Numbers 11:29
The Day of Pentecost
11 May 2008
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Listen again to the words of Moses: “I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit on them” [Numbers 11:29].
I know few pastors today who don’t pray that same prayer. It’s a prayer that I know I frequently and fervently pray. That’s why it’s with such joy that I share today’s question of the faith: “Once we find Jesus, then what?”
That’s a great question! It’s a follow-up to our question that started this “Our Questions of Faith” preaching series. That first question was “Where do we Find Jesus” and we studied the Emmaus Road disciples who found Jesus as He spoke His Words and as He broke the bread.
“Once we find Jesus, then what?”
In today’s day and age, it often seems that when many people find Jesus, then personally ask, “So What?’ instead of asking the question “Now What?” We can probably all name people we know and love who have in some way at some point in their life come to know Jesus Christ, but if you didn’t previously know that about them you wouldn’t know that they had come to know Jesus Christ. Those are the people who ask, “So What?” Maybe someone forced them to be baptized. Maybe someone forced them to attend church. Maybe someone even forced them to be confirmed, to personally confess their faith in Jesus Christ. However, once they are on their own, making decisions for themselves, Jesus seems to be the first person to be sacrificed in the service of the self.
Our question today – “Once we find Jesus, then what?” is especially appropriate on this, Pentecost Sunday and Confirmation Sunday. Daniel, Leanne and James, I hope that instead of asking the question “So What?” you are all asking that question, “Now What?”
In answering that question, I could give you my own personal answer. I could ask many of you to tell your stories to Daniel, Leanne and James. Many of you can also very personally, very effectively and very powerfully answer that question, “Now What?”
However, we can do better than my personal words and testimony. We can even do better that your personal words and testimony. Even more personal, even more effective and even more powerful, I believe, is to listen to the Words of Holy Scripture itself in answering that question.
“Once we find, Jesus, then what?” Let’s today look at just one book of the Bible – the Gospel of St. Matthew – in answering that question. “Once we find Jesus, then what?” What does St. Matthew tell us?
You remember Peter and his brother Andrew? How about James and his brother, John? They were all fisherman. They all worked in the family fishing businesses. When Jesus passed by each of them as they were sitting in their boats and called them to follow Him, they all left their nets. They all left the family business. They left everything and followed Jesus [Matthew 4]. Talking about Jesus calling the disciples, don’t forget Matthew, the lucrative tax collector [Matthew 9]. When Jesus called him, Matthew also got up from his table and followed Jesus.
Do you remember the demon possessed man whose demons were sent into the herd of pigs [Matthew 8]? After his freedom from the demons, the pig tenders reported what Jesus had done and all the town went out to see Jesus.
How about the paralytic man [Matthew 9]? After his healing, the crowd who witnessed his healing was filled with awe and praised God. Don’t forget about the sick woman who touched Jesus’ robe or the dead girl [Matthew 9]. After their miraculous healings, news about Jesus spread throughout the whole region. Then there were the two blind men [Matthew 20] who received their sight and proceeded to follow Jesus.
You might also remember Peter [Matthew 16], the same Peter who was earlier called by Jesus and left his family business to follow Jesus. You will remember when Jesus asked Peter who he thought, who he believed Jesus to be, Peter boldly stated, “You are the Christ. You are the Son of the Living God.”
We can’t overlook Palm Sunday [Matthew 21]. The streets of Jerusalem were packed with people in town for the Passover. When Jesus rode into town on that donkey, people took off their outer garments and also stripped the palm trees lining the streets. All this stuff was thrown into the center of the streets while the people proclaimed, “Hosanna! Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord.” To the people in Jerusalem who didn’t understand what was happening, those who participated in this act of praise, then witnessed to them about Jesus.
Remember the Centurion who stood at Jesus’ Cross [Matthew 27]? It was his job as an official of the Roman Government to make sure that those hanging on the crosses on Calvary were truly dead. When Jesus died, the Centurion made what sounds like a confession of faith, “Surely this Man was the Son of God.”
If we can jump out of Matthew into the Gospel of Luke for just a quick second, I must also remind us about the Bethlehem shepherds who were among the first to find Jesus [Luke 2]. They returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard, spreading the word concerning the child. Then there was that scene from the temple [Luke 2], when Jesus was presented eight days after birth. Simeon found Jesus and broke forth into the song we today know as the “Nunc Dimittis” – “Lord, You now dismiss Your servant in peace for my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have revealed in the sight of all people.” There was also 84-year-old Anna there in the temple. After serving in the temple 24/7 and finally finding Jesus, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all.
“Once we find Jesus, then what?” The Bible – even just the Gospel of Matthew – is clear. Truly, personally finding Jesus is better than the best news in the entire world. Truly, personally finding Jesus tells us and assures us that He died for our sins, that He heals all our infirmities, that He calls us to walk in a new and different way and that He pours out His Spirit upon us to bring us to faith, to keep us in faith, to open our mouths to speak about Him and to be with us always. Truly, personally finding Jesus is not something we ever want to keep to ourselves.
In those instances mentioned this morning, each person found and experienced Jesus in a unique way. But in each case, finding and experiencing Jesus was not a “So What?” experience. No, in each case set them on fire. In each case, each person carried the exciting news about finding Jesus to people in their own circle of life, speaking to them in their own language, giving them a before and after picture to which they could all relate. Each of those people who found Jesus was needed. They were needed by people in their own lives to be the Lord’s prophets, to speak the Lord’s Word, to share by word and example what Jesus had done for them.
Daniel, Leanne and James, my prayer for each of you today is the prayer that Moses prayed, “I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit on them.” We need young people like you, young people full of the Spirit of God, young people excited about their faith, young people who put God first in their lives, young people who tell others what Jesus has done for them.
But my prayer is not just for Daniel and Leanne and James. My prayer – Moses’ prayer – God’s prayer – is for each of us. “I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit on them.” Just like on that first Pentecost, this is a diverse world. This world needs all different kinds of people who can speak to all different kinds of people in their own language, who can meet them in their own daily walk, who, as insiders to their own lives, can excitedly proclaim what finding Jesus has done for them and what finding Jesus can do for all the people of the world.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Pastor Christopher Schaar
Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena