Aug 31 sermon notes, unedited

One and Half Followers Matthew 16: 21-28 Aug 31 2008

There is an old sufi tale..a story from Iraq or Iran that talks about being followers..
.and I am going to tell the story because it compliments what Jesus is talking about in the Bible verses this morning..
You heard Jesus in verse 24
if anyone wants to become my followers..
Let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me..
Verse 25 takes it even farther.. Those who want to save their life...will lose it..
Now those words should slow you down
this is not casual conversation
... talking about life and death..its serious stuff.
..listen to what this is taking about to follow Jesus
(And you do want to follow Jesus don’t you...isn’t that why you’re here?
Well
there is a cross involved..
not just the cross of Jesus..(not jsut what he did....)
but it says take up your cross..
It talks about losing your life
and denying yourself...and what you are going to do,
Now
you might want to ask yourself what that means
and how it could poosbly apply to your life
are you and I that much of a follower
and do you want to be..?
..that’s a deep question
and as a pastor or a preacher this morning
.I cant let us just skim by these verses
so let me back up
and let it settle in with this story
as I said
a story from Iraq or Iran..
Once upon a time
there was a man who became the head ,the sultan,
of the great ottoman empire
and that meant
that he was also the ruler of a great territory
his land included the desert
those parts of the empire
that were hard to live in
but for the people who knew how to live there
it was also rich with beauty and strength and treasures

as soon as this man became the sultan
he was warned about a certain caliph.. or a master teacher
who was said to have thousands of followers
this man had great influence and power
so much influence
that if this caliph ever decided to rebel against the sultan
he could overthrow the empire
and maybe become the ruler himself

or if this caliph of the desert ever joined forces
with somebody outside of the empire
They would have a combined force that could not be stopped..
But the head of the empire ignored all these warnings..
The years went by.
And in those years
there were plots to overthrow the government
Coups that failed
and there were assassination attempts
And always
the caliphs name came under suspicion
who else could be doing this?!
who else had that kind of power?
....he must be behind it all
so finally
this leader of the empire
listened to this accusations and set up a meeting with the caliph of the desert...
He went out to meet him alone.. Out on the edge of the desert
the caliph came riding out of the desert on his great Arabian horse
he got off in front of the sultan the leader of the empire
and he knelt down in the sand with his head touching the ground ;
(which was the custom of loyalty an allegiance )
then
the caliph stood up
and said you are my master.
What ever power I have here in the desert
..belongs to you and I will gladly give my life .so than my master may live.

The sultan hugged him and said
"how are you my old friend
I just wanted to make sure that you were still my follower
You see
my advisors have been afraid of you and suspicious
they have warned me about your thousands of followers
they are afraid that you will turn them against me
and they would do whatever you commanded
But I know
that you are my follower
so that everybody who follows you
will also follow me..
whether they know it or not
And so the two leaders
talked about their days together
back when they were young and lived in the desert.
Finally
the sultan ,said
"By the way my friend
how many followers do you have
just between you and me.
.how many faithful followers do you really have?


The caliph thought about this for awhile and finally he said "one and a half-
yes, I think that’s it one and a half.
The sultan didn’t like this answer
he felt insulted
as if his friend was lying to him
or toying with him
Why would my advisors be afraid of man who only has one and a half followers!
we are going to see about this
I am going to find out how many followers you have


and so with that that the sultan rode away and sent out orders for the caliph to be arrested..
he was captured and put into chains and taken off to a prison
Then the sultan sent out orders ...through the whole empire
he announced that the caliph of the desert had fallen from grace and that he would be killed
unless all of his followers showed up on certain day in a certain place.
Then the sultan set up a tent on the edge of the desert
out where the meeting place was supposed to be..but inside that tent. The sultan put about a dozen soldiers and a few sheep
And he waited.
On the appointed day,
he brought out the caliph..still in chains
and they waited on the edge of the desert to see how many of his followers would appear.
And as the sun came up that morning
They came hundred and thousands of them
on horseback and camel
on donkey or on foot
they came as far the eye could see.
.such a huge number.
Young and old
.men
women and even children

the sultan looked at the caliph
and said
one and half followers you say?! Then who are all these people?
The caliph said to the sultan " I do not know "
Well
we shall see...!
and then the sultan faced this great mass of people
and he said
this man..(he pointed to the caliph)
your master has fallen from grace
and I am going to behead him
on this very spot
right now
but if 10 of you
are willing to give up your life
so that your master can live..
then .step forward
...and if not...
well..
the sultan pulled out his sword
there was a terrible silence.
.a long silence
then a man stepped forward
and put his hand over his heart
and spoke the ancient ritual words of loyalty
he said
Sultan this man is my master.
Everything I know of wisdom and truth, he taught me
Whatever I have of strength and power in the desert ,
he share d with me
. I will gladly give my life so that my master may live.

