stuff that Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount and how He fulfilled it at the end of His life when He was being put to death for crimes that He never committed.

So in Matthew 5:10, Jesus said, «Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven». Then in Matthew 27, Jesus accused of crimes He did not commit is sentenced to death, not because He deserved it, but because there were people who did not want His righteousness to keep on going on the earth. And so even Pilate, the dude who sentenced Him to death, ask the question, «What crime has Jesus committed»? Because he knew He was innocent, but they shouted all the louder, «Crucify Him». He was persecuted, not because of wickedness, but because of righteousness.

Jesus in Matthew 5:14 and 15 says that you are the light of world and people put a lamp on its stand. It gives light to everyone in the house. And when they crucified Jesus, they didn’t do it in a dark alley, They didn’t do it back in some cave to hide it from public view. They put Him up on a cross where His arms were open wide so that everybody who passed could see Jesus, the king of the Jews crucified. He said, «I tell you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you». And before He breathed His last breath, He prayed for the very people murdering Him. He prayed, «Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing». Jesus said, «Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God».

We believe that it was through the sacrifice of Jesus, through His crucifixion, through His death, that He opened the door for us as human beings to have peace with God. It was through His death and His sacrifice that He made peace between us and God. And this was so apparent that the centurion, the Roman soldier in those with Him who were actually the ones driving nails into His hands, who thrust a spear into His side said, «Surely, He was the son of God». This is the thing that you’ve gotta understand about Jesus. His words were never empty. His words were full of power because He backed every single one of them up with His life. Jesus does not make empty promises. Jesus fulfills every promise that He makes. You see His authority. It is born from His identity and it is backed by His integrity.

This is why Jesus is worth following, because He is God in the flesh. And everything He said and did is good and it has come true. And so, what does this mean for you? Like as you’re sitting here hearing about Jesus and how worthy He is of being followed, what is your response? Quite simply, I think the best thing that you can do, the wisest thing that you can do is to believe in Him and choose to become like Him, choose to believe in Him, and become like Him. Now that right there is like a very broad, big picture, high level application for this sermon and the scriptures we’ve looked at. And it is also like the application for the entirety of the Bible. Like when it comes to the good news of who Jesus is and all He did and what that means for us, our response for every single one of us is to choose to believe in Him and become like Him. But like what does that look like in a more practical way?

So, I wanna give you three things. Step number one, if you wanna believe in Him and become like Him is to trust His authority. Because Jesus is not just some smart dude who lived a long time ago and said some good stuff. Jesus is not just a guy who wants to be your friend. He does absolutely, but Jesus is king. Jesus is king of the universe. He is the one with authority over heaven and earth. And when you choose to trust in His authority to surrender and submit your life to His, you become a part of His kingdom. And there might be some of you who are having a really hard time with that, because of some of the stuff that you’ve heard, some of the stuff you’ve seen or that you’ve gone through where you are questioning, «Is He really who He said He was»? And if that is you, then I think the wisest thing that you could do is be honest about your questions. Process your doubts with people you trust because this is a safe place for you to be open.

If you wanna believe in Jesus and become like Him, trust His authority and then get to know your identity. You see, we are who we are because of who Jesus is. Your value is so much greater than you can ever begin to imagine, because you are handcrafted by a master artist. You are made in the image of God himself. Jesus the son of God and Savior King laid down His life, so that you could have a relationship with Him. He saw you as so valuable that He chose to die for you. Is that how you see yourself? For most of us, the answer is probably not quite. Instead of limitless potential, instead of tremendous value, we often question if we are even worthy to be loved. And the cross of Jesus Christ shouts loudly that according to God you were worth dying for. So for some of you, it is time to take off the label that somebody else has put on you, maybe that you have put on yourself and choose to believe that who Jesus says you are is the most true thing about you.

And then step number three, it is time to live with integrity because that’s exactly what Jesus did and that is what He’s inviting us to do as well. Now to be clear, none of us are the sinless son of God who will live our lives completely without sin. All of us, me included, as my story earlier about the game Snails, have committed sins and we will continue to fall short of the perfection that God wants from us. So, what do we do? Well, we confess every time we mess up. Every time we fall short, every time we get it wrong, we confess knowing and believing that God is good and He is faithful. That when we bring our sins to Him, He brings mercy and forgiveness to us.

And then after we have confessed our shortcomings, we do our best to get better. We get back up on our feet and we try again to do what it is that God has asked us to do. And then when we try again and we fall short, we confess, we try again. We fall short. We confess. We repent. We come back to Jesus over and over again. We trust and believe that our shortcomings do not separate us from Him, because He chose to become one of us, so that we could become one with Him. Not because of what we’ve done, but because of His love for us. This is what it looks like for us to follow somebody who is worthy of it. We choose to believe in Jesus all that He is, and we choose to become like Him so that we can become the kind of people who love God with all that we are and love others the same way that Jesus has loved us.

God became one of us so that we could become one with Him. Jesus' authority, it is born from His identity and backed by His integrity. And one of my favorite scriptures in all of the Bible that I think encompasses all of this beautifully comes from the opening to John’s gospel. He says, «In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made. Without Him, nothing was made that has been made. In Him was the life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. That word became flesh and made His dwelling,» made his home among us, «And we have seen His glory».

This isn’t just stuff that we’ve heard. This is stuff that we have seen. «The glory of the one and only son Jesus, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth». Jesus' authority is born from His identity as God in the flesh, and it is backed by His integrity as perfect love personified full of grace and full of truth. And He’s inviting you to trust in His authority, to receive your identity from Him and to start living with integrity. This is what Christmas is all about. The goodness of God in the flesh through the person of Jesus.

So Lord Jesus, we come before you right now, so grateful for your love for us. Your love that wasn’t just shouted from heaven, but you showed it to us in person. Remind us who you really are. Help us to trust and believe who you say we are, and give us the strength and the courage to do our best to be faithful to you and to honestly confess every time we fall short, knowing and trusting that when we do, you will meet us with your grace. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.