Who Do We Follow?

Who do we follow?

2 Sam 7:12-16; Mt 21:1-5 (Zech 9:9)

Big Idea: We follow a King who reigns forever

I am a follower. I follow sports teams. It is such a guy thing. Right at this time is every sports fan favourite time of the year - NBA playoffs, Stanley Cup playoffs, MLB with my favourite team the Blue Jays pounding record number of homeruns in May, badminton’s just done their world team championships the Thomas cup for men and Uber Cup for women, got world cup of soccer to look forward to, it is a smorgasbord of pure mucho macho delight!

Maybe you ladies, can’t really identify with that. But I can see a number do follow the latest fashions, especially last nite at the graduation feast, got your bling, got your pumps, would not be caught dead wearing last year’s fashion, or anything you can get out of Walmart. It seems like every gal is looking like the ladies in Twilight, Moonlight or is it New Moon, Eclipse, Sex in the City (they can’t stop talking about the shoes), while following the latest gossip on Brangelina, Lindsay Lohan’s latest disaster.

Perhaps Some NOT into sports or fashion, but we follow other stuff like millions of people last week the finale on the Lost or 24, don’t we? Then we follow our appetites... whatever tickles our fancies. I saw a movie where people would follow a gal who decided to blog about her quest to cook from Julia Child’s cookbook in 365 days.

It seems following people is a universal thing... we are built to follow, we do it willingly, you would get a following if make the best and cheapest sushi, the greatest hotdog, some of you follow the hottest girl or guy like a puppy with tongue hanging out, even follow the geek with the ipad, some make it their business to follow our society’s obsession with sex booze party scene, writing gossip columns for all the shady tabloids. It seems by nature we are all followers and some so obsessive they approach the territory of becoming stalkers.

Point is Male or female, big or small, hunky or not, we are all followers... right?

I wonder if perhaps you had ask yourselves why follow these things or these trends or these people? Why follow the NHL Canucks? Every spring they break our hearts. We shout Lou... then we turn into Boo. Why do we follow those sports teams? Why do we hold out the hope that someday the Canucks would bask in Stanley Cup glory? Or Why follow fashion trends, our appetites?

Is it not true? Life is about following... from the first breath we have we have been followers, we follow and copy our parents, ... Imagine if we did not follow parents, we’d be dead, no food, no love, no clothes, we’d dead naked and really skinny people.

Following, it seems makes us feel somewhat happy, alive. It seems we want to connect with our world and to something bigger than just ourselves. We do not want to be a mere tourist on this planet all by our lonesome. It appears in our hearts, we want to matter, we want to know we are alive, we are social beings, designed for relate, it makes us feel good to do it. Maybe you’ve heard of babies that are left alone in orphanages, they fail to thrive, many shrivel up lack of connection and touch. We must connect, to something bigger than just our next day’s meal, or our jobs, or being a student, a housewife... so we follow, we follow what others are into, what others say are meaningful, is hot or groovy, cool, we want to belong!

So who or what is worthy to be followed? Sports teams? Nah... they always promise to win the cup but always lose and what if they win... they lose again... The fashion police? ... nah next year fashion will change, just when you shriek with delight you got that to die for designer outfit on sale, they’re yesterday fashions already... Our own appetites? They are never satisfied... one day they’d a hotter thing than the ipad, a hotter girl or hotter spicier version of whatever we follow .... Our parents... nah... you are way too cool now to follow parents... would not be caught dead driving in mom’s minivan, rather be in a real mini, something sporty... Is there anyone or anything worth following, giving your life for?

Our hearts long for something someone we can connect to, that is meaningful worthwhile.

It’d be a shallow life to follow teams that will lose, fashion that will in at a garage sale next month, food that will become maggoty, illicit sex will become STDs or destruction of true intimacy, booze or drugs that will become next drunk statistic in jail or worse dead, cars that will end up in a junk pile