For Jan 19

Sermon Notes: Encounters With Jesus

Intro: If we were to be honest, all of us would have better ways to spend this cold Sunday morning, whether sleeping in, catching up on the news with a hot beverage in hand, or viewing the snow covered yard. But some overriding priority brought us together here this morning. My hope is that that something was a result of your encounter with Jesus, and that meant more than your next highest priority this morning.

I. Encounters

A. That word encounter usually means to come upon, or experience someone or something unexpectedly. You might encounter technical difficulties, or encounter a stranger. Several popular movies have used encounter in context of aliens from outer space. But this morning, I’m going to talk about encounters with Jesus. We’ll be talking about first encounters with Him, which are often unexpected experiences, but then continuing experiences with Him that deepen our understanding and relationship with Him.

B. Encountering Jesus would probably have been different for each of us. You might have been brought up in a Christian home and lived a Christian life from an early age. Or found church to be an enjoyable, safe place, with Christian friends. You may have experienced prayer in a traumatic time, and bargained with God that you would go to church if....Or, perhaps found church resulted in satisfying an obligation before resuming your normal activities. Church may result in feeling good about your life, or being respected by others as a good person. But the most important question is: have you really encountered Jesus? And then, what did that mean?

C. I think one of the scariest passages in the Bible is Matthew 7:23-25, where Jesus tells His audience “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”  That there will be those who claim to have done things in His Name but He never knew them. We read in 1 Thessalonians that there will be two working in a field, and one left behind, as many others will be when Jesus calls His own to meet with Him in the clouds, known in Church terms as the Rapture. Some may still be preaching from the pulpit, or sitting in the pews listening to them, or even be doing wonderful works of charity, those who appeared to be worthy of salvation, but had never known Jesus as Lord. Thankfully He doesn’t judge us by our sins, or even our apparent good works, but on whether, as we read in Rev 3:16, that we have opened the door of our hearts and invited Him in to share with us, and we with Him.

D. But regardless of our spiritual condition, we have all encountered Jesus. In Psalms 139, we read, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”  God has not only known us before we were born, He created us.”  There is no distinction here about who He creates, we are all His creations. Jesus further tells His disciples,and us, in John 15: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last”.

E. When we’re born, the Holy Spirit begins to nudge His creations to accept Jesus into our lives, and continues until we do, although not everyone will respond. John Wesley called this Holy Spirit working prevenient grace, grace that comes before our salvation, grace that calls us to Him in spite of who we are, or what we’ve done. So, we have all encountered God’s call to Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Jew or Muslim, atheists who deny there’s a God, or agnostics who don’t care. When we do answer His call to accept Jesus, the moment of our salvation, we are cleansed of our sin, and begin His path of sanctification, being set apart to do His will. From there, our encounters with Jesus should be a continuing series of encounters. Then the real question becomes what we do as a result of those encounters.

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II. John 1:35-49

A. Let’s consider some Biblical examples of encounters. In our Gospel lesson, the day after John the Baptist baptized Jesus for His inaugural baptism to begin His ministry, he points to Jesus, saying Behold, the Lamb of God. Two of His disciples, Andrew and John, respond to John’s identification by going to personally meet with Jesus. Both were fishermen, known for their roughness, and approach Him, but Jesus appears to have known them before they approached Him. He invites them to ‘come and see’, which they do and are accepted as disciples. While it may appear the two had chosen to follow Jesus, we later hear Jesus telling His disciples they hadn’t chosen Him, but that He had chosen them.

B. What did they do with this encounter?  The first thing Andrew does is run to find his brother Simon to invite him to come and see the Messiah they had been searching for. By the way, throughout his discipleship, Andrew is known as the introducer, as he was here for his brother. Andrew is also the one who brought the boy with the two fish and five loaves to Jesus, which He used to feed the 5000. Over the next three years, Andrew would have daily encounters with Jesus as a disciple, resulting in his bearing fruit that would last. As the introducer, He would continue to use that gift to invite others to meet Jesus, as a very effective disciple. His continuing encounters with the risen Christ led to his continuing witness, inviting others to Christ, which tradition says was in the British Isles resulting in his martyrdom there.

C. Little did Andrew know the impact of inviting his brother, Simon, to come and encounter Jesus. But Jesus knew Simon, and what lasting fruit he would bear. Jesus renames Simon as Peter, translated the Rock. Although Matthew’s Gospel records Simon renamed Peter much later, when he declares his faith that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God, both accounts record Jesus as knowing Peter, and his leadership, faults and all. Peter experienced various difficult encounters with Jesus, his bold confession of faith, then rebuked for trying to prevent Jesus from going to meet His death in Jerusalem,; a failed attempt to walk on water, then witnessing the Transfiguration; denying Him three times after saying he would never, but knowing His forgiveness, told to feed Jesus’ lambs after the Resurrection. But Peter had grown in His faith, as a bold leader, through those encounters, his successes and failures. Most importantly, Jesus used those encounters to mold Peter as a leader in His church, with his Pentecost sermon bringing 3000 new believers. Peter died a martyrs death, tradition saying he was crucified upside down, dying as he witnessed to the governor’s wife. Jesus had known Peter’s value even before Andrew introduced him to Jesus.

