The hurdles of life

In our readings this morning we have heard of how hard it is to follow God sometimes, how it can make us very unpopular when we have to stand against things other people agree with and how difficult the life of being a follower of God seeking to be more like Him can be.

 

The prophet Jeremiah was torn, he wanted to be popular, he wanted people to listen to him but what he had been told by God to say did not make him popular, in fact sometimes people laughed at him.

 

In the gospel reading Jesus warned his followers that it was difficult to follow Him. However, it was worth it because God who loves the sparrows,loves us so much that he would die for us. All he asks of us is that we follow Him through everything.

 

It is a bit like supporting your favourite sports team, or even like being a sports person yourself.

 

I am not sure about your house but ours has changed recently. There is a lot more football on the television a chart on the back of the door in our lounge - yes World Cup frenzy has hit the vicarage.  I have taken to reading my kindle more !!

 

I am interested in sports to a degree and I did have one rather dramatic sporting incident myself ……

 

Picture the scene, it was summer I was in my games lesson about to be introduced to the hurdles. I was never known for being great at sports and so with a sense of dread I started to run and jump, well….. people started to gasp! I heard people say! 'Helen can do a sport' I felt 20 feet tall. The games teachers were amazed, everyone was amazed but most of all I was amazed - so much so I got nervous. My second time around - I was not very good at all, I was slow, I forgot to jump and my sporting glory was over (ahhhh!)

 

Even with my sporting difficulties I can see a clear link between the life of a supporter of a team or even being a sportsperson and the life of a follower of Jesus.

1.    Sport encourages a sacrifice.  A good sportsperson, will work hard to get to the end goal of winning. They will move aside everything that will threaten to destruct their career and their goal. They have a prize in sight and they aim for it, with all of themselves.

 

Like sportspeople, following Jesus, being a disciple involves sacrifice. It involves all of us. Jesus did not want a large number of “little bit” disciples who had a “little bit” of prayer, a “little bit” of commitment, a “little bit” of dedication, a “little bit” of love. He wants all of us, someone once said, that if Jesus is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all. Basically, we need to put Jesus first, we need to seek to be ever more like Him, and by doing that to literally be, Jesus in the World today.

 

2.    When we support a team we want them to do well. We wear our colours to show our support and to talk to people who feel the same as us about our favourite team. We are all here today to support God as members of His team but we are also to help and support each other. It is much easier to do something difficult when we have the support of others, and it is this support and encouragement not just from others but from God as well which will help us to continue our journey of faith.

 

It is not easy to be a disciple, it is a life choice, a choice that offers everything back to God, knowing that through doing this we gain so much more as we gain a life full of the love of God.  It is not easy but it is worth it. God who loves the sparrows loves us even more.

 

May we be ready to follow God to take up our crosses knowing that it will not always be easy but knowing that God is with us all the time. AMEN