LIFT HIM UP!

(This is an abridged version of my sermon preached at Epowrth Chapel, Baltimore on 5/20/12)

John 12:27-36

We live in a society where the focus seems to have become increasingly upon material things. The acquiring of more things – a certain materialism - has taken on a dangerous priority in the lives of many people. Thus, the worship of things, the worship of money – even the worship of houses and cars - has become perhaps the essence of our contemporary culture.

We experience this “syndrome of the more” – this priority on material things – in our constantly wanting and needing more. There seems to be this insatiable desire – this yearning for more things.

One of the marks of this “syndrome of the more” – in this post-modern, post-Christian, secular age, is the reality that God, in many instances, has become a second option in too many people’s lives.

God is often perceived as a God of comfort and convenience. God is there, not to be worshipped and served, but merely stored away until we need the Lord. God has taken second place in some of our lives. God plays “second fiddle” for some folk. And so, the church finds itself on the margins of many of our lives – on the outside looking in.

Lest you think I’m meddling and messing, a simple trip to the closest shopping mall, or drive around the neighborhood this Sunday morning would bear this out. There are more people at stores this morning, doing the shopping that they could have done all week long than there are in church. Some folk think it is more important to stay home and wash their cars, or clean their house, than it is to be in church worshipping and praising the very God who blessed them with their house and their car. God has taken second place in too many people’s lives.

And so, the church in this present day faces particular challenges as to how we will go about proclaiming who Jesus is. The church faces particular challenges as to how to proclaim with a renewed sense of holiness and boldness, what God has done … is doing … and is about to do in our lives.

Many of those who prognosticate as to the future of the church are engaged in the seemingly ongoing debate of what makes a church grow. What makes a church vital and vibrant? What ingredients are necessary to bring about transformation and renewal in our churches?

Well, I am persuaded that if there is any one thing that we are to be about, it is to engage in the business of “lifting Jesus up.” I believe the song-writer said it well –
“How to reach the masses, men of every birth … for an answer Jesus gave the key … I, if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me…”

In John chapter 12, we find that Jesus was confronting his imminent death. The word was out. Many were out to get him. He knew that his days on earth were but a few. He knew that his time was short.

Here, in what was essentially the Lord’s last sermon, his last public discourse, Jesus needed to remind his followers that everything that God had sent him to do and to say was about glorifying the Father. In life and in death, the Lord’s work was about glorifying God.

Indeed, Jesus wanted his followers to know that even his death on the cross would be a part of God’s plan … that even as the Lord was lifted to his death, this would serve to glorify God. Jesus wanted us to know that in his in being lifted, God would be glorified.

"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."

Beloved, this is essentially our call to evangelism. We are called to lift him up. Both in season and out of season … we’re called to lift him up. When we’re happy and when we’re sad … we’re called to lift him up. When we’re broke and when we have money in the bank … it’s our responsibility to lift him up.

Why do we need to be reminded of our responsibility to lift Jesus up? It is the church’s tendency to create programs to meet every need. We have programs for evangelism and stewardship... programs for single and married persons… programs for elderly and youth. We have mass choirs, super mass choirs, gospel choirs, senior choirs, youth choirs, and inspirational choirs. We have senior ushers and junior ushers. We have programs for everybody. But wihh whatever else we may be involved, it is essentially our task to lift Jesus up.

Now to lift Jesus up may sound easy, but it is not always as easy as it appears. For to really lift him up means that a few things will have to occur in our lives and in our churches. It means that we will have to place God at the head and center of our lives. It means that Jesus will have to become the priority – the center-piece of our homes and our churches.

Lifting him up means that we may have to deny some things, and change some things, and move some people around and even out of our lives. It means that everything and everybody else will begin to take second place in our lives. We are called to lift him up.

I have realized that in order to live out the Great Commission and to become true disciples and effective evangelists for the Lord, we will first have to make a commitment in our hearts that we are going to lift him up. More of the Lord’s final words are found in Matthew 28:19:

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember I am with you always, to the end of the age."

In order to live out the Great Commission, in order to lift him up, we will need to remember three things. We need to be mindful that we have been called, chosen and commissioned by God to go and lift Jesus up.

And the good news is that knowing these three things will give us a sense of purpose and the impetus to go forth and lift him up.

The song-writer wrote it best: For the world is hungry… for the living bread… lift the Savior up for them to see… trust him and do not doubt the words that he said…I’ll draw all men unto me…

Lift him up!