D. We later see another recruited disciple, Phillip, bring his friend Nathaniel to Jesus. Nathanael appears to have been a person of strong integrity, in deep thought under a fig tree, when Philip invites him so see the One the prophets had written about – this Jesus of Nazareth. Nathanael’s initial response was an apparently common indictment of the small village of Nazareth – can anything good come from there?  But, as Jesus sees Philip approaching, He comments on Nathanael’s integrity, that there was no deceit in him. Philip is surprised at Jesus’ intuition, and asks how Jesus knew that. Jesus answered that He had seen, and known Philip while he was still sitting under the distant fig tree. This encounter resulted in Nathaneal’s immediate realization that Jesus was Messiah, and experienced many more daily encounters as a disciple.

E. But not all those encounters bore lasting fruit. We don’t know much about Judas’ initial encounter with Jesus. In The Chosen, series, Judas is portrayed as a businessman, an entrepreneur whose vision of the Kingdom was a potential big business, if Jesus managed it properly. But Scripture later shows his disillusionment, leading the Temple guard to arrest Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, seemingly a last profit before leaving the discipleship, apparently having been stealing from their common funds. But when he realizes the arrest would lead to crucifixion, he is unable to find forgiveness, and ends his life. His encounters with Jesus had led him to see Jesus in worldly terms, unable to see Jesus as his salvation. Judas could have been forgiven of his sins, if he had believed he could be, and had asked. But his encounters had not led him to know who Jesus was.

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III. Acts 9:1-16

A. But not even Judas was as villainous, with blood on his hands, as Paul before his encounter with Jesus. A devout Jew, with impeccable credentials, he believed he was serving God by arresting the followers of Jesus, often responsible for their deaths or harsh imprisonments. As a young man he had watched as the righteous deacon of Christ’s Church, Stephen, was stoned to death, and became active in the continuing persecution of Christians. He was on his way to Damascus with warrants to arrest others when he is confronted by Jesus, as we saw in our reading from Acts 9. Through the blinding bright light, having fallen from his horse and blinded, Jesus asks Paul why he was persecuting Him, then instructing him to go the city to await further instructions.

B. In a vision, the Lord tells a Christian named Ananias to go to the house where Paul is staying and place hands on him to restore his sight. But Paul’s anti-Christian persecutions were well known, and Ananias fears going to Paul. But Jesus tells Ananias that Paul is His chosen instrument to proclaim His name to the Gentiles and to the Jews. For a Jew to interact with a Gentile was unthinkable, but here was Jesus telling Ananias that He was sending a Jew, a hated persecutor of His followers, to be a witness for Him to the Gentiles, but also revealing that Paul would suffer much for His sake. And suffer Paul did. Beaten by mobs, left for dead, imprisoned, shipwrecked – all as an effective witness for Jesus. A tireless witness who would even appear before governors, even Caesar, the most powerful man in the world at that time, testifying that Jesus, not the self proclaimed god, Caesar, is Lord.

C. Paul’s encounter with Jesus left him temporarily blind, but his follow on encounters resulted in his seeing and knowing Jesus. Not even intense suffering could dampen his all-out witness. He established churches among the Gentiles. His letters of encouragement and instruction to the churches, as well as individuals like Timothy, helped them grow in their faith. Even today, his letters are a main part of our New Testament. But Paul hadn’t chosen Jesus. Jesus had chosen him, knowing Paul as the leader He wanted and who would be so effective. And Paul had responded. His subsequent encounters with Jesus had formed him to be His special witness that despite all He suffered for Jesus, never ceased to praise and thank Him. He even tells the Philippian Church to rejoice in their suffering for Him.

D. That leaves us with one other that has encountered Christ. You. Because You, and everyone with us, are here because God knows you, chose You, and called You. It was true of the disciples, and even Judas. It was true of Paul. But the question then becomes what has He called you to do?  And how are you responding?  From where I stand, I see good disciples, making me wonder what kind of letter Paul might have written to our church. Commending us for our faithfulness to Jesus?  Suggesting ways to be a more effective church?

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Conclusion: But it still comes down to you as an individual. We are each responsible for our own response to our encounters with Jesus. Our initial encounter and our response may have led us to our personal salvation, but from there we are faced with continuing, daily encounters with Him. Each encounter should lead to a growing faith. Growing in a personal relationship with Jesus, letting His Holy Spirit lead us to become effective disciples, helping us to begin to understand what He wants for us, and from us. Will He one day say, I never knew You?  Or Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant? May our response to His calling, Who shall I send? be as we will sing in our closing hymn, Here I Am Lord. Amen.