The sultan snapped his fingers
and the solders marched out and grabbed the man
they marched him into the tent
took him inside
dropped the flaps so no one could see inside the tent
and then they cut the throats of three sheep
and they did it in such a way
that the people could see the blood run out form under the ten
and into the sand
there was murmur in the crowd
and if you looked carefully
you could see people slipping away
back into the desert
not many .
but still enough that you would notice.
Then
there wan another long silence
by now the sun was higher in the sky
and the desert heat was rising as well
the people were sweating and you could see the tension
and the sultan shouted out and said
That s one. I need nine more ...or your master dies,
again
there was whispering and murmuring in the crowd.
. And again a long silence
until finally a women stepped out of the crowd
and the crowd groaned
because she was a woman
and in those old Islamic culture..
for such legal matters as this..
. a women only counted as one half...only as half a perosn
But the women
put her hand next to her heart
and she spoke the ancient words of loyalty
this man is my master.
Everything I know of wisdom and truth
he taught me
Whatever I have of strength and power in the dessert
, he shared with me.
I will gladly give my life
so that my master may live.
Again
the sultan snapped his fingers
and the solders came
and got the women
and took her into the tent
covered up the doorway
and the cut the throats of three more sheep
once agin
the blood ran down the sand dunes underneath he tent
but this time
there was panic in the crowds
and people pushed and shoved
and they scattered back into the dessert
soon
there was no else except the sultan and the caliph standing out side the tent...
The crowd was gone
so the sultan took the chains off the caliph
and lifted him up on his feet
and said My friend I am sorry
you were right
You have only one and half followers
How awful you must feel
all of your time and your work
and this is all you have
only one and half followers

But the caliph looked at the Sultan
and said to him I know what your thinking
you are thinking that the man is my one true follower
and that th women is the one half follower
but that is not true
the sultan said
what do you mean
according to our law... The women is only counted as one half.. And the man is one.
But the caliph said it has nothing to do with law
discipleship is not about the law


It is all about faithfulness and love and devotion
when the man stepped forward
he didn’t know that he was going to die
he thinks everything is a test.. And he has a lot to learn
h’s a good man ..a bit arrogant ..and kinda naive
But he has possibilities
he is the half follower

but when the women stepped forward..
She had already seen what had just happened
and she knew she was going to die
therefore she is my one true follower!
And the sultan had no more to say
And (Megan McKenna says)
when they tell this story today they ask. Which one are you?
are you the crowd that shows up. To claim loyalty
.but then disappears when they are asked to step out..
Are you the person
who is arrogant or naive and thinks everything is a test..
but you have possibilities
Are you the woman
who knows that if you follow the master
if you follow Jesus
you will die with him
...................
Well...I think we still need to bring this closer to home
giving our life for Jesus ..dying for the faith .
.making the single great sacrifice
probably wont happen to you this week
or maybe this year.. or maybe never in your lifetime
but the work of your cross
the dying of your old life..
.so that you find the new life..
is the daily spiritual pattern of our faith
as Jesus said in verse
by losing your life in Christ..you will find it..
You come to the true life.
You come to the true life
by denying yourself
by crucifying
your self centered life
you let the ego control die.
Eugene Peterson gets at that layer of meaning
in his version of these words from Jesus
Jesus says..
Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead
your not in the drivers seat..
I am
don’t run from suffering
embrace it.
Follow me and I will show you how..
Self help is no help at all.
Self sacrifice is the way..
(you hear that self sacrifice is the way)
my way to finding yourself. Your true self
underline that
the only way to find your true self
is the way that Jesus shows us.
.it is the way of the cross
.
the life of surrender...giving up your ego life
NOW back to the question
how much of a follower are you

I don’t know if I can even claim to be one half.


but here we are as propel claiming the name of Jesus Christ..
are we like that crowd that shows up..maybe Sunday after Sunday ready to promise our loyalty
but how do we really do and show our love and our faithfulness
I gotta tell you about Ed Harrison
on our trip to Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota
we had a fantastic week by the way and I hope we keep going out there to work with Tree of life Ministry.. Of the United Methodist church
anyway
Ed WAS A medicine MAN WHO PRACTICES some of the traditional Lakota ways..
And he was taking to us about the sweat lodge ceremony
and some of his experience with Christians. And the church
. Basically what he said
is that as Christians
we make claims that we don’t live up to
He made me think about what it means to claim to be a Christian..
And you know we toss that claim
and that identification around pretty easily
don’t way
im a Christian
we say
Christian this
Christian that
but Ed
caught us off guard
because he would ask us as a group
are you Christians..?
Are you a Christian
.and when someone said "yes.."
he said
"can you walk on water... ?"
Show me.
.we can go to my stock tack
and you can show me
.well he was Teasing us some...pushing us around a little
but his point is valid
what he was really saying

was that if you are a CHRISTIAN ..as you claim..
show me something
besides just taking
show me some Jesus things
show me that Christian life
show me some evidence
some power

but I would also say that this not just about walking on water
but show me your faith
show me who you follow
show me how much of a follower you are
by showing the world
The sacrifices of your life
your love
your compassion
your genuine trust
your generosity of sharing.
. And yes
being willing to suffer for others ...to pay the price .
.to at least be inconvenienced.
.to make others have things better.
If someone wanted to see if you were a follower of Jesus Christ
could you show them your cross...in your life
how much do people see the Jesus life in us
the cross shaped life. .... people are askign to see how many folowers he has.
Maybe that’s how how we let Jesus know
who the followers are..
By giving our life
.our time
our talents,
our will..
Or
its like Jesus simply said
This is how they will know that you are my disciples
that you love one another.. As I have loved you ..
How can you take up your cross..?
And do something specifically..
. Intentionally, practically
.. Not just theoretically
as a follower of Jesus Christ..
But something that shows..
That’s what this life
is all about
As the church ..as disciples of Jesus
maybe we can show the world
or maybe just show the neighbors
or show even one other person how many followers Jesus has

How about you

The One and Half Followers story is in two of Megan McKenna’s books , Parables, and Lent, Sunday Readings. Orbis Press..
I have adapted the wording to my delivery style