Will You Follow? - The Rev. Dr. Herschel Wade

Sermons from the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

Well, how are we different from Jesus first disciples? Well, we have a significant advantage. We know what was accomplished through God's work through Jesus Christ. We know the end of the story. We know that like Jesus' disciples, we have been drawn into God's plan of reconciliation and restoration of creation. And we know that dropping our nets and following Jesus can be nothing but life-giving to us and to others. And we know that despite the uncertain nature of following Jesus, we can trust in God's love and protection and the promise that sin and death do not have the last say. We also know that, like for Jesus' disciples, God in Christ shows and will show up at the most unexpected moments in our lives. The only question is, how will we respond to those gift-filled moments? Will we continue to grasp tightly onto human sources of security, human-defined identities, and human celebrated values and principles? Will we continue to remain close to the possibility of living under the true reign of God or instead, in a world that perpetuates inequity, greed, hate, and death? In a world where we are all imprisoned by injustice, war, violence, fear, power, oppression, policing, and control. It would be a lie to say that discipleship has no cost. There's a, long list of people who would suggest otherwise, including the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, whose birthday we celebrated this week. And along with other martyrs and saints of the Christian faith, including their original disciples. However, when we look beyond those costs, can see what the disciples saw?