BECOMING A
REFLECTION OF JESUS SERMON SERIES
Example
Matthew
23:1-11
Pastor
Jesus makes clear what we all know…
that actions speak louder than words.
There was a three-year-old boy who had been learning the game of golf by
watching his grandfather play. “The boy was so enthused,’ said his Grandpa, “I
bought him his own set of clubs.” The following week the entire family had a
cookout and the little boy who had learned to golf by watching Grandpa
announced, “Watch me play golf!” and then he said a no-no word and threw his
golf club into the pear tree!
That little fellow had learned about more than golf. And he did it by simply
observing his granddad.
The Apostle Paul praised the Christians at Thessalonica for being “an example
to all the believers in Macedonia.” (I Thessalonians 1:7) The people at
Thessalonica had been worshipers of idols, but now they were imitators of
Christ, and reflections of Jesus. And they made this transition in the middle
of deep cultural unrest. There was nothing phony in their witness; they were
the real thing. And everyone who heard their story was compelled by it. That’s
what we need today: People who are willing to be examples; People willing to
surrender their own pleasure and desires to the greater good; People who
understand that the world needs role models. A public figure recently described
our world like this:
“We have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower
viewpoints. We spend more, but have less. We buy more, but enjoy it less. We
have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time. We
have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more
experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much,
love too seldom, and hate too often. We’ve learned how to make a living, but
not a life.
We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the
street to meet the new neighbor. We’ve conquered outer space, but not inner
space. We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We’ve split the atom,
but not our prejudice.
We have higher incomes, but lower morals. We’ve become long on quantity, but
short on quality. These are the times of steep profits and shallow
relationships. These are the times of more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of
food, but less nutrition. These are the days of two incomes, but more divorce.
It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the
stockroom.”
You might be surprised by the author…but Comedian George Carlin has described
us well. We need people who are willing to be examples.
Do you know the story of Dave
Thomas, the founder of the Wendy’s hamburger chain? When Dave Thomas was just
fifteen, he dropped out of school and moved out on his own. He got a full-time
job in the restaurant business, and eventually created the great success that
is Wendy’s. But in spite of all his success, Dave has never gotten over his
regret of dropping out of school. And he never felt comfortable when people
pointed to him as a successful drop-out. He didn’t want to encourage kids today
to follow his example.
So Dave decided to get his high school diploma. In 1992, he hired a tutor and
began studying for his GED, the equivalency exam that would grant him a high
school diploma. It was hard work, but eventually Dave took the test and passed.
Now he had a high-school diploma. Someone at Coconut Creek High School in
Florida heard of Dave’s effort, and so the student body decided to adopt him.
They invited Dave and his wife, Lorraine, to their prom, where they crowned
them King and Queen of the event. The students and faculty wanted to honor Dave
for going back and taking care of business.
I believe most of us can admire that in Dave Thomas. He didn’t want to
encourage young people to follow his example and drop out of school, so when
other business leaders were retiring, Dave was going back to high school. I
wish everyone had that level of concern for the example they are setting for
our young. We need heroes; People who
stand tall; People who don’t say one thing and do another; People who believe
that out of their love for Jesus they are living as worthy examples for others.
Once there was such a woman, a woman by the name of Dranafice. Dranafice was a
poor woman who lived many years ago in Albania. She and her husband opened their
home to the poor and hungry in their town. Whenever one of Dranafice’s
daughters would ask who the new visitor at their dinner table was, she would
answer that it was a relative. Her daughters grew up believing that they came
from an enormous extended family.
Even after Dranafice’s husband died, and the family was plunged into poverty, she
found a way to give food to the hungry and help to the destitute. One of Dranafice’s
daughters was greatly influenced by her mother’s example of sacrificial love.
This daughter, Agnes, grew up to become an advocate for the poor all over the
world. She devoted her whole life to caring for those in need. For young Agnes
grew up to become Mother Teresa, the twentieth century’s living example of
Christ in the world.
Mother Teresa became who she was because of the example of her mother. Examples
matter. The best hope that the world has is that God will raise up people who
understand that our lives are intertwined--that who I am and what I do affects
who you are and what you do. I can look at my life and see that I am who I am
because of the example of significant persons in my life. And the same is true
of you. This is how most people become followers of Christ. It is not because
someone argued them toward Christ but because someone loved them toward Christ and
set an example of Christ-like living.
Some of you may be familiar with Paul and Margaret Brand of Seattle. They were medical
doctors in India. Today, half of the world’s population of people with leprosy
live in India. And Dr. Paul Brand was the first orthopedic surgeon to treat
them. His wife, Dr. Margaret Brand was an ophthalmologist.
The Brands had one patient named Sadan who looked like “a miniature version of
Gandhi.” Sadan understood what rejection as a leper was. Others cursed him,
kicked him, and even turned him away from hospitals. Sadan said, “I can still
remember when Dr. Brand took my infected, ulcerated feet in his hands. . . .
Dr. Brand and his wife were the first medical workers who dared to touch me.”
Sadan had undergone numerous operations including “tendon transfers, nerve
stripping, toe amputations, and cataract removal.” Despite his suffering, here
is how Sadan, a man who suffered from leprosy characterized his life: “I must
say that I am now happy that I had this disease. Apart from leprosy, I would
have been a normal man with a normal family, chasing wealth and a higher
position in society. I would never have known such wonderful people as Dr. Paul
and Dr. Margaret, and I would never have known the God who lives in them.”
That is how people come to Christ: they encounter Christ in those who follow Him.
That is why Paul was praising the Christians at Thessalonica. This is how
children grow into responsible adults. This is how people come to faith in the
living Christ. It is by those who care enough to sacrifice their own selfish
desires to live a life that contributes to the greater good. It is by those who
care enough to set an example of love, of joy, of hope, of courage.
And that’s what it is all about, isn’t it? Role models still count. Worthy
examples still make a difference. Perhaps, if the Christians at Thessalonica
two thousand years ago had not been faithful under immense hardship, setting
examples of sacrificial love for their neighbors, you and I would not be
Christians at the beginning of this millennium.
Are you willing to set an example for those around you?
Actually, that is the wrong question. Since we are already setting an example for the people around us, the question is what kind of example do you want to set as a reflection of Jesus in the world?