You’ll need:

·        Stand by Me or American Graffiti

·        Our Children’s Book – Who Is The Greatest On The Farm?

Dogpile Jesus

Today we will take a look at scripture and realize that the disciples as real people, with struggles, irritations, questions, and frustrations.  Sometimes we have a tendency to view the disciples as somewhat unrealistic spiritual giants, who were always focused on godly things.  But by seeing the 12, and Jesus, as real people will help us to deal with our own doubts and self-disappointments when we don’t follow Christ completely.  We will also see that God loves us even though we are not perfect.  Hopefully, it will give us all a new vision of what being a disciple of Jesus Christ looks like.

The Opening Act:

As we get started this evening, we are going to watch a video clip of what can happen when friends get together.  Occasionally, crazy things happen.  Now realize, that it usually isn’t as extreme as this video clip.  The movie is American Graffiti.

Movie clip: American Graffiti

I can remember a time in High School when I was escorted out of a basketball game by the Sheriff.  Now before you jump to conclusions and think that I had done something really bad, allow me to explain.  We were playing a rival, and their mascot was a tiger.  So, some of my friends that played football decided that we would do something right before the game.

I put on a Tigger outfit, with the number of their best player duct taped onto my back.  I walked out onto the gym floor before the tip off, and the football players rushed me, tackled me, and began ripping the fur from the outfit.  The downside to this fun rivalry was that the other team’s coach complained that what we were doing was a threat to the other player, and demanded that my friends and me be removed from the stands.

You know, sometimes friends do things that are crazy and surprising.

I can remember another time that I picked up and drove about 6 hours one day with a  group of people to go to a volleyball game of Nellie’s.  It was a spur of the moment decision that was done just as a way of having a little fun.  Again, friends will occasionally do things that are crazy and surprising.

Have you ever thought about the people in the Bible that way?  How about Jesus’ disciples, do you think they ever did anything a bit crazy?  Or were they totally focused on God 100 % of the time?  Today, let’s take a look at the book about the disciples and several scenes from their lives.  Go ahead and turn with me to Mark 9:30-37, and then we will look at Mark 10:35-45 as well.

At this time, allow me to share with you a children’s book that me and Nellie wrote.  We had to write it for one of her classes in college.  It is titled, Who Is The Greatest On The Farm?  (READ BOOK)

Well, in scripture, we find a similar argument.  We find Jesus and the disciples were on the road together again, but this time on the way to the final days of Jesus’ life here on earth, leading up to the crucifixion.  The road was hot and dusty, and the disciples were probably very tired.  Then Jesus questioned the disciples about their discussion regarding who among them was the greatest.  And then James and John requested to be the right-hand men at Jesus’ side, which made the others angry.

Let’s take a look at those passages.  Starting in Mark 9:30-37 it says, “1”

Then skipping over to Mark 10:35-45 it goes on to say, “2”

Now, the disciples were not focused on God all the time.  They were often confused about life and irritated with each other.  The disciples were a bunch of guys.  Do you think they were like typical guys when they go on camping trips with Jesus?  Were they belching, joking, and playing practical jokes on each other?  Well I don’t know about that, but I would say that they had a lot of fun together while they were traveling.

Imagine this: late one night the disciples and Jesus are circled around a campfire while Jesus is telling another one of His clever parables.  John whispers to James, “On the count of 3, let’s dogpile Jesus.”  Then James passes it around to the rest of the disciples sitting in that circle.  When everyone is ready, John says. “Alpha, beta, gamma!”  And then all 12 disciples dogpile on Jesus, the whole group laughing while Jesus gasps for breath at the bottom of the pile.

Now that may seem a little weird, but remember, close friends are like that sometimes.  So isn’t it possible that the disciples were like that too?

The Main Event:

1.     Jesus’ disciples were just like us!

Sure, their culture was different, but they were real people.  What struggles do you think the disciples might have faced?  Did the disciples fall in love?  Did they get into fights?  Did they struggle with lust?

The answer to these questions is probably yes.  The disciples were as real as we are.  If you remember, in Matthew 14:22-26 the disciples were afraid of the storm.  Later in Matthew 16:5-12 the disciples forgot to bring the bread.  And then in Mark 10:13-16 the disciples tried to turn away children, but Jesus rebuked them for their actions.

2. Jesus loved His disciples even though they weren’t perfect.

After scolding them for their arguments over who was the best, He concluded by telling them to be servants and reminding them that He came to serve them all.  Since the disciples let Jesus down so often, and were confused so often, you’d think Jesus would fire the whole bunch and start over at some point.  But of course He doesn’t.  Instead, He sticks with these imperfect guys.

Go ahead and turn with me to John 13.  In this chapter of John, we find that Jesus loved His disciples even though they were not perfect.  Let’s take a look at that chapter together.  John chapter 13 says, “3”

Here the disciples are troubled, but Jesus comforts them and even washes their feet.  In the next chapter, Jesus begins by comforting them once again.  The gospel says that Jesus loved His own.  Whether the disciples are goofing off or in the middle of some serious confusion or doubt, Jesus still loved them.  And He went to great lengths to prove that love.

3.  Jesus loves you and me, even though we’re obviously human and

obviously imperfect.

As we look at Jesus’ disciples, we find that he had a group of men that were obviously human and they were imperfect.  It was a group of tax collectors, people who persecuted and killed Christians before they became disciples.  All in all, they were just a bunch of sinners.

What we learn from looking at Jesus’ disciples is that if Jesus could love the disciples with their problems, then He can love us too.  And that means that we can be disciples of Jesus’, even though we’re imperfect and flawed.

The Grand Finale:

If Jesus is willing to have us imperfect idiots as His disciples, we should probably be able to love each other!  Just remember that in John 13:34 Jesus says, “A new command I give you: love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

Close your eyes for a minute and imagine something with me.  Imagine that you are sitting by a campfire with Jesus and the rest of the disciples.  It is a friendly and loving group of people.  On top of that, Jesus is engaging in an interesting conversation.  Then all of a sudden, you hear one of the disciples counting, “1, 2, 3…” and then everyone begins to dogpile onto Jesus.

Does that seem like a possible thing for you to do?  Would you consider Jesus to be a close friend of yours?

For some people, that may be making Jesus into too much of a friend.  For others, they would be comfortable with that.  But the truth of the matter is that Jesus wants to have a close relationship, a friendship with all of us.  And sometimes, that is what good friends do.  They are comfortable with each other, and they have a great time with one another.

Encore:

Get It?

·        Was Jesus a regular guy?  Or was He sort of different, like movies sometimes show Him?

·        Do you think Jesus was fun to be around?  Why or why not?

·        Do you think it’s accurate to think of the disciples as regular guys?  Why or why not?

·        Why don’t we normally think of them that way?

·        What do you think it would have been like to be one of Jesus’ closest friends?

·        What are some other stories from the Bible that show how normal the disciples were?

·        Is it wrong to think of Jesus and the disciples as having fun?  Why or why not?

·        In what ways do you think people 2,000 years ago were like us?

·        In what ways were they not like us?

·        Was Jesus more of a friend or a leader?  Explain your answer.

What If? The Big Picture

·        What would it be like to be one of the 12 disciples?

·        What would Jesus enjoy about you?  What about you would He struggle with?

·        What areas of your life would you be embarrassed to let Jesus see?

·        Why is it so difficult to accept that Jesus can love us unconditionally?

·        How might you live differently if you believed, that every moment of every day, that Jesus loves you even though you’re imperfect?

So What? It’s Your Life

·        How does understanding the humanity of Jesus and the disciples change your view of anything?

·        Would you be willing to dogpile Jesus?  Why or why not?

Now, before we close this evening, does anyone have anything that they would like to add?

Well, if there is nothing else, just remember that Jesus’ disciples were just like us, that Jesus loved His disciples even though they were not perfect, and finally, that Jesus loves you and me, even though we’re obviously human and obviously imperfect as well.

Let’s Pray – (Finish with prayer. Give thanks for a God we can relate to, who loves us as we are, and who helps us love each other